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AN    ADVANCED 
HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND 


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AN    ADVANCED 

HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Present  Day 


BY 


CYRIL     RANSOM  E,     M.A. 

»\ 

PROFESSOR  OF   MODERN   HISTORY   AND   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

IN     THE     YORKSHIRE     COLLEGE,    VICTORIA     UNIVERSITY, 

AUTHOR  OF  *  AN  ELEMENTARY  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,' 

•a  short   history  of   ENGLAND,'   ETC. 


WITH   MAPS  AND  PLANS 


NEW    YORK 

MACMILLAN    AND    CO. 

1895 


This  Histm-y  may  also  he  had  in  Two  Periods  ;- 

PERIOD    I.— To  ELIZABETH,  1603.     4s. 
PERIOD  II.— To  VICTORIA,  1895.    4s. 


HMHRY MORSE 


STCPHCMf 


CUL 


PREFACE 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  carry  the  study  of  English  History 
a  stage  further  than  has  been  done  in  my  Short  History  of 
England  (Longmans  and  Co.).  It  has  been  specially  designed  to 
meet  the  wants  of  four  classes  of  readers  :  (1)  of  those,  either  at 
school  or  college,  who,  having  mastered  the  elements  of  English 
History  in  such  a  book  as  the  author's  Elementary  History  of 
England  (Rivington,  Percival,  and  Co.),  and  what  are  known  as 
the  *  outlines '  in  such  a  book  as  the  author's  Short  Histoi-y,  are 
preparing  to  study  in  greater  detail  such  a  period  as  1485  to  1603, 
or  1714  to  1815  ;  (2)  of  teachers  who,  while  taking  a  class  in  the 
*  elements '  or  *  outlines,'  wish  to  have  in  their  own  hands  a  fuller 
and  more  developed  treatment  of  events ;  (3)  of  university 
students,  who  require  a  fullqr,  Jrq^j^i^eDt  of  the  whole  course  of 
events  than  is  given  in  the  Short  History ;  and  (4)  of  those  of  the 
general  public  who  wish  to  have  in  their  hands  a  handy  but  fairly 
full  history  to  which  they  may  turn  for  ready  information,  on  the 
historical  points  that  crop  up  day  by  day  in  politics  or  conversation. 

In  trying  to  supply  these  needs  I  have  throughout  tried  to  keep 
in  view  certain  principles  which  it  may  be  useful  to  state. 

In  selecting  materials  my  rule  has  been  to  give  more  about 
matters  of  great  importance,  but  not  to  introduce  new  matter 
which  is .  itself  of  secondary  importance.  For  example,  in  the 
Civil  War  period,  I  have  introduced  very  few  new  names  and 
events  beyond  what  are  mentioned  in  the  Short  History^  but  I 
have  given  a  great  deal  more  about  the  characters  and  motives  of 
Laud,  Strafford,  and  Cromwell,  the  Petition  of  Right,  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant,  and  the  King's  trial. 

As  it  is  most  important  at  this  stage  of  historical  teaching  to  show 
as  far  as  may  be  on  what  history  is  based,  I  have  systematically 


0Sfo2 


vi  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

introduced  into  the  text  the  exact  words  of  such  great  documents  as 
the  Petition  of  Right  and  Habeas  Corpus  Act ;  and  throughout  the 
narrative  quotation  marks,  except  in  a  few  obvious  cases,  mean  that 
the  words  enclosed  come  from  some  good  contemporary  authority. 

In  arranging  the  material  my  rule  has  been  as  far  as  possible — 
and  it  is  a  most  difficult  thing  to  do  especially  in  the  later  part — 
to  treat  each  matter  as  a  whole,  and  to  avoid  the  fatal  error  of  having 
notices  of  a  closely-connected  series  of  events  scattered  about  dis- 
connectedly in  the  course  of  the  general  narrative.  For  example, 
the  events  which  led  to  the  Scottish  and  Irish  Unions  are  respec- 
tively grouped  together. 

As  a  vivid  idea  of  great  national  heroes  ought  to  be  one  of  the 
most  valued  treasures  of  the  nation,  I  have  throughout  laid  great 
stress  on  biography  and  character-sketching.  In  dealing  with 
those  great  men,  such  as  Strafford,  Laud,  and  Cromwell,  whose 
actions  still  provoke  bitter  controversy,  I  have  followed  as  far  as 
possible  the  rule  of  letting  them  speak  for  themselves,  and,  where 
I  have  been  compelled  to  express  an  opinion  on  their  actions,  have 
endeavoured  to  give  them  credit  for  the  best  motives. 

•The  same  rule  applies  even  more  forcibly  to  the  statesmen  of 
our  own  age  and  of  that  immediately  preceding  it.  The  dictum  of 
John  Bright  that  there  is  no  part  of  history  so  difficult  for  a  young- 
man  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  as  that  just  beyond  his  own 
personal  memory  is  undoubtedly  true,  and  I  have  endeavoured  to 
aid  such  persons  by  bringing  the  narrative  down  to  the  resignation 
of  Lord  Rosebery  in  1895.  In  dealing,  however,  with  such  recent 
history  the  difficulties  are  enormous,  but  I  hope  I  may  be  thought 
to  have,  at  any  rate,  made  an  honest  attempt  to  overcome  them. 

One  error  of  historians  is  to  give  to  the  minor  details  of  modern 
politics  a  space  wholly  disproportioned  to  their  relative  importance. 
This  I  have  tried  to  avoid,  and  have  endeavoured  to  make  the 
space  allotted  to  any  subject,  wherever  it  may  come  in,  bear  a  close 
relationship  to  its  importance. 

There  is,  however,  one  subject  in  which  it  is  almost  impossible 


Preface  vii 

to  do  this.  Probably  the  greatest  event  in  modern  history  is  the 
development  of  the  British  colonial  empire ;  but  it  is  most  difficult 
to  make  colonial  history  occupy  a  space  at  all  commensurate  with 
its  importance.  With  India  the  case  is  otherwise,  for  few  events 
give  greater  opportunities  for  dramatic  narrative  than  it ;  but  no 
one  can  make  the  history  of  Australia  exciting,  and  though  the 
same  remark  does  not  apply  to  the  early  history  of  Canada,  its 
development  of  late  years  has  been  along  the  happy  but  uneventful 
lines  of  peaceful  progress. 

In  dealing  with  the  question  of  religion,  I  have  avoided,  as  far 
as  possible,  doctrinal  points,  and  where  they  have  been  unavoidable 
have  stated  them  in  the  words  of  the  original  documents,  and  have 
throughout  used  terms '  which  I  believe  to  be  acceptable  to  the 
various  religious  bodies  of  whom  history  treats. 

Similarly,  in  treating  of  points  where  the  national  feeling  or  pre- 
judices of  the  various  races  who  now  share  the  common  name  of 
British  may  be  touched,  I  have  endeavoured  to  avoid  anything 
which  may  add  bitterness,  have  laid  stress  on  such  exploits  as  each 
remembers  with  pride,  and  have  been  careful  by  the  use  of  the 
word  British  to  draw  attention  to  the  common  share  in  common 
glories  and  common  dangers  in  which  we  have*  all  participated. 

One  great  difficulty  has  been  to  determine  the  amount  of  space 
to  be  allotted  to  literature.  This  I  would  gladly  have  increased 
had  it  been  possible  j  but  have  been  compelled  to  refrain,  my  rule 
being  that  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  history,  say  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Elizabethan  period,  literature  is  so  closely  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  nation  that  it  is  impossible  to  separate  them,  but 
that  after  that  date  not  only  do  considerations  of  space  become 
more  exacting,  but  also,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  class  of  readers  I 
have  in  view  are  in  the  habit  of  studying  literature  in  a  different 
text-book.  Only  where  the  literature  bears  a  very  close  relation 
to  politics  have  I  ventured  to  allow  myself  a  few  lines  on  the  sub- 
ject.   The  same  rule  applies  to  manners  and  customs. 

The  maps  are  numerous,  and  each  contains  the  minimum  of 


viii  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

necessary  names,  so  as  to  enable  its  general  effect  to  be  seen  at  a 
glance.  In  deciding  which  battles  should  have  plans  allotted  to 
them,  I  have  acted  on  the  principle  that  where  the  arrangements  of 
a  battle  are  fairly  known,  and  cannot  well  be  understood  without  a 
map  of  the  ground,  as  in  the  case  of  Dunbar  and  Salamanca,  there 
ought  to  be  a  map  ;  in  the  case  of  a  battle  like  Naseby,  which 
though  very  important  is  perfectly  easy  to  understand,  there  should 
not.  In  each  plan  I  have  endeavoured  to  picture  some  definite 
event  in  the  course  of  the  battle,  and  not  tried  to  get  in  everything 
at  once.  In  the  case  of  Waterloo  and  Poitiers,  in  which  latter  battle 
I  have  followed  the  narrative  of  Galfrid  le  Baker,  I  have  given  two 
plans,  showing  the  position  of  the  forces  at  different  times. 

The  names  are  spelt  in  the  manner  sanctioned  by  the  only  satis- 
factory rule — long  usage — but  in  some  of  the  earlier  names,  to 
avoid  the  possibility  of  mistake,  the  less  familiar  form  has  been 
added  in  a  bracket. 

As  I  hope  the  book  may  be  largely  used  for  reference,  great  pains 
has  been  taken  with  the  index,  and  to  aid  those  who  are  reading 
special  periods  numerous  references  have  been  inserted  in  the  text, 
and  even  a  certain  amount  of  repetition  has  been  introduced. 

The  figures  at  the  top  of  the  pages  represent  with  a  few  obvious 
exceptions  the  furthest  dates  reached  by  the  general  narrative  at 
the  beginning  of  the  left-hand  page  and  the  end  of  the  right.  The 
Handbook  in  Outline  of  the  English  Political  History,  by  Acland 
and  Eansome,  now  published  by  Longmans  and  Co.,  will  be  found  a 
great  assistance  in  following  the  chronology. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  thank  all  who  have  so  kindly  helped  me 
in  the  past  by  pointing  out  errors  in  my  former  books,  and  in  the 
MS.  and  proofs  of  this.  Though  every  possible  care  has  been 
taken  to  make  the  statements  exact,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  but 
that  some  errors  remain,  and  any  one  who  will  kindly  draw  my 
attention  to  them  will  confer  a  great  favour  upon  the  author. 

C.  R. 

Leeds,  Jidy  1895. 


CONTENTS 

Book  I 
ENGLAND  BEFORE  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST. 

CHAPTEK  PAGE 

I.    PREHISTORIC   AND    CELTIC    BRITAIN, 3 

Prehistoric  Inhabitants — The  Iveniians — The  Celts — First  Civi- 
lised Visitors — Caesar's  Expeditions. 

II.    BRITAIN    UNDER   THE    ROMANS, 13 

Roman  Conquest  of  Britain — Introduction  of  Roman  Civilisa- 
tion— Causes  of  the  Withdrawal  of  the  Romans. 

III.  THE   ENGLISH    SETTLEMENT    IN    BRITAIN,  ....  19 

Little  known  of  first  English  Invasion— Gildas'  Account  most 
trustworthy— Later  Conquests  of  Ceawlin  and  Ethelfrith — 
Effects  of  the  Conquest  on  the  Britons. 

IV.  THE   CONVERSION   OF   THE    ENGLISH, 26 

Preaching  of  Augustine  and  of  the  Celtic  Missionaries— Synod 
of  Whitby — Organisation  of  the  Church  of  Theodore— In- 
fluence of  the  Church — Supremacy  of  the  Northumbrians, 
then  of  the  Mercians,  then  of  the  West  Saxons  under  Egbert. 

V.    INSTITUTIONS   OF   THE   ENGLISH, 40 

Physical  Features  of  the  Country — Local  Government  of  the 
Township,  the  Hundred,  and  the  Shire — Central  GoverAment 
in  the  hands  of  the  King  and  Witenagemot — English  Society 
in  the  Ninth  Century. 

VI.    THE    INVASIONS   OF    THE   NORTHMEN, 51 

The  Ethnology  of  the  Northmen — Their  Early  Invasions — The 
Youth  of  Alfred  the  Great  —  Accession  of  Alfred  —  His 
struggles  against  the  Danes — Peace  of  Wedmore — The  Dane- 
law— Political  Effects  of  the  Danish  Settlement — Reorganisa- 
tion of  his  Kingdom  by  Alfred— Later  Wars  with  the  Danes — 

Death  of  Alfred. 

ix 


X  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

CHAPTER 

VII.    RECONQUEST   OF   THE   DANELAW, 

Edward  the  Elder  begins  an  offensive  War  against  the  Danes, 
and  secures  his  Conquests  by  Fortifications— Edward  is 
acknowledged  Overlord  by  the  whole  Island — Battle  of 
Brunanburh — Conquest  of  Strathclyde— The  Policy  of  Edgar 
and  Dunstan. 


VIII.    THE   DANISH   CONQUEST, 

Eenewal  of  the  Danish  Invasions — Feeble  resistance  of  the 
English — Canute's  Keign — Rise  of  Godwin— Reigns  of  Harold 
and  Hardicanute. 

IX.    THE   NORMAN   CONQUEST, 

The  Character  of  Edward  the  Confessor — Influx  of  Normans — 
Godwin  and  his  Family  unsuccessfully  oppose  the  Normans 
—Visit  of  William  of  Normandy  to  England— Return  of 
Godwin  and  Banishment  of  the  Normans  —  Character  of 
Harold,  Godwin's  Son— Accession  of  Harold — Battles  of 
Stamford  Bridge  and  Hastings. 


Book  II 
THE  NOEMAN  KINGS  OF  ENGLAND  (1066-1154). 

I.    WILLIAM  I.  (1066-I087), 91 

Completion  of  the  Conquest— Apportionment  of  the  Soil  and 
Offices— Discontent  of  the  Normans— Doomsday  Book — 
Quarrels  in  the  Roj'al  House. 

II.    WILLIAM  II.  (1087- 1 100), 103 

Contest  with  the  Barons  continued — The  enforcement  of  the 
Feudal  Dues— The  first  Crusade. 

IIL    HENRY  L  (lIOO-1 135), Ill 

Conciliatory  measures — Suppression  of  the  Barons — The  In- 
vestiture question — Reorganisation  of  the  central  Govern- 
ment— Social  Progress. 

IV.    STEPHEN  (11 35-1 1 54), 123 

Stephen's  success — Contest  for  the  Crown — Battles  of  North- 
allerton and  Lincoln— Siege  of  Oxford— Effects  of  the  War- 
Henry  of  Anjou. 


Contents  xi 

Book  III 

THE  EARLIER  ANGEVIN  KINGS,  SOMETIMES  CALLED 

PLANTAGENETS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    HENRY  II.  (II 54-1189), 135 

Keorganisation  of  the  Kingdom  —  The  great  Scutage— The 
Becket  Quarrel— Judicial  Reforms — Conquest  of  Ireland- 
Abortive  Revolt  of  the  Barons — Quarrels  in  the  Royal 
Family. 

II.    RICHARD    I.  (1189-II99), 157 

Exploits  and  Imprisonment  of  Richard — In  his  absence  the 
Kingdom  is  governed  by  his  Ministers— Constitutional  and 
Social  Progress  of  the  time— Richard's  Death. 

III.  JOHN  (i  199- 1 2 16), 167 

John's  ill  character  leads  to  the  loss  of  France,  a  quarrel  with 
the  Church,  and  finally  his  iniquitous  life  and  Government 
cause  a  union  of  all  classes  to  extort  the  Great  Charter — A 
French  Prince  invited  to  take  the  Throne. 

IV.  HENRY   III.  (12 16- 1 272), 182 

The  Regency  of  William  Marshall,  Earl  of  Pembroke— His  place 
taken  by  Hubert  de  Burgh— Henry  takes  the  rule  into  his 
own  hands,  governs  badly,  and  allows  himself  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  Favourites— Rise  of  a  Baronial  Party  under  Simon 
de  Montfort— The  Barons'  Wars. 

Book  rV 

THE  LATER  ANGEVIN  KINGS,  SOMETIMES  CALLED 
PLANTAGENETS. 

I.    EDWARD    I.  (l  272-1307), 205 

Age    of   Legislative   Activity— Final   Conquest    of  Wales— A 
Scottish  Dynastic  difficulty  leads  to  its  Annexation— Com- 
plete   and    Model    Parliament  —  Tlie   Confirmation    of   the    • 
Charters — Scottish  Revolt. 

II.    EDWARD   II.  (1307- 1 327), *"        .      228 

Piers  Gaveston — The  Lords  Ordainers — Gaveston's  Death- 
Bruce' s  Scottish  successes— Bannockbum— The  Despensers— 
Lancaster's  Defeat  at  Boroughbridge,  and  Death — General 
combination  against  the  Despensers,  headed  by  the  Queen 
and  Mortimer,  leads  to  Edward's  Dethronement. 


xii  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

III.  EDWARD  III.  (1327- 1 377), 242 

Fall  of  Mortimer— Scottish  Affairs  bring  on  War  with  France, 
which  led  to  important  Constitutional  Developments — Battles 
of  Sluys  and  Crecy— Siege  of  Calais— The  Black  Death,  and 
its  effects  on  the  Manorial  System — Battle  of  Poitiers  and 
Treaty  of  Bretigny — Spanish  Expedition  leads  to  a  disastrous 
renewal  of  the  War— Growth  of  a  strong  feeling  against  the 
Pope  and  the  Clergy — John  of  Gaunt  and  Wyclif— The 
Reforms  of  the  Good  Parliament. 

IV.  RICHARD  II.  (1377- 1 399), 278 

The  Minority — Peasant  Revolt — The  Lollards— Opposition 
Nobles  displace  the  King's  Ministers — Richard's  personal  rule 
— His  revenge  on  the  Nobles,  and  final  fall. 


Book  V 
THE  LANCASTRIAN  AND  YORKIST  KINGS. 

I.    HENRY   IV.  (1399-I413), 299 

Rebellions  in  Richard's  Favour— The  Lollards— Owen  Glen- 
dower — The  Risings  of  the  Percies  and  of  Scrope— Foreign 
Affairs — Henry's  Constitutional  Government. 

II.    HENRY   V.  (1413-I422), 313 

The  French  Wars — Agincourt — Siege  of  Rouen — Treaty  of 
Troyes. 

III.    HENRY   VI.  (1422 — DETHRONED    I461 — DIED    I471),         .  .       324 

French  Wars — Siege  of  Orleans — Loss  of  France — Growth  of 
Hostile  Parties  headed  respectively  by  the  Beauforts  and  the 
Duke  of  York — Outbreak  of  Civil  War — Dethronement  of 
Henry  vi. 

IV.  EDWARD  IV.  (146 1- 1 483), 348 

Battle  of  Towton  and  Suppression  of  the  Lancastrians — 
Edward's  Marriage — Warwick  intrigues  for  Power — Restora- 
tion of  Henry — Battles  of  Barnet  and  Tewkesbury — Death  of 
Henry — Expedition  to  France — Power  of  Edward. 

V.    EDWARD   V.  (1483), 361 

Richard  of  Gloucester  becomes  Protector,  and  eventually  Edward 
is  dethroned. 

VI.    RICHARD   III.  (1483-I485),     .  .  .  .  .  .  .      365 

Murder  of  the  Princes — Morton's  Conspiracy — Benevolences 
condemned — Conspiracy  of  Henry  Tudor — Bosworth. 


Contents  xiii 

Book  VI 
THE  HOUSE  OF  TUDOR 

lAPTER  PAGE 

I.    HENRY   VII.  (1485- 1 509), 376 

Policy  of  Henry  vii.— Rebellion  of  Simnel  and  Parkin— Ireland 
—Strengthening  of  the  Crown— Foreign  Affairs. 

II.  HENRY  VIII.  (1509- 1 547), 392 

Foreign  politics— Flodden—Wolsey's  career— The  Divorce  ques- 
tion leads  to  the  fall  of  Wolsey  and  the  separation  from 
Rome— Changes  in  the  Church— Dissolution  of  the  Monas- 
teries—Resistance to  these  changes — Henry's  domestic  life — 
Later  foreign  policy. 

III.  EDWARD  VI.  (i547-i553)> '^26 

The  Arrangements  for  the  Minority — Somerset— Battle  of 
Pinkie,  and  Rebellions  in  Devonshire  and  Norfolk— Ascen- 
dancy of  John  Dudley— The  Reformation— Unpopularity  of 
the  Government— Plot  to  alter  the  Succession. 

IV.  MARY  (15 53-1 5 58), 437 

The  Accession— The  Spanish  Match— Gradual  Repeal  of  the 
Ecclesiastical  Legislation  passed  since  1529 — Persecution  of 
the  Protestants  —  War  with  France  and  loss  of  Calais  — 
Unpopularity  of  the  Government. 

V.    ELIZABETH  (1558-1603), 448 

Elizabeth's  Religious  Settlement — Foreign  Affairs— The  Refor- 
mation in  Scotland — History  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  her 
Flight  into  England— The  Civil  Wars  in  France— The  Revolt 
of  the  Netherlands — Improvement  in  Elizabeth's  position— 
The  Rivalry  of  the  English  and  Spaniards  in  the  South  Seas 
— Danger  from  Mary  Queen  of  Scots — Her  Execution — The 
Spanish  Armada — English  Command  of  the  Seas— Irish 
AJffairs — Essex's  Career  and  Execution — The  Monopolies. 


Book  VII 
THE  STUARTS. 

I.  JAMES  I.  (1603-1625),     " 485 

The  Main  and  Bye  Plots — The  religious  question— Parliament 
— The  Gunpowder  Plot— The  constitutional  difficulties  of 
James— Death  of  Raleigh— The  Thirty  Years'  War— Buck- 
ingham— the  Spanish  Match. 


xiv  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

CHAFPER  PAGE 

II.    CHARLES  I.  (162 5- 1 649), 509 

Quarrels  with  his  first  Parliament— The  Petition  of  Right— The 
Rise  of  Laud  and  "Went worth — Imprisonment  of  Eliot— Arbi- 
trary Rule— Wentworth  in  Ireland — Religious  Diflficulties 
in  Scotland— First  Bishops'  War— The  Short  Parliament  — 
Second  Bishops'  War. 

III.  CHARLES  I.   (part  II.),  . 539 

The  Composition  of  the  Long  Parliament — The  Trial  and  Death 
of  Strafford — Reforming  Measures — The  Religious  Question 
and  Division  of  Parties — Impeachment  of  the  five  Members — 
Opening  of  the  War — First  Civil  War — Imprisonment  of  the 
King — Second  Civil  War — Trial  and  Death  of  Charles. 

IV.  THE  COMMONWEALTH  AND  PROTECTORATE,        ....      586 

The  Commonwealth— Wars  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  with  the 
Dutch — Expulsion  of  the  '  Rump '  — Barebone's  Parliament — 
The  Instrument  of  Government — The  Petition  and  Advice — 
Death  of  Cromwell — Events  which  led  to  the  Restoration. 

V.    CHARLES  IL  (1660-1685), 613 

The  Acts  of  the  Convention  Parliaments — Clarendon's  Ministry 
—The  First  Dutch  War— Fall  of  Clarendon— The  Cabal— The 
Treaties  of  Dover— Second  Dutch  War — Fall  of  the  Cabal— 
Danby's  Ministry — Rise  of  the  '  Country '  Party — The  Exclu- 
sion BQl— Fall  of  the  Whigs. 

VI.  JAMES  II.  (1685- 1689), 644 

Character  of  James — Monmouth's  Rebellion — The  Dispensing 
Power — Hales'  Case— The  Ecclesiastical  Commission — Attacks 
upon  the  Universities — The  Declaration  of  Indulgence — Ad- 
verse Feeling  in  the  Country — Birth  of  James'  Son — Trial  of 
the  Seven  Bishops — Expedition  of  William  of  Orange— Flight 
of  James — The  Interregnum — The  Declaration  of  Right. 

VIL    WILLIAM  AND  MARY  (1689-I702), 667 

The  Revolution  in  Scotland  and  Ireland — War  with  France — 
Rise  of  Party  Government — Financial  Measures — Treaty  of 
Ryswick — The  Partition  Treaties— The  Grand  Alliance. 

VIII.  ANNE  (1702-1714), 705 

Character  of  Marlborough — The  Warof  the  Spanish  Succession — 
Blenheim,  Ramillies,  Oudenarde,  and  Malplaquet — The  Union 
of  England  and  Scotland — Ministerial  Intrigues — Prosecution 
of  Sacheverell  and  Fall  of  the  Whigs— The  Treaty  of  Utrecht 
— The  Schism  Act — Death  of  Anne. 


Contents  xv 


Book  VIII 
THE  HOUSE  OF  HANOVER. 

H AFTER  PAGE 

I.    GEORGE  I.  (1714-1727), 734 

The  Whig  Ministers— Jacobite  Rebellion  of  1715— Foreign 
Policy— Stanhope  and  Sunderland— The  South  Sea  Bubble — 
Walpole  in  Power— Wood's  Halfpence. 

II.   GEORGE  II.  ( 1 727-1 760), 756 

Walpole  in  Power— The  Wesleyans— The  Opposition— Spanish 
War  and  Fall  of  Walpole — Carteret  in  Power — Foreign  Affairs 
— Henry  Pelham— The  '45— Rise  of  Pitt  and  Fox — Domestic 
Affairs— The  Seven  Years'  War— Triumphs  of  Pitt. 

HI.    GEORGE  III.  (part  I.,   I760-I789), 804 

Fall  of  Pitt— The  Wilkes  Case— Estrangement  of  the  American  * 
Colonies — The  Middlesex  Election— Junius'  Letters— Loss  of 
the  American  Colonies— Parliamentary  and  Economical  Re- 
form— The  Coalition — India — Ministry  of  the  younger  Pitt. 

IV.  GEORGE  III.  (part  II.,  1 789- 1 820).  THE  WARS  OF  THE  FRENCH 

REVOLUTION, 854 

Causes  and  Progress  of  the  French  Revolution— Its  eflFect  on  the 
Relations  of  Great  Britain  and  France — The  War  against  the 
French  Republic— Irish  Affairs— The  Union,  and  Fall  of  Pitt 
—The  War  against  Napoleon— The  Peace— Its  effects  on 
England. 

V.    GEORGE  IV.  (1820- 1 830), 920 

The  Queen's  Trial— Signs  of  Progress— Death  of  Castlereagh— 
Policy  of  Canning  and  Huskisson — Affairs  of  Greece — Roman 
Catholic  Emancipation. 

VI.  WILLIAM  IV.  (1830- 1 837), 936 

The  Great  Reform  Bill— Period  of  Active  Legislation— The  Irish 
Church — Slavery — The  Poor  Laws— The  Municipal  Reform — 
Peel  and  Conservative  Reaction— Lord  Melbourne's  Govern- 
ment. 

VII.  VICTORIA  (part  I.,  1837-1865), 954 

Canada— The  Chartists— The  Corn  Law  Agitation— The  Afghan, 
Scinde,  and  Sikh  Wars— O'Connell— Repeal  of  the  Corn 
LaAvs — The  Year  of  Revolutions — The  Russian  War— Indian 
Mutiny— Parliamentary  Reform — Foreign  Affairs — Death  of 
Palmer  ston. 


xvi  An  Advanced  History  of  England 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.  VICTORIA  (part  II.,  1 865-       ), 1004 

House  Suffrage  granted  to  the  Towns — Great  Legislative  Activity 
under  Gladstone  —  The  Russo-Turkish  War  —  Gladstone's 
Ministry  of  1880  to  1885— The  Irish  Question— The  Occupa- 
tion of  Egypt — Lowering  of  the  County  Franchise — Home 
Rule  adopted  by  Mr.  Gladstone — Unsuccessful  Attempts  to 
carry  his  Views  into  Effect — Extension  of  Popular  Govern- 
ment to  Counties  and  Parishes — Problems  of  the  Future — 
Conclusion. 


ERRATA 

Page    304,  line  26— for  the  little  read  Edmund. 

305,  line  6  from  hottom— read  Edmund,  earl  of  March. 
424,  line  2  from  bottom— /or  though  read  as. 
801,  map— Gwalior  is  a  place,  not  a  district. 
885,  map — Note  :  The  size  of  the  ships  is  exaggerated. 
901,  map — add  Picton's  name  commanding  the  British  right. 
906,  line  5  from  bottom— /or  fifteen  read  ten. 
965,  line  16 — insert  a  comma  after  Akbar. 
985 — Note  :  Map  represents  the  close  of  the  siege. 
1004,  line  1,/or  Chapter  vi.  read  Chapter  viii. 
1026,    ,,    3,  delete  the  commas. 

1026,  ,,  16,  for  interests  read  interest. 

1027,  ,,  10,  from  bottom,  after  enemies  add  or. 
1034,    ,,  10,  from  bottom,  before  members  read  Nationalist. 

ADDENDUM 

Page  1039,  line  31— The  result  of  the  General  Election  of  1895  was  to 
give  the  Unionist  Government  a  large  majority  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  no  less  than  four  members  of  Lord  Rosebery's  Cabinet, 
including  Sir  William  Harcourt  and  Mr.  John  Morley,  were  defeated 
at  the  polls. 


TABLES  OF  GENEALOGIES 


BOOK  I 

NO.  PAGE 

I.  Kings  of  the  House  of  Egbert,  802-1066, 2 

II.  Danish  Kings  of  England, 2 

BOOK  II 

III.  The  Norman  Kings  of  England, 90 

IV.  Kings  of  Scotland,  1066-1214, 90 

BOOK  III 

V.  The  Earlier  Angevin  or  Plantagenet  Kings,  1154-1272,  .        .133 

VI.  Kings  of  Scotland,  H53-1286,     .  .134 

VII.  Kings  of  France,  987-1285, 136 

BOOK  IV 

VIII.  The  Later  Angevin  or  Plantagenet  Kings,  1272-1399,  .  202 

IX.  Kings  of  Scotland,  1165-1406, 203 

X.  Kings  of  France,  1270-1422,  and  Edward  lll.'s  claim  to  France,         .  203 

TheBohuns, 229 


BOOK  V 

XI.  The  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  1399-1485, 296 

XII.  Kings  of  Scotland,  1306-1488, 297 

XIII.  Kings  of  France,  1350-1515, 297 

The  Beauforts, 338 

The  Woodvilles  and  Courtenays, 360 

The  Staflfords, 365 

The  De  la  Poles, 368 

b 


xviii  Tables  of  Genealogies 

BOOK  VI 

NO.  P^«« 

XIV.  The  House  of  Tudor.  1485-1603, 374 

XV.  Kings  of  Scotland,  1460- 1603, 374 

XVI.  Kings  of  France,  1485-1603, 375 

Charles  v.  of  Spain, 388 

The  Poles, ^^^ 

The  Howards, '*22 

The  Dudleys  and  Sydneys  (later  Sidney), 433 

BOOK  VII 

XVII.  The  Stuarts,  1603-1714 ^^^ 

XVIII.  Kings  of  France,  1589-1715 .484 

The  House  of  Spain,  to  illustrate  the  disputed  Spanish  Succession,  700 

BOOK  VIII 

XIX.  Kings  of  France,  1609-1848, 732 

XX.  The  exiled  House  of  Stuart, .        .  732 

XXI.  The  House  of  Hanover,  1714  to  present  day, 733 


LIST   OF  MAPS  AND  BATTLE  PLANS 

PAGE 

Eomaii  Britain, Frontispiece 

England  and  Wales,  showing  Forests,  Fens,  and  Moorland,       .        .        .  xx 

Battle  of  Hastings, 85 

England,  1066-1399, 88 

France,  1066-1815, 132 

English  and  Scottish  Border,  1290-1603, 204 

Wales  and  the  Severn  Valley, 215 

Crecy, 254 

Poitiers  (two), 262 

North  of  France,  and  Campaigns  of  Crecy  and  Agincourt,  ....  298 

Agincourt, 319 

Towton  Field, 349 

The  Flodden  District, 396 

Ireland  nnder  Elizabeth, 476 

England  during  the  Civil  War, 538 

Operations  connected  with  Edgehill, 559 

Part  of  Yorkshire  in  1643-1644, 567 

Marston  Moor, 568 

Scotland  after  1603, 674 

Ireland  after  1603, 589 

Dunbar, 592 

Worcester, 594 

The  Netherlands, Om 

Blenheim, 708 

Ramillies, 711 

Dettingen, 770 

British  Colonies  in  North  America, 789 

Quebec, 795 

India, 801 

American  War  of  Independence, 826 

Battle  of  the  Nile, 871 

Gibraltar  and  Trafalgar, 885 

Spain  and  Portugal, 895 

Salamanca, 901 

The  Waterloo  Campaign, 907 

Battle  of  Waterloo  (two), 909 

The  Crimea, 984 

of  Sebastopol, 985 

xix 


_  MAP  OP 

.Baml^^    ENGLAND  &  ^\m, 

shewing  Forests. 
Fens,  and.  Moorland. 


Typo.  Etching  Ca.Sc 


Book  I 
ENGLAND  BEFORE  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST 


I.— KINGS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  EGBERT,  802-1066. 
Egbert,  802-839. 

Ethelwulf.  839-858. 

I 

Ethelbald,     Ethelbert,    Ethelbed  I.,       Alfred, 
858-860.        860-866.        866-871.  871-901. 

I  I 

Ethelwalcl.  Edward  the  Elder,  901-925. 

I 

Athelstan,  925-940.  Edmund  I.,  940-946.  Edred,  946-955. 

Edwy,  955-959.  Edgar,' 959-975. 


Edward  the  Martyr,  Ethelred  the  Unready, = (1)  Elgiva;  (2)  Emma 

975-979.  979-1016.  I  of  Normandy. 


(1)  Edmund  Ironside,  (2)  Edward  the  Confessor, 

1016.  1042-1066. 

I  


Edmund,  d.  1050.  Edward,  d.  1057. 

I 


Edgar  Atheliug,  d.  1120.  Margaret,  d.  1093=Malcolm  Canmore,  d.  1096. 

MatUda,  d.  1118=Henry  I.,  d.  1135. 


II.— THE  DANISH  KINGS  OF  ENGLAND. 

Harold  Blatand  or  Bluetooth. 
I 

Sweyn,  d,  1014.  Great-granddaughter  of 

I  Harold  Blatand  =  Godmn. 

Canute,  1016-1035. 


Harold  I.,      Hardicanute  (Emma's 
1035-1040.  son),  1040-1042. 


Harold  II.,  Edith,  =  Edward  the        Tostig,  d.  1066. 

d.  1066.  d.  1075.      Confessor. 

Reigning  sovereigns  are  in  small  capitals. 

(1)  or  (2)  signifies  by  first  or  second  wife  or  husband. 


CHAPTEK  I 

PREHISTORIC   AND   CELTIC  BRITAIN 

Prehistoric  Inhabitants— The  Ivernians — The  Celts — First  Civilised  Visitors — 
Csesar's  Expeditions. 

In  prehistoric  times  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  formed  part  of  a  large 
peninsula  which  stretched  out  into  the  Atlantic  from  the  northern  shores  of 
France  and  Belgium.  In  those  days  the  extremes  of  tempera-    primeval 
ture  were  much  greater  than  they  are  at  present,  and  con-    ^"^»'"- 
sequently  this  peninsula  was  inhabited  during  the  warm  season  by  the 
hippopotamus,  the  bison,  and  the  mammoth,  and  in  the  cold  weather 
by  the  lemming,  the  reindeer,  and    the  musk -sheep.     Among  the 
remains  of  these  creatures,  found  in  the  river  deposits  of  the  valley  of 
the   Thames,   Hint   tools   made  by  the  hand   of  man   are  occasionally 
discovered.      The  makers  of  these  tools  were   in  the  lowest  state  of 
civilisation,  for  they  were  unable  to  construct  handles  for   primitive 
their  sharpened  flints,  and  had  to  hold  them  in  their  hands.    ^ "habitants. 
Their  lot  was  in  every  way   a  hard   one,  and   their  livelihood   most 
precarious,   and   they   seem  to  have  disappeared  along  with  the  now 
extinct  animals  among  whom  they  lived.     Their  place  was  taken  by  a 
somewhat  superior  race,  who  used  flints  of  a  better  shape,  and  fitted  them 
into  handles  which  they  manufactured  out  of  wood  or  bone,    palaeolithic 
They  had  also  considerable  artistic  skill,  which  they  showed    ^^"* 
in  ornamenting  these  weapons  with  spirited  illustrations  of  the  beasts 
they  slew  in  the  chase.      Nevertheless,  they  were  in  a  very  low  state 
of  culture,  for  they  took  no  care  of  their  dead ;  and,  though  they  could 
clothe  themselves  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts  sewn  together  by  means 
of  sinew  threads,  they  had  no  domestic  animals  and  knew  nothing  of  the 
arts  of  spinning  and  weaving. 

Years  passed  away,  and,  after  a  period  of  time  of  which  it  is  impossible 
to  form  any  trustworthy   calculation,  this  race,  like  its  predecessors, 

3 


4  Prehistoric  Britain 

disappeared  for  ever  from  Britain,  and  is  only  represented  in  our  day  by 
tli3  Eskimos,  who  have  something  of  its  artistic  skill  and  exhibit  the  same 
indifference  in  dealing  with  the  bodies  of  their  dead.  To  both  these 
races  archaeologists  give  the  name  of  Palaeolithic  or  old  stone  men  ;  and 
they  describe  the  former  as  River-drift  men,  and  the  latter  as  Cave-men. 
Their  place  was  taken  by  a  third  race  who  came  from  the  south-east,  and 
Neolithic  brought  with  them  most  of  the  domestic  animals  that  are 
^®"*  now  in  use,  such  as  the  dog,  ox,  pig,  sheep,  and  goat ;  they 

were  also  acquainted  with  the  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  but  in  con- 
sequence of  the  imperfection  of  their  tools  these  were  only  practised  by 
them  in  a  very  rude  form.  Before  the  date  of  their  arrival,  owing  to 
the  sinking  of  the  land,  the  ocean  had  overflowed  the  lower  levels,  and 
had  formed  the  British  Channel,  the  Irish  Sea,  and  the  German  Ocean, 
so  that  they  must  have  had  some  knowledge  of  navigation ;  while  the 
discovery  of  their  flint  works  at  Brandon  and  elsewhere  proves  that  they 
had  considerable  skill  in  excavation  and  mining.  To  this  comparatively 
civilised  people  archaeologists  give  the  name  of  Neolithic  or  newer  stone 
men.  They  buried  their  dead  with  great  care,  making  a  chamber  of  flat 
stones  in  which  they  placed  the  body,  and  erecting  over  it  a  pile  of  earth 
or  of  stones,  which  naturally  assumed  an  elliptic  shape,  not  unlike  a  pear 
cut  in  half  lengthwise  and  placed  with  its  flat  surface  downwards.  These 
burial-places  are  known  as  loiig  barrows.  From  the  remains  found  in  them 
a  good  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  appearance  and  physique  of  the  Neolithic 
men.  In  stature  they  were  short,  the  height  of  the  men  averaging  not 
more  than  five  feet  five  inches,  and  in  complexion  they  were  swarthy. 
The  colour  of  their  hair,  which  was  curly,  was  black  ;  and  their  eyes,  it 
is  believed,  were  dark.  Their  skulls,  if  looked  at  from  above,  were  oval ; 
their  faces,  too,  had  the  same  shape,  the  forehead  being  low,  the  chin 
small,  and  the  cheek-bones  not  protruding. 

For  how  long  a  period  the  Neolithic  men  of  this  race  remained  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  these  lands  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  ;  but, 
having  regard  to  the  great  geological  changes  that  took  place  in  their 
time,  it  must  have  been  very  considerable.  At  length,  however,  their 
settlements  were  invaded  by  a  set  of  new-comers  who,  by  reason  of 
strength,  numbers,  or  skill,  were  able  to  drive  out  the  older  race  and  to 
take  forcible  possession  of  the  districts  where  game  was  the  most  plentiful 
The  Celtic  ^^  where  agriculture  was  most  productive.  The  new-comers 
Invasion,  g^j.^  known  as  Celts.  They  were  the  advanced  guard  of  a 
group  of  nations  who  have  played  a  most  important  part  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  and  are  known  to  ethnologists  as  the  Aryan  family.  The 
terms  Aryan  and  Celt  are  quite  diff'erent  from  Palaeolithic  and  Neolithic. 


The  Aryans  5 

The  former  are  race  names,  while  the  latter  simply  denote  a  state  of 
civilisation.  For  a  time  both  the  Celts  and  the  people  they  displaced 
were  in  the  Neolithic  stage,  and  consequently  when  it  is  needful  to 
distinguish  between  them  it  is  usual  to  employ  some  other  term.  For 
this  reason  we  designate  the  older  race  by  the  name  of  Iberians  or 
Ivernians.  The  Ivernians  are  the  oldest  race  which  has 
taken  any  part  in  forming  the  blood  of  the  present  European 
population.  As  a  separate  nationality  they  are  only  represented  at  most 
by  the  Basques  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  there  is  some  doubt  even  about  this. 
It  is,  however,  certain  that  at  one  time  they  were  spread  over  all  Europe 
west  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Rhone,  and  over  Switzerland  ;  and  their  blood 
has  largely  mingled  with  that  of  their  Aryan  conquerors.  Where  the 
Aryans  came  from  is  a  matter  of  great  dispute.  Some  cling  to  the  theory 
that  the  original  home  of  the  race  was  in  Central  Asia,  on 
the  upland  slopes  which  lead  to  the  Himalayas ;  others 
believe  that  the  true  mother-land  is  to  be  found  near  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic,  on  the  flats  of  Pomerania,  or  among  the  marshes  of  Sweden. 
However  this  may  be,  the  Aryans  have  now  established  themselves  in 
all,  or  almost  all,  the  temperate  regions  of  the  globe  ;  for  there  belong  to 
this  race  not  only  the  main  stock  of  the  Persians,  Greeks,  and  Romans 
of  the  ancient  world,  but  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Hindoos,  and 
of  modern  Europeans,  the  French,  Spaniards,  Germans,  Slavs,  and 
Italians,  besides  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles  and  their  descendants 
in  America,  South  Africa,  and  Australia.  Climate  and  the  continual 
mingling  of  their  blood  with  that  of  other  races  have  long  since  modi- 
fied the  aspect  of  the  Aryans,  and  made  it  very  hard  to  say  which  of 
these  nations  has  preserved  most  of  the  original  characteristics  of  the 
stock. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  two  races.  The  Celts 
were  light  of  limb  and  tall  of  stature,  having  indeed  an  average  height 
of  five  feet  eight  inches,  or  three  inches  taller  than  that  of  the  Ivemian 
men.  The  outline  of  their  skulls,  viewed  from  the  same 
position,  was  round.  Their  foreheads  were  high,  their 
cheek-bones  prominent,  and  their  eyes,  it  is  believed,  were  blue.  Like 
the  Neolithic  men,  the  Celts  were  in  the  habit  of  burying  their  dead 
with  reverence  ;  but,  unlike  them,  they  covered  the  grave  with  a  barrow 
shaped  like  a  cone  or  a  bell.  Some  of  the  bronze-using  men,  however, 
made  a  practice  of  burning  their  dead,  and  the  two  methods  of  burial 
were  apparently  carried  on  side  by  side.  This  difierence  of  practice 
may  have  been  caused  by  a  difference  in  religion,  or  possibly  the  reason 
may  be  connected  with  the  arrival  of  a  new  race.     The  language  of  the 


6  Celtic  Britain 

Aryans,  which  is  represented  not  only  by  those  of  the  nations  mentioned 
above,  but  also  by  Sanskrit  and  Latin  and  Greek,  is  very  different  in 
structure  both  from  Basque,  which  is  the  modern  representative  of 
Ivernian,  and  also  from  Hebrew  and  Arabic,  which  belong  to  the 
Semitic  family.  For  example,  the  first  four  numerals  in  Welsh  are  im, 
dau,  tri,  in  Greek  they  are  eis,  duo,  tris,  and  in  Sanskrit  eka,  dir,  tr% 
while  in  Basque  they  are  bat,  hi,  hirii. 

When  the  pioneers  of  the  Celtic  race  invaded  Britain  they  had  almost 
brought  to  a  close  their  contest  with  the  Ivernians  of  the  continent, 

Celtic  Con-  having  compelled   them  to   evacuate  the  north  of  Italy, 

quest.  almost  the   whole   of  Gaul,   and  much   of    the    Spanish 

Peninsula.  This  contest,  which  occupied  a  very  considerable  period, 
took  place  at  a  time  when  the  Celts  were  passing  through  a  transition 
stage  in  civilisation  ;  for  whereas  at  the  beginning  of  their  invasions  they 
were  using  practically  the  same  stone  weapons  as  their  antagonists,  at  its 
close  they  had  adopted  weapons  of  bronze  of  an  ancient  Mediterranean 
type.  The  importance  of  this  change  is  obvious  ;  for  not  only  did  their 
better  weapons  give  the  bronze-using  men  an  enormous  superiority  over 
those  who  had  nothing  more  effective  than  stone,  but  also  in  the  unending 
struggle  with  nature  man  acquired  a  most  valuable  reinforcement  of 
aggressive  power.  Hitherto,  though  Neolithic  man  had  possessed  some 
acquaintance  with  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  and  knew  the  valuable 
properties  of  some  of  the  herbs  and  vegetables  which  we  now  use  at  table, 
agriculture  on  a  large  scale  had  been  impracticable.  But  the  introduc- 
tion of  metal  tools  revolutionised  the  farmer's  life.  Henceforward  the 
axe  became  more  efiicient,  the  spade  and  the  plough  became  possible  ; 
forests  could  be  felled,  fens  could  be  drained,  wastes  could  be  cultivated, 
and  the  age  when  nature,  which  was  formerly  the  tyrant,  became  the 
handmaid  of  man  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  begun.  Whether  the  in- 
vading Celts  met  with  much  resistance  at  the  hands  of  the  older  inhabi- 
tants of  the  island,  or  whether  the  stone-using  men  at  once  recognised 
the  hopelessness  of  the  contest,  has  not  been  determined  ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  remains  of  both  races  are  to  be  found  in  the  same  barrows, 
at  any  rate  in  France,  and  that  skeletons  combining  the  characteristics 
of  both  bear  evidence  of  intermarriage. 

After  the  lapse  of  some  time  a  new  swarm  of  Celts  made  their  appear- 
ance in  Britain  and  drove  the  older  settlers  before  them,  as  they,  at  an 
earlier  date,  had  displaced  the  Ivernians.  The  result  of  this  was  to 
cause  a  westerly  movement  of  the  whole  population,  in  the  course  of 
which,  if  not  before,  the  older  race  of  Celts  made  their  way  into  Ireland. 
The  Ivernians  were  driven  into  the  west  of  that  country  and  into  the 


330  B.C.  Fytheas'  Voyage  7 

north  of  Scotland,  and,  probably  being  unable  to  maintain  their  independ- 
ence, and  impelled  by  the  fear  of  a  new  danger,  made  common  cause  with 
their  old  antagonists  against  a  common  foe.     It  is  not  thought  that  there 
was  any  marked  difference  in  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  Celts,  new 
and  old ;  but  they  spoke  different  though  kindred  languages,  and  at  a  later 
date  it  is  possible  to  tell  by  a  study  of  their  inscriptions  and  of  their  place- 
names  which  parts  of  the  country  were  inhabited  by  each. 
It  is  usual  to  speak  of  the  older  Celts  as  Goidels,  Gaedels, 
or  Gaels,  and  of  the  newer  as  Brythons  or  Britons.     The  name  Brython 
probably  means  clothed  ;  the  meaning  of  Goidel  is  unknown. 
It  is  from  the  Brythons  that  the  name  of  Britain  is  derived ; 
but  the  oldest  name  of  the  island  is  Albion,  the  origin  of  which,  how- 
ever, is  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 

Meanwhile,  the  existence  of  the  islands  had  become  an  object  of 
interest  to  the  civilised  races  which  dwelt  round  the  Mediterranean. 
The  necessity  of  securing  a  constant  supply  of  tin  forced  Massiiian 
the  bronze-using  nations  of  antiquity  to  search  in  all  direc-  Discoveries, 
tions  for  that  metal,  and  produced  a  keen  rivalry  for  the  possession  of 
those  districts  where  it  could  be  found  in  the  greatest  abundance. 
Amongst  these  the  Spanish  Peninsula  was  famous,  and  it  was  early 
monopolised  by  the  merchants  of  Tyre  and,  on  the  decline  of  that  city, 
by  its  colony  Carthage,  which  made  the  rigid  exclusion  of  all  rivals  a 
matter  of  unvarying  policy.  Such  jealous  exclusiveness  naturally  pro- 
voked reprisals,  and  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ, 
when  Alexander  was  in  the  midst  of  his  Asiatic  conquests,  the  Romans 
sent  an  ambassador  to  the  Greek  colony  of  Massilia  (Marseilles)  to 
inquire  whether  the  merchants  there  could  tell  them  anything  as  to  the 
possibility  of  opening  up  a  trade  with  the  tin-producing  countries  of  the 
north-west.  The  Massilians  could  tell  the  Romans  little  or  nothing  ;  but, 
their  own  curiosity  having  been  aroused,  they  fitted  out  two  expeditions, 
one  of  which  was  to  explore  the  coast  of  Africa  southwards  ;  the  other, 
passing  by  Cadiz,  the  most  westerly  of  the  old  Phoenician  settlements, 
was  to  make  its  way  to  the  northwards  in  hopes  of  finding  new  stores  of 
tin,  and  also  of  discovering  the  situation  of  the  coast  whence  from  time 
immemorial  large  quantities  of  amber  had  been  carried  overland  to  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic.  Pytheas,  who  took  command  of  the  latter  fleet, 
was  a  man  of  science  who  gained  a  great  reputation  by  accurately  cal- 
culating the  latitude  of  Massilia,  and  also  by  explaining  the  causes  of 
the  tides  ;  and  it  is  from  his  own  pen  that  we  learn  what  is  known  of 
the  expedition  in  which  he  bore  so  distinguished  a  part.  Unhappily, 
his  original  work  has  been  lost ;  but  so  great  was  his  reputation  that 


8  Celtic  Britain  330  B.C. 

almost  all  the  Greek  and  Roman  geographies  contain  quotations  from 
it,  so  that  a  considerable  number  of  fragments  have  in  this  way  been 
preserved. 

After  calling  at  Cadiz,  Pytheas  made  his  way  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Loire,  and  thence,  without  attempting  to  land  in  what  is  now  called 
Voyage  of  Cornwall,  of  whose  wealth  in  tin  he  appears  to  have  been 
Pytheas.  ignorant,  continued  his  voyage  to  the  coast  of  Kent,  and, 
landing  there,  was  probably  the  first  civilised  man  who  set  foot  on  the 
shores  of  Britain.  He  seems  to  have  reached  the  island  in  early  spring, 
and  remained  there  till  the  summer,  when  he  set  sail  in  search  of  the 
amber-coast,  and  is  thought  by  some  to  have  penetrated  the  Baltic  as  far 
east  as  the  mouth  of  the  Vistula ;  he  also  followed  the  coast  of  Norway 
till  he  found  himself  within  the  Arctic  circle,  where  the  sun  ceases  to  set, 
but  '  revolves  from  west  to  east  and  shines  through  the  whole  summer's 
night.'  At  this  point  he  changed  his  course  and  returned  to  the  coast 
of  Britain,  which  he  followed  southwards  as  far  as  Kent.  After  a  short 
rest  he  sailed  for  home,  and,  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Garonne,  made 
his  way  to  Marseilles  by  land.  Unfortunately,  Pytheas  was  not  versed 
in  ethnology,  so  he  does  not  tell  us  much  that  we  should  like  to  know 
about  the  distribution  of  the  races  of  Britain,  and  his  chief  inquiries 
were  doubtless  about  the  supply  of  tin.  He  tells  us,  however,  of  the 
abundance  of  grain  which  he  observed  in  the  fields  ;  of  the  peculiar 
but  pleasant  drink  which  the  islanders  made  by  mixing  wheat  and 
honey,  in  much  later  ages  known  to  their  Welsh  descendants  under  the 
name  of  metheglin  ;  of  their  threshing-floors  roofed  in  to  provide  against 
changes  of  weather  ;  and  of  a  species  of  beer. 

Though  there  is  no  written  authority  for  the  fact,  it  is  believed  that 
the  explorations  of  Pytheas  led  to  the  opening  up  of  a  trade  between 
Marseilles  and  the  north,  the  staples  of  which  were  British  tin  and 
Baltic  amber ;  and  this  theory  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  the  earliest 
Greek  coins  found  in  the  island  belong  to  the  age  of  Alexander.  About 
two  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Pytheas,  Britain  was 
visited  by  Posidonius  of  Rhodes,  who  in  his  old  age  was  the 
tutor  of  Cicero  and  possibly  of  Julius  Caesar.  He  made  his  way  as 
far  west  as  Cornwall,  and  describes  how  the  natives  brought  the  tin  in 
wagons  as  far  as  the  island  of  Ictis,^  where  it  was  carried  on  board  the 
ships  of  the  Gallic  merchants,  who  transported  it  to  Portus  Itius.^ 
There  it  was  placed  upon  the  backs  of  pack-horses  for  conveyance  to 
the   Rhone,  down  which  it   was  carried  in  boats  to  Marseilles.      This 

1  Ictis  is  generally  thought  to  he  Isle  of  Thanet,  and  Portus  Itius  is  taken  to 
be  Boulogne. 


55  B.C.  Ccesar's  Invasions  9 

long  journey  with  its  many  changes  points  to  a  very  considerable 
degree  of  civilisation  along  the  route  and  of  a  widespread  commercial 
spirit. 

Meanwhile,  the  steady  pressure  of  the  Germans  from  across  the  Rhine 
caused  the  Celts  of  Gaul  to  continue  their  westerly  movement,  and  the 
Belgse,  a  tribe  who  dwelt  between  the  Seine  and  the  Scheldt, 
began  to  send  colonies  across  the  Channel  and  to  dispossess 
the  Brythons  of  southern  Britain.  The  main  settlement  of  the  Belg?e 
took  place  during  the  earlier  half  of  the  first  century  before  Christ,  but 
it  is  possible  that  some  of  them  may  have  made  their  way  over  at  an 
even  earlier  date. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  restlessness  of  the  Belga?  was  connected 
with  the  conquests  that  the   Eomans  were   at   this    time   making  in 
the  south  of    Gaul.       The  first  serious   attempt  of   the    Advanc 
Romans  to  conquer  Gaul  was  made  in  the  year  118   B.C.    of  the 
By  that  date  the  Roman  dominion  had  been  established 
throughout  Italy,  Spain,  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  including  Greece,  the 
coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  and  over  all  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.     It 
was  only  necessary  for  them  to  conquer  Gaul  to  make  themselves  masters 
of  the  whole  of  the  northern  shores  of  that  great  inland  sea. 

For  fifty  years,  however,  they  confined  their  operations  to  the  coast, 
for  their  first  object  was  the  completion  of  a  great  military  road  between 
Italy  and  Spain  along  the  route  formerly  followed  by  Hannibal  in  his 
famous  march  ;  and  they  had  also  much  ado  to  defend  their  new  province 
from  the  attacks  of  wandering  bodies  of  Teutons,  who  from  time  to  time 
attempted  to  make  settlements  in  the  Roman  territories.  However,  in  the 
year  58  B.C.,  Julius  Caesar,  the  greatest  of  all  the  Romans,  was  sent  to  Gaul, 
and,  after  severe  fighting,  he  carried  the  Roman  arms  triumphant  over 
the  whole  of  modern  France.  He  found,  however,  that  there  would  be 
little  chance  of  permanent  tranquillity  while  on  the  one  hand  the  eastern 
frontier  was  in  terror  of  a  renewal  of  the  German  invasions,  and  on  the 
other  the  Belgaa  of  northern  Gaul  could  hope  for  assistance  from  their 
kinsmen  across  the  British  Channel.  Accordingly,  in  the  casar's  first 
year  55  B.C.,  he  determined  to  demonstrate  to  both  the  invasion. 
Germans  and  the  Britons  the  invincibility  of  the  Roman  arms.  He 
struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Germans  by  suddenly  throwing  a 
bridge  across  the  swift-rushing  Rhine  and  appearing  in  force  amidst 
the  forests  of  Germany  ;  and  then,  withdrawing  his  legions  with  equal 
rapidity,  he  appeared  upon  the  shores  of  the  Channel  and  embarked  his 
troops  for  an  invasion  of  Britain.  With  ten  thousand  foot  soldiers  he 
sailed  from  the  Portus  Itius  and  made  his  way  to  where  the  white  cliiFs  of 


1 0  Celtic  Britain  64  B.C. 

Dover  could  be  seen  upon  the  horizon.  Having  with  some  difficulty  eflfected 
a  landing,  the  Romans  found  the  Britons  not  unwilling  to  treat  and  even 
to  give  hostages.  However,  the  sudden  destruction  of  the  Roman  fleet 
by  a  storm  encouraged  the  Britons  to  further  resistance,  and  it  was  only 
after  having  been  defeated  in  an  attempt  to  storm  the  Roman  camp  that 
they  offered  terms.  Csesar,  who  had  repaired  his  ships,  and  perhaps  found 
the  enterprise  to  be  more  serious  than  he  had  anticipated,  decided  to  accept 
Caesar's  ^^^^e,  and  forthwith  returned  to  Gaul.  The  next  year, 
second  having  provided  a  larger  fleet  and  more  suitable  vessels,  he 
returned,  and,  landing  without  opposition,  stormed  an  en- 
trenched camp  of  the  Britons  situated  about  twelve  miles  from  the  place 
of  his  landing.  Again  time  was  lost  in  repairing  the  damages  done  by  a 
storm,  and  this  gave  the  Britons  opportunity  to  organise  an  alliance  under 
the  leadership  of  Cassivellaunus,  chief  of  the  Catuvelauni,  whose  stronghold 
was  an  entrenched  camp  believed  to  have  been  situated  not  far  from  St. 
Albans.  In  the  face  of  the  enemy  Caesar  crossed  the  Thames,  and 
marched  against  the  allies.  On  the  road,  however,  the  Romans,  as 
was  their  custom,  contrived  to  sow  dissension  among  their  opponents, 
and  one  tribe  of  the  Trinobantes,  who  lived  in  what  is  now  called  Essex, 
deserted  Cassivellaunus  and  ranged  itself  on  the  side  of  Caesar.  The 
Romans  then  stormed  the  camp,  and  the  British  leader,  finding  that  a 
diversion  which  he  had  planned,  by  directing  the  four  chiefs  of  Kent  to 
attack  the  ships,  had  been  repulsed  by  the  Roman  guard,  determined  to 
send  in  his  submission.  His  proposals  were  well  received,  and  Caesar, 
whose  object  had  been  accomplished  by  the  submission  of  the  Britons, 
and  who  was  not  prepared  to  undertake  the  conquest  of  the  country, 
returned  home,  and  left  the  brave  islanders  in  peace. 

In  his  celebrated  narrative  of  the  Gallic  war,  from  which  this  account 
,   ^      has  been  taken,  Caesar  gives  a  description  of  Britain.     In  this 

Caesar's  De-  '  ,     .         . 

scription  of  he  speaks  of  its  large  population,  its  numerous  houses,  built 
"  ^^"'  almost  in  the  Gaulish  fashion,  and  of  the  large  herds  of  cattle. 
Tin,  he  tells  us,  was  common,  but  iron  was  scarce,  and  bronze  had  to  be 
imported,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  working  of  copper  was  as  yet 
unknown.  Of  the  trees  common  in  Gaul  the  beech  and  the  pine  alone 
were  wanting  ;  and  Caesar  noticed  that  the  climate  was  more  temperate 
than  that  of  Gaul,  the  cold  being  less  severe.  The  inhabitants  of  Kent 
he  found  to  be  the  most  civilised,  for  some  of  the  tribes  of  the  interior 
sowed  no  corn,  but  lived  on  milk  and  flesh,  and  clothed  themselves  in 
skins.  All  of  them,  however,  painted  themselves  with  woad  to  present 
a  more  horrible  appearance  in  battle,  all  wore  their  hair  long,  and  shaved 
their  faces  except  the  upper  lip.      In  their  warfare  the  most  striking 


54  B.C.  Distribution  of  Inhabitants  1 1 

feature  was  the  employment  of  war-chariots,  with  which  their  warriors 
did  not  charge  among  the  ranks,  but  galloped  along  the  front  of  the 
enemy's  lines,  and,  when  they  perceived  a  weak  place,  flung  themselves 
into  it  and  fought  on  foot.  Meanwhile,  the  charioteers  awaited  at  a 
convenient  distance  the  result  of  the  conflict,  and,  if  their  comrades  were 
defeated,  were  ready  to  take  them  up  and  either  make  a  retreat  or  seek 
a  fresh  point  for  attack. 

The  religion  of  the  Britons,  which  Caesar  tells  us  had  been  adopted  by 
the  continental  Celts,  was  Druidism.  The  Druids  were  an  order  of 
priests  who  exercised  a  paramount  influence  over  their 
followers.  'They  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  which,  they  believed,  had  a  tendency  to  inspire  men  with 
courage  by  making  them  indifi'erent  to  death.  They  also  devoted  much 
thought  to  astronomy,  to  the  magnitude  of  the  universe  and  of  the  earth, 
to  the  nature  of  things,  to  the  power  and  prerogatives  of  the  immortiil 
gods  ;  and  their  learning  they  taught  to  the  young  men.*  Some  of  their 
rites  were  utterly  barbarous,  and  they  did  not  scruple  to  offer  human 
sacrifices.  The  influence  that  Druidism  exercised  over  its  followers  was 
immense,  for  it  is  thought  that  it  was  under  the  direction  of  its  votaries 
that  the  tremendous  undertaking  of  collecting  and  placing  in  position 
the  huge  blocks  of  stone  which  form  the  mighty  monument  of  Stone- 
henge  and  other  similar  works  was  carried  out. 

Ciiesar  made  no  scientific  distinction  between  the  races  of  Britain  ;  but 
modern  research  has  decided  that,  speaking  generally,  the  distribution  of 
Brythons,  Goidels,  and  Ivernians  was  as  follows : — Except   Ethnology 
the  south-eastern  counties,  inhabited  by  the  Belgoe,  the  great   °^  Britain, 
part  of  southern  Britain  was  occupied  by  Celts  of  the  Brythonic  type, 
who  touched  the  southern  shores  of  the  Bristol  Channel, 
occupied  a  wedge  of  country  between  North  and  South 
Wales,  afterwards  known  as  Powys,  the  district  between  the  Dee  and 
Morecambe  Bay,  and  extended  northward  across  the  friths 
as  far  as  Loch  Earn.    This  left  South  and  North  Wales,- 
the  Lake  district,  the  Western  Lowlands,  and  the  low-lying  lands  north 
of  the  Forth  in  the  hands  of  the  Goidels,  who  also  occupied 
the  islands  of  Mona  and  Man,  and  all  that  part  of  the 
British  isles  which  was  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Ivernians.     It  is  impos- 
sible to  say  how  far  the  Ivernians  existed  as  an  independent 
people.      It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  pressure  of  the 
Brythons  on  the  Goidelic  Celts  had  led  to  a  fusion  of  the  latter  with 
the  Ivernians.     A  century  later  Tacitus  mentions  that  in  his  day  the 
Silures  of  South  Wales  presented  an  appearance  different  from  that  of 


12  Celtic  Britain 

the  other  Britons,  and  speaks  of  the  olive  tincture  of  their  skin  and 
the  natural  curl  of  their  hair  as  distinguishing  them  from  the  ruddy- 
haired  Celts  north  of  the  Wall.  From  this  it  is  probable  that  the 
inhabitants  of  South  Wales  had  received  a  large  infusion  of  Ivernian 
blood.  North  of  the  Firth  of  Clyde  and  the  Tay,  it  is  probable  that  the 
Goidels  had  not  established  themselves  more  than  along  the  Eastern 
Lowlands,  and  that  the  Highlands,  so  far  as  they  were  inhabited  at  all, 
were  still  in  the  hands  of  an  Ivernian  population. 

The  conclusions  arrived  at  from  time  to  time  with  regard  to  the  difficult 
but  interesting  question  of  the  distribution  of  the  early  inhabitants  of 
Britain  depend  upon  a  variety  of  evidence.  This  is  supplied  by  archaeology, 
ethnology,  place-names  and  inscriptions  ;  and  the  deductions  drawn  are 
liable  to  modification  from  time  to  time,  as  further  information  makes 
possible  a  more  exact  approximation  to  the  truth. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

B.C. 

Visit  of  PytHeas,        .... 

c.  330 

Csesar's  invasions  of  Britain,     . 

65  and  54 

CHAPTEE   II 


BRITAIN   UNDER  THE  ROMANS 


Roman  Conquest  of  Britain— Introductiou  of  Roman  Civilisation— Causes  of  the 
Withdrawal  of  the  Romans. 

After  Caesar's  invasion,  Britain  was  left  in  peace  by  the  Romans,  partly 
because  their  attention  was  absorbed  by  the  civil  wars  which  preceded 
the  establishment  of  the  Empire,  partly  because  after  the  restoration  of 
tranquillity  it  was  the  policy  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius  not  to  engage  in 
wars  of  aggression.     For  nearly  a  century  a  Roman  force  was  not  seen  in 
Britain,  and  during  this  interval  the  Britons  made  much  progress  in  the 
arts  of  peace.     Trade  with  Gaul  flourished,  and  the  coins  of  this  period 
give  evidence  of  the  ingenuity  and  wealth  of  the  inhabitants.     However, 
in  the  year  43,  Tiberius  Claudius  (41-54  a.d.},  the  fourth   ^j^j^^ 
Emperor,  determined  to  annex  Britain,  and  sent  Aulus    Roman  in- 
Plautius  to  eflect  its  subjugation.     Plautius  found  the  chief 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  children  of  Cunobelinus,  who  appears  to  have 
been  a  grandson  of  Cassivellaunus  and  to  have  succeeded  to  his  position. 
The  names  of  his  sons  were  Togodumnus  and  Caractacus.    auIus 
Aulus  Plautius,  who  had  serving  under  him  the  famous   Pia"^>"s. 
Vespasian  and  his  son  Titus,  defeated  the  islanders  in  a  battle  in  which 
Togodumnus  was  killed  ;  and  thereupon  Caractacus  betook  himself  to  the 
Silures,  who  lived  among  the  mountains  and  moorlands  of  South  Wales, 
and  who  were  probably  largely  Ivernians.    This  success  led  the  way  to  the 
conquest  of  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the  island,  and  Claudius  himself 
came  over  to  be  present  at  the  reduction  of  Camulodunum  (Colchester), 
where  Ostorius  Scapula,  the  next  governor,  founded  a  Roman   ostorius 
colony.     His  next  step  was  to  march  against  Caractacus,    Scapula, 
who  had  been  taken  as  king  by  the  warlike  Silures.    Him  he  defeated  and 
sent  prisoner  to  Rome  ;  but  he  was  unable  to  effect  the  subjugation  of  the 
mountaineers,  and  had  to  content  himself  for  the  present  with  bridling  their 
territory  with  a  line  of  forts  stretching  from  the  Usk  to  the  Dee,  the 

13 


14  Roman  Britain  43  A.D. 

chief  of  which  were  Caerleon  and  Chester.  The  next  governor,  Suetonius 
Paullinus,  made  an  attack  upon  the  island  of  Mona,  now  called  Anglesea, 

Suetonius  then  the  headquarters  of  the  Druids,  whom  the  Romans 
au  inus.  rigiitly  regarded  as  the  centre  of  national  resistance.  In  the 
battle  which  ensued  the  Britons  fought  with  unexampled  fury,  even  the 
women  mingling  in  the  fray,  and  the  Druids  themselves  struck  terror  into 
the  soldiers  by  the  violence  of  their  imprecations ;  but  at  length  Roman 
discipline  carried  the  day,  the  Druids  were  massacred,  and  the  sacred 
altars  and  groves  were  burnt  to  the  ground.  Meanwhile  the  unaccustomed 
exactions  of  the  Roman  tax-collectors  had  roused  the  resentment  of  the 
high-spirited  Celts.  Moreover,  they  were  indignant  at  the  monstrous 
treatment  received  by  Boadicea  and  her  daughters,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  they  had  been  specially  commended  to  the  kind  treatment  of  the 
Romans  by  her  husband,  the  late  king  of  the  Iceni.     Accordingly,  the 

Revolt  of     Britons  took  advantage  of  the  governor's  absence  in  Mona 

Boadicea.  ^^  break  out  into  open  revolt.  Camulodunum  was  stormed, 
and  it  is  said  that  70,000  Romans  fell  victims  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
infuriated  Britons.  Suetonius,  however,  was  prompt  to  return  ;  against 
the  trained  skill  of  the  legions  the  valour  of  the  Britons  only  served  to 
swell  the  number  of  the  slain  ;  and  though  numbers  of  the  rebels  con- 
tinued under  arms,  the  new  province  was  saved  to  the  Empire.  Boadicea, 
scorning  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  her  oppressors,  saved  herself  by  suicide. 

The  next  important  governor  of  Britain  was  Agricola,  an  old  officer  of 

Suetonius,  and  the  father-in-law  of  the  historian  Tacitus,  who  has  handed 

,     .    ,        down  to  us  a  valuable  narrative  of  his  career.    On  his  arrival 
Agncola. 

he  found  that  his  immediate  predecessor,  Frontinus,  had 

subjugated  the  Silures.  So  he  turned  his  attention  to  their  neighbours 
the  Ordovices,  a  Brythonic  race  who  lived  in  what  is  now  Central  Wales  ; 
and  after  conquering  them  he  passed  on  to  attack  Mona.  By  causing 
his  auxiliary  soldiers  to  swim  across  the  straits  he  appears  to  have 
surprised  the  defenders,  and  the  surrender  of  the  island  immediately 
followed.  '  Agricola,'  says  Tacitus,  '  was  an  excellent  ruler  ' ;  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  past  events,  and  knew  *  that  conquest,  while  it  loads 
the  vanquished  with  injury  and  oppression,  can  never  be  secure  and 
permanent.'  He  determined,  therefore,  to  remove  the  seeds  of  future 
hostility.  '  For  this  purpose  he  reformed  abuses  in  the  army  ;  made 
promotion  strictly  a  matter  of  merit ;  arranged  that  the  forced  contribu- 
tions to  the  maintenance  of  the  army  should  be  as  little  irksome  as 
possible,'  and  was  so  successful  that  after  his  time  the  Britons  are 
described  as  '  willingly  supplying  the  army  with  new  levies,  paying  their 
tribute  without  a  murmur,  and  performing  all  the  services  of  government 


410  Walls  J  TownSy  and  Roads  16 

with  alacrity,  provided  they  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  oppression. 
When  injured  their  resentment  was  quick,  sudden,  and  impatient ;  they 
were  conquered,  not  broken  ;  reduced  to  obedience,  not  reduced  to  slavery.' 
Agricola  also  encouraged  and  even  aided  the  Britons  to  erect  temples, 
courts  of  justice,  and  commodious  dwelling-houses  ;  he  encouraged  the 
use  of  Latin,  and  in  fact  did  all  he  could  to  Romanise  the  natives.     The 
Brigantes,  who  occupied  the  territory  north  of  the  Humber,  having  been 
already  conquered,  Agricola  carried  the  Roman  arms  across    g^^^jg  ^^ 
the   Cheviots,  and  even  across  the   Tay  ;   but  though  he    Mons 
beat   the  Caledonians   at    the   battle   of    Mons   Graupius, 
between  the  Tay  and  the  Islay,  he  contented  himself  with   fixing  the 
Roman  frontier  between  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde,  and   Agricola's 
in  81  defended  it  by  erecting  a  series  of  forts.     Agricola   l^o^s. 
was  of  opinion  that  a  conquest  of  Ireland  would  have  been  both  useful 
and  easy,  but  was  recalled  before  he  had  time  to  caiTy  his  plan  into  efiect. 

In  121,  while  on  a  visit  to  Britain,  the  Emperor  Hadrian  gave  orders 
for  the  building  of  a  stone  wall  from  the  mouth  of  the  Eden   to 
that  of  the   Tyne.      This  fortification   was   strengthened    Hadrian's 
by  succeeding  commanders  till  ultimately  it  consisted  of  ^*^'- 
a  stone  wall  to  the  north,  an  earthwork  to  the  south,  and  a  series  of 
forts  between  them. 

South  of  this  line  of  demarcation  the  Romans  set  themselves  the  task 
of  creating  a  civilised  Britain,  as  they  had  already  created  a  civilised  Gaul 
and  a  civilised  Spain.  In  the  first  place  they  secured  a  complete  military 
ascendancy  by  occupying  all  the  old  duns  or  natural  fortifications  which 
had  already  been  selected  by  the  Britons,  and  fortifying  Roman 
them  after  their  own  fashion,  selecting  the  most  important  Towns, 
of  them  as  sites  of  future  towns,  and  connecting  these  by  a  series  of 
first-rate  military  roads.  Of  the  towns  the  most  noteworthy  are  London, 
situated  at  the  lowest  point  on  the  Thames  where  the  river  is  sufficiently 
narrow  to  be  bridged,  and  where  there  was  also  a  firm  bank  suitable  for  un- 
lading merchandise  ;  York,  at  the  junction  of  the  Foss  and  the  Ouse,  the 
centre  of  the  great  plain  of  the  north  ;  Lincoln,  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
low  ridge  that  bounds  the  Trent  valley  towards  the  east ;  Chester,  which 
commands  the  lowest  crossing-place  of  the  Dee ;  Uriconium,  on  the  Severn ; 
Caerleon-upon-Usk  ;  and  Bath,  even  then  celebrated  for  its  hot  springs. 

The  main  trunk  roads  were  four  in  number.     First,  the  Watling 
Street,    which,    setting    out    from    Dover,    crossed    the      Military 
Thames  at  London,  and  then  turning  north-west,  made      watifng 
its  way  to  Chester  along  a  line  not  very  difierent  from  that      street 
followed    in    our    own     day    by    the    London    and    North  -  Western 


16  Roman  Britain  « 

Railway,  taking  in   Uriconium  on  its  route ;    second,  the  Fosseway, 
Fossewa      ^^^^^j   starting   from   Falmouth,  crossed   the  country  to 
Lincoln,  cutting  the  Watling  Street  not  far  from  Rugby  at 
a  place  now  called  High  Cross  ;  third,  the  Ermine  Street,  which,  passing 
north  from  London,  made  its  way  to  Lincoln,  whence  one  portion  of  it 
Ermine        went  northwards  to  the  Humber,  across  which  travellers 
treet.         ^^^^  taken  in  a  ferry-boat,  and  so  on  to  York ;  the  other, 
crossing  the  Trent,  made  for  Doncaster,  and  then,  keeping  direct  north, 
reached  Tadcaster,  where  a  branch  road  completed  the  connection  with 
York.      Beyond  Tadcaster  the  main  road  was  continued   to  Borough 
Bridge,  or  rather  to  the  station  of  Isurium  (Aldborough),  about  a  mile 
lower  down  the  Ure,  where  it  met  a  branch  road  from  York.     After 
crossing  the  Ure  it  went  straight  to  Catterick  Bridge  on  the  Swale, 
where  it  parted  into  two  branches,  one  of  which  crossed  the  hills   to 
Carlisle  and  the  other  made  its  way  to  Newcastle,  and  so  completed  the 
connection  between  London  and  the  two  extremities  of  the  great  Wall. 
The  fourth  of  the  trunk  roads  was  the  Icknield  Street,  believed  to  have 
icknield       been  called  after  the  Iceni,  which  ran  from  Norwich  south- 
Street,         ^gg^  ^^^   ultimately  joined  the    Fosseway   near  Exeter. 
These  roads  were  the  chief  lines  of  communication,  but  a  network  of 
local  roads  connected  the  main  thoroughfares  with  each  other,  and  with 
towns  and  ports  lying  off  their  track.     For  example,  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Watling  Street  ran  from  Chester  to  Man- 
chester and  thence  to  Isurium,  where  it  joined  the  Ermine  Street.     The 
roads  did  an  immense  work  for  the  furtherance  of  civilisation  by  opening 
up  the  country,  facilitating  town  life,  and  by  introducing  habits  of  com- 
mercial enterprise.     In  short,  they  made  Britain  for  the  first  time  a  part 
of  the  civilised  world. 

Nothing  proves  this  more  forcibly  than  a  study  of  the  Roman 
remains  which  have  been  brought  to  light  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  by  the  labours  of  archaeologists.  They  have  enabled  us  to 
picture  for  ourselves  Roman  Britain  almost  as  if  it  had  been  visited 
by  travellers  of  our  own  time.  We  can  see  before  us  the  lofty  walls  by 
which  the  towns  were  surrounded,  and  the  fortified  gates  at  which  watch 
was  kept  day  and  night.  We  know,  too,  of  beautiful  villas  with  tesselated 
pavements,  of  baths  public  and  private,  of  temples  and  law-courts,  of. 
theatres  and  amphitheatres,  some  of  which  we  can  see  with  our  own  eyes, 
Roman  Others  which  we  are  able  to  realise  by  the  aid  of  the  more 

Civilisation,  p^jfect  remains  which  have  been  preserved  upon  the 
Continent.  Besides  building  towns,  bridges,  and  roads,  the  Romans  did 
much  to  develop  the  natural  resources  of  the  country.     Traces  of  their 


410  Roman  Civilisation  17 

manufactories  of  glass  and  pottery  are  abundant.     Iron,  tin,  and  lead 

were  worked  by  them  upon  an  extensive  scale,  and  the  corn-producing 

powers  of  the  island  were  so  far  developed  that  Britain  became  the 

granary  for  the  legions  on  the  Khine.     As  regards  the  influence  of  the 

Roman  occupation  upon  the  population  of  the  island,  it  is  probable  that 

its  tendency  would  be  towards  increasing  the  mixture  of   influence  on 

races  which  already  existed.      It  was  the  practice  of  the    Population. 

Romans  never  to  quarter  troops  in  the  district  or  country  where  they  had 

been  enrolled  ;  and  they  sent  the  British  recruits  to  Africa  or  the  Rhine 

while  foreigners  took  their  places  in  the  stations  along  the  Roman  wall 

These,  when  paid  off,  settled  on  lands  assigned  to  them  in  Britain,  and 

added  a  new  element  to  the  race.     Another  result  of  this  intermixture 

of  the  races  was  the  spread  of  ideas.     After  exterminating  the  Druids, 

the  Romans,  as  was  their  habit,  left  the  Britons  perfect  freedom  in  the 

exercise  of  their  religion,  and  the  old  gods  seem  to  have  been  worshipped 

under  Roman  names ;  but  after  a  time  the  knowledge  of  ,  ^    ^ 

^,    ,     .      .  ,  ,  ,      ,         1    ,.    1      .     1  Introduction 

Christianity  was  brought  over,  and,  though  little  is  known  of  Christi- 

of  its  arrival  or  of  the  history  of  the  British  Church,  it  is  ^"*  ^' 
certain  that  it  acquired  a  strong  hold  not  only  over  the  Romans  in  the 
island,  but  also  over  the  Romanised  Britons.  In  consequence  of  its 
distance  from  the  capital,  Britain,  happily  for  its  tranquillity,  took  little 
part  in  the  political  life  of  the  Empire  ;  and  the  chief  events  Severus. 
in  its  history  were  the  visits  of  the  Emperors  Hadrian  and  Constantinc. 
Severus  and  the  expedition  of  Constantine,  whose  career  as  the  son  of 
a  Roman  father  and  a  British  mother  may  possibly  even  have  excited 
a  national  sentiment. 

In  this  way  the  history  of  Britain  flowed  peacefully  on  for  more  than 
three  hundred  years,  when  rumours  of  impending  troubles  began  to 
make  their  appearance.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that,  owing  to  internal 
decay,  the  Empire  was  unable  to  defend  itself  any  longer  against  the 
hosts  of  Barbarians  who  from  the  earliest  days  of  Roman  ascendancy  had 
been  trying  to  establish  themselves  within  its  limits,  and  saxon 
had  only  been  kept  back  from  doing  so  by  the  whole  Pirates, 
strength  of  the  Roman  arms.  Of  this  pressure  from  the  Barbarians 
Britain  felt  her  full  share.  Not  only  did  the  incursions  of  the  non- 
Romanised  Britons  from  beyond  the  Wall  and  the  raids  of  the  Scots 
from  Ireland  become  more  persistent,  but  also  the  eastern  coast  was  so 
much  harassed  by  Saxon  pirates  from  the  Elbe  that  a  line  of  forts  had 
to  be  constructed  to  guard  the  coast,  and  its  defence  was  intrusted  to 
a  special  officer  with  the  title  of  Count  of  the  Saxon  shore.  As  the 
danger  to  the  heart  of  the  Empire  became  more  and  more  pressing,  the 


18  Roraan  Britain  410 

Bomans  naturally  withdrew  their  garrisons  from  the  outlying  provinces, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  these  had  either  to  make  terms  with  the  Barbarians 
or  organise  the  best  resistance  they  could.      This  was  precisely  what 

happened  in  Britain  ;  and  in  the  year  410  the  Britons  were 
of  the  ^^^^  informed  that  they  must  take  the  responsibility  of  defending 
from  ^Britain    ^^emselves,  and  need  no  longer  look  upon  their  island  as 

part  of  the  Roman  Empire.  '  Then,'  in  the  words  of  the 
Venerable  Bede,  '  the  Romans  ceased  to  rule  in  Britain,  almost  470 
years  after  Caius  Julius  Csesar  entered  the  island.  They  resided  within 
the  rampart  which  Severus  made  across  the  island,  on  the  south  side  of 
it,  as  the  cities,  temples,  bridges,  and  paved  roads  there  made  testify  to 
this  day.'  Bede  died  in  the  year  735,  but  long  after  his  day  Gerald  the 
Welshman,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Henry  ii.,  tells  us  of  the  magnificent 
ruins  which  still  astonished  the  eyes  of  travellers  on  the  site  of  the 
ruined  Caerleon. 

CHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Roman  conquest  begun,          ....  43 

Agricola's  forts  built, 81 

Hadrian's  Wall  begun, 121 

Britons  left  to  defend  themselves,        .        .  410 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT  IN  BRITAIN 

Little  known  of  first  English  Invasions— Gildas's  Account  most  trustworthy 
—Later  Conquests  of  Ceawlin  and  Ethelfrith— Effects  of  the  Conquest  on 
the  Britons. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Roman  legions  in  the  year  410,  a  thick  darkness 

settles  down  over  the  fate  of  the  island,  which  is  not  finally  dispelled  for 

more  than  a  century  and  a  half.     Consequently,  we  are  quite 

fl   1       1       .1       1.  .1      T.      1.  1  1  «    Details  of 

Ignorant  of  the  details  of  the  English  conquest,  and  even  of  Conquest 

some  essential  particulars  ;  and  the  imagination  of  historians,  ""  nown. 
both  mediteval  and  modern,  has  been  freely  taxed  to  supply  the  deficiency. 
For  some  time  before  the  final  departure  of  the  legions  their  presence 
had  been  intermittent ;  and  as  during  all  that  time  Britain  had  been 
exposed  to  the  constant  incursions  of  the  Barbarians  both  by  land  and  by 
sea,  some  experience  of  defence  must  have  been  acquired  by  the  native 
levies.  Besides  the  possession  of  an  army,  there  was  no  lack  of  fortifica- 
tions. Against  invasion  from  the  north  there  were  the  Walls  ;  and  every 
inlet  of  the  sea  from  the  Solent  to  the  Wash  was  secured  by  Defences  of 
a  fortress  against  the  intrusion  of  the  Saxons.  These  coast  ^f'^ajn. 
defences  saved  southern  Britain  from  immediate  invasion,  and  by  their 
means  the  Britons  of  the  Saxon  shore  were  able  for  a  whole  generation  to 
keep  their  German  assailants  at  bay.  In  the  north,  however,  the  attacks 
of  the  Picts  and  Scots  were  incessant,  but  appear  to  have  been  raids 
rather  than  attempted  conquests  ;  and  neither  the  Barbarians  from  beyond 
the  Wall  nor  the  marauders  from  Ireland  ever  succeeded  in  making  a 
permanent  settlement  on  the  southern  side  of  Hadrian's  great  barrier. 
For  some  years,  therefore,  after  the  departure  of  the  Eomans  the  Britons 
contrived  to  present  to  their  enemies  a  creditable  front ;  and  though  some 
of  the  Latin-speaking  inhabitants  of  the  south  wrote  a  pitiful  request  for 
Eoman  assistance,  styled  *  the  tears  of  the  Britons,'  there  does  not  appear 

19 


20  The  English  Settlement  410 

to  have  been  any  real  danger  so  long  as  the  barrier  of  the  Saxon  shore 
was  successfully  maintained.  However,  about  thirty  years  after  the 
Invasion  of  departure  of  the  Komans,  the  Saxons  made  their  way  into 
the  Saxons,  ^j^^  country,  and  before  many  years  had  passed  they  were 
masters  of  all  the  south-east  corner  of  the  island — that  is,  of  those  districts 
where  the  domination  of  Eome  had  been  most  complete ;  and  these 
Picts  and  marauders  were  known  as  Picts,  Scots,  or  Saxons.  Besides 
Scots.  these,  the  Britons  were  attacked  by  the  Scots  of  Ireland 

and  by  the  Picts  from  beyond  the  Wall. 

The  home  of  the  Saxons  was  the  tract  of  low-lying  country  that 
borders  the  banks  of  the  river  Elbe,  the  peninsula  of  Denmark,  and  the 
Home  of  islands  which  stud  that  part  of  the  Baltic  Sea.  They 
the  Saxons,  "belonged  to  the  Low  German  branch  of  the  Teutonic 
family  of  the  Aryan  race.  At  that  date  the  Saxons  had  no  preten- 
sions to  education,  so  for  our  knowledge  of  their  manners  we  have 
Germania  ^^  ^^^^  upon  the  accounts  of  others.  Of  these  the  most 
of  Tacitus,  important  is  that  which  Tacitus  gives  in  his  Germania,  a 
description  vsritten  by  him  in  the  first  century  after  Christ  for  the 
information  of  the  Eoman  world.  Speaking  of  all  the  tribes  who  dwelt 
Appearance  between  the  extremity  of  the  Baltic  and  the  Rhine,  he 
of  Saxons.  remarked  that  they  were  an  unmixed  race,^  having  '  the  same 
form  and  feature,  stern  blue  eyes,  ruddy  hair,  their  bodies  large  and 
robust,  but  powerful  only  in  sudden  efforts.'  A  few  tribes  had  kings, 
others  had  chiefs,  but  the  authority  of  their  kings  or  chiefs  was  extremely 
^j^gij.  limited  ;  indeed,  as  one  of  these  told  Caesar, '  the  people  had 
Institutions,  ^g  many  rights  against  him  as  he  had  against  them.'  Both 
the  kings  and  the  military  leaders  were  chosen  in  open  meeting  of  the 
freemen  of  the  tribe  or  clan.  In  matters  of  inferior  moment  the  council 
of  chiefs  decided,  but  graver  questions  were  submitted  to  the  assembly 
of  freemen ;  and  so  independent  were  the  warriors,  that  they  rarely 
arrived  punctually  on  the  day  appointed  for  fear  of  being  thought  to 
have  shown  a  servile  respect  for  authority.  '  In  the  assembly  the  king 
or  chief  of  the  community  opened  the  debate  :  the  rest  were  heard  in 
their  turn,  according  to  age,  nobility  of  descent,  renown  in  war,  or  fame 
for  eloquence.  No  man  dictated  to  the  assembly ;  he  might  persuade,  but 
he  could  not  command.'  For  purposes  of  government  the  territory  of 
each  tribe  was  divided  into  districts  called  pagi,  and  each  of  these  sent 
one  hundred  men  to  the  host.     In  war  the  warriors  were  ranged  in 

1  Some  limitation  must  be  put  on  what  Tacitus  says  of  the  purity  of  German 
blood.  Probably  he  speaks  only  of  the  warriors ;  the  mass  of  slaves  by  whom 
they  were  followed  must  have  been  recruited  from  many  races,  especially  after 
habits  of  piracy  were  adopted. 


516  Character  of  the  Saxons  21 

families,  and  the  women  were  accustomed  to  accompany  the  army,  so 
that  every  man  felt  that  the  eyes  of  his  whole  kindred  were  upon  him. 
Both  in  war  and  peace  '  those  who  had  signalised  themselves  by  a  spirit 
of  enterprise  had  always  a  number  of  retainers  in  their  train.'  A  spirit 
of  emulation  prevailed  among  the  whole  band,  all  struggling  to  be  first 
in  their  lord's  favour.  In  battle  it  was  disgraceful  for  the  chief  to  fall 
behind  his  followers,  or  for  the  followers  to  fall  behind  their  chief  :  food 
was  the  only  pay  provided  by  the  leader,  and  this  he  was  expected  to  give 
in  abundance.  In  Germany  the  utmost  sanctity  was  given  to  the  institu- 
tion of  marriage,  polygamy  was  the  exception,  and  vice  of  all  kinds  was 
severely  punished.  Unlike  the  Romans,  the  Germans  detested  town  life, 
and  Ammianus  Marcellinus  says  'that  they  beheld  the  Roman  cities 
with  contempt,  and  called  them  sepulchres  encompassed  with  nets.' 
Their  habit  was  to  live  apart,  and  even  in  their  villages  the  houses  were 
always  detached  one  from  another.  Their  chief  wealth  consisted  of  cattle ; 
and,  though  corn  was  grown,  they  despised  agriculture.  *  To  cultivate  the 
earth  and  wait  the  regular  produce  of  the  seasons  was  not  the  maxim  of 
a  German  ;  you  more  easily  persuaded  him  to  attack  the  enemy  and 
provoke  honourable  wounds  in  the  day  of  battle.'  In  a  word,  to  earn  by 
the  sweat  of  your  brow  what  you  might  gain  by  the  price  of  your  blood 
was,  in  the  opinion  of  a  German,  a  sluggish  principle  unworthy  of  a 
soldier.  It  is  clear  from  the  account  of  Tacitus  that  the  German 
warriors  were  incorrigibly  idle :  they  left  the  work  of  the  field 
to  their  slaves,  and  that  of  the  house  to  their  wives  and  daughters, 
while  they  themselves,  when  not  engaged  in  council  or  war,  occupied 
themselves  with  hunting,  sleeping,  drinking,  or  dice.  In  short,  they 
had  both  the  virtues  and  the  vices  of  a  free  and  high-spirited  but 
uncivilised  race. 

Of  the  Saxons,  in  particular,  Tacitus  says  nothing,  and  only  mentions 
the  Angles  to  say  that  they  have  no  special  characteristics.  It  may 
therefore  be  taken  for  granted  that  these  tribes  are  fairly 
delineated  by  his  description  of  the  Germans  in  general 
It  is  remarkable  that  Tacitus  had  only  heard  of  one  tribe  of  seafaring 
Germans,  the  Suiones,  and  that  he  should  place  the  Angles  far  from  the 
coast ;  but  after  his  day  the  shifting  of  the  tribes  must  have  brought  the 
Angles  down  to  the  shore,  when  the  seductions  of  piracy  must  have 
incited  the  landsmen  to  follow  their  old  trade  of  robbery  upon  a  new 
element.  At  any  rate,  long  before  the  Romans  left  Britain  they  were 
well  acquainted  with  the  audacity  of  the  Saxon  seamen,  who,  as  was  said 
of  the  Suiones,  '  inhabited  the  ocean,'  and  chose  the  stormiest  weather  to 
put  to  sea  as  most  favourable  to  their  nefarious  designs.  Some  years 
ago  one  of  their  war  canoes  was  dug  up  in  a  bog  in  Sleswick,  and  was 


2^  The  English  Settlement  iU 

found  to  be  sixty-one  feet  long,  nine  feet  broad,  propelled  by  twenty-four 
oars,  and  capable  of  carrying  one  hundred  and  twenty  men. 

The  documentary  evidence  which  relates  to  the  early  years  of  the 

English  conquest  is  to  be  found  in  four  books,  namely  :  Gildas  On  the 

Evidence     Destruction  of  Britain  ;  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Bede  ; 

laxon^^       the  History  of  the  Britons^  which  goes  under  the  name  of 

Conquest.     Nennius  ;  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.    Gildas  was  born 

Gildas.         jj^  ^YiQ  year  516  and  wrote  about  560  ;  Bede  was  born  in  672 

ennius.     ^^^  ^.^^  ^^  ^^^  ^  ^^^  History  of  the  Britons  was  composed 

Anglo-Saxon  ^^  *^^  latter  half  of  the  ninth  century ;  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 

Chronicle.       Chronicle  a  little  later.      The   only   contemporary  writer, 

therefore,  is  Gildas,  and  even  he  was  not  born  till  the  Romans  had  left 

Britain  more  than  a  century.     His  book,  too,  is  much  more  of  a  sermon 

on  the  wickedness  of  the  Britons  than  a  narrative,  and  is  very  rhetorical 

and  involved  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  Gildas's  statements  being  merely 

bases  for  his  reflections,  and  being  made  to  persons  who  knew  at  any 

rate  the  traditional  truth,  are  not  liable  to  the  charge  of  invention. 

Taking  Gildas,  then,  as  our  guide,  we  find  that  the  most  serious  foes 
of  the  Britons  were  the  Picts  and  the  Scots,  and  that  no  trouble  was  at 
Gildas's  ^^^^  experienced  from  the  Saxons.  This  is  perfectly  natural, 
Account,  because  so  long  as  the  forts  of  the  Saxon  shore  were  repaired 
and  garrisoned  it  would  be  perfectly  useless  for  the  Saxons,  wholly 
unaccustomed,  as  they  must  have  been,  to  the  art  of  besieging  such  places, 
to  try  and  pass  them.  At  the  end  of  thirty  years,  however,  there  were 
two  rival  authorities,  whose  names,  Gurthrigernus  and  Aurelius,  suggest  a 
Celtic  and  Roman  division ;  and  one  of  these,  Gurthrigernus  or  Vortigern, 
called  in  the  Saxons,  and  the  usual  quarrel  between  mercenaries  and 
their  employers  followed.  The  Saxons,  having  thus  by  the  folly  of  the 
Britons  been  permitted  to  pass  the  fortresses  of  the  Saxon  shore,  were 
able  to  land  at  pleasure,  and  soon  made  their  raids  so  formidable  that  the 
whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  lowlands  were  slaughtered,  fled  over  sea, 
surrendered  as  slaves,  or  led  a  miserable  life  in  the  hills  and  woods. 
After  a  time  the  Saxons  came  into  conflict  with  Aurelius  and  his  followers, 
and  sufi"ered  a  crushing  defeat,  and  after  a  long  alternation  of  success 
and  failure  were  completely  routed  at  Mount  Badon  in  516,  after  which 
their  attacks  upon  the  Celts  ceased  for  a  time.  Nevertheless,  so  ruinous 
had  been  the  long  struggle,  that  the  Celts  could  no  longer  occupy  their 
former  possessions,  so  that  the  land  lay  desolate.  This  last  statement  of 
Gildas  supplies  the  key  to  much  that  has  hitherto  appeared  obscure  ;  for 
if  the  settlements  of  the  English  were  made  not  in  lands  from  which  the 
Britons  had  just  been  driven,  but  in  districts  which  had  for  some  time 
lain  waste,  then  the  disappearance  of  the  British  race,  with  its  language, 


560  First  English  Invaders  23 

customs,  and  religion,  and  its  complete  replacement  by  the  English  race, 
becomes  perfectly  intelligible  and  in  strict  accord  with  the  only  contem- 
porary narrative  that  has  come  down  to  us. 

As  regards,  therefore,  the  conquest  of  the  east  coast,  no  details  can  be 
given,  and  little  can  be  added  to  the  words  of  Bede  enumerating  the  tribes 
which,  in  his  day,  inhabited  what  had  once  been  the  most  Bede's 
flourishing  part  of  the  old  Roman  province.  *  Those  who  Statements, 
came  over  were  of  the  three  most  powerful  nations  of  Germany — the 
Saxons,  the  Angles,  and  the  Jutes.  From  the  Jutes  are  descended  the 
people  of  Kent  and  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  those  of  the  province  of 
the  West-Saxons,  who  are  to-day  called  Jutes,  seated  opposite  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  From  the  Saxons,  that  is,  from  the  country  now  called  old 
Saxony,  came  the  East-Saxons,  the  South-Saxons,  and  the  West-Saxons. 
From  the  Angles,  that  is,  from  the  country  now  called  Anglia,  between 
the  provinces  of  the  Jutes  and  the  Saxons,  which  is  said  to  remain  desert 
from  that  time  to  this  day,  are  descended  the  East- Angles,  the  Midland- 
Angles,  Mercians,  and  all  the  race  of  the  Northumbrians,  that  is,  of 
those  nations  that  dwell  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  Humber  and  all 
the  nations  of  the  English.' 

Of  the  internal  condition  of  the  British  community  at  this  period  very 
little  is  known ;  but  from  Welsh  chronicles  it  is  inferred  that  they 
acknowledged  the  rule  of  one  prince,  the  most  notable  of  condition  of 
whom  was  Cunedda.  He  seems  to  have  ruled  from  the  ^^^  British, 
mouth  of  the  Clyde  to  the  Severn.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  is  less 
cautious  than  the  Northern  historian,  but  its  assertions  cannot  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  facts  of  which  Gildas  is  a  contemporary  Nennius 
witness  ;   while  Nennius  makes  the  Britons  victorious   in   *"**  Anglo - 

'  Saxon 

every  battle  of  a  war  in  which  they  were  undoubtedly   Chronicle 

driven  from  their  country.      In  all  probability,  therefore,   able  with' 

the  manner  of  the  coming  of  the  West-Saxons  was  soon   ^**=^** 

forgotten    by   their    descendants,   and    was    afterwards    supplied    by 

conjecture. 

However,  about  the  time  when  Gildas  was  writing,  there  came  to  the 

throne  of  the  West-Saxons  a  king  whose  long  reign  from  660  to  590  brings 

us  almost  to  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  Christian  missionaries,    „    .     . 

-         .  -       ,  -  -        -  11..  Beginning 

and,   with  them,   of  competent  and   educated   historians,    of  Authentic 

This  king  was  Ceawlin,  and  from  his  reign  the  authentic      ^^  °^' 

history   of  the  English   conquest   of  Britain   may   be   said   to   begin. 

Ceawlin's  first  exploit  was  a  war  against  Ethelbert  of  Kent ;  and  after 

confining  him  to  his  own  territory,  Ceawlin  turned  his  arms 

against  the  Britons,  and  so  terminated  the  long  peace  which, 

according  to  Gildas,  an  eye-witness,  followed  the  battle  of  Mount  Badon. 


24  The  English  Settlement  560 

First  he  drove  them  out  of  the  valley  of  the  upper  Thames,  and  then,  in 

577,  he  crossed  the  Fosse  way  and  stormed  the  great  camp  at  Dyrham, 

Battle  of      where  for  the  first  time  the  English  invaders  looked  down  on 

Dyrham.      ^jjg  fj^jj.  pi^in  of  Severn  and  the  distant  mountains  of  Wales. 

The  cities  of  Bath,  Gloucester,  and  Cirencester  were  the  spoil  of  the 

victors,  and  they  were  sacked  so  effectively  by  the  rude  Barbarians  that 

they  lay  desolate  for  centuries  ;    so  undisturbed  by  the  presence  of  man 

that  a  wild  duck  ventured  to  make  her  nest  and  lay  her  eggs  in  one  of 

the  most  beautiful  of  the  luxurious  Eoman  baths.      Seven  years  later, 

Ceawlin  followed  up  his  victory  by  a  second  invasion  of  the  valley  of  the 

Battle  of      Severn  ;  and  though  he  was  turned  back  on  the  borders  of 

Faddiley.     modern  Cheshire  by  a  defeat  at  Faddiley,  the  fine  city  of 

Uriconium  was  burnt  to  the  ground,  Koman  civilisation  was  completely 

effaced,  and  the  Saxons  returned  to  their  own  land  laden  with  spoil. 

From  that  day  the  lower  Severn  valley   began  to   be  occupied   by   a 

Teutonic  population,  whose  speech  attested  their  West-Saxon  origin. 

Meanwhile,  the  Anglian  settlements  of  Bernicia  and  Deira,  which 

occupied  the  coast  from  the  Forth  to  the  Tees,  and  from  the  Tees  to  the 

Ethelfrith.    Humber,  had  been  united  under  the  great  Ethelfrith  ;  and 

Battle  of      ^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^  decisive  victory  over  the  Scots  dwelling  in 

Dawstone.  Britain,  at  Dawstone,  near  Carlisle.     Four  years  later  he 

Battle  of      was  again  in  the  field,  and  won  a  still  more  decisive  battle  at 

Chester.       Chester.     After  the  fight  the  Roman  city  of  Chester  was 

sacked,  and  for  three  centuries  its  site  lay  desolate  and  forlorn.     A  great 

change  in  the  condition  of  Celtic  Britain  followed  the  battle  of  Chester. 

„      , ,.  ,       The  low-lying  lands  between  the  Dee  and  the  Ribble  soon 

Establish-  J      ^ 

mentofthe  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Northumbrians,  and  likewise  the 
"^  *^  '  outlying  settlements  of  the  Celts,  who  seem,  till  then,  to 
have  held  their  own  in  the  highlands  of  the  Peak  and  in  the  woods  and 
moors  of  Loidis  and  Elmete.  Henceforward,  three  Welsh  districts  only 
are  recognised  as  independent :  Cornwall,  or  West  Wales  ;  Wales  proper, 
or  North  Wales  ;  and  Strathclyde.  Of  these,  Cornwall  included  all  those 
parts  of  the  modern  Somerset  and  Devon  which  had  not  yet  fallen  under 
the  rule  of  the  West-Saxon  kings,  but  was  cut  off*  by  an  ever- increasing 
tract  of  English  territory  from  its  Welsh  neighbours.  North  Wales, 
strong  in  its  mountain  fastnesses,  was  able  for  years  to  resist  any  further 
advance  of  the  Saxons  ;  and  Strathclyde,  the  name  given  to  the  rugged 
tract  between  Morecambe  Bay  and  the  Clyde,  offered  little  inducement 
to  repay  the  danger  of  invasion. 

Edwin,  the  successor  of  Ethelfrith,  appears  to  have  had  command  of  a 
fleet,  with  which  he  conquered  the  islands  of  Man  and  of  Mona,  hence- 
forth called  Anglesea,  the  island  of  the  Angles.      The  chief  antagonist  of 


611  Nefu)  Distribution  of  Population  25 

Edwin  was  a  British  prince  named  Cadwallon.      Him  Bede  speaks  of  as 
rex  Brittonum  or  Bretonum  dux  ;  and  for  a  time  Edwin  seems,  on  the 
authority  of  the  Welsh  chroniclers,  to  have  driven  him  into 
exile  and  ruled  over  his  state.     According  to  Bede,  Edwin 
was  the  first  of  the  English  chiefs  to  rule  over  both  English  and  Britons  and 
adopt  something  of  Roman  state.     '  His  dignity  was  so  great  throughout 
his  dominions  that  his  banners  were  not  only  borne  before  him  in  battle 
but  even  in  time  of  peace  ;  when  he  rode  about  his  cities  and  towns  or 
provinces  with  his  ofl&cers,  the  standard-bearer  was  wont  to  go  before  him. 
Also  when  he  walked  along  the  streets  that  sort  of  banner  which  the  Romans 
called  Tufa  and  the  English  Tuuf  was  in  like  manner  borne  before  him.' 
The  regular  advance  of  the  English,  culminating  in  the  crushing 
defeat  of  the  Britons  at  Dyrham,  Dawstone,  and  Chester,  made  a  great 
alteration  in  the  geographical  distribution  of  the  Celts.    Fusion  of 
During  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  however,  two  great   Celts. 
changes  had  taken  place  ;  first,  the  English  invasions  had   ^  ^  Kymn. 
the  efi'ect  of  fusing  together  the  Goidelic  and  Brythonic  elements  of 
Celtic  Britain,  and  henceforward  the  distinction  was  lost  in  the  name 
of  Kymri  or  allies,  which  was  adopted  as  the  common  name  of  the 
race,  while  the  Brythonic  dialect  seems  to  have  replaced  the  Goidelic 
in  Southern  Britain  ;  second,  the  Goidels  of  Ireland,  in  the  fifth  century, 
began  a  series  of  incursions  on  the  Ivernian  territory  of  the   settlement 
Western  Highlands,  and  established  themselves  in  Argyle,   ^"  Scotland, 
from  whence  they  spread  gradually  north  and  east,  absorbing  or  ex- 
terminating the  ancient  inhabitants,   till  the    new   settlements   were 
bounded  by  the  ancient  Brythonic  and  Goidelic  districts.     The  new- 
comers were  known  as  Scots,  and  the  name  Scotland  for  years  applied 
only  to  the  territory  occupied  by  them.     With  regard,  however,  to  aU 
questions  of  the  distribution  of  population,  either  in  the  English  or  Celtic 
parts  of  the  island,  it  is  necessary  to  speak  with  extreme  caution.     Even 
in  the  purest  districts,    the  population  can  have  been  by  no  means 
unmixed ;  and  modern  researches  tend  to  strengthen  the  belief  in  the 
survival  of  the   ancient  races  wherever  fen,  forest,  or  hill  gave  an 
advantage  to  the  defenders,  or  where  the  barrenness  of  the  soil  placed  a 
natural  bound  to  the  cupidity  of  the  new-comers. 


CHIEF  DATES. 
First  Eng-lish  settlement, 
Battle  of  Mount  Badon. 
Accession  of  Ceawlin,  . 
Battle  of  Dyrham, 
Battle  of  Dawstone, 
Battle  of  Chester, 


A.D. 

c.  440 
616 
660 
677 
603 
607 


CHAPTEK   IV 

THE   CONVERSION   OF   THE   ENGLISH 

Preaching  of  Augustine  and  of  the  Celtic  Missionaries — Synod  of  Whitby— 
Organisation  of  the  Church  of  Theodoric —Influence  of  the  Church — 
Supremacy  of  the  Northumbrians,  then  of  the  Mercians,  then  of  the  West 
Saxons  under  Egbert. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  old  and  long-settled  kingdom  of  Kent  a  change  had 
been  taking  place  which,  in  a  certain  sense,  was  undoing  the  work  of 
those  who  had  broken  down  the  civilisation  of  Eome  and  replaced  it  by 
Teutonic  barbarism ;  for  between  the  battles  of  Dyrham  and  Chester  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  by  Eoman  missionaries  began  the  process  of 
restoring  Britain  to  a  place  in  the  civilised  world.  Christianity  had  been 
Roman  introduced  into  Britain  during  the  Eoman  occupation  ;  but 

Christianity.  [^  jg  j^^q^  known  how  far  it  had  been  accepted  by  the  mass 
of  the  people,  and  it  is  singular  that  no  Christian  emblems  have  been 
found  in  excavating  among  Eoman  remains.     However,  on  the  retire- 
ment of  the  Eomans  and  the  flight  of  the  Britons,  Christianity  vanished 
from  southern  Britain,  and  the  crumbling  ruins  of  a  few  churches  alone 
remained  to  show  that  it  had  ever  existed.    So  complete  was  the  severance 
between  the  Britons  and  the  English  that  no  attempt  was  made  by  the 
former  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  invaders.     Their  missionary  activity 
was  confined  to  spreading  the  faith  among  the  more  back- 
ward sections  of  their  own  countrymen.     David,  said  to 
have  been  a  relation  of  the  Welsh  chief  Cunedda,  preached  to  the 
^,.  .  Goidels  of  South  Wales  :  Ninias,  the  founder  of  the  monas- 

Ninias.  . 

.  tery  of  Whithern,  converted  the  rude  tribes  of  Galloway  ; 

and  Patrick,  a  native  of  Dunbarton  (Brythons-town)  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Clyde,  won  the  Goidels  of  Ireland  to  the  Christian 
faith.  Before  the  close  of  the  sixth  century  all  the  Britons  who  lived 
either  in  Ireland  or  south  of  the  Firth  of  Clyde  were  nominally  converted 
to  Christianity.  The  Scots  of  Argyll,  however,  and  the  other  inhabitants 
of  northern  Scotland  were  still  heathen.     However,  in  563,  St.  Columba, 

26 


597  Augustine's  Mission  27 

an  Irishman  from  Ulster,  the  greatest  of  the  Celtic  missionaries,  at- 
tempted their  conversion,  and,  having  persuaded  their  king  to  give  him 
the  island  of  lona,  built  upon  it  a  monastery  which  for 
several  centuries  was  a  home  of  missionary  effort  In  his 
immediate  neighbourhood  Columba  converted  the  Celts,  and  then  passed 
on  to  address  himself  to  the  Picts  of  the  north,  to  whom  he  could  speak 
only  through  an  interpreter.  But  though  Columba  went  so  far  afield  in 
search  of  converts,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  made  any  advances  to  the 
English  conquerors ;  and  two  other  great  Irishmen,  St.  Columban  and  St. 
Gall,  passed  England  by  for  the  field  of  Continental  labour. 

However,  according  to  the  well-known  tale,  the  little  slave  boys, 
captives  in  a  civil  war  between  the  Anglian  kingdoms  of  Bemicia  and 
Deira,  attracted  the  pity  of  Gregory,  a  Roman  priest,  the  Gregory  the 
greatest  ecclesiastic  of  the  time  ;  and  in  the  very  year  of  Great. 
Columba's  death,  Gregory  (now  pope)  despatched  the  monk  Augustine 
and  his  followers  to  win  back  to  Christendom  the  lost  isle  Mission  of 
of  Britain.  So  ignorant  were  the  Italians,  and  so  credulous  Augustine, 
were  the  missionaries  of  Gallic  stories  of  English  barbarity,  that  for  a 
time  Augustine  hung  back,  and  only  the  positive  orders  of  Gregory  com- 
pelled him  to  proceed.  The  mission  was  directed  to  Ethelbert,  king  of 
Kent.  That  sovereign  was  by  no  means  ignonmt  of  Christianity,  for  he 
had  married  Bertha,  a  Christian  lady,  the  daughter  of  Charibert  the 
Frank,  king  of  Paris,  and  she  was  allowed  by  her  husband  to  practise 
her  religion.  In  597,  Augustine  and  his  forty  followers,  all  monks  like 
himself,  landed  in  the  island  of  Thanet.  For  fear  of  magic  Ethelbert 
received  them  sitting  in  the  open  air ;  and,  having  heard  Augustine's 
sermon,  and  seen  the  image  of  the  Saviour  painted  upon  a  board,  and 
listened  to  the  harmonious  chanting  of  the  monks,  he  made,  as  reported 
by  Bede,  who  learned  the  tradition  of  it  from  successors  of  Augustine, 
the  following  wise  speech  :  '  Your  words  and  promises  are  very  fair,  but 
as  they  are  new  to  us  and  of  uncertain  import,  I  cannot  approve  of  them 
so  far  as  to  forsake  what  I  have  so  long  followed  with  the  whole  English 
nation.  But  because  you  are  come  from  far  unto  my  kingdom,  and,  as  I 
conceive,  are  desirous  to  impart  unto  us  those  things  which  you  believe 
to  be  true,  and  most  beneficial,  we  will  not  molest  you,  but  give  you 
fiivourable  entertainment,  and  take  care  to  supply  you  with  your 
necessary  sustenance ;  nor  do  we  forbid  you  to  preach  and  gain  as 
many  as  you  can  to  your  religion.'  The  monastic  sim- 
plicity of  the  apostles  of  the  new  faith,  and  their  manifest  of  the  Kent- 
intention  of  practising  in  their  own  persons  the  virtues  they 
prescribed    to    others,   won   many  converts.      Before   long    Ethelbert 


28  Conversion  of  the  English  507 

himself  accepted  the  new  religion,  and  Kent  was  reckoned  to  be  the 
firstfruits  of  the  conversion  of  the  English. 

On  hearing  of  their  success,  Gregory  wrote  to  the  missionaries  a  series 
of  very  politic  directions  for  their  future  conduct,  and  also  sent  a  letter 
Gregory's  ^^  advice  to  Ethelbert  himself.  He  counselled  the  mission- 
instructions,  aries  to  utilise  as  far  as  possible  not  only  the  fabrics  of  the 
Pagan  temples  but  also  the  habit  of  attending  them  at  certain  times  for 
religious  purposes.  The  buildings,  he  directed,  were  to  be  purified  and 
a  Christian  turn  given  to  the  old  ceremonial ;  for,  wrote  Gregory,  '  it  is 
impossible  to  efikce  everything  at  once  from  their  obdurate  minds ; 
because  he  who  endeavours  to  ascend  to  the  highest  place  rises  by  degrees 
or  steps,  and  not  by  leaps.'  To  the  king,  however,  he  enjoins  the  duty 
of  putting  down  the  worship  of  idols  with  a  stern  hand,  coupling  it,  how- 
ever, with  that  of  setting  to  his  subjects  the  example  of  a  Christian  life. 
Having  apparently  no  clear  notion  of  the  political  divisions  of  the  English, 
Gregory  was  in  expectation  that  the  conversion  of  the  whole  race  would 
follow  immediately  on  that  of  theKentishmen,  and  accordingly  he  devised  a 
constitution  for  the  English  Church  based  on  that  supposition.  There  were 
to  be  two  archbishoprics,  York  and  London,  of  which  the  primacy  was 
to  be  enjoyed  by  the  senior  of  the  two  archbishops  for  the  time  being. 
Together  they  were  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  English  Church,  and  each 
was  to  consecrate  twelve  suffragan  bishops  who  were  to  act  as  his  synod. 
This  plan,  however,  was  too  comprehensive  and  far-seeing  to  square  with 
the  actual  possibilities  of  the  case ;  and  Augustine  found  it  better  to  make 
Canterbury,  Ethelbert's  capital,  the  metropolitan  see,  and  during  his  own 
lifetime  he  was  only  able  to  place  suffragans  at  Rochester  and  London. 

Augustine  was  soon  called  upon  to  face  the  difficulty  created  by  the 
existence  in  the  island  of  a  British  church.     This  church  had  no  connec- 
Celtic  ^ion  with  that  of  Gregory,  from  which  it  had  been  separated 

Christians.  fQj.  nearly  two  centuries  by  a  gulf  of  barbarian  heathenism. 
In  their  isolation  the  British  Christians  had  retained  several  practices 
which  had  been  discarded  at  Rome.  They  did  not  keep  Easter  accord- 
ing to  the  newest  calculation,  and  they  shaved  the  heads  of  their  clergy 
in  an  unusual  pattern.  According  to  Bede,  St.  Augustine  met  the 
leaders  of  the  British  clergy  at  a  place  which  was  called  Augustine's  Oak, 
now  Aust,  and  began  by  brotherly  admonitions  to  persuade  them  that, 
preserving  Catholic  unity  with  him,  they  should  undertake  the  common 
labour  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  However,  his  advances 
were  not  favourably  received ;  and  after  a  second  failure  the  division 
between  the  two  churches  became  even  more  marked — so  much  so  that 
when  the  monks  of  Bangor  were  slain  by  Ethelfrith  at  the  battle  of 


625  Paulinus^  Mission  29 

Chester,  the  Roman  missionaries  regarded  their  fate  as  a  judgment  of 
God.  A  similar  advance  to  the  Irish  church  was  equaEy  unavailing,  so 
the  Welsh  and  Irish  continued  for  many  years  to  work  on  different  lines 
from  the  Anglican  churches. 

In  the  year  616  Ethelbert  died.     As  Bede  quaintly  puts  it,  '  He  was 
the  third  of  the  English  kings  that  had  the  rule  of  all  the  southern  pro- 
vinces  that  are   divided  from  the  northern  by  the  river     Death  of 
Humber  ;  but  the  first  of  the  kings  that  ascended  to  the     Ethelbert. 
heavenly  kingdom.'    A  pagan  reaction  followed  his  death,  and  spread 
to  the  neighbouring  kingdom  of  Essex.      Augustine  was     Pagan 
dead  ;  the  bishops  of  London  and  Rochester  fled  to  the  Con-     Reaction, 
tinent,  and  Lawrence  of  Canterbury  was  on  the  point  of  departure  when 
he  was  stayed  by  the  appearance  of  a  vision.     His  decision  was  justified 
by  the  event,  and  the  church,  though  not  so  prosperous  as  it  had  been  in 
the  days  of  Ethelbert,  succeeded  in  holding  its  ground. 

Meanwhile,  political  events  were  bringing  about  a  new  opportunity 
for  missionary  enterprise.     From  the  earliest  landing  of  the  English  the 
wars  for  supremacy  among  themselves  had  been  as  frequent  as  those 
with  the  Britons,  and  now  one  king  and  now  another  had  gained  autho- 
rity over  the  neighbouring  states.     The  king  who  for  the  time  being 
exercised  supreme  authority,  styled  himself  Bretwalda — a   jhe  Bret- 
word  of  doubtful  meaning,  sometimes  interpreted  as  ruler   walda. 
of  Britain,  sometimes  as  broad-ruler.    Among  those  who  exercised  such 
a  leadership  south  of  the  Humber,  Bede  names  Ella,  king  of  the  South- 
Saxons,  Ceawlin,  king  of  the  West-Saxons,  Ethelbert  of  Kent,  and  Red- 
wald  of  East-Anglia.     A  still  more  extensive  sway  was  exercised  by  the 
great  Edwin  of  Northumbria,  who  *  commanded  all  the  nations  as  well 
of  the  English  as  of  the  Britons,   except  only  the  people  of  Kent. 
However,  between  Northumbria  and  Kent  an  alliance  was  made. 

A  marriage  was  arranged  between  Edwin  and  Ethelburga,  daughter 
of  Ethelbert,  but  it  was  stipulated  that  she  should  follow  her  own  faith  ; 
and  in  the  year  625  she  set  out,  taking  with  her  as  her  chaplain  a 
follower  of  Augustine,  named  Paulinus,  who  had  been  con- 
secrated bishop.  Edwin,  who  is  represented  as  being  a 
man  of  most  honourable  feeling,  and  of  an  original  and  independent 
turn  of  mind,  reserved  his  opinion  on  the  new  faith ;  and  though  he 
listened  to  the  eager  arguments  of  Paulinus,  '  being  a  man  of  extra- 
ordinary sagacity,  he  often  sat  alone  by  himself  a  long  time,  silent  as  to 
his  tongue,  but  deliberating  in  heart  how  he  should  proceed,  and  to 
which  religion  he  should  adhere.'  No  efforts  were  spared  to  gain  so 
valuable  a  convert.     The  pope  himself  addressed  long  and  excellent 


30  Conversion  of  the  English  626 

letters  both  to  the  king  and  to  the  queen,  and  sent  to  Edwin  some 
clothes  and  a  gold  ornament,  and  to  Ethelburga  a  silver  looking-glass 
and  a  gilt  ivory  comb.  An  escape  from  assassination,  the  birth  of  a 
daughter,  and  a  decisive  victory  over  the  West-Saxons  also  influenced 
the  king  ;  and  at  length  he  took  council  with  his  wise  men,  who  seem  to 
Coifi's  hdi^YQ  been  as  shrewd  and  serious  as  their  master.     One  of 

Speech.  them,  Coifi  the  high  priest,  declared  he  could  see  little 
value  in  the  old  faith,  or  he,  the  most  diligent  of  its  votaries,  would  be 
in  greater  prosperity  than  he  was  ;  and  another  of  finer  mould  pro- 
nounced a  parable  which  will  never  be  forgotten  for  its  beauty  :  *  The 
present  life  of  man  seems  to  me,  0  king,  in  comparison  of  that  time 
which  is  unknown  to  us,  like  to  the  swift  flight  of  a  sparrow  through 
the  room  wherein  you  sit  at  supper  in  winter,  with  your  captains  and 
ministers  of  state,  and  a  good  fire  in  the  midst,  while  the  storms  of 
wind  and  snow  rage  abroad  :  the  sparrow,  I  say,  flying  in  at  one  door, 
and  immediately  out  at  another,  whilst  he  is  within  is  safe  from  the 
wintry  storm  ;  but  after  a  short  space  of  fair  weather,  he  immediately 
vanishes  out  of  your  sight  into  the  dark  winter  from  which  he  had 
escaped.  So  this  life  of  man  appears  for  a  short  space,  but  of  what  went 
before  or  what  is  to  follow  we  are  utterly  ignorant.  If,  therefore,  this 
new  doctrine  contains  something  more  certain,  it  seems  justly  to  deserve 
to  be  followed.'  Paulinus  was  then  called  in  to  state  his  views,  and 
after  hearing  them  Coifi  was  the  first  man  to  desecrate  the 
of  the  North-  temples  of  the  heathen  deities.  Edwin  himself  accepted 
urn  nans,  ^j^^  ^^^  creed,  and  his  subjects  by  the  thousand  presented 
themselves  for  baptism.  A  friend  of  Bede  had  actually  spoken  to  one 
of  these  converts,  who  described  Paulinus  *  as  tall  of  stature,  a  little 
stooping,  his  hair  black,  his  visage  meagre,  his  nose  slender  and  aqui- 
line, his  aspect  both  venerable  and  majestic'  One  advantage  of  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  was  that  from  that  period  we  can  rely  upon 
documentary  evidence,  which  is  both  truthful  and  well-informed,  and  so 
leave  behind  us  the  period  of  conjecture  and  myth. 

At  the  time  when  Edwin  received  Christianity,  his  authority  was 
acknowledged  as  paramount  by  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  English  except 
Revolt  of     that  of  Kent,  and  also  by  the  Britons ;  but  about  seven 
Penda.         years  afterwards   a   coalition   was  made  against  him  by 
Cadwallon.  Penda,  king  of  the  Mercians,  and  the  British  king  Cad- 
wallon  (Cad walla).    They  fought  against  the  Northumbrians  at  Hatfield, 
on  the  Roman  road  between  Doncaster  and  Lincoln.    Edwin  was  de- 
feated and  killed ;  and  Cadwallon,  who,  according  to  Bede,  was  more 
cruel  to  the  English  Christians  than  if  he  had  been  a  heathen,  ravaged 


642  Aidants  Mission  31 

Northumbria  with  fire  and  sword.     Before  the  storm  Paulinas  retired 
by  sea  to  Kent,  taking  with  him  Ethelburga  and  some  of  the  king's 
children,  and  for  a  time  Christianity  perished.    Edwin's  place  was  taken 
by  a  younger  brother  and  by  a  son  of  Ethelfrith,  who  divided  the 
kingdom  between  them  ;  but  within  a  year  both  were  slain  by  Cad- 
wallon,    one    in    fight,   the    other    by    treachery.      Then 
Oswald,  another  son  of  the  great  Ethelfrith,  who  during 
the  reign  of  Edwin  had  lived  in  exile  at  lona,  came  to  the  throne.     He 
svas  a  mighty  warrior,  and  with  a  small  force  he  encountered  and  over- 
threw the  boastful  Cadwallon  at  a  place  called  the  Denissburn,    Battle  of 
the  site  of  which,  though  it  cannot  now  be  identified,  is    Denissburn. 
said  by  Bede  to  be  near  Hexham,  and  not  far  from  the  Roman  wall. 
After  this  victory  Oswald  reigned  in  peace  for  nine  years. 

This  interval  was  employed  by  the  king  to  restore  Christianity.     He 
sent  for  missionaries  from  the  abbey  of  lona,  where  he  had 
himself  learned  the  faith  in  exile,  and  the  abbot  selected   sionanes 
St.  Aidan  for  the  work.     He  was  a  man  of  singular  tact      °™   °"^* 
and  discretion,  of  great  purity  of  life  and  nobility  of  character,  who 
gained  the  confidence  of  the  English  by  *  teaching  no  otherwise  than  as 
he  and  his  followers  lived.'    Oswald  himself  was  pleased  to  act  as  the 
interpreter  of  the  bishop,  and,  supported  by  such  authority  and  example, 
the  popularity  of  Christianity  was  restored.    Aidan,  being  a  Scot,  fol- 
lowed the  practice  of  that  church  in  making  a  monastery  the  centre  of 
his  operations.     This  he  fixed  on  the  island  of  Lindisfarne, 
within  sight  of  Bamborough,  the  royal  city,  and  Lindisfarne 
became  to  the  Northumbrians  what  lona  had  been  to  the  Scots. 

Meanwhile,  the  Roman  missionaries  had  been  by  no  means   idle. 
Essex  had  .been  won  back  to  the  faith  ;  Felix,  a  Burgundian,  whose  name 
is  still  preserved  in  Felixstow,  had  converted  the  East  Conversion 
Anglians  ;  Birinus,  an  Italian,  had  won  over  the  West-  ^^^^^  East- 

•^  '  '  '  Angliansand 

Saxons.  The  Mercians,  under  King  Penda,  and  the  outlying  West-Saxons. 
kingdom  of  the  savage  South-Saxons,  alone  remained  completely  heathen. 
Like  Edwin,  Oswald  is  described  by  Bede  as  having  '  brought  under 
his  dominion  all  the  nations  and  provinces  of  Britain '  ;  but  his  power 
raised  up  resistance,  and  in  642  he  was  killed  in  battle  by  Penda  at  a 
place  called  Maserfield,  which  is  generally  thought  to  be  Battle  of 
identical  with  Oswestry  in  Shropshire,  formerly  spelt  Maserfield. 
Oswald's-tree.  Oswald  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  fine  character,  brave, 
generous,  and  singularly  humble-minded.  Succeeding  ages  recognised 
him  as  a  saint,  and  many  churches  were  dedicated  to  his  honour.  On 
the  death  of  Oswald  his  place  was  taken  by  his  brother  Oswy,  the 


32  Conversion  of  the  English  642 

last  of  the  sons  of  Ethelfrith,  who  secured  his  power  by  the  treacher- 
ous murder  of  Oswin,  the  son  of  King  Edwin.     For  thirteen  years 
Oswy.  Oswy's  kingdom  was  cruelly  harried  by  Penda  and  the 

Battle  of      ^^^^ci^^s ;   but  at  last  in  655  Oswy  defeated  him  in  a 
Winwed-     battle  by  the  river  Winwed,  said  by  Bede  to  have  been  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Loidis  or  Leeds,  and  the  old  king — 
he  was  eighty  years  of  age — perished  in  the  fight.     Penda  was  admitted 
by  his   enemies  to  have  been  a  man  of  some  nobility  of  character. 
He  made  no  objection  to  the  preaching  of  the  missionaries  in  his 
dominions,  nor  to  the  acceptance  of  the  new  faith  by  his  son  ;  but  if  the 
Christian   converts  were   slack  in  the  performance  of  their  religious 
duties,  he  was  unsparing  in  his  contempt.     Three  years  after  the  death 
of  Penda,  the  Mercians  regained  their  independence,  and  set 
up  as  their  king  Wulfhere,  a  son  of  Penda.      He  was  a 
Christian  ;  and  from  that  date,  658,  Sussex  alone  remained  heathen. 

Meanwhile,  a  serious  difficulty  was  arising  through  the  divergence  in 
practice  which  existed  between  the  Scottish  and  Koraan  churches,  to 
D'fference  "^^^^^  ^^^  northern  and  southern  churches  of  the  English 
between  respectively  belonged.  Colman,  the  successor  of  Aidan, 
Celtic  maintained  the  superiority  of  the  Scottish  practice  ;  but 

Churches,  j^j^gg  ^^  Deacon,  a  follower  of  Paulinus,  who  had  stayed 
in  the  north  when  his  chief  left  Northumbria,  had  always  adhered  to  the 
Roman  calendar,  and  he  was  now  supported  by  Wilfrid,  abbot  of  Ripon, 
a  young  man  of  great  ability,  who  had  been  instructed  abroad.  To  con- 
Synod  of  ^^^^^  *^^  question,  a  synod  was  held  at  Whitby  (664),  of  which 
Whitby.  the  leading  members  were  Colman,  Agilbert  the  Frank,  who 
had  become  bishop  of  the  West-Saxons,  Wilfrid,  and  James.  The  crisis 
was  momentous,  for  a  victory  of  the  Scots  would  have  had  the  effect  not 
only  of  cutting  off  the  English  church  from  communion  with  the  great 
mass  of  Western  Christendom,  but  also  of  depriving  the  English  nation 
of  a  share  in  the  wealth  of  Roman  culture  and  civilisation,  of  which  the 
Roman  church  was  the  chief  depository.  Colman  spoke  first.  'The 
Easter  I  keep,'  said  he,  '  I  received  from  my  elders,  who  sent  me  hither 
as  a  bishop,  and  all  our  forefathers  kept  it  after  the  same  manner.'  For 
the  other  side,  Wilfrid  based  his  defence  on  the  ground  that  the  Roman 
plan  was  used  in  Italy,  France,  Africa,  Asia,  Egypt,  Greece,  and,  indeed, 
by  all  the  world  '  except  the  Picts  and  Britons,  who  foolishly  in  these 
two  out-of-the-way  islands — and  only  in  a  part  even  of  them — oppose 
the  rest  of  the  universe.'  After  some  further  debate,  Oswy  inquired  of 
Colman,  *  Whether  it  were  true  that  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
were  given  to  Peter  by  our  Lord  ?  and,  Whether  he  could  show  any  such 


664  The  Synod  of  Whithy  33 

power  given  to  Columba  ? '  Colman  answered,  '  None.'  Then  said  the 
king,  '  If  Peter  is  the  doorkeeper,  I  will  never  contradict  him ;  but  so 
far  as  I  know  and  am  able,  I  will  obey  his  decrees  in  all  things,  lest 
when  I  come  to  the  gates  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  there  should  be 
none  to  open  them.'  The  king's  decision  commanded  applause.  Colman 
went  home,  and  after  a  short  time  Wilfrid  became  the   „,.  ^^ 

Withdrawal 

bishop  of  the  Northumbrians.     From  this  time  forward  the   of  the  Celtic 
English   church  followed  the   Roman  customs,  and   after       ^^^' 
a  time  the   Irish   and   Scottish    churches   began    to    conform    to    its 
example. 

Wilfrid  was  perhaps  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  figure  pro- 
duced by  the  native  English  church  before  the  days  of  Dunstan.  Son 
of  a  Northumbrian  thane,  his  ability  early  attracted  the  Bishop 
notice  of  Eanfled,  the  wife  of  Oswy,  and  he  was  sent  by  her  W'^^*"'**- 
to  be  educated  in  Aidan's  monastery  of  Lindisfarne.  Then,  accompanied 
by  his  friend  Benedict  Biscop,  he  made  the  journey  to  Rome,  and  on  his 
return,  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  Rome  and  all  she  had  to  teach,  he  was 
intrusted  with  the  task  of  educating  the  king's  son.  Afterwards  he 
became  abbot  of  Ripen,  and  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  Synod  of 
Whitby.     On  his  promotion  to  the  see  of  York,  Wilfrid  crossed  over  to 

Gaul  to  assure  himself  of  a  canonical  consecration,  and  on 

Chad. 
his  return  found  that  his  place  had  been  occupied  by  Chad, 

a  missionary  monk  of  the  type  of  St.  Aidan. 

Meanwhile,  a  vacancy  having  occurred  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  Oswy 
sent  an  Englishman  to  be  consecrated  at  Rome.     There  he  died  in  667, 
and  in  his  place  Pope  Vitalian  consecrated  Theodore,  a  Greek   Archbishop 
and  native  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia.     Theodore's  mission  was  to   Theodore, 
carry  out  a  complete  reorganisation  of  the  English  church,  and  his  first 
act  was  to  place  Wilfrid  at  the  head  of  the  see  of  York,  though  he  con- 
ferred on  Chad  the  scarcely  less  important  bishopric  of  the  Mercians. 
Theodore  then  held  a  synod  of  the  whole  English  church,  and  explained 
the  canons  which  he  thought  proper  to  be  observed.     Bishops  were  for 
the  future  to  confine  themselves  to  their  own  dioceses,  and 
clergymen  were  to  preach  only  in  dioceses  where  they  held   organisation 
a  licence  from  the  bishop.      Theodore  travelled  throughout   ^huixh 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  seeing  with  his  own 
eyes  that  his  orders  were  observed,  deposing  some  bishops  and  translating 
others,  and  everywhere  enforcing  the  order  and  regularity  which  were 
characteristic  of  the  Roman  world. 

In  his  own  diocese  Wilfrid  showed  an  example  not  only  of  apo- 
stolic energy,  but  also  of  the  magnificence  which  had  begun  to  be  a 

c 


34  Conversion  of  the  English  709 

characteristic  of  the  Roman  clergy.     In  a  country  which  had  hitherto 

contented  itself  with  buildings  of  wood  he  built  minsters  of  the  most 

Wilfrid        elaborate   workmanship  then   attainable  at  York,   Ripon, 

in  North-     and  Hexham,   while  his  friend  Benedict  Biscop   revealed 

to  his  countrymen  the  glories  of  stained  glass  and  choral 
music.  However,  a  quarrel  arose  in  which  Wilfrid  appears  on  one  side 
and  King  Egfrith  and  Theodore  on  the  other.  Driven  into  exile,  Wilfrid 
preached  to  the  Frisians,  and  so  became  the  first  of  a  line  of  English 
missionaries,  the  most  famous  of  whom  is  Boniface,  the  apostle  of 
Germany.  The  pope  then  took  up  his  cause,  but  Egfrith  and  Theodore 
paid  little  attention  to  his  authority,  and  Wilfrid  was  cast  into  prison. 
Released  at  length,  he  fled  to  the  heathens  of  Sussex,  whose  respect  he 
won  by  teaching  them  the  art  of  fishing,  and  so  effected  their  long-deferred 
conversion.  Presently  a  reaction  occurred  in  his  favour ;  the  dying 
Theodore  named  Wilfrid  as  his  successor,  but,  his  enemy  Egfrith  being 
dead,  WiKrid  chose  to  return  to  his  own  see  of  York.  Again  he 
quarrelled  with  the  king  ;  again  he  appealed  to  the  pope  ;  and  this  time, 
being  supported  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  he  triumphed,  and 
in  the  year  709  Wilfrid  closed  his  long  and  wearisome  career  in  peace. 
His  life  was  written  by  his  friend  Eddi,  and  is  a  valuable  addition  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  time. 

Besides  Wilfrid,  the  chief  saints  of  the  native  English  church  are 
Caedmon,  Cuthbert,  and  Bede.     Caedmon,  the  poet,  was  attached  to  the 

abbey  of  Whitby,  and  composed  there  a  paraphrase  of  the 

Old  Testament.     Cuthbert  was  a  monk  of  Melrose  who 

"*     ^^  ■     became  abbot  of  Lindisfarne,  and  afterwards  bishop.     He 

was  a  man  of  singular  piety  who   delighted  in  nothing  more  than  in 

preaching  the  Gospel  to  villages  so  remote  and  inaccessible  that  others 

had  passed  them  by  for  more  frequented  paths.     Bede  was  a  monk  of 

Jarrow  who  never  held  office  in  the  church,  but  devoted  a 

long  life  to  the  acquisition  and  diffusion  of  knowledge.  He 
left  no  less  than  thirty-seven  works,  and  his  Ecclesiastical  History  is  the 
only  really  complete  account  of  the  English  at  the  date  of  their  con- 
version.     The   change  which  had  been  introduced  into   England   by 

Archbishop  Theodore  finally  decided  the  form  which  should 
Church  ^^  taken  by  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  England.  In 
Govern-       ^j^g  (j^ys  which  followed  the  flight  of  Paulinus,  Gregory's 

system  had  for  all  practical  purposes  been  forgotten.  In  the 
church  of  St.  Aidan  a  wholly  different  system  of  government  prevailed. 
There  the  life  of  the  church  had  its  centre  in  the  monastery.  The 
bishop  was  the  subordinate  of  the  abbot,  and  looked  to  his  monastery 


709  National  Life  of  the  Church  35 

for  orders  and  advice.     Moreover,  the  tendency  of  the  bishop  was  not  to 
attach  himself  to  a  fixed  sphere  of  work,  but  to  wander  about  the  country  ; 
and  so  the  multiplication  of  bishops  became  a  fruitful  source  of  disorder. 
The  Roman  plan  was  the  very  opposite  of  this.     Founded  probably  in 
imitation  of  the  political  system  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  Roman  church 
sought  its  ideal  in  the  regular  succession  of  powers — the 
parish,  the  diocese,  the  province,  and  the  papacy.     Every      church 
official  of  the  church  worked  in  a  well-defined  sphere ;  no      ment^"* 
one  was  to  intrude  upon  the  province  of  another.     The  in- 
troduction of  such  a  systeni  into  England  was  the  very  best  thing  that 
could  have  happened  in  the  interest  of  national  unity,  and  it  was  even 
fortunate  that  in  Theodore's  constitution  there  was  only  one  archbishop 
for  the  whole  land.     Theodore's  national  synods,  and  the  enforcement 

of  one  ecclesiastical  system  for  the  whole  island  without    ,     .  _ 

,..,,...  ,        ,  Its  influence 

regard  to  mmor  political  distmctions,  were  exactly  what  was   on  National 

wanted  to  counteract  the  element  of  discord  supplied  by  the 
unceasing  struggles  between  rival  kingdoms.  The  strongest  proof  of 
the  beneficent  result  of  the  Roman  system  is  supplied  by  the  history 
of  Ireland,  where  the  church,  having  no  centralised  constitution  of  its 
own,  fell  completely  into  subservience  to  the  politics  of  the  local  chiefs, 
and  so  missed  the  opportunity  of  conferring  an  inestimable  blessing  upon 
the  country.  From  a  similar  disaster  in  England  we  were  saved  by  the 
decision  of  King  Oswy  and  by  the  organising  ability  of  Archbishop 
Theodore.  Here  the  church  contrived  to  avoid  the  snare  of  being  drawn 
into  the  strife  which  raged  between  the  petty  kingdoms,  and  had  as  a 
rule  kept  itself  clear  of  the  political  squabbles  which  agitated  each  of 
the  little  states  into  which  the  land  was  divided.  It  maintained  the 
principle  that  the  church  was  the  church  of  the  whole  English  nation 
when  the  existence  of  such  a  nation  was  barely  recognised  by  the  lay 
world  ;  and  the  synods  and  councils,  attended  by  bishops  from  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  island,  were  for  long  the  only  councils  in  which  men 
from  diff'erent  kingdoms  consulted  together  for  purposes  that  afi'ected  the 
whole  English  people.  In  the  courts  of  law  there  was  as  yet  no  distinc- 
tion between  the  layman  and  the  cleric.  The  crimes  of  each 
were  dealt  with  in  the  same  courts  and  by  the  same  process  example  of 
of  law  ;  and  the  presence  of  the  bishops  and  of  the  parish  MonK^"^ 
priests  was  in  itself  a  check  upon  the  barbarity  of  those 
early  times.  Moreover,  the  whole  influence  of  the  church  was  thrown 
into  the  scale  in  favour  of  purity  and  innocence  of  life.  The  pure  lives 
of  the  monks  who  came  with  Augustine  and  with  Aidan  were,  as  we  saw, 
the  best  credentials  of  Christianity  ;  and  though,  when  monasteries  grew 


36  Cmversion  of  the  English  768 

common  and  their  opulence  increased,  many  unworthy  men  and  women 

took  the  vows,  still  the  existence  in  such  barbarous  times  of  monastic 

establishments  whose  inmates  were  men  of  peace,  and  maintained  a 

standard  of  culture  superior  to  that  of  their  neighbours,  distinctly  made 

for  civilisation. 

But  if  the  monks  taught  by  example,  the  parish  clergy  brought  a 

sterner  code  to  bear  upon  the  passions  of  the  people.     Hitherto  the  idea 

of  sin  had  been  little  known.     In  the  eye  of  the  state,  murder  could  be 

expiated  by  the  payment  of  a  fine ;  and  so  slight  was  the  value  put 

upon  human  life,  that  crimes  of  violence  were  of  everyday  occurrence, 

while  vice  and  gluttony  passed  unrebuked.     Against  this  state  of  things 

Theodore  opposed  the  penitential  system  of  the  Koman  church,  according 

»sr.    r.    .     to  which  murder  was  not  only  a  crime  against  the  state,  but 
The  Peni-  .  .  ^    ,  ,  .-,-,■,  «    , 

tentiai         a  sm  against  God  to  be  expiated  by  the  penance  of  the 

ys  em.       murderer.      Such  crime  carried  with   it   the  necessity  of 

fasting  and  prayer,  often  carried  on  for  years ;  and  until  the  penance 

enjoined  by  the  church  was  complete  the  guilty  party  was  regarded  as 

outside  the  pale  of  the  church  and  debarred  from  the  benefit  of  taking 

part  in  its  rights.     In  this  way  the  church  surrounded  crime  and  the 

criminal  with  a  feeling  of  religious  awe  ;  and  though  the  temptation  to 

commute  penance  for  a  money  payment  ultimately  proved  too  strong  for 

many  of  the  clergy,  and  at  the  best  too  little  stress  was  laid  on  the 

inward  nature  of  repentance,  still  it  is  incontestable  that  among  a  rude 

people  like  the   Saxons  the  effects   of  the  first  introduction  of  the 

penitential  system  were  excellent. 

The  Venerable  Bede  died  in  753,  and  after  his  death  and  the  termination 

of  his  Ecclesiastical  History  it  is  very  difficult  to  follow  the  intricacies  of 

Death  of      English  affairs.      No  other  historian  arose  to  take  his  place, 

Bede.  a^^  foj.  ^  long  time  the  entries  in  the  Chronicle  are  provok- 

ingly  meagre,  and  have  to  be  eked  out  by  scraps  of  information  collected 

in  the  twelfth  century  by  Henry  of  Huntingdon  and  William  of  Malmes- 

bury  from  authorities  which  have  not  come  down  to  us. 

Contem-       Apart  from  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  most  im- 

AuThorities.  po^^^ant  events  which  took  place  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 

centuries    were    those   which    were    concerned    with    the 

struggle  for  supremacy  which  was  going  on  between  the  several  English 

kingdoms  ;    but   as    this   did  not  properly   come  under  ecclesiastical 

history,   even    Bede   supplies   very   little   information,    and   after   his 

death  we  are  even  more  ignorant   of  what  went  on,   until  the  great 

Alfred    placed  the  compilation  of  the   Chronicle  upon   a   systematic 

footing. 


757  The  English  Kingdoms  37 

It  appears,  however,  that  about  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Augustine  the 
scattered  English  settlements  had  been  consolidated  as  follows  : — In  the 
north,  the  Anglian  kingdoms  of  Bernicia  and  Deira  had 
been   formed  into   Northumbria ;  the  north  folk  and   the   ment"of " 
south  folk  made  up  the  kingdom  of  the  East- Angles  ;  Essex,    Hfn^io^s 
Kent,  and  Sussex  remained  much  as  they  had  been  at  the 
conquest ;  Wessex  had  come  to  include  not  only  the  lands  south  of  the 
Thames,  but  also  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  those  districts  of  the  Severn 
valley    which    had    been  overrun  by   Ceawlin.     The  rest  of  Middle 
England  was  occupied  by  a  number  of  small  tribes,  who  ultimately 
coalesced  into  a  kingdom  known  by  the  vague  title  of  Mercia,  or  the 
borderland. 

Between  these  kingdoms  there  was  for  two  centuries  almost  constant 
war  ;  and  if  one  of  them  acquired  a  temporary  superiority,  it  was  only  at 
the  price  of  having  to  meet  a  succession  of  rebellions  from    struggle  for 
its  subject  neighbours.     For  a  time  the  West-Saxons,  under   Supremacy. 
Ceawlin,  seemed  likely  to  take  the  lead  ;  but  after  the  battle  of  Chester  the 
Northumbrians  came  to  the  front,  and  in  the  reigns  of  Ethelfrith,  Edwin, 
Oswald,  and  Oswy  enjoyed  a  distinct  supremacy,  though 
from  time  to  time  the  continuity  of  its  sway  was  broken  by   brian 
successful  revolts.     Of  these  the  most  persistent  was  that     "P'"«»"acy. 
organised  by  Penda,  who  for  a  short  time'  after  the  battle  of  Maserfield 
was  decidedly  the  most  powerful  king  in  the  island.     Under  Oswy,  how- 
ever, Northunibria  recovered  her  position,  and  on  the  whole 
kept  it  till  the  year  685,  when  her  king  Egfrith  and  almost    Nectans- 
his  entire  army  were  destroyed  by  the  Picts  in  the  disastrous   *"*'"*• 
battle  of  Nectansmere,  '  by  the  shores  of  the  North  Sea.' 

After  this  a  long  period  of  disorder  followed,  in  which  the  strength  of 
Northumbria  was  dissipated,  and  then  Mercia  came  to  the  front.    Under 
Penda  she  had  already  been  a  formidable  rival,  and  under    Mercian 
his    son    Wulfhere    and   his  grandnephew  Ethelbald  her   Supremacy, 
power  greatly  increased.     Wulfhere's  principal  achievement       "     ^^^' 
was  the  conquest  from  the  West-Saxons   of  their  possessions   in   the 
Severn  valley  ;  Ethelred,  another  son  of  Penda,  overran  Kent ;  Ethelbald 
conquered  Somerton  from  the  West-Saxons,  and   led   the   p.  ^  ik  id 
whole  force  of  the  Southumbrians  against  the  Welsh.     In 
752,  however,  he  was  routed  by  the  West-Saxons  at  the 
battle  of  Burford  ;   but  his  place  was  taken  by  Offa,  who  of  all  the 
Mercian  sovereigns  was  the  most  renowned. 

Offa  was  a  descendant  of  Penda,  and  came  to  the  throne  in  the  year 
767.      He  defeated  the  Kentish  men  at  Otford  :  the  South-Saxons  at 


3S  Conversion  of  the  English  ivl 

Bensington ;  and,  having  enticed  the  king  of  the  East- Angles  to  his 
court,  he  had  him  treacherously  beheaded.  Thus  he  gained  supremacy- 
over  the  south  of  the  island  ;  but  though  Northumbria  was  unable  to 
dispute  his  power,  his  authority  does  not  appear  to  have  been  recognised 
beyond  the  Humber.  Against  the  Welsh,  Oflfa  was  more  successful  than 
any  English  king  since  the  days  of  Ethelfrith  and  Edwin,  for  he 
captured  the  great  border  stronghold  of  Shrewsbury,  settled  EDglishmen 
on  the  low-lying  lands  to  the  west  of  the  Severn  and  the  Dee,  and 
secured  them  from  molestation  by  erecting  from  the  mouth  of  the  Dee 
to  that  of  the  Wye  the  rampart  of  earth  the  remains   of 

Offa's  Dyke 

which  are  still  known  as  Offa's  Dyke.  OfFa  persuaded 
Pope  Hadrian  to  make  Lichfield  an  archbishopric,  and  to  place  under  it 
the  sees  of  Worcester,  Sidnacester,  Leicester,  Hereford,  Elmham,  and 
Dunwich  ;  so  that  London,  Selsey,  Rochester,  and  Winchester  were  left 
under  Canterbury,  and  Ripon,  Hexham,  Lindisfarne,  and  Whithern 
under  York.  However,  after  Offa's  death,  Lichfield  lost  its  archbishop, 
and  the  suffragan  sees  reverted  to  Canterbury.  It  was  in  Offa's  days 
Charles  the  *^^*  Charles  the  Great  began  the  career  which  ended  in  the 
Great.  restoration  of  the  Roman  empire  of  the  West — the  most 

important  event  in  Europe  since  the  invasion  of  the  Teutonic  hordes  ; 
and  it  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  esteem  in  which  the  great  Englishman  was 
held  that  Charles  condescended  to  correspond  with  him  on  terms  of 
equality.  Englishmen,  indeed,  were  well  known  to  Charles,  for  Alcuin, 
one  of  his  most  learned  men,  came  from  Northumbria,  and  from  Alcuin's 
letters  we  learn  that  English  merchants  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to 
his  dominions.  One  untoward  event  marked  Offa's  reign,  namely,  the  first 
apj)earance  upon  the  coast  of  the  Scandinavian  pirates,  who  were  to  attempt 
in  the  ninth  century  to  repeat  the  settlement  which  the  English  had  carried 
out  in  the  fifth  and  sixth.  Offa  died  in  796  ;  and  though  his  successor 
Kenwulf  retained  Offa's  power,  from  his  death  the  power  of  the  Mercian 
monarchy,  mainly  owing  to  struggles  for  the  crown,  rapidly  declined. 

Meanwhile,  the  West-Saxons,  who  since  the  death  of  Ceawlin  had  held 
a  distinctly  secondary  place,  were  rapidly  coming  to  the  front.  This  was 
West-Saxon  ^^^  *^  *^®  ability  of  their  king,  Egbert,  who,  having  during 
Supremacy,  the  life  of  Ofia  been  compelled  to  take  refuge  at  the  court  of 
Reign  of  Charles  the  Great,  had  learned  from  the  Franks  a  culture  of 
Egbert.  mmdi  and  a  refinement  of  manner  to  which  the  English  were 
strangers.  He  acquired,  also,  the  political  and  military  skill  for  which 
the  Franks  were  celebrated  ;  and  the  fame  of  his  accomplishments  having 
reached  Wessex,  his  countrymen  invited  him  to  return  home  and  assume 
the  crown,  which  he  did  in  the  year  802. 


Supremacy  of  the  West-Saxons 


39 


During  his  reign  of  thirty-seven  years,  Egbert  devoted  himself  to  the 

task  of  bringing  the  neighbouring  kingdoms  under  his  sway,  precisely  as 

his  predecessors  Edwin  and  Oflfa  had  done  in  England,  and  as  Charles 

the  Great,  king  of  the  Franks,  had  recently  done  on  the   conquest  of 

Continent.       His  first  exploit  was  the  complete  subjugation    Cornwall. 

of  Cornwall  or  West- Wales,  and  in  825  he  broke  the  power  of  Mercia  by 

defeating  an  invading  host  of  Mercians  under  their  king  Beomwulf  in 

the  great  battle  of  Ellandun.     This  success  he  instantly    Battle  of 

followed  up  by  overrunning  the  Mercian  under-kingdoms,  and   EUandun. 

compelled  the  men  of  Kent,  Surrey,  Sussex,  and  Essex  to  acknowledge  his 

overlordship,  while  he  received  the  East-Anglians,  the  hereditary  enemies 

of  the  Mercians,  into  alliance.     Two  years  later  he  invaded  Mercia  and 

subdued  it,  so  bringing  under  his  authority  all  England  south 

of  the  Humber  ;  and  a  threat  of  invasion  was  sufficient  to   acquires  a 

force  the  Northumbrians  also  to  oflfer  obedience  and  allegiance,    e^^eral 

^  supremacy 

In  828,  Egbert  again  turned  his  attention  to  the  Welsh,  and   »"  South 

conquered  North  Wales,  so  that  only  the  Welsh  of  Strath- 

clyde  and  the  Picts  and  Scots  remained  wholly  independent.     The  last 

years  of  Egbert  were  occupied  in  defending  Wessex  itself  against  the 

invasions  of  the  Northmen — a  subject  which  belongs  to  a  subsequent 

chapter.     At  his  death,  which  happened  in  839,  his  dominions  showed 

the  same  symptoms  of  disintegration  which  had  been  exhibited  by  those 

of  his  predecessors  and  by  the  Continental  dominion  of  Charles  the 

Great ;  for  while  his  eldest  son,  Ethelwulf,  received  Wessex,  apparently 

with   the   overlordship,  Kent,  Essex,  and  Sussex  were  made  into  an 

appanage  for  his  younger  son,  Athelslan.       Great  indeed  as  were  the 

achievements  of  Egbert,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  they  would  have 

been  more  lasting  than  those  of  Edwin  and  Ofl'a  had  it  not  been  for 

external  causes  which  ultimately  resulted  in  permanently  placing  the 

supremacy  of  all  England  in  the  hands  of  the  West-Saxon  dynasty. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Arrival  of  Augustine,   .... 

697 

Aidan's  mission, 

634 

Synod  of  Whitby,          .... 

664 

Arrival  of  Theodore  of  Tarsus,    . 

668 

Supremacy  of  Northumbria, 

.  603-668 

Supremacy  of  Mercia,  .... 

.  767-826 

Egbert  becomes  King  of  the  English, . 

827 

CHAPTEK  V 

INSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  ENGLISH 

Physical  Features  of  the  Country— Local  Government  of  the  Township,  the 
Hundred,  and  the  Shire — Central  Government  in  the  hands  of  the  King  and 
Witenageraot — English  Society  in  the  Ninth  Century. 

It  is  now  time  to  deal  with  the  political  constitution  of  the  English 
kingdoms  and  with  the  social  customs  of  the  English. 

From  the  close  of  the  sixth  century  to  the  time  of  Egbert  seven  king- 
The  Seven  doms  Stand  out  as  always  distinct  from  one  another,  though 
Kingdoms,  sometimes  united  in  more  or  less  political  union.  These  are 
those  of  the  Northumbrians,  the  Mercians,  the  East-Anglians,  the  West- 
Saxons,  the  East-Saxons,  the  South-Saxons,  and  the  Kentishmen ;  and  it  is 
important  to  note  that  it  was  usual  to  speak  not  of  Wessex  but  of  the 
West-Saxons,  the  men  of  the  race  and  not  the  territory  in  which  they 
dwelt  constituting  the  political  state.  Sometimes  other  groups  are  spoken 
of  as  having  a  separate  existence,  such  as  the  men  of  Surrey  or  the  Lindis- 
waras  ;  but  in  general  the  states  named  are  the  most  prominent. 

Of  these  the  South  and  East  Saxons  were  single  tribes  ;  the  Kentish- 
men  seem  to  have  been  formed  by  the  union  of  two  tribes,  whose 
respective  capitals  were  Rochester  and  Canterbury ;  the  Mercians  and 
Northumbrians  were  agglomerations  of  smaller  settlements,  whose  names 
and  boundaries  were  preserved  down  to  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  the 
Northmen ;  the  East-Anglians  comprised  the  North  and  South  folk ;  and 
the  West- Saxons  had  absorbed  the  Meonwaras,  Jutish  settlers  who  dwelt 
in  and  near  the  Isle  of  Wight.  Each  of  these  kingdoms  was  complete 
in  itself ;  and  the  position  of  Egbert  was  that  of  a  king  of  the  West- 
Saxons  whose  overlordship  was,  for  the  time  being,  acknowledged  by  the 
other  English  states. 

The  boundaries  of  these  kingdoms  were  prescribed  to  them  by 
the  lie  of  the  country ;  for  in  those  days  the  country  was  covered 
with  rugged  mountain,   soaking  bog,   and  impenetrable  forest  to  an 


Geographical  Divisions  41 

extent  which  it  is  now  difl&cult  to  realise,  and  the  rivers  themselves 
must  have  flowed  in  volumes  of  which  the  dwindled  currents   Geographi- 
of  the   present   day  give  a  very  inadequate   conception,    of  thcT*""^ 
Little  indeed  was  the  acreage  of  arable  land  which  re-   country, 
mained  when  the  waste  was  subtracted  from  the  ai-ea  of  the  country. 

Besides  the  dreary  moorlands  which  stretched  in  almost  unbroken 
solitude  from  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde  to  the  Peak,  and  the  wild 
uplands  of  Cleveland,  Northumbria  consisted  of  little  more  than  a 
narrow  strip  of  coast-line  from  the  Forth  to  the  Tees  and  the  plain  of  the 
Yorkshire  Ouse.  Between  it  and  Mercia  lay  the  Humber  The 
and  the  waste  of  marshes  into  which  was  gathered  the  Humber. 
whole  of  the  western  drainage  of  the  moors  of  Lancashire,  Yorkshire,  and 
Derbyshire.  Further  inland,  the  forest  of  Elmete,  which  occupied  the 
country  between  the  Wharfe  and  the  Aire,  connected  the  barrier  of  the 
marsh  with  the  highlands  of  the  Pennine  chain. 

Between  Mercia  and  East  Anglia  stretched  along  the  course  of  the 
Ouse  as  far  as  Cambridge  a  dreary  waste  of  fen  broken  only  by  verit- 
able islands  ;  and  at  Cambridge  the  forest  began,  and  con- 
nected  the  marshes  of  the  Ouse  with  those  of  the  estuaries 
of  the  Stour  and  Orwell,  so  completing  the  isolation  of  East  Anglia. 
From  Cambridge  another  line  of  woodlands  followed  the  slopes  of  the 
Chiltern  Hills  and  divided  the  East  and  West  Saxons  from 
the  men   of  Mercia,  as  they  were  divided  from  those  of      chiltern 
Surrey  and  Kent  by  the  channel  of  the  Thames.     Closely 
followed  by  the  Icknield  Street,  this  line  of  wood  seems  to  cross  the 
Thames  near  Wallingford,  and  under  the  name  of  the  Bearroc  Wood 
divides  the  men  of  Surrey  from  the  West-Saxons  ;  and  then,  expanding 
into  the  tangled  labyrinth  of  the  Weald,  which  in  Alfred's 
time  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long  and  thirty 
broad,  it  formed  the  boundary  of  the   South-Saxons  both  against  the 
Jutes  of  Kent  and  the  West-Saxons  of  the  valley  of  the  Itchen.    Further 
west  the  advance  of  the   Saxons  was  long  delayed  by  the  forest  of 
Selwood,  which  occupied  the  water-shed  between  the  Bristol  Channel, 
the  Thames,  and  the  Hampshire  Avon ;  while  the  Mercians  were  debarred 
from  the  direct  road  into  the  valley  of  the  Severn  by  the  mass  of  forest 
land,  afterwards  known  as  the  Forest  of  Arden,  which  lay  between  the 
Severn,  the  Warwickshire  Avon,  and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Trent. 

Within  the  kingdom  the  territorial  divisions  recognised  by  the  English 
were  the  township,  the  borough,  the  hundred,  and  the  shire  ;   Territorial 
and  some  of  the  original  kingdoms  were  so  small  that  the   Divisions, 
last  division  was  superfluous.     The  township  and  hundred  seem  to  owe 


4:2  Institutions  of  the  English 

their  origin  to  the  circumstances  of  the  invasion  itself,  which  took  the 
form  of  the  settlement  in  a  conquered  and  possibly  in  a  deserted  country 
of  a  host  of  warriors  who  had  arrived  with  their  wives,  children,  and 
slaves,  bringing  with  them  their  flocks  and  herds — in  short,  as  an  emi- 
grating community.  In  the  time  of  Tacitus  the  Germans  appear  to  have 
divided  their  fighting  force  into  companies  of  hundreds,  without,  however, 
adhering  strictly  to  the  exact  numerical  standard  ;  and  this  organisation 
seems  also  to  have  been  that  of  the  English  invaders  of  Britain. 

The  township,  therefore,  appears  to  have  been  either  the  estate  of  a 
single  warrior  with  his  family  and  dependents — in  fact,  a  plantation — or 

The  *h®  smallest  emigrating  community  of  independent  settlers. 

Township,  j^g  constitution  accordingly  varied:  in  some  places  it  retained 
traces  of  its  origin  as  a  free  and  equal  community  cultivating  the 
ground  in  common ;  in  others  it  had  become  the  property  of  a  single  lord, 
even  if  it  had  not  been  so  constituted  from  the  first,  in  that  case  being 
little  different  from  the  manor  of  a  later  date.  From  the  point  of  view 
of  the  state,  the  township,  as  a  community,  was  bound  to  fulfil  certain 
obligations.  These  were  called  the  trinoda  necessitas,  and  consisted  of 
keeping  in  repair  the  bridges,  fortifications,  and  roads  which  fell  within 
its  limits,  and  of  sending  a  contingent  to  the  national  host  in  case  of  an 
outbreak  of  war.  The  head  of  the  township  was  the  tun-gerefa  or  town- 
reeve,  sometimes  an  elective  officer,  sometimes  named  by  the  lord.  Eccle- 
siastically, the  township  was,  as  a  rule,  the  charge  of  a  single  priest,  and 
the  name  was  often  sunk  in  that  of  parish  ;  but  in  thinly  populated 
districts,  especially  in  the  north,  the  parish  often  contained  several  town- 
ships. The  afiairs  of  the  township  were  managed  by  its  inhabitants, 
who  met  for  this  purpose  in  the  town-moot.  There  they  elected  the 
reeve,  unless  he  was  named  by  the  lord  ;  appointed  the  hydel^  or  beadle, 
and  other  village  officers ;  formally  received  new  householders  into  the 
community ;  saw  that  the  obligations  of  the  village  were  duly  discharged 
in  regard  to  roads  and  fortifications  ;  and  enforced  the  by-laws  of  the 
place.  Each  old  English  township,  therefore,  had  a  complete  system  of 
local  self-government,  which  never  wholly  passed  away,  for  some  of  the 
functions  of  the  town-moot  were  discharged  by  the  meeting,  others  by 
the  courts  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  of  which  a  fuller  account  will 
presently  be  given.  Since  1894,  however,  the  recognition  in  small 
parishes  of  the  parish  meeting,  and  the  creation  in  larger  of  the  parish 
council,  have  practically  restored  the  working  of  one  of  the  oldest 
English  institutions. 

If  the  settlement  was  defended  by  a  mound  and  a  ditch  instead  of  the 
tiin^  or  quickset  hedge,  which  gave  its  name  to  the  township,  it  was  called 


Township  and  Hundred  43 

a  burhy  a  name  which  takes  the  forms  borough^  bury,  and  burgh  in 
diflferent  parts  of  the  country.  The  head  of  a  burh  was  called  a  burk- 
gerefa,  or  borough-reeve.  Sometimes  the  chief  officer  was  The 
known  as  the  port-reeve.  When  the  settlement  had  been  Borough, 
formed  for  security  in  an  Old  Koman  camp,  the  name  castra  usually 
clung  to  it  in  the  form  cester,  Chester,  or  caster.  No  difference  in  kind 
existed  between  the  smaller  boroughs  and  the  townships ;  but  some  of 
the  larger  boroughs  comprised  several  townships,  and  the  government  of 
such  boroughs  resembled  that  of  a  '  hundred.' 

A  group  of  townships  formed  the  hundred.  The  area  of  the  hundred 
varied  greatly— partly,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
warriors  in  a  nominal  hundred  was  itself  variable,  but  also  The 
to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  which  would  make  the  district  Hundred, 
required  for  a  settlement  greater  in  some  places  than  in  others.  The 
name  for  this  division  also  varied  in  different  parts  of  England.  In  the 
south,  'hundred'  was  the  term  usually  employed  ;  in  the  east  midlands  and 
in  Yorkshire, '  wapentake ';  and  in  the  very  north, '  ward.'  In  some  places 
even  the  division  was  called  a  'shire.'  Who  was  the  head  of  the 
hundred  is  a  matter  of  some  uncertainty.  It  is,  however,  generally 
thought  that  the  elected  head  was  called  the  *  hundred-ealdorman,'  or 
alderman  of  the  hundred,  and  that  the  authority  of  the  king  was  repre- 
sented by  a  gerefa,  the  same  officer  who  after  the  Norman  Conquest 
was  generally  known  as  the  '  bailiff.'  Like  the  township,  the  hundred 
had  a  meeting  for  the  management  of  its  own  affairs.  This  assembled 
monthly,  and  was  attended  by  the  lords  of  land  within  the  hundred  or 
by  their  stewards,  and  by  the  parish  priest,  the  reeve,  and  the  four  best 
men  from  each  township.  The  business  of  this  court  was  to  try 
criminals,  to  settle  disputes,  and  to  witness  transfers  of  land.  Judicial 
matters  were  for  convenience  submitted  to  the  decision  of  twelve  men, 
who  came  to  be  known  as  '  the  twelve  legal  men '  of  the  hundred.  Even 
in  very  early  times  some  of  the  great  landowners  exercised  a  jurisdiction 
on  their  own  estiites  which  made  them  independent  of  the  hundred  court, 
and  these  estates  constituted,  as  it  were,  private  '  hundreds.'  At  a  later 
date  these  came  to  be  known  as  '  liberties '  or  '  franchises.'  The  whole 
question  of  the  '  hundred '  is  very  obscure,  and  probably  there  was  much 
variety  in  practice. 

Above  the  hundred  stood  the  shire.       The  origin  of  English  shires 
as  we  have  them  at  the  present  day  is  exceedingly  various, 
and  few  if  any  of  their  present  boundaries  date  back  to  the 
time  of  Egbert ;  but  similar  divisions  certainly  existed,  and  for  the  sake 
of  convenience  it  will  be  better  to  deal  with  them  all  at  once.    At  the 


44  Institutions  of  the  English 

present  day  we  have  at  least  seven  kinds  of  shires.  Sussex,  Essex,  Kent, 
and  Surrey  are  ancient  kingdoms  which  preserve  more  or  less  their  old 
Origin  of  boundaries.  Northumberland  is  likewise  an  ancient  king- 
Shires,  dom,  but  much  reduced  in  size.  Cornwall  is  the  kingdom 
of  the  West  Welsh.  Cumberland  represents  the  English  share  of  the 
old  British  kingdom  of  Strathclyde.  Hampshire,  Wiltshire,  Berkshire, 
Devonshire,  and  Dorsetshire  represent  the  old  tribal  divisions  of 
Wessex.  Counties  like  Worcestershire,  Leicestershire,  and  Bedfordshire, 
and  other  midland  shires,  which  take  their  names  from  their  county 
town,  date  back  to  the  time  when,  the  old  tribal  divisions  having  been 
obliterated  by  the  settlement  of  the  Northmen,  a  new  and  artificial 
division  became  necessary.  Durham  corresponds  to  the  old  district  ruled 
over  by  the  Bishop  of  Durham.  Cheshire  is  a  county  palatine  created 
at  the  Conquest ;  and  Lancashire,  Westmorland,  and  Rutland  have  even 
been  organised  as  counties  since  the  compilation  of  Domesday  Book. 
However,  in  the  time  of  Egbert  the  tribal  settlements  still  formed  the 
basis  of  the  '  shire,'  and  the  organisation  of  the  '  shire '  as  it  existed  in 
his  time  was  simply  transferred  in  later  times  to  the  new  territorial 
divisions. 

At  the  head  of  the  shire  stood  the  ealdorman.  In  the  case  of  well- 
established  shires,  such  as  Dorsetshire  and  Wiltshire,  he  was  appointed  by 
Government  the  king  and  the  witenagemot ;  but  in  that  of  shires  which 
of  the  Shire,  ^q^q  j^gt  ceasing  to  be  small  kingdoms,  such  as  Kent  and 
Sussex,  the  office  frequently  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  ancient  dynasty, 
on  the  extinction  of  which  an  ealdorman  was  appointed  in  the  ordinary 
way.  The  chief  business  of  the  ealdorman  was  to  lead  the  forces  of  the 
shire,  and  to  be  present  at  the  meetings  of  the  shire-moot.  This  body  met 
twice  a  year  on  the  summons  of  the  shire-reeve  or  sheriff,  who  represented 
the  authority  of  the  king.  There  were  present  at  it  the  ealdorman  and 
the  bishop,  who  declared  respectively  the  laws  of  state  and  church  on  all 
points  that  arose  ;  the  sheriff,  who  saw  the  decisions  of  the  court  carried 
into  effect ;  and  all  the  suitors  at  the  hundred-court,  including  the  reeve 
and  four  men  from  each  township.  The  shire-moot  tried  all  cases  that 
had  not  been  disposed  of  in  the  hundred-court.  In  cases  between  man 
and  man  there  was  certainly,  a  little  later  than  Egbert's  time,  an  appeal 
to  the  king  and  the  witenagemot,  but  in  criminal  cases  the  decision  of 
the  shire-moot  was  final.  The  military  force  of  the  shire  was  represented 
by  the  fyrd,  or  expedition.  This  was  made  up  of  all  the  freemen  of  the 
shire  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty.  The  men  of  each  family 
marched  together,  and  formed  with  others  from  the  same  township  the 
unit  of  the  fighting  force,  which  was  led  by  the  town-reeve  ;  the  reeves 


The  King  and  Witenagemot  45 

and  their  men  from  each  himdred  were  led  by  their  hundredman,  and 
the  force  of  the  whole  shire  by  the  ealdorman  ;  the  contingents  of  the 
liberties  and  the  men  from  the  lands  of  the  church  also  placed  themselves 
under  him. 

The  kingdom  was  ruled  jointly  by  the  king  and  the  witenagemot,  or 
meeting  of  the  wise  men,  often  expressed  by  the  word  witan^  The  King- 
or  the  wise.  The  witenagemot  was  a  close  body,  consisting  *^°"*- 
of  the  king,  sometimes  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  grown-up  sons,  the 
ealdormen  and  bishops,  the  chief  abbots,  the  great  oflficers  of  The  Witena- 
the  court,  and  an  ever-increasing  body  of  the  king's  thegns.  eemot. 
The  witenagemot,  besides  meeting  at  more  or  less  regular  intervals  for  the 
purpose  of  being  consulted  by  the  king,  had  a  number  of  special  functions. 
It  was  its  business  to  elect  the  king  ;  but  it  rarely  chose  a  man  except 
out  of  the  royal  family.  Usually  the  man  chosen  was  the  best  qualified 
man  who  was  near  in  blood  to  the  late  king  ;  and  in  practice,  though  by 
no  means  invariably,  the  choice  fell  upon  his  eldest  son.  In  theory, 
however,  the  choice  was  perfectly  open,  so  that  the  old  English  kingship 
must  be  reckoned  as  an  elective  monarchy.  In  a  few  cases  the 
witenagemot  of  the  older  kingdoms  exercised  the  right  of  deposing  an 
incompetent  sovereign  in  favour  of  one  more  efiicient ;  but  there  is  no 
instance  of  this  being  done  after  the  time  of  Egbert.  The  king  and  the 
witan  jointly  named  the  ealdormen  ;  but  the  tendency  was  for  these  posts 
to  become  hereditary,  and  in  other  cases  for  the  real  choice  to  lie  with 
the  king.  Bishops  were  sometimes  elected  by  their  clergy,  sometimes 
named  by  the  king  and  the  witan  ;  but  in  either  of  these  cases  their 
formal  reception  into  the  witenagemot  may  be  taken  as  a  confirmation  of 
the  appointment.  From  time  immemorial  all  legislation  required  the 
assent  of  the  witenagemot,  as  was  the  practice  in  all  Teutonic  nationalities ; 
but  among  the  English  new  laws  were  rarely  made,  and  it  was  thought 
sufficient  to  restate  and  confirm  the  old  ones.  Another  duty  of  the 
witan  was  that  of  registering  and  confirming  all  grants  made  from  the 
public  territory  or  folkland  to  private  persons.  The  witan,  too,  con- 
stituted a  court  of  appeal  in  cases  between  man  and  man  which  had  not 
been  satisfactorily  settled  in  the  shire-moots,  and  tried  in  the  first  instance 
cases  where  the  criminal  or  parties  concerned  happened  to  be  too 
powerful  to  have  justice  done  in  the  local  court.  In  ordinary  times  no 
taxes  were  required  for  the  king's  ordinary  revenue  ;  the  contribution  of 
ships,  the  fyrd,  and  the  trinoda  necessitas  made  a  money  revenue  un- 
necessary. The  chief  functions,  therefore,  of  this  assembly  were  to 
elect  the  sovereign  ;  to  confirm,  at  least,  the  appointments  of  ealdormen 
and  bishops ;  to  act  as  the  high  court  of  justice  of  the  realm  ;  to  state, 


46  Institutions  of  the  English 

codify,  or  amend  the  law ;  to  vote  additional  taxation,  and  to  advise 
with  the  king  in  all  cases  of  national  emergency. 

The  edifice  of  the  state  is  crowned  by  the  king.  The  title  means 
*  father  of  a  family,'  and  it  recalls  the  recollection  of  a  time  when  the 
The  Ki  ^^^*®  ^^^  *^®  family  were  one.  When  Tacitus  wrote,  few 
German  tribes  were  ruled  by  kings,  but  kingship  was 
universal  among  the  English  who  had  settled  in  Britain ;  and  perhaps 
the  success  of  the  invasion  was  the  cause  which  conferred  the  higher 
distinction  on  the  ealdorman,  or  princeps,  or  chief  who  had  led  the 
bands  of  emigrants.  The  English  looked  on  their  kings  as  descendants 
of  a  mythical  hero  Woden,  and  as  such  regarded  them  and  their  families 
with  awe.  The  king  represented  the  unity,  dignity,  and  historical  career 
His  Preroga-  of  the  race.  He  was  the  leader  of  the  host  in  war,  and  in 
tives.  peace  he  was  regarded  as  embodying  the  ideas  of  law  and 

order,  so  that  the  officers  of  state  who  were  responsible  for  their  main- 
tenance were  spoken  of  as  his  officers,  and  all  crimes  of  violence  were 
held  to  be  violations  of  '  the  king's  peace. '  The  sheriffs  in  a  special 
manner  were  his  stewards ;  even  the  witenagemot,  which  had  elected 
him  and  might  depose  him,  was  called  his  witenagemot.  On  the  other 
hand,  dignified  as  the  king's  position  was,  his  prerogatives  were  carefully 
circumscribed.  He  was  not  the  supreme  landowner,  and  could  make  no 
grant  from  the  public  land,  even  to  himself,  without  the  consent  of  the 
witan.  Without  its  advice  and  consent  he  could  not  levy  a  tax  or  alter 
the  law.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  by  increasing 
the  number  of  the  king's  thegns  he  could  always  command  a  majority  in 
the  witenagemot,  and  that  if  he  were  a  man  of  strong  will  and  hi^h 
character  he  was  able  to  shape  the  whole  policy  of  the  state. 

The  revenue  of  the  king  was  provided  for  in  a  variety  of  ways.  As  a 
private  individual  he  was  at  liberty  to  hold  property  and  bequeath  it  by 

His  will,  and  as  sovereign  he  had  control  over  the  estates  of  the 

Revenue,  crown,  which  might  even  include  cities  and  boroughs 
founded  upon  it ;  and  he  had  also  a  right  to  certain  contributions  from 
the  holders  of  folkland.  His  money  revenue  was  derived  from  the  fines 
levied  in  the  law-courts,  the  produce  of  wrecks  and  of  treasure-trove,  of 
mines  and  salt-works,  tolls  and  other  dues  levied  in  markets  and  ports, 
and  of  the  heriots  which  were  paid  by  his  special  dependants.  The  regalia 
of  the  monarch  consisted  of  throne,  crown,  sceptre,  and  standard  ;  and 
at  his  enthronement  he  was  both  crowned  and  also  anointed  with  oil  as 
a  sign  that  he  was  an  independent  and  not  a  subordinate  king.  At  his 
coronation  the  king  was  bound  by  a  solemn  promise  to  keep  the  peace, 
to  put  down  robbery  and  rapine,  and  to  secure  justice  for  all  his  people. 


State  of  Society  47 

As  the  estates  of  the  crown  and  the  folklands  were  scattered  all  over  the 
kingdom,  the  king  and  his  train  of  followers  were  forced  to  go  from  one 
district  to  another  in  order  to  eat  up  the  provisions  which  had  „•  ^  ^  ^ 
been  prepared  for  their  maintenance,  and  hence  the  sovereign 
was  brought  into  frequent  contact  with  all  parts  of  his  dominions.  Access 
to  him  was  therefore  easy  for  all  his  subjects,  and  the  frequent  presence  of 
the  king's  eye  was  the  best  security  against  the  oppressions  of  the  local 
nobility.  It  is  remarkable  how  soon  the  royal  houses  succeeded  in 
raising  themselves  to  a  fairly  high  pitch  of  civilisation  ;  and  the  tone  of 
mind  adopted  towards  Christianity  by  such  kings  as  Ethelbert  of  Kent 
and  Edwin  of  Northumbria  reflects  credit  on  the  race  to  which  they 
belonged  and  the  institutions  under  which  they  lived. 

English  society  was  divided  into  two  great  classes,  freemen  and  slaves, 
the  relative  numbers  of  which  before  the  Norman  Conquest   English 
are  unknown.     Freemen,  again,  were  divided  into  aithelings,      ociety. 
eorls,  ceorls,  and  thegns  ;  and  slaves  into  theows,  or  slaves  pure  and 
simple,  esnes,  who  worked  for  hire,  wite-theows,  who  had   The  Free- 
lapsed  into  slavery  through  inability  to  pay  their  debts,    '"^"* 
house-slaves,  and  farm-slaves.    For  the  death  of  a  freeman  the  law  exacted 
from  his  slayer  compensation  according  to  his  rank,  but 
took  no  cognisance  of  the  death  of  a  slave  until  Christianity 
enforced  the  duty  of  humanity  by  the  penalty  of  penance. 

Of  the  freemen,  some  were  landed  and  some  landless  :  and  this  was  a 
vital  distinction  ;  for  whereas  the  law  recognised  in  the  landed  man  a 
citizen  of  full  responsibility,  it  compelled  the  landless  man.  Landed 
however  high  his  birth,  to  put  himself  under  the  protection  F*reemen. 
of  some  landed  man  whom  the  state  might  hold  responsible  for  his  acts. 
At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  English  two  ranks  only  appear  to  have 
been  recognised — gentle  and  simple,  or  noble  and  non-noble,  which  were 
distinguished  as  ajtheling  or  eorl  and  ceorl.  By  degrees  these  names 
came  to  change  their  signification,  and  eorl  or  earl  (a  form  derived  from 
the  Norse  ^arl)  was  reserved  for  the  title  of  an  ealdorman,  and  setheling 
for  the  son  or  brother  of  a  king. 

This  was  the  more  easy  as  the  old  distinctions  of  rank  had  been 
superseded  by  the  rise  of  a  new  order — that  of  the  thegns,  and  especially 
of  the  king's  thegns.  Tacitus  had  noticed  that  among  the  Germans  it 
was  a  distinction  to  be  attached  to  the  service  of  a  great  man,  and  the 
greater  the  man  the  greater  the  distinction.  Indeed,  in  the  higher  ranks 
little  or  no  diflerence  was  made  between  the  term  gesith  or  companion 
and  that  of  thegn  or  servant.  Accordingly,  a  new  gradation  of  rank  made 
its  appearance.    The  thegn  of  a  king  took  precedence  of  the  thegn  of  an 


48  Institutions  of  the  English 

ealdorman,  and  the  thegns  of  an  ealdorman  those  of  a  simple  eorL    The 

king  soon  found  it  to  his  advantage  to  increase    in  every  way  the 

importance  of  his  thegns.     With  the  consent  of  the  witen- 

The  Thegns.  '^         ,,  ,°,  ,  „,,  ,i.,-,  , 

agemot  he  bestowed  on  them  shares  oi  the  pubhc  land,  and 

called  upon  them  to  take  their  seats  in  the  witenagemot  itself.     He  also 

added  to  his  military  strength  by  requiring  the  personal  services  of  them 

and  their  followers,  so  providing  himself  with  a  force  more  devoted  to 

himself  and  more  amenable  to  discipline  than  the  ancient  fyrd.     By-and- 

by  it  came  to  be  considered  that  any  man  of  a  certain  wealth  ought  to 

rank  as  a  thegn,  and  then  it  was  enacted  that  any  one  '  who  throve  till 

he  possessed  five  hides  of  land  should  be  of  thegn-right  worthy.' 

Landless  men  of  whatever  rank  were  obliged  to  attach  themselves  to  a 
lord  ;  and  as  for  the  sake  of  peace  many  landed  men  were  also  in  the 

Landless     habit    of   putting    themselves    under    the    protection    of 

Freemen,  their  more  powerful  neighbours,  there  was  the  beginning  of 
a  system  in  which  all  ranks  of  society  would  be  bound  together  by  a 
chain  of  mutual  dependence  and  protection. 

The  land  system  of  the  old  English  was  very  complicated.  The 
broadest  distinction  was  between  alod  and  folkland,  that  is,  between  land 
which  had  been  assigned  to  some  particular  proprietor  or 
proprietors  and  land  which,  being  still  unallotted,  was 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  state.  On  the  other  hand,  the  allotted  land 
might  be  held  by  an  individual  or  by  a  small  community.  In  the  latter 
case  the  homesteads  were  private  property,  while  the  plough-lands  were 
cultivated  in  common,  and  the  flocks  and  herds  were  pastured  on  the 
common  waste,  subject,  however,  to  the  by-laws  of  the  little  community. 
The  next  estate  might  be  that  of  a  private  individual  who  cultivated  the 
soil  with  his  own  hands,  or,  if  large,  by  the  labour  of  hired  servants  or 
slaves  of  various  kinds.  The  proof  of  ownership  of  such  allotted  estates 
lay  in  the  common  voice  of  the  community  ;  but  in  the  case  of  grants 
made  out  of  the  folkland,  which  could  only  be  made  with  the  consent  of 
the  king  and  witan,  greater  formality  was  observed,  and  the  title-deed 
was  always  written  out.  This  document  was  called  a  boc,  or  book,  and 
land  so  held  was  distinguished  as  bocland.  As  such  grants  were  being 
constantly  made,  and  were  also  usually  large,  the  proportion  of  bocland 
to  alod  was  constantly  increasing. 

Justice  as  it  was  administered  among  the  Angles  and  Saxons  was  in 

,    .  .  a  transition  state,  just  emerging  from  a  time  when  justice 

Administra-  '  -^  f     °  •* 

tion  of  was  regarded  merely  as  a  sort  oi  regulated  revenge,  to  one  in 

Jus  ice.  which  the  heinousness  of  crime  is  regarded  as  lying  mainly 

in  the  wrong  done  to  the  state.     In  the  case  of  murder,  for  example,  the 


Administration  of  Justice  49 

aggrieved  parties  were  the  relatives  of  the  murdered  man,  and  their 
grievance  extended  to  the  family  of  the  murderer,  just  as  in  a  blood-feud. 
Here  the  state  stepped  in  and  insisted  that  the  case  should  be  formally- 
investigated.  The  kinsmen  of  the  accused  were  responsible  for  producing 
him  in  the  court ;  and  if  he  did  not  appear,  sentence  of  outlawry  was 
pronounced  against  him,  and  then  the  law  gave  him  no  further  protection. 
If  he  admitted  his  guilt,  and  the  case  could  not  be  shown  to  be  justifiable 
by  custom,  the  court  determined  the  compensation  which  was  to  be  paid 
(1)  to  the  family  of  the  murdered  man,  and  (2)  to  the  king  for  an  infrac- 
tion of  his  peace.  If  he  swore  his  innocence  he  was  required  to  support  his 
assertion  by  the  oaths  of  his  friends,  who  were  called  his  compurgators  ; 
and  if  he  failed  in  this  he  was  put  to  the  ordeal.  This  consisted  in 
walking  over  redhot  ploughshares,  carrying  three  paces  a  bar  of  redhot 
iron,  or  plunging  his  bare  arm  into  boiling  water.  In  either  case,  if  his 
wounds  were  not  healed  within  three  days  he  was  regarded  as  guilty 
and  dealt  with  accordingly. 

If  we  try  to  picture  to  ourselves  English  life  as  it  existed  in  the  ninth 
century,  we  must  set  before  ourselves  an  agricultural  population  divided 

into  a  number  of  small  communities,  each  complete  in  itself.    ^     ,.,.,., 

.  ,  ,     Enelish  Life 

Some  were  free  cultivating  communities ;  m  others,  and   in  the  Ninth 

the  increasing  number,  the  real  head  was  the  lord  who      ^"  "'^* 

owned  the  soil,  and  to  whom  the  mass  of  the  inhabitants  were  bound  in 

a  variety  of  ways.     Of  the  land,  more  than  half  would  probably  be  wood 

or  waste  ;    and   of  the  remainder  the  greater  part  would  be  pasture, 

a  little  meadow,  and  the  rest  under  the  plough.     Of  the  inhabitants,  the 

most  important  rented  portions  from  the  lord ;  but  the  mass  held  their 

land  from  him  on  condition  of  doing  for  him  a  fixed  quantity  of  work  of 

diflerent  kinds.      Others  again,  inferior  to  these,  had  to  work  practically 

whenever  they  were  ordered,  but  yet  had  a  tenement  of  their  own,  from 

which  they  could   not   be   disturbed   so   long  as   their   services   were 

performed.       These  service-doing  landholders  afterwards  came  to  be 

called  villeins.     Below  these  were  the  class  of  actual  slaves  or  theows, 

who   were   the   property   of  their   lords,    and    could   be    bought   and 

sold  at  will.      This  class,  however,  tended  to  diminish,  as  the  church 

did  all  it  could  to  encourage  manumission.       The  lord  intrusted   the 

supervision  of  the  serfs'  labour  to  a  steward,  who  was  responsible  to 

him ;  careful  accounts  were  kept  of  the  duties  of  each  tenant,  and  the 

lord  received  the  produce  of  the  estate,  moving  about  with  his  retinue 

from  one  place  to  another  so  as  to  consume  the  produce  of  each.     Besides 

members  of  the  free  village  communities,  the  lords  of  land  and  their 

villein  cultivators,  there  were  few  inhabitants.     The  towns  were  few  and 


50  Institutions  of  the  English 

small,  mining  was  rare,  and  there  was  only  domestic  manufacture.  Salt, 
however,  was  made  either  from  brine  or  the  water  of  the  sea  ;  and  by 
the  rivers  there  were  fisheries,  the  weirs  for  which  had  to  be  kept  in 
order  by  the  villein  tenants.  What  commerce  there  was  was  carried 
on  by  chapmen ;  and  as  the  lords,  under  such  a  system,  were  very 
wealthy,  the  chapmen  were  often  men  who  possessed  a  considerable  stock 
of  goods  and  travelled  about  the  country  with  a  large  retinue  of  armed 
followers — a  precaution  rendered  necessary  by  the  number  of  robbers 
and  outlaws  who  swarmed  in  the  extensive  forests.  Provision  for  the 
amusement  of  the  lords  and  their  households  was  made  by  the  bands  of 
gleemen,  jugglers,  and  tumblers  who  wandered  from  house  to  house, 
and  who,  if  their  entertainments  were  not  very  refined,  did  something 
to  keep  alive  the  ballad  literature  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  INVASIONS  OF  THE  NORTHMEN 


Egbert,  .  .  a.  D.  802-839 
Ethelwulf,  .  .  839-858 
Ethelbald,        .        .        858-860 


ENGLISH   KINGS 

Ethelbert,  .  a.d.  860-866 

Ethelred, .  .  .        866-871 

Alfred,     .  .  871-902 


The  Ethnology  of  the  Northmen — Their  early  Invasions— The  Youth  of  Alfred 
the  Great — Accession  of  Alfred— His  Struggles  against  the  Danes — Peace  of 
Wedniore— The  Danelaw— Political  Effects  of  the  Danish  Settlement — Re- 
organisation of  his  Kingdom  by  Alfred — Later  Wars  with  the  Danes — Death 
of  Alfred. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  union  of  the  English  under  Egbert  would 
have  proved  more  permanent  than  previous  attempts  at  consolidation, 
had  not  a  completely  new  turn  been  given  to  English  affairs  by  the 
invasions  of  the  Northmen.  The  name  of  Northmen  was 
given  by  the  English  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Denmark  and  of\he°  °^^ 
the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  and  it  is  perfectly  exact  as  far  J}.°'^^'JJ|8  . 
as  it  goes,  for  up  to  this  time  these  people  had  not  been  con- 
solidated, as  they  afterwards  became,  into  Norwegians,  Swedes,  and 
Danes  ;  but,  as  the  Britons  called  aU  the  English  Saxons,  so  the  English 
frequently  spoke  of  the  Northmen  as  Danes,  and,  since  this  name  is  short 
and  convenient,  we  may  do  the  same,  provided  it  be  remembered  that 
many  of  the  invaders  came  from  other  parts  of  the  north  of  Europe 
besides  Denmark.  The  Northmen  belonged  to  the  German  branch  of 
the  Aryan  family  ;  but  while  the  English  spoke  a  dialect  of  the  Low 
German  tongue  which  was  common  to  all  the  tribes  who  dwelt  on  the 
low  plain  from  the  Scheldt  to  the  Elbe  or  thereabouts,  the  dialect  of  the 
Northmen  is  distinguished  as  Scandinavian,  and  differs  from  Low  German 
in  some  essential  particulars.  In  the  ninth  century  the  Northmen  were 
still  heathen,  and  they  retained  all  the  fighting  qualities  of  their  savage 
origin  unimpaired  by  contact  with  civilisation.  In  fact,  they  were  in  the 
time  of  Egbert  what  the  English  had  been  at  the  time  of  the  first 
settlements,   and  so  far  as  they  diflered  from  the  English  in  character 

61 


52  Invasions  of  the  Northmen  787 

seem  to  have  done  so  in  the  direction  of  greater  dash  and  brilliancy. 
They  were  also  far  abler  seamen  than  the  English,  and  had  greater  skill 
both  in  constructing  and  defending  earthworks. 

The  first  invasion  of  the  Northmen  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Offa,  and 
from  that  time  till  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror  the  fighting  between 
the  English  and  the  Northmen  was  almost  incessant.     Nor 
Invasion  of  did  England  suffer  alone,  for  during  that  period  Northmen 
men^°^^^      established  themselves  in  large  territories  both  of  Northern 
France   and    Southern   Italy  ;    twice   attacked   Constanti- 
nople, founded  a  dynasty  in  Russia,  and  plundered  almost  every   sea- 
port town  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Mediterranean. 

In  their  invasions  of  England  it  is  possible  to  distinguish  three  distinct 
epochs  :  first,  that  oi  plunder  ;  then  that  of  English  settlement ;  and,  third, 
that  oi  political  conquest.     The  Danes  first  appeared  on  the 
Periods  of     coast  in  the  year  787,  and  before  the  close  of  the  century 
four  plundering  expeditions  had  landed  on  our  shores  and 
the  great  abbeys  of  Lindisfarne  and  Wearmouth,  the  homes  of  Aidan  and 
Bede  and  the  centres  of  Northumbrian  culture  and  piety,  had  been 
pillaged  and  destroyed.      Then  there  was  a  respite  till  828,  when  the 
Danes  landed  in  Wessex,  and  defeated  Egbert  in  a  pitched  battle.     How- 
ever, in  837  Egbert  contrived  to  get  the  mastery  over  a  combined  force 
„     ,      -      of  Cornishmen  and  Danes  in  the  battle  of  Hengist's  Down. 

Battle  of  ^ 

Hengist's     From  837  to  840,  every  summer  saw  the  heathen  men  at  their 
deadly  work.     Three  pitched  battles  at  least  were  fought ; 
in  each  the  English  were  beaten,  and  London,  Rochester,  and  Canterbury 
were  taken  by  storm.       In  851  the  Danes,  for  the  first  time,  wintered  in 
the  Isle  of  Thanet  ;  and  the  same  year  no  less  than  three 
winterln      hundred  and  fifty-one   of  the   pirate  vessels   made   their 
Than^et  °^    appearance  in  the  Thames.       London  and  Canterbury  were 
again  pillaged,  and  the  Mercians  were  defeated  ;   but  when 
the  Danes  passed  into  Surrey  they  were  routed  with  enormous  slaughter 
Battle  of      at  the   battle   of  Ocley.     In  855  some  Danes  passed  the 
Ocley.  winter  in   Sheppey  ;   but  in   860   a  body  of  Danes  who 

had  sacked  Winchester  were  defeated  by  Osric,  ealdorman  of  Hamp- 
shire, and  Ethelwulf,  ealdorman  of  Berkshire.  On  the  whole,  therefore, 
the  Saxons  were  making  a  fair  defence,  when  in  866  a  new  army,  far  more 
formidable  than  its  predecessors,  made  its  appearance  in  East-Anglia. 
After  passing  the  winter  there,  the  'great  heathen  army'  crossed  the 
Humber  into  Northumbria,  and,  as  it  found  the  Northumbrians  engaged 
in  a  civil  war,  seized  York  without  difficulty.  Next  year  the  army, 
leaving  Guthrum  in  charge  of  York,  advanced  into  Mercia  and  seized 


871  Invasions  of  the  N&iihmen  53 

Nottingham  ;  but  a  great  force  of  Mercians  and  West-Saxons  compelled 
them  to  withdraw  to  York.  However,  in  870  they  invaded  East- 
Anglia,  defeated  and  slew  Edmund  its  king,  and  sacked  Peterborough 
and  Crowland  ;  and  in  871  they  attacked  Wessex. 

The  reigning  king  of  the  West-Saxons  was  Ethelred,  the  grandson  ot 
Egbert.     Egbert  died  in  839,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Ethelwulf. 
Ethelwulf  appears  to  have  devoted  more  attention  to  the  in-    Reign  of 
junctions  of  the  church  than  to  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom,    Ethelwulf. 
judging  by  the  fact  that  he  chose  the  year  when  the  Northmen  wintered 
in  Sheppey  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  pope.     On  his  return  he  visited  the 
court  of  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Bald,  and  took  as  his  second  wife  his 
daughter  Judith.      Ethelwulf  died  in  858,  and  left  four  sons,  Ethelbald, 
Ethelbert,  Ethelred,  and  Alfred,  each  of  whom   in   turn    Reign  of 
became  king.      Ethelbald  reigned  first,  making  Ethelbert    Ethelbald. 
under-king  of  the  south-eastern  kingdoms.      His  reign,  however,  only 
lasted  two  years,  and  then  Ethelbert  came  to  the  throne.       In  his  reign 
the  victory  was  gained  which  followed  the  sack  of  Win-    Reign  of 
Chester,  and  during  the  remainder  of  Ethelbert's  life  the    Ethelbert. 
invaders    confined    their    attention    to    the    under-kingdoms   of  East- 
Anglia  and  Northumbria.      However,   in   866  he  too  died,   and   was 
succeeded  by  Ethelred,  as  it  had  been  arranged,  by  the    Reign  of 
will  of  Ethelwulf  and  with  the   consent  of   the    witan,    Ethelred. 
that  each  of  his  sons  should  succeed  in  turn,  to  the  exclusion  of  his 
grandchildren. 

The  object  of  this  arrangement  may  have  been  to  secure  the  succes- 
sion of  Alfred,  who  appears  from  his  earliest  youth  to  have  given 
promise  of  his  future  excellence.  Alfred  was  born  at  Wan-  Early  Life 
tage,  in  Berkshire,  in  849  ;  and,  though  it  is  hard  to  believe  °^  Alfred, 
all  the  stories  of  his  precocity,  he  soon  attracted  attention  by  his 
abilities.  In  853  Ethelwulf  sent  his  little  son  to  Rome,  and  while  there 
he  was  in  some  sort  consecrated  a  king  by  Leo  iv.,  who  had  heard 
rumours  of  Ethelwulf's  death.  When  Ethelwulf  visited  Rome  Alfred 
returned  home  with  him,  and  till  the  age  of  twenty  led  an  active 
life,  dividing  his  time  between  study,  hunting,  and  the  exercises  of 
religion.  Even  as  a  young  man  he  was  noted  for  the  seriousness  of  his 
character,  and  a  copy  of  the  Psalms  prepared  for  his  own  use  was  his 
constant  companion.  In  868  he  married  Elswitha,  the  daughter  of  the 
ealdorman  of  the  Gainas,  a  tribe  whose  name  is  still  preserved  in  Gains- 
borough. Alfred,  therefore,  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  and  a  married 
man  when  the  great  invasion  took  place. 

In  871  'the  great  army,'  supported  by  its  fleet,  made  its  way  up  the  valley 


54  Invasions  of  the  Nmihmen  871 

of  the  Thames,  and,  following  the  practice  of  pitching  their  camp  in  the 
angle  between  two  rivers,  entrenched  itself  in  the  angle  of  ground  between 
the  Kennet  and  the  Thames,  close  to  the  town  of  Reading. 
Invasion      They  then  began  their  usual  practice  of  plundering  the 
country  and  collecting  the  spoil  into  their  camp.     One  of 
their  bands,  however,  was  defeated  by  Ethel wulf,  the  veteran  ealdorman 
Battle  of      0^  Berkshire ;  and  three  days  later  Ethelred  and  Alfred,  with 
Reading,     youthful  impetuosity,  attempted  to  storm  the  camp  itself. 
In  this,  however,  they  overrated  their  strength.     Behind  earthworks  the 
Danes  were  invincible  ;    the  assault  was  beaten  off  ;    and  the  brave 
Ethelwulf  was  killed.     Encouraged  by  this,  the  Danes  sallied  forth  in 
Battle  of      force,  but  were  met  on  the  Berkshire  downs  at  Ashdown  by 
Ashdown.    ^he  whole  force  of  the  West  Saxons.     There  the  invaders 
were  completely  routed,  apparently  owing  to  the  adoption  by  Alfred  of 
the  method  of  forming  his  men  in  a  close  column  of  attack  instead  of 
fighting   in  loose   order.     The  losses   in  these  three  engagements  fell 
heavily  on  the  English  ;  and  a  fortnight  later,  in  trying  to 
Basing?       prevent  an  invasion  of  Hampshire,  they  were  beaten  at 
Battle  of      Basing  ;  and  two  months  later,  probably  at  Harden  in  Wilt- 
Marden.      shire,  they  were  again  routed  after  a  most  stubborn  en- 
Reign  of      counter.     Here  Ethelred  appears  to  have  been  mortally 
wounded,  and  Alfred  at  once  stepped  into  his  place.     To 
wmon°^      make  matters  worse,  the  Danes  received  reinforcements,  and 
Alfred  was  beaten  at  Wilton.     *  Nine  general  battles,'  says 
the   Chronicle,  'were  fought   this  year  south  of  the  Thames,  besides 
which  Alfred,  the  king's  brother,  and  single  ealdormen  and  king's  thegns 
oftentimes  made  incursions  on  them,  which  are  not  counted.' 

However,  the  general  result  of  the  fighting  seems  to  have  discouraged 

the  Danes,  for  the  next  year  the  camp  at  Reading  was  broken  up  and  the 

army,  though  it  did  not   quit  the  country,  fell  back  on 

retire  from   Londou.     Next  year  it  passed  into  Lincolnshire,  and  in  874 

Wessex.      ^^  drove  Burhed,   king  of  Mercia  and  brother-in-law  of 

Alfred,  from  his  kingdom  and  gave  it  to  Ceolwulf,  '  an  unwise  king's 

thegn,'  to  hold  as  tenant-at-will.     Then  one-half  of  'the  army,'  under 

Halfdene,   seized  Northumbria  and  divided  it  among  themselves  and 

raided  on  the  Picts  and  Strathclyde  Britons  ;   while  the  other,  under 

Guthrum,  occupied  Cambridge  and  prepared  for   another  invasion  of 

Wessex. 

This  occurred  in  877.  The  heathen  men  sailed  through  the  Straits  of 
Dover,  landed  at  Wareham,  and  formed  their  fortified  camp  by  drawing 
a  trench  between  the  rivers  Frome  and  Piddle.     This  time  Alfred  was 


878  Alfred  55 

too  wary  to  risk  a  repetition  of  the  Reading  disaster,  so  he  contented 

himself  with  preventing  phinder,  and  did  it  so  effectively  that  at  last 

the  Danes  came  to  terms.     Some  of  them,  however,  broke 

their  word  and  made  their  way  by  land  to  Exeter,  where    invasion  of 

they  were  next  year  joined  by  the  main  body,  which,  however,    ^thrum^/ 

was  weakened  by  the  loss  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  ships 

in  a  storm.     Again  Alfred  kept  to  his  blockading  tactics,  and  with 

such  success  that  the  Danish  army  gave  up  the  game ;  and,  terms  having 

been  made,  it  retired  by  land  into  Mercia  and  spent  the  autumn  and 

early  winter  at  Gloucester. 

At  Christmas,  however,  the  Danes  were  joined  by  a  countryman, 
Hubba,  who  had  been  plundering  in  South  Wales,  and  he  persuaded 
Guthrum  to  renew  the  war.  Accordingly,  in  the  depth  of  winter, 
Guthrum  broke  up  his  camp  and  plunged  into  the  heart  of  Wessex,  while 
Hubba  and  his  ships  made  for  Devonshire.  So  swift  were  Guthrum's 
marches,  that  he  was  master  of  Chippenham  before  Alfred  could  oppose 
him  ;  and  the  king,  seeing  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  collect  forces 
in  the  east  of  his  kingdom  while  the  Danes  held  the  key  of  the  position, 
retired  into  the  great  forest  of  Selwood,  and  waited  till  the  return  of 
spring  should  enable  him  to  take  the  field  with  advantage  ;  and,  mean- 
while, Hubba's  force  was  cut  to  pieces  by  the  men  of  Devonshire. 
Alfred  made  his  headquarters  at  the  isle  of  Athelney,  a 
stronghold  among  the  marshes  of  the  river  Parret ;  and  retires  to 
while  he  kept  up  the  spirits  of  his  men  by  successful  *  *  "*^* 
skinnishes,  he  fixed  Brixton  in  Wiltshire  as  the  place,  and  May  12th 
as  the  day,  for  the  assembling  of  his  great  expedition. 

Sheltered  by  the  Downs,  or  concealed  from  observation  by  the  thickets 
of  Selwood,  Alfred's  warriors  made  their  way  to  the  appointed  spot,  and, 
falling  on  the  Danes  at  Edington,  878,  put  them  to  complete  Battle  of 
rout.  From  the  field  the  Danes  fled  to  their  camp ;  but,  Ed»ngton. 
being  separated  from  their  fleet,  they  were  soon  starved  into  surrender, 
and  Guthrum  was  compelled  to  enter  into  a  permanent  peace,  and  to  be 
baptized  as  a  Christian,  which  accordingly  was  done  at  Wedmore,  a 
royal  palace  in  Somerset. 

By  the  peace  concluded  at  Wedmore  the  Watling  Street  was  made 
the  boundary  of  the  English  and  Danish  districts ;  but  in  886  Alfred 
took  advantage  of  a  partial  rising  of  the  Danes  of  East  peace  of 
Anglia  to  secure  a  better  military  frontier  on  the  south-east.  Wedmore. 
The  new  boundary  ran  along  the  estuary  of  the  Thames  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Lea,  along  the  Lea  to  its  source,  then  across  country  to  Bedford,  and 
then  along  the  Ouse  till  it  crossed  the  Watling  Street,  and  so  on  to  the 


56  Invasions  of  the  Northmen  878 

Welsh  border.  This  gave  Alfred  a  very  strong  frontier  as  against  the 
East- Anglian  Danes,  and  secured  him  possession  of  London  and  with  it 
the  command  of  the  Thames.  Between  this  boundary  and  the  Tees  the 
land  was  held  by  Halfdene  and  Guthrum,  and  by  them  was  apportioned 
among  their  followers.  The  land  between  the  Tees  and  the  Forth,  how- 
ever, which  formed  the  old  kingdom  of  Bernicia,  still  remained  English, 
and  was  in  the  hands  of  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  Northumbrian  kings, 
who  ruled  as  an  ealdorman  at  Bamborough. 

What  the  settlement  of  the  Northmen  was  like,  it  is  exceedingly 

difficult  to  realise,  because  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  the  proportion 

which  existed  between  the  English  and  Norse  population  ; 

of  th?*^  ^^    but,  compared  with  the  English  conquest  of  Britain,  and  the 

sAtlement  ^^rman  conquest  of  England,  it  was  much  more  like  the 
latter  than  the  former.  Between  the  conquerors  and  con- 
quered there  was  no  radical  difference  of  blood  or  of  speech,  and  the 
difference  of  religion  was  soon  removed  by  the  conversion  of  the  new- 
comers to  Christianity.  However,  the  permanent  results  of  the  conquest 
showed  themselves  in  several  ways.  In  the  first  place,  though  the  mode 
of  local  government  in  use  among  the  Danes  was  much  the  same  as  among 
the  English,  so  that  the  old  courts  went  on  as  before,  the  use  of  Danish 
valuations  for  wergilds  (sums  paid  in  compensation  for  murder),  and 
possibly  the  more  frequent  resort  to  trial  by  battle,  gave  to  the  laws  of 
the  Danish  districts  such  a  distinctive  character  that  the  district  was 
long  known  as  the  Danelaw. 

The  speech  of  the  north,  not  only  in  place-names  but  also  in  the  parlance 
of  everyday  life,  is  full  of  words  and  expressions  which  bear  the  stamp  of 
their  Danish  origin  ;  and  wherever  we  find  the  termination  '  by,'  '  thorpe,' 
or  '  thwaite,'  there  we  know  that  there  was  either  a  new  settlement  of 
men  who  used  the  Northern  speech  or  that  an  old  settlement  became  the 
property  of  a  Norse  settler  ;  while  the  dialect  of  the  north,  and  especially 
the  vocabulary  of  the  farmyard,  is  as  full  of  Norse  terms  as  it  well  can  be. 
Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  ascribe  to  anything  else  than  the  infusion  of 
Norse  blood  the  difference  of  character  which  certainly  exists  between  the 
bulk  of  the  population  of  the  north  and  similar  classes  in  the  south ;  though 
here,  and  also  in  the  language,  the  fact  that,  roughly  speaking,  the  north 
is  Anglian  and  the  south  is  Saxon  must  not  be  left  out  of  account. 

On  Wessex  the  political  effect  of  the  settlement  of  the  Northmen  was 

,.  .    ,  twofold.     First,  it  cut  off  from  it  the  under-kingdoms  that 

Political 
Effects  of  the  lay  beyond  the  Watling  Street;  and,  secondly,  it  gave  to 

emen  .    ^^^  West-Saxon  sovereigns  in  full   sovereignty  that  part 
of  Mercia  and  Essex  which  lay  between  their  new  frontier  and  the 


878  Alfred  57 

Thames.  This  included  the  towns  of  London,  St.  Albans,  Oxford, 
Worcester,  and  Gloucester  ;  so  that,  if  the  peace  of  Wedmore  reduced  the 
area  of  Alfred's  nominal  dominions,  it  added  considerably  both  to  the 
area  and  importance  of  his  own  possessions.  The  new  Mercia  was 
intrusted  by  Alfred  to  the  ealdorman  Ethelred,  who  became  the 
husband  of  his  daughter  Ethelfleda.  Socially,  the  long  struggle  with 
the  barbarians  had  been  absolutely  disastrous.  In  times  such  as  those, 
when  almost  every  year  some  part  or  other  of  the  country  was  subjected 
to  the  full  horrors  of  heathen  war,  the  material  prosperity  of  a  nation,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  amenities  of  civilisation,  suffered  heavily  ;  and,  as  it 
happened,  the  Danish  invasions  had  fallen  most  severely  on  those  of  the 
national  elements  which  were  doing  most  for  civilisation,  on  North- 
umbria,  on  the  monasteries,  which  had  been  sacked  again  and  again, 
and  upon  the  towns.  Alfred  himself  is  our  authority  for  the  melancholy 
condition  in  which  he  found  his  kingdom  ;  and  his  actions  show  the  obliga- 
tion he  was  under  of  building  up  society  almost  from  its  foundations, 
when  the  cessation  of  hostilities  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  playing 
the  statesman.  To  the  work  of  reconstruction  Alfred  at  once  devoted 
his  energies  ;  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  reign,  whatever  were  the 
distractions  which  came  upon  him,  one  aspect  or  other  of  this  great 
undertaking  was  never  absent  from  his  mind. 

With  this  view  he  made  his  own  court  a  model  of  the  life  which  he 
wished  to  see  adopted  by  his  subjects  ;  and  as  it  moved  about  the 
kingdom  from  one  royal  estate  to  the  next,  men  might  see 
in  it  an  example  of  economy  both  of  wealth  and  time,  of  organises 
strenuous  and  well-regulated  endeavour,  of  healthy  amuse-   J'*  King- 
ment  and  sober  recreation,  of  womanhood   respected  and 
the  young  well  cared-for,  of  learning  honoured  and  frivolity  discouraged, 
of  wholesome  patriotism  free  from  insular  prejudice  against  foreigners,  of 
real  piety  carried  into  everyday  life — in  short,  of  the  highest  ideal  of  life. 
Of  the  Englishmen  by  whom  it  was  adorned,  the  greatest  were 
Ethelred  of  Mercia,  the  bishops  Plegmund,  Werfrith,  and 
Denewulf ;  and  of  foreigners,  John  the  Old  Saxon,  Grimbald  the  Frank, 
Othere  the  Norseman  ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  his  biographer,  Asser  the 
Welshman.    With  these  men  his  constant  talk  was  of  progress,  of  educa- 
tion, of  social  and  ecclesiastical  reconstruction  ;  for  Alfred  believed  that 
no  side  of  national  life  was  unworthy  of  the  attention  of  a  king. 

His    first  care  was  to  remodel  the  defences  of  the   country.      So 
early  as  875  he  had  employed  a  fleet,  and  his  ships  had 
proved  useful  during  the  last  campaign.     He  now  put  the 
navy  upon  a  permanent  footing,  arranged  that  each  part  of  the  kingdom 


58  Invasions  of  the  Nmihmen  878 

should  do  its  fair  share  towards  providing  ships,  and  had  the  new  vessels 
built  on  lines  suggested  by  himself.     To  man  the  vessels  and  to  instruct 
his  countrymen,  he  took  into  his  service  Frisians,  Britons,  and  Danes, 
the  most  notable  of  whom  was  Othere  the  Norseman,  who  made  a  cele- 
brated voyage  of  discovery  round  the  North  Cape  and  into  the  White 
Sea.     So  far  the  brunt  of  the  fighting  had  fallen  on  the  fyrd,  led  by  such 
captains  as  the  brave  Ethelwulf  of  Berkshire,  and  on  the  king's  thegns  ; 
but  Alfred,  having  experienced  the  difficulties  which  arose  from  the 
unwillingness  of  the  men  to  remain  long  from  home,  organised  the  force 
on  the  basis  of  one-third  of  the  able-bodied  soldiers  serving  during  the 
summer  season  for  one  month,  and  staying  at  home  two — 
His  Army.   ^  ^^^^  which  not  only  removed  the  old  trouble,  but  also 
added  to  the  efficiency  of  the  troops  by  giving  them  regular  train- 
His  Fort-     ing.     He  also  reconstructed  on  improved  principles  the 
resses.         fortresses  of  the  country,  which  had  recently  proved  to  be 
so  inefficient ;  and,  lastly,  he  rebuilt  and  refortified  London  so  as  to  bar 
the  passage  up  the  Thames. 

Alfred  was  a  rigid  enforcer  of  justice.    With  the  aid  of  his  wise  men, 
he  not  only  drew  up  a  new  and  improved  code  of  law,  but  also  insisted 
upon  his  ealdormen  and  reeves  making  themselves  com- 
nistration     petent  to  administer  their  judicial  functions,  and  restored 
of  Justice.    ^^^  efficiency  of  the  local  courts.     He  also  put  into  working 
order  the  principle  of  mutual  responsibility,  throwing  upon  the  kindred, 
the  lord,   or  the  guild  brethren  of  a  malefactor  responsibility  for  his 
crime.     For  education  Alfred   did  much  by  the  foundation  and  en- 
couragement of  schools ;  and,  being  well  aware  of  the  part  played  by 
books  in  moulding  the  character  of  readers,  he  took  pains  to  provide  his 
subjects  with  a  library,  which  he  had  prepared  in  their  own  tongue,  for 
he  was  not  one  of  those  who  despised  translations,  but  thought  that 
Revival  of   great  ideas  might  as  well  be  conveyed  in  one  language  as  in 
Learning,     another.     For  this  purpose,  with  the  aid  of  Grimbald  and 
Asser,  he  paraphrased  or  translated  Orosius's  work  on  Geography  and 
History  J  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History,  Boethius's  Consolations  of  Philo- 
sophy, Gregory's  Pastoral,  and  some  selections  from  the  works  of  St. 
Augustine  of  Hippo. 

One  other  literary  legacy  of  priceless  value  Alfred  bequeathed  to  his 

countrymen.     This  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  the  oldest  history 

in  its  own  tongue  possessed  by  any  European  nation.   Kealis- 

Saxon  ing  the  value  of  history  in  the  formation  of  national  spirit. 

Chronicle.    ^|fj.g^  g^^g  Orders  that  the  events  of  each  year  since  the 

settlement  of  the  English  should  be  collected  from  the  best  sources  and 


892  Alfred  69 

arranged  in  the  form  of  a  chronicle,  and  that  henceforward  the  narrative 
of  contemporary  events  should  be  kept  up  year  by  year,  so  that  hence- 
forward the  people  of  England  should  have  access  to  an  authentic 
narrative  of  the  chief  transactions  in  the  history  of  their  own  race.  In 
after  years  this  was  carried  out,  though  not  so  fully  as  Alfred  intended  ; 
but,  still,  down  to  the  Nonnan  Conquest  the  Chronicle  is  the  chief 
authority  for  the  history  of  affairs. 

The  condition  of  the  church  filled  Alfred  with  anxiety.  Even  before 
the  invasions  it  seems  to  have  deteriorated  much  from  what  it  had  been 
in  the  days  of  Theodore  and  Bede.  South  of  the  Humber  there  were  in 
Alfred's  young  days  few  clergy  who  could  'turn  a  Latin  letter  into 
English,  and  north  of  it  not  many.'  Then,  however,  the  churches  had 
been  full  of  treasure,  and  the  monastic  libraries  full  of  books  ;  but  now 
that  the  churches  and  abbeys  were  all  '  waste  and  burnt  up,'  things  were 
worse  than  ever.  Accordingly,  the  king  placed  over  the  church 
church  the  best  bishops,  English  and  foreign,  whom  he  Reform, 
could  find,  and  insisted  on  their  doing  their  duty ;  he  built  a  model 
abbey  for  monks  at  Athelney,  and  another  for  nuns  at  Shaftesbury, 
setting  John  the  Old  Saxon  over  the  one  and  his  own  daughter  over  the 
other  ;  and  he  also  set  apart  a  large  share  of  his  income  for  the  restora- 
tion and  equipment  of  other  religious  houses  and  churches. 

With  the  exception  of  the  rising  in  885,  which  was  stimulated  by  a 
fresh  arrival  of  Danes,  peace  continued  till  892  ;  but  in  that  year  a 
great  army  of  adventurers  from  all  parts  of  Northern  Europe,  which  had 
for  years  been  the  terror  of  the  Empire,  led  by  Hastings,  *  who,'  in  the 
opinion  of  a  French  chronicler,  was  '  the  worst  man  that  Later  Wars 
ever  was  bom,  and  who  has  done  most  hann  in  this  age,'  ^***^  Danes, 
came  to  England.  One  part  of  it  entered  the  Thames,  and  the  other 
made  a  camp  at  Appledore  in  Sussex.  In  face  of  this  danger  Alfred 
called  out  half  his  forces,  instead  of  the  usual  third,  and,  placing  himself 
half-way  between  the  two  camps,  adopted  his  old  tactics  of  checking 
plunder,  and  so  starving  the  marauders  out.  This  plan  forced  the  Danes 
to  evacuate  their  first  positions  and  to  concentrate  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Lea,  where  their  camp  was  stormed  by  the  Londoners.  Then 
another  force  of  Danes  appeared  at  Exeter,  and,  while  Alfred  was 
engaged  with  them,  the  main  body,  reinforced  by  adventurers  from  all 
parts  of  the  Danelaw,  contrived  to  pass  London,  and,  plundering  as  they 
went,  passed  up  the  whole  course  of  the  Thames,  and.  Battle  of 
crossing  to  the  Severn,  ascended  it  as  far  as  Buttington  in  Buttington. 
Montgomeryshire.  There  they  were  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force 
of  English  and  Welsh,  led  by  Ethelred,  the  ealdorman  of  London,  which 


60  Invasions  of  the  Northmen  901 

routed  them  so  effectively  that  they  fled  with  all  speed  to  Essex.  How- 
ever, the  next  year  they  were  again  at  Chester,  and  after  plundering  the 
North  Welsh  returned  to  Essex,  and  in  896  they  sailed  up  the  Lea. 
Alfred  was  in  command,  and  by  making  two  fortresses,  which  com- 
manded a  narrow  part  of  the  river,  completely  blocked  the  return  of  the 
ships.  Seeing  this,  the  Danes  made  another  effort  to  get  into  Wales, 
where  they  seem  to  have  hoped  to  settle,  and  marched  as  far  as  Bridge- 
north  ;  but  again  Alfred's  tactics  wore  out  their  patience,  and  at  last,  in 
897,  after  having  kept  all  England  in  terror  for  nearly  five  years,  the 
„.     ,       ,        great   army  broke  up,    '  some  for  East-Anglia,   some  for 

Final  Defeat    ^_       ,         / .  •,-,■,  , 

of  the  North-  Northumbria ;  and  they  who  were  moneyless  procured 
"^^"'  themselves  ships  there,  and  went  southward  over  sea  to  the 

Seine.'  One  more  attempt  to  land  near  the  Isle  of  Wight  brought  the 
efforts  of  the  army  to  a  close,  and  after  its  dispersal  Hastings  and  his 
followers  disappear  from  English  history.  Four  years  after  this  great 
deliverance  Alfred  died,  in  901,  and  left  behind  him  almost  a  unique 
reputation  as  a  warrior,  a  statesman,  and  a  man. 

While  Guthrum  and  his  Northmen  had  been  effecting  their  settlement 
of  Northern  England,  another  body  of  Northmen,  under  Ealf  or  RoUo, 

had  formed  a  similar  settlement  in  the  north  of  Gaul,  and 
of  the  North-  Compelled  the  king  of  the  Franks  to  recognise  their  right  to 
Normandy      ^  territory  which  stretched  on  both  sides  of  the  river  Seine. 

The  Normans,  as  these  settlers  in  Gaul  came  to  be  called, 
soon  gave  up  their  own  language  for  the  debased  Latin  which  was  just 
passing  into  French,  and  otherwise  showed  themselves  wonderful  adepts 
at  adopting  the  civilisation  of  their  new  country. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

First  invasion  of  the  Northmen,  . 

Great  invasion  of  Wessex,    . 

Battle  of  Ashdown, 

Battle  of  Edington, 

Treaty  of  Chippenham  or  Wedmore, 

Northmen  settle  in  Normandy,    . 


A.D. 
787 
871 
871 
878 
878 
876 


CHAPTER  VII 

RECONQUEST  OF  THE  DANELAW 


ENGLISI 

I  KINGS 

Jdward  the  Elder,    a.d.  902-925 

Edred, 

A.D.  946-955 

Lthelstan,         .        .        925-940 

Edwy, 

955-959 

-dmuud,  .        .         .        i/40-946 

Edgar, 

959-975 

Edward  the  Martyr 

975-978 

Edward  tlie  Ehler  begins  an  oflfensive  War  against  the  Danes,  and  secures  his 
Conquests  by  FortiUcatious — Edward  is  acknowledged  Overlord  by  the 
whole  Island  —  Battle  of  Brunanburh — Conquest  of  Strathclyde — The 
Policy  of  Edgar  and  Dunstan. 

On  the  death  of  Alfred,  his  eldest  son  Edward,  commonly  called  Edward 
the  Elder,  became  king  of  the  West-Saxons.  His  accession  was  opposed 
by  his  cousin  Ethelwald,  the  son  of  Alfred's  elder  brother 
Ethelred  ;  but  this  prince  found  little  or  no  support  among  Edward  the 
the  English,  and  had  to  take  refuge  among  the  Northumbrian  ^^' 
Danes.  By  them  he  was  accepted  as  king,  and,  crossing  into  East-Anglia, 
planned  an  invasion  of  Wessex.  The  Danes  crossed  the  Thames  at 
Cricklade  and  harried  Wiltshire,  but  were  forced  to  retreat  by  the 
strategy  of  Edward,  who  met  their  invasion  of  Wessex  by  an  attack  upon 
their  own  settlements  across  the  Watling  Street.  Returning  in  hot  haste, 
Ethelwald  and  his  friends  threw  themselves  on  the  Kentish  division 
of  Edward's  army,  and  in  the  fight  Ethelwald  was  slain  ;  so  that,  though 
the  Danes  were  victorious,  the  movement  in  his  favour  came  to  an  end. 
Peace  was  then  made,  and  appears  to  have  been  fairly  kept  till  910. 

Edward  the  Elder  was  not  so  distinguished  as  his  father  in  the  arts  of 
peace,  but  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  warriors  that  ever  sat  on  the  English 
throne.     Discarding  the  title  of  king  of  the  West-Saxons,  he  styled  him- 
self king  of  the  English  or  Anglo-Saxons,  and  set  before 
himseK  the  task  of  bringing  the  whole  island  under  his  sway. 
In  this  he  was  aided  by  his  sister  Etheliieda  and  her  husband  Ethelred, 

61 


62  Reconquest  of  the  Danelaw  901 

the  ealdorinan  of  the  Mercians,  who  had  taken  a  most  distinguished  part 
in  the  fighting  of  the  last  reign. 

The  strength  of  the  Danes  south  of  the  Humber  lay  in  two  districts  : 
the  valley  of  the  Trent,  where  they  held  the  strong  towns  of  Leicester, 
The  Five  Nottingham,  and  Derby,  which  with  Stamford  and  Lincoln 
Boroughs,  -v^rere  known  as  the  Five  Danish  Boroughs  ;  and  the  valley 
of  the  upper  Ouse,  where  they  held  Northampton,  Huntingdon,  Cam- 
bridge, and  Bedford.  In  907  the  first  forward  step  was  taken  by  repair- 
ing the  Roman  fortifications  at  Chester,  which  had  lain  desolate  since  the 
victory  of  Ethelfrith.  Chester,  on  the  Watling  Street,  commanded  the 
crossing  of  the  Dee  and  the  shortest  road  from  Northumbria  to  Wales  ; 
it  was  also  the  best  port  by  which  the  Northmen  of  Ireland  could  com- 
municate with  their  friends  in  England,  and  was  therefore  a  place  of 
great  strategical  importance.  In  912  Ethelred  died,  and  Edward  took 
into  his  own  hands  the  lower  part  of  the  Thames  valley  with  the  towns 
of  Oxford  and  London,  while  his  sister,  who  was  now  called  the  Lady  of 

_^       ^.         the  Mercians,  ruled  the  rest  of  her  husband's  territory.     The 
Edward's  .  „    '     .^       .  . 

Fortifica-        busmess  of  fortification  now  went  on  apace  ;   sometimes  it 

took  the  form  of  casting  up  a  great  mound  in  some  defensible 
position,  sometimes  of  repairing  Roman  work,  and  in  a  few  cases  towns 
were  surrounded  with  new  stone  walls.  In  these,  new  settlers  were 
placed  with  orders  to  defend  the  adjoining  territory,  and  in  this  way  the 
work  of  reconquest,  if  slow,  was  sure.  Ethelfleda  secured  her  end  of 
the  Watling  Street  against  the  Danes  by  the  fortresses  of  Stafibrd,  Tam- 
worth,  Eddisbury,  and  Runcorn,  and  against  the  Welsh  by  that  of 
Bridgenorth  ;  in  like  manner  Edward  built  Hertford,  Witham,  and 
Buckingham.      Warwick  was  built  by  Ethelfleda  to  guard  the  Fosseway, 

and,  the  line  of  communication  being  secure,  an  advance 
Danes^so^uth  was  made  against  the  Danish  strongholds.  Edward  took 
of  the  Bedford  and  Huntingdon,    and    compelled    the    men    of 

Northampton  and  Cambridge  to  keep  the  peace  ;  Ethelfleda 
captured  Derby  and  Leicester.  In  918  Ethelfleda  died,  and  then  Edward 
took  the  whole  of  Mercia  into  his  hands.  The  fall  of  Nottingham  and 
Stamford  followed,  and  at  these  places  and  at  Bedford  Edward  built  a 
new  English  quarter  to  keep  the  old  inhabitants  in  check.  His  next 
step  was  to  push  forward  from  Chester  and  seize  Manchester  on  the  road 
to  York,  and  to  fortify  Bakewell  in  the  Peak  country,  which  secured  the 
passes  into  Northumbria  and  connected  Manchester  with  Derby  and 
Nottingham.  That  done,  he  seems  to  have  been  preparing  for  a  fresh 
invasion  of  the  north,  when  he  was  met  at  Dore,  on  the  road  from  Bake- 
well  to  Sheffield,  by  offers  of  submission.     These  came  not  only  from 


987  Edward  and  Athdstan  63 

the  Danes  of  York,  but  also  from  the  English  kingdom  of  Bernicia, 

which  had  never  been  overrun  by  the  Danes,  from  the 

Welsh  of   Strathclyde,   and  even  from  the  king  of  the  Overiordship 

Scots.     All  these  swore  to  take  him  as  *  father  and  lord.'  fedi"e*dby 

As  in  922  he  had  been  taken  as  overlord  by  the  three  the  whole 

•'  ,    ,    .       Island, 

princes  of  North  Wales,  Edward  had  now  succeeded  m 

establishing  some  sort  of  authority  over  the  whole  island,  except,  per- 
haps, over  the  Northmen,  who   occupied  settlements  in  the  extreme 
north,  and  who  had  long  been  the  terror  of  the   Scots 
north  of  the   Humber  ;   however,  he   can  hardly   be  re-    Edward"  °* 
garded  as  having  had  much  authority,  though  at  a  later  date    Overlord- 
very  great  stress  was  laid  on  this  submission  of  the  Scots. 

Within  his  own  dominions  Edward  carried  out  the  work  of  organisation 
which  his  father  had  begun.     The  old  tribal  divisions  of  the  Midland 
English,  which  had  been  obliterated  by  the  Danes,  were 
replaced  by  a  new  division  into  shires,  of  which  Edward's   tion  of  new 
forts  and  the  chief  Danish  towns  became  as  a  rule  the       *'^'"* 
centres,   and  give  such  names  as  Warwickshire,  Bedfordshire,   Hert- 
fordshire.     This  rearrangement  is  a  matter  of  inference  ;    but  of  the 
chief  events  of  Edward's  reign  we  have  the  fullest  information  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle^  which  in  his  time  is  singularly  graphic 

Edward  died  in  925,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Athelstan.     This 
king  was  a  man  of  great  courage  and  ability,  and  under  him  the  work  of 
consolidating  the  kingdom  went  on  without  interruption.    R^ign  of 
Athelstan's  first  act  was  to  give  his  sister  in  marriage  to   Athelstan. 
Sihtric,  the  Danish  king  of  Northumbria  ;  and  on  his  death,  two  years 
later,  Athelstan  took  his  kingdom  and  drove  into  exile  his  two  sons.     In 
the    south   Athelstan  extended  his  frontier  by  destroying  the   inde- 
pendence of  the  Welsh  inhabitants  of  Exeter,  and  making  the  Tamar  the 
boundary  between  England  and  ComwaU.     He  also  exacted  a  money 
tribute  from  the  princes  of  Wales.      Trouble,  however,  soon  arose  in  the 
north.      Constiintine,  king  of  Scots,  aided  the  sons  of  Sihtric,  and  in  933 
Athelstan  invaded  that  country  and  apparently  reduced  Constantine  to 
submission  ;   but  in  937  *  the  hoary  warrior,   the   old  deceiver,'   was 
again  in  arms  and  at  the  head  of  a  conspiracy  in  which  the  Danes,  the 
Scots,  and  the  Welsh  of  Strathclyde  banded  themselves  together  with  the 
aid  of  the  Northmen  of  Ireland  to  throw  off  the  English  yoke.     Athelstan 
and  his  brother  Edmund,  then  a  lad  of  fifteen,  met  them  at 
the  battle  of  Brunanburh,  and  completely  routed  the  con-   Brunan- 
federates  in  a  fight  so  bloody  that  it  was  known  for  years  as     ^^  ' 
'the  great  battle,'  and  was  celebrated  by  the  chronicler  in  one  of  the 


€4  Reconquest  of  the  Danelaw  937 

tinest  outbursts  of  Old  English  song.  Of  the  details  of  the  fight,  and 
even  of  its  geographical  position,  we  are,  however,  ignorant ;  some  fixing 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Huniber,  others  that  of  the  Mersey,  as  its  site. 
Great,  however,  as  was  his  victory,  it  is  doubtful  whether  Athelstan's 
power  over  the  Danelaw  was  as  great  after  it  as  it  had  been  before. 
The  importance  of  Athelstan's  position  and  the  high  estimation  in  which 
Greatness  of  ^®  "^^^  IhqI^  by  his  neighbours  is  shown  by  the  marriages 
Atheistan.  contracted  by  his  sisters.  One  was  the  wife  of  Charles  the 
Simple  ;  another  of  Otto,  son  of  Henry  the  Fowler  ;  and  a  third  of  Hugh 
the  Great,  Count  of  Paris.  Like  his  grandfather,  Atheistan  was  a  law- 
giver, and  portions  of  his  code,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  shed  much 
light  on  the  social  conditions  of  the  time. 

Atheistan  died  in  940,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Edmund, 
aged  eighteen.  His  accession  was  the  signal  for  a  general  rising  of  the 
Reign  of  Danes,  and  both  those  of  Northumbria  and  those  of  the  Five 
Edmund.  Boroughs  threw  off  their  allegiance  and  sent  for  Anlaf  of 
Ireland,  who  had  fought  at  Brunanburh,  to  be  their  king.  However, 
after  some  fighting  Edmund  regained  his  authority  in  both  districts. 
Conquest  of  ^^^  chief  exploit  of  Edmund  was  the  conquest  of  Strath- 
Strathciyde.  clyde.  This  he  effected  in  945,  when  the  Welsh  king  Dun- 
mail  was  routed  in  a  pass  between  Grasmere  and  Thirlmere,  where  the 
memorial  pile  of  stones  raised  on  the  field  may  be  seen  at  the  present 
Strathcl  de  ^^^'  Edmund  granted  Strathclyde  to  Malcolm,  king  of 
granted  to  Scots,  to  be  held  by  him  '  as  his  fellow-worker  as  well  by  sea 
King  of  '  as  by  land.'  The  district  so  dealt  with  comprised  all  the 
Scots.  Yoxidi  that  lay  between  the  river  Derwent  in  Cumberland 

and  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  and  was  bounded,  inland,  by  the  Pennine  range 
of  hills  and  the  forest  of  Ettrick.  How  far  Strathclyde  was  then  really 
British  is  unknown  ;  now,  at  any  rate,  the  place-names,  though  many  of 
them  are  Celtic,  point  to  a  large  immigration  of  English  and  Northmen, 
and  the  only  relic  of  the  Celtic  speech  is  preserved  in  the  numerals  used 
by  some  of  the  shepherds  for  counting  sheep.  It  is  thought  that  the 
anglicising  of  the  district  was  also  facilitated  by  a  large  emigration  of  the 
Celtic  inhabitants  to  Wales.  Edmund  had  only  reigned  six  years  when 
he  was  slain  by  a  robber ;  but  his  title  of  Magnificent— that  is,  the  doer 
of  great  deeds — marks  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
countrymen. 

Edmund  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Edred.    The  reign  of  this  king, 

Reign  of      though  short,  is  in  every  way  remarkable,  for  it  brought  to 

Edred.         ^  close  the  long  struggle  with  the  Danelaw,  and  once  more 

established  the  authority  of  the  West-Saxon  kings  upon  a  firm  footing. 


955  Edmwid,  Edredy  and  Edmij  65 

The  method  of  his  accession  serves  to  mark  the  progress  that  had  already 
been  made  towards  national  unity  ;  for  Edred  was  chosen  by  a  witena- 
gemot  in  which  sat  Englishmen,  Welshmen,  and  Danes,  and  he  was  con- 
secrated by  the  two  archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York.  The  north 
submitted  quietly  to  his  rule,  and  the  Scots  renewed  their  oath  of 
allegiance.  Aided,  however,  by  their  kinsmen  in  Denmark,  the 
Northumbrians,  with  Archbishop  Wulfstan  at  their  head,  ventured  to 
throw  off  their  allegiance  ;  but  Edred's  vengeance  was  so  severe  that  sub- 
mission soon  followed,  and  the  archbishop  was  removed  to  a  less  dangerous 
see  in  the  south  of  England.  Then  Edred  became  full  king  in  North- 
umbria,  and  the  semi-independence  of  the  north  came  to  an  end.  In  the 
last  year  of  his  short  reign  Edred  took  the  title  not  only  of  king  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  but  of  Caesar  of  Britain — an  assumption  which  marks  the 
attainment  of  the  highest  dignity  possessed  by  the  Old  English  kings. 
Instead  of  dividing  his  new  dominions  into  shires,  as  had  been  done 
with  the  southern  parts  of  the  Danelaw,  the  region  north  j^^^ 
of  the  Humber  was  divided  into  two  earldoms,  one  of  Earldoms, 
which,  now  or  a  little  later,  was  intrusted  to  the  king  of  Scots ;  the 
other,  from  the  Tweed  to  the  Humber,  was  given  to  Osulf,  iin  English- 
man. Edred  was  never  a  strong  man,  and  after  a  reign  of  nine  years  he 
died  in  955. 

During  the  reign  of  Edred  his  chief  adviser  and  friend  was  Dunstan, 
the  most  remarkable  English  subject  who  lived  before  the  Norman  Con- 
quest. This  wonderful  man  was  born  in  Somerset  and 
educated  at  the  monastery  of  Glastonbury,  where  he  had  the 
advantage  of  the  teaching  of  the  learned  Irishmen  who  were  in  the  habit 
of  visiting  that  shrine.  Being  by  birth  well  connected,  Dunstan  soon 
made  his  appearance  at  court ;  but  the  jealousy  of  his  talents  which  was 
shown  by  the  other  courtiers  made  his  life  so  unpleasant  that  he  was 
forced  to  withdraw  for  a  time,  and  became  a  monk.  Edmund,  however, 
recalled  him  to  court  and  made  him  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  and  under 
his  successor  Dunstan  acted  as  the  leading  adviser  of  the  king,  ac- 
companied him  on  his  campaigns,  and  became  guardian  of  the  royal 
treasure.  The  rest  of  his  time  was  given  to  education,  and  he  and  his 
friend  Ethelwold,  abbot  of  Abingdon,  set  on  foot  a  revival  of  learning 
in  the  south  of  England  which  may  be  compared  with  the  similar 
movement  in  Northumbria  of  which  Caedmon  and  Bede  were  the  chief 
ornaments. 

At  Edred's  death  the  crown  reverted  to  Edwy,  the  elder  son  of  King 
Edmund.  The  new  sovereign  was  a  boy  of  fifteen,  whose  character  was 
quite  unformed,  and  he  appears  to  have  been  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of 


6Q  Reconqimst  of  the  Danelaw  955 

his  immediate  relations,  who  were  hostile  to  the  influence  of  Dunstan  and 
his  friends.  The  foolish  conduct  of  Edwy,  who  escaped  from  the  solemnity- 
Reign  of  ^^  ^^  coronation  feast,  and  was  by  the  orders  of  the  witan 
Edwy.  dragged  back  by  Dunstan,  completed  the  breach.  Dunstan 
was  exiled,  while  Edwy  offended  the  clergy  by  marrying  a  lady  within 
the  prohibited  degrees  of  relationship.  At  the  same  time  he  weakened  his 
power  by  reviving  the  office  of  ealdorman  of  Mercia,  which  had  been 
abolished  by  Edward  the  Elder,  so  parting  with  direct  authority  over  all 
England  north  of  the  Thames.  Meanwhile,  Odo  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury had  denounced  the  king's  marriage  as  incestuous,  and  a  general 
revolt  followed.  AU  the  earldoms  declared  for  Edgar,  the  king's  younger 
brother,  and  Edwy  only  retained  possession  of  that  part  of  England 
which  lay  south  of  the  Thames.  The  revolution  showed  how  weak  the 
English  kingship  really  was ;  but  the  division  was  soon  healed  by  the 
death  of  Edwy,  and  the  severed  portions  were  reunited  under  Edgar. 
Under  Edgar  Dunstan  again  became  powerful,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say 
how  much  of  the  policy  of  Edgar's  reign  is  due  to  the  king  and  how 
much  to  the  minister. 

Edgar  was  fortunate  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  wars  waged 
against  the  Danes  by  the  Emperor  Otto  gave  employment  to  the  free- 
Reign  of  hooters  of  the  north.  At  home  his  wise  administration 
Edgar.  removed  the  causes  of  disaffection  and  conciliated  his 
various  subjects,  while  his  vigorous  enforcement  of  .justice,  and  the  un- 
tiring energy  which  he  displayed  in  seeing  with  his  own  eyes  the  carrying 
out  of  his  injunctions  secured  for  his  reign  a  long  reputation  as  a  time 
Edgar's  ^^  peace  and  prosperity.  Edgar's  policy  seems  to  have  been 
Policy.  to  allow  each  of  the  great  earls  to  manage  the  affairs  of  his 
own  earldom,  while  he  himself  confined  his  attention  to  the  security  of 
the  realm  and  the  administration  of  his  own  district  of  Wessex.  In 
pursuance  of  this  plan,  every  summer  saw  Edgar  inspecting  his  fleet  and 
arranging  for  a  complete  circumnavigation  of  the  coast  with  a  view  to 
the  suppression  of  piracy  ;  each  winter  found  him  travelling  from  place 
to  place  seeing  with  his  own  eyes  what  was  going  on,  and  finding 
remedies  for  all  abuses.  Well,  however,  as  this  arrangement  worked  in 
the  hands  of  a  powerful  king  like  Edgar,  it  obviously  was  calculated  to 
lead  to  very  different  results  in  the  hands  of  a  weaker  man  ;  for  earls  so 
free  as  these  would  naturally  strive  after  independence,  and  such  in- 
dependence would  naturally  lead  to  anarchy.  Indeed,  this  was  exactly 
what  happened  all  over  the  world  wherever  this  tempting  plan  was 
adopted ;  and,  consequently,  its  adoption  in  England  makes  a  turning- 
point  in  the  history  of  the  Old  English  monarchy. 


975  Edgar  and  Edward  67 

Another  change  of  Edgar's  reign  which  led  to  important  consequences 

was  the  revival  of  monasticism.     Before  the  invasions  of  the  Northmen 

both  the  north  and  south  of  England  had  been   thickly  Monasticism 

studded  with  monasteries,  and  the  monks  had  played   a  revived. 

great  part  in  the  advancement  of  civilisation.     But  the  barbarities  of  the 

Danes  had  proved  their  ruin,  and  even  in  Wessex  very  few  had  survived. 

Moreover,  the  temper  of  the  English  had  been  setting  against  a  monastic 

life,  and  when  Alfred  founded  his  monastery  at  Athelney  he  was  obliged 

to  bring  his  monks  from  abroad  ;  though  he  found  English  ladies  who 

were  willing  to  become  nuns  at  Shaftesbury  and  Hyde.     Similar  causes 

had  produced  a  decadence  of  the  same  kind  in  Europe,  when,  in  the  tenth 

century,  a  revival  was  brought  about  by  the  piety  of  the  monks  of  the 

abbey  of  Clugny,  in  Burgundy ;  and  their  example  fired  other  monasteries. 

The  influence  of  the  movement  began  to  make  itself  felt  in    „  ^  . 

°  Ethelwold. 

England  under  Edgar.     Ethelwold,  abbot  of  Abingdon,  was 

o        '  Oswald 

full  of  it ;  Oswald,  bishop  of  Worcester,  had  himself  lived  in 

a  Clugniac  house ;  and  Dunstan  during  his  exile  had  been  an  inmate  of  a 
strict  abbey  in  Ghent.  Accordingly  Ethelwold  and  Oswald,  with  the 
assistance  of  Edgar  and  the  approval  of  Dunstan,  set  on  foot  a  monastic 
revival  in  England  which  took  the  fonn  both  of  rebuilding  ancient,  but 
ruined,  monasteries  such  as  Ely,  Peterborough,  and  Crowland,  and  also 
of  restoring  the  use  of  the  monastic  rule  in  cathedrals  where  it  had 
formerly  been  in  use.  The  number  of  new  monasteries  founded,  how- 
ever, does  not  appear  to  have  been  large,  and  the  north  wtis  hardly 
affected  by  the  movement. 

There  seems,  however,  to  have  been  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  merit  of  the  new  movement,  and  in  some  places  the  changes  met 
with  a  vigorous  resistimce.  On  the  whole  it  was  thought  that  the  new 
monasticism  was  a  good  thing.  It  was  certainly  favourable  to  learning  ; 
and  from  this  time  forward  the  duty  of  keeping  up  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle  was  regularly  undertaken  by  the  monasteries,  so  Chronicle, 
that  the  entries,  which  had  become  meagre  in  the  extreme,  again  expand 
into  valuable  contemporary  narratives,  the  most  useful  of  which  were 
those  kept  at  Abingdon,  Worcester,  and  Peterborough. 

In  975  Edgar  died.  His  son  Edward,  who  was  not  more  than  thirteen, 
became  king,  but  three  years  later  he  was  murdered  by  a  party  which 
had  always  been  in  favour  of  the  accession  of  his  half-  Reign  of 
brother  Ethelred  ;  and  Dunstan,  though  he  remained  arch-  Edward, 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  was  deprived  of  all  political  influence.  This 
event  brings  to  a  close  a  well-defined  period  of  English  history,  for  with 
the  accession  of  Ethelred  the  invasions  of  the  Danes  were  renewed,  and 


68  liecoTiquest  of  the  Danelaw  975 

ultimately  developed  into  an  cattempt  to   effect   tlie  conquest  of  the 
country. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Reconquest  of  the  Danelaw,  910-924 

Edward  the  Elder  becomes  overlord  of  the 

whole  island, 924 

Battle  of  Brunanburh, 937 

Strathclyde  conquered,  ....         945 

Dunstan  becomes  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,        960 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DANISH  CONQUEST 


ENGLISH   KINGS 

Ethelred  the  Un- 
ready,       .        .  A.D.  978-1015 
Edmund  Ironsides,       1016-1017 


Canute,  a.d.  1017-1035 

Harold  I.,     .  1035-1040 


Hardicanute,  1040-1042 

Renewal  of  the  Danish  Invasions— Feeble  Resistance  of  the  English— Canute's 
Reign— Rise  of  Godwin — Reigns  of  Harold  and  Hardicanute. 

The  accession  of  Ethelred  was  followed  by  the  virtual  exclusion  of 
Dunstan  from  power,  and  the  direction  of  affairs  fell  into  the  hands  of 
his  opponents.  When  Ethelred  grew  up  he  showed  himself  Reign  of 
to  be  the  worst  sovereign  of  his  race— vicious,  idle,  cruel,  Ethelred  ii. 
ill-advised,  and  unlucky  in  everything  he  undertook.  It  is,  however, 
unfair  to  throw  upon  Ethelred  responsibility  for  all  the  disasters  of  his 
reign  ;  something  must  be  allowed  for  general  causes,  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  skill  of  even  Alfred  or  Edgar  could  have  stemmed  the  tide 
of  misfortunes  which  Ethelred  had  to  meet. 

The  Northmen,  instead  of  being  a  mere  group  of  scattered  tribes, 
had  now  settled  down  into  the  three  powerful  kingdoms  of  Norway, 
Denmark,  and  Sweden  ;  and  while  the  Swedes  directed  their 
attacks  upon  Russia  and  the  southern  shores  of  the  Baltic   invasSIms  of 
Sea,  the  Norwegians  and  Danes,  sometimes  separately  and   Jjj|n^°*^*^' 
sometimes  in  unison,  brought  all  their  forces  to  bear  upon 
the  British  Isles.    Moreover,  the  Northmen  of  the  Danelaw  sympathised 
with  the  new  comers,  and  gave  them  active  assistance  ;    the  hardly 
smouldering  jealousy  of  the  ealdorman  broke  out  into  open  flame  ;  local 
jealousy  was  rife  ;  and  for  some  unexplained  reason  Edgar's  fleet  seems 
to  have  disappeared,  so  that  the  Northmen  came  and  went  at  will. 

The  invasions  began  in  980  by  the  plundering  of  Cheshire,  Thanet, 
and  Southampton,  where  'most  part  of  the  townsmen  were  slain  or 
made  captive.'    For  seventeen  years  no  competent  leader  seems  to  have 


70  The  Danish  Conquest  980 

arisen,  and  the  country  became  perfectly  demoralised  by  the  atrocities 
of  the  ubiquitous  Northmen.     Single  shires  and  ealdormen  fought  well ; 
w    kn         ^^*'  ^^  *^®  words  of  the  Chronicle,  '  no  shire  would  help 
of  the  other,'  and  no  one  seemed  able  to  organise  a  national  resist- 

"^  *^  '  ance.  Dunstan  died  in  988,  and  his  successor  Sigiric  enjoys 
the  sinister  distinction  of  being  the  first  to  propose  that  the  Danes 
should  be  bought  off  by  a  money  payment.  Then  a  treacherous  attempt 
was  made  to  '  betrap '  the  enemy  after  the  conclusion  of  a  truce  ;  but 
the  plan  was  betrayed  by  Elfric,  the  most  trusted  of  the  king's  ealdor- 
men. In  993  Bamborough  was  stormed,  and  the  country  north  and 
south  of  the  Humber  was  pillaged  ;  but  when  an  army  was  collected,  it 
was  '  the  leaders  first  of  all  who  began  the  flight.'  At  last  Ethelred 
contrived  to  divide  his  assailants  by  making  a  separate  treaty  with  Olaf, 
king  of  the  Norwegians,  who  ever  after  kept  the  peace  ;  and  in  1002  he 
secured  the  neutrality  of  the  Normans  by  a  marriage  with  Emma,  the 
sister  of  their  duke  Richard.  However,  a  massacre  of  all  the  Danes 
who  had  recently  settled  in  England,  which  was  carried  out  on  St. 
Brice's  day,  served  only  to  exasperate  Sweyn  of  Denmark,  whose  sister 
had  been  put  to  death.  His  attacks  went  on  as  before,  and  constant 
gifts  of  money  and  provisions  only  served  to  whet  the  appetite  of  the 
invaders.  Throughout  this  miserable  time  the  only  bright  spots  are 
supplied  by  the  valour  of  the  Londoners,  who  held  their  town  during  a 
succession  of  sieges,  and  throughout  the  whole  reign  blocked  the  road 
up  the  Thames,  and  by  the  conduct  of  individual  ealdormen  like  Briht- 

„  .,        ,      noth  of  Essex  and  the  brave  Ulfcytel  of  East  Anglia,  who 
Brihtnoth.  ,      _  ,  ,        ,     ,         ,  ,  ,     -.  .^ 

gave  the  Danes    worse  hand-play  than  they  ever  had  before 

among  the  English.'    The  actions  of  these  heroes,  however,  only  serve  to 

place  in  stronger  light  the  ignominy  of  Ethelred,  who  never  seems  to  have 

adventured  his  person  in  battle,  and  whom  the  Chronicle  describes  in  1005 

as  'beginning  to  consider '  what  could  be  done  after  fifteen  years  of  disaster. 

However,  in  1007  an  able  man,  Eadric,  became  ealdorman  of  Mercia. 
His  low  birth  made  him  distasteful  to  the  nobles,  his  avarice  is  shown 
by  his  nickname  of  Streona  or  the  Grasper,  and  he  was 
imdoubtedly  treacherous  ;  but  he  does  seem  to  have  made 
some  effort  to  turn  the  tide.  The  want  of  a  fleet  was  supplied  by  the  con- 
tributions of  the  whole  country  ;  but  when  it  assembled,  the  quarrels  of 
the  leaders  and  an  unlucky  storm  dashed  the  hopes  of  the  nation,  and  '  it 

Ravages  of  seemed  as  if  it  had  been  all  hopeless.'     The  country  became 

the  Danes,  more  demoralised  than  ever ;  and  the  Danes  marched 
hither  and  thither,  burning,  ravaging,  and  slaying,  just  as  they  pleased. 

At  length,  in  1013,  Sweyn  came  over  in  person  and  attempted  a 


1016  Ethelred  11.  71 

formal  conquest.  Sailing  up  the  Trent  to  Gainsborough,  he  received 
there  the  submission  of  the  Northumbrians  and  of  the  men  of  the  five 
Danish  boroughs,  and  took  hostages  from  every  shire.  Then  sweyn  taken 
he  advanced,  plundering  as  he  went,  across  the  Watling  ^^  King. 
Street,  and  received  the  submission  of  the  Western  thegns  ;  and,  finally, 
when  even  the  Londoners  had  given  up  the  task  of  resistance  as  hope- 
less, 'the  whole  country  held  him  as  full  king.'  Abandoned  by  his 
subjects,  Ethelred  took  refuge  in  Normandy  ;  but  within  a  year  Sweyn 
died,  and  then  the  English  sent  again  for  Ethelred,  assuring  him  *  that 
no  lord  was  dearer  than  their  own  lord,  if  he  would  rule    „ 

11111  Til  Restoration 

them  better  than  he  had  done.'  Accordmgly  he  returned  ;  of  Ethel- 
but  his  health  was  failing,  and  for  the  short  remainder  of  "  ' 
his  life  the  real  power  was  divided  between  his  son  Edmund,  who  from 
his  strength  and  courage  was  called  Ironside,  and  Eadric  the  Grasper. 
The  two,  however,  were  jealous  of  each  other,  and  there  was  little  more 
unity  than  before.  Meanwhile  the  leadership  of  the  Danes  fell  to 
Sweyn's  son  Canute,  an  able  and  enterprising  man.  He  soon  renewed 
the  war,  was  joined  by  the  traitor  Eadric,  and  Northumbria  *  submitted 
to  him  for  need.' 

In  1016  Ethelred  died,  and  all  England  except  London  chose  Canute 
as  king.     Ednmnd,  however,  was  supported  by  the  brave  Londoners, 
and  he  soon  showed  what  could  be  done  by  a  really  national    Rejgn  ^f 
leader.     Withdrawing  himself  to  the  forest  of  Selwood,  he    Edmund  ii. 
appealed  to  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  beforetime  had  rallied  round 
the  great  Alfred.     With  a  small  force  he  put  Canute  to  flight  in  a  battle 
at  Pen  Selwood,  and,  success  bringing  followers  to  his  ranks,  he  again 
routed   the  Danes  in  a  hard-fought  battle  at  Shirestone.    Battle  of 
The  importance  of  this  victory  is  shown  by  the  fact  that    Shirestone. 
the  traitor  Eadric,  who  had  fought  for  the  Danes,  thought  it  advisable  to 
change  sides,  and,  wonderful  to  relate,  was  received  into  favour,  *  than 
which,'  says  the  Clironicle,  '  nothing  could  be  more  ill-advised.'     Men 
from  the  most  distant  shires  now  came  to  Edmund's  aid,  and  with  a 
really  national  force  he  defeated  the  Danes  at  Brentford, 
raised  the  siege  of  London,  and  by  a  fourth  victory  at    Brentford 
Otford  drove  a  large  body  of  them  into  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.    ^""^  °*^°'''^- 
Then,  crossing  the  Thames,   he  attacked  Canute's  main  force  at  As- 
sandun  in  Essex.     The  English  were  fighting  with  every    Battle  of 
hope  of  success  when  the  traitor  Eadric,  who  was  said  to    Assandun. 
have  sold  himself  to  Canute,  led  his  followers  from  the  field  and  ruined 
the  chance  of  victory.     Edmund  continued  the  fight  till  nightfall,  and 
even  by  moonlight,  and  was  only  forced  to  retreat  by  the  death  of  his 


72  The  Danish  Conquest  loie 

bravest  warriors.     He  then  withdrew  into  Gloucestershire,  and  another 

battle  was  imminent,  when  the  Witan,  acting  apparently  under  the 

j^.  .  .       ^    advice  of  Eadric,  proposed  to  secure  peace  by  dividing  the 

the  King-       kingdom.     Edmund  unwillingly  gave  his  consent,  and  it 

°™"  was  arranged  that  he  should  keep  Wessex  and  East  Anglia 

as  over-king  ;  and  that  Canute  as  under-king  should  receive  Mercia  and 
Northumbria.  However,  within  a  few  weeks  Edmund  died,  murdered, 
according  to  one  story,  by  Eadric,  and  then  Canute  became  king  of  all 
England.     Whether,  had  he  lived,  Edmund  would  have  rivalled  Alfred 

Death  of      as  a  ruler  it  is  impossible  to  say  ;  but  he  certainly  rivalled 

Edmund,  j^-g  exploits  as  a  warrior,  and  nothing  but  the  miserable 
treachery  of  Eadric  deprived  him  of  complete  victory.  The  story  of  his 
brief  triumph  is  the  best  commentary  on  the  imbecility  of  Ethelred, 
and  shows  that  it  was  not  so  much  the  degeneracy  of  Englishmen  as  the 
incompetence  of  the  central  government  that  had  been  responsible  for 
the  disasters  of  his  reign. 

Canute  began  to  reign  in  1017  ;  and  though  his  early  life  had  been 
stained  by  many  acts  of  treachery  and  violence,  his  character  as  he  grew 

Reign  of      older  underwent  a  change,  and  ultimately  he  became  an 

Canute.  excellent  sovereign.  Like  Julius  Caesar,  he  possessed  the 
faculty  of  attaching  to  himself  nations  whom  he  had  conquered  in  battle, 
and  he  soon  made  Englishmen  respect  and  trust  him  just  as  though  he 
had  been  one  of  themselves.  This  feeling  was  reciprocal,  and  Canute 
frequently  promoted  Englishmen  to  bishoprics  in  his  hereditary  dominions 
and  employed  them  in  his  Continental  wars. 

As  elected  king  of  the  English,  Canute  regarded  himself  as  inheriting 
the  imperial  rights  of  his  predecessors.  He  enforced  the  supremacy  over 
.  ,.  the  Welsh,  and  he  compelled  Malcolm,  king  of  the  Scots, 
to  do  homage,  with  his  under-kings.  His  views  of  dominion, 
however,  extended  beyond  the  shores  of  Britain,  and  he  designed  to 
create  a  northern  empire  which  was  to  include  Norway,  Denmark,  and 
England,  just  as  the  Roman  Empire  of  the  West  had  been  revived  by 
Charles  the  Great.  He  was  already  king  of  England  and  Denmark,  and 
in  1028  he  conquered  Norway.  His  dominions,  however,  fell  asunder  at 
his  death,  but  the  idea  of  [an  empire  of  the  north  has  not  been  without 
its  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Europe.  Canute's  first  care  was  to  get  rid 
of  the  surviving  members  of  the  royal  family.  Edmund's  baby  children 
were  sent  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  passed  them  on  to  Stephen,  king 
of  Hungary,  where,  contrary  to  Canute's  intentions,  they  were  carefully 
brought  up  ;  Edwy,  Edmund's  brother,  was  outlawed  and  soon  after- 
wards slain  ;  and  Canute  conciliated  the  Normans  and  guarded  himself 


1021  Canute  73 

against  the  two  sons  of  Ethelred  and  Emma  by  a  strange  marriage  with 
their  mother,  who  came  to  England  and  left  her  children  behind  her  in 
Normandy.  Determined  to  show  that  he  trusted  the  English,  Canute 
dismissed  his  Danish  fleet  after  paying  the  sailors  by  levying  a  land-tax 
called  the  Danegeld  ;  and  the  only  force  he  retained  was  his  famous 
bodyguard  of  house-carls,  into  which  he  enlisted  Englishmen  and  Danes 
indifi'erently.  This  force,  which  was  in  fact  a  small  The  Hus- 
standing  army  organised  under  strict  military  discipline,  '^^'■^^• 
was  perhaps  imitated  from  the  guard  maintained  by  the  Greek  emperors 
at  Constantinople,  in  which  many  Norsemen  served. 

Canute  retained  the  great  earldoms.  Over  the  East-Anglians  he 
placed  Thurkill,  a  Dane,  who  had  been  his  right-hand  man  at  the  battle 
of  Assandun  ;  over  the  Northumbrians  he  set  his  own  The  Earl- 
brother-in-law,  Eric  ;  Eadric  Streona  kept  Mercia  ;  and  the  ^°"^^- 
king  himself  acted  as  earl  of  Wessex.  This  arrangement,  however, 
did  not  last  long.  At  Christmas,  1013,  Eadric  Streona,  of  whose 
power  and  character  Canute  must  have  been  well  aware,  was  put  to 
death,  as  one  chronicle  says,  *  very  rightfully '  ;  and  his  earldom  was 
given  to  Leofwine,  an  Englishman.  In  1021  Thurkill  was  banished  from 
England,  but  made  viceroy  of  Denmark.  The  earldom  of  the  Northum- 
brians was  restored  to  the  ancient  line  ;  and  another  Englishman,  Godwin, 
was  made  earl  of  the  West-Saxons. 

Godwin,  who  for  the  next  forty  years  was  the  most  prominent  figure  in 
English  affairs,  seems  to  have  raised  himself  to  favour  by  his  own  exertions 
and  ability.     He  is  described   to  us  as  a  man  sagacious     ^   ,    . 

1  .  ,.,.  .        ,  .  ^      Godwin. 

m  counsel,  strenuous  m  war,  duigent  m  the  transaction  of 
business,  weighty  in  speech,  of  winning  manners,  and  of  admirable 
temper.  His  early  history  is  unknown,  but  at  the  very  beginning  of 
Canute's  reign  he  was  in  high  favour,  and  selected  to  be  the  king's 
companion  on  his  first  journey  to  Denmark.  There  he  won  further 
distinction,  and  on  his  return  married  Gytha,  a  connection  of  Canute 
himself.  After  this  he  was  raised  to  the  earldom  of  Wessex,  which 
remained  in  his  family  till  his  son  Harold  became  king  of  the  English. 
For  the  remainder  of  Canute's  reign  Godwin  was  the  king's  most  trusted 
servant,  his  adviser  when  in  England,  his  representative  when  business 
required  the  king's  absence  abroad. 

With  Canute's  exploits  on  the  Continent  English  history  has  little  to 
do.     His  reign  at  home  was  a  time  of  profound  peace.    Ad- 
mirable order  was  preserved,  and  the  land  was  distressed   of  Canute's 
neither  by  invasions  from  without  nor  by  rebellions  within.    ^°^**^y* 
The  observance  of  law  was  enforced  on  English  and  Danes  alike,  and 


74  The  Danish  Conquest  1021 

Canute  took  for  his  model  the  rule  of  Edgar,  '  whose  law,'  according  to 
the  famous  formula,  '  he  promised  to  observe.' 

The  most  picturesque  event  in  the  later  life  of  Canute  is  his  pilgrimage 
to  Kome.  As  king  of  England  he  had  always  shown  signs  of  religious 
devotion,  had  founded  a  church  upon  the  hill  of  Assandun,  and  been 
liberal  in  his  gifts  to  churches  and  monasteries  ;  and  in  1027  he  made 

H-    p-1         ^  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  where  he  was  received  with  great 

grimage  to  honour  both  by  the  pope  and   by  the   emperor.      Thence 
he  wrote  to  his  subjects  an  admirable  letter,  written  in 
the  tone  of  a  father  addressing  his  children,  and  giving  a  full  account 
not  only  of  his  travels  but  of  his  designs  for  the  future. 

The  long  and  peaceful  reign  of  Canute  is  believed  to  have  been  a 
turning-point  in  the  history  of  English  towns.  Hitherto,  except  as 
Growth  of  fortresses,  the  towns  had  played  a  very  small  part  in  English 
the  Towns,  jj^f^  .  y^^^^  under  Canute  the  union  of  England,  Denmark,  and 
Norway  was  favourable  to  commerce,  and  the  Danish  population  which 
had  settled  in  England  appears  to  have  been  more  commercial  in  its 
instincts  than  the  pure  English  race.  London  and  York  were  the  chief 
marts  for  foreign  trade  ;  Oxford,  Chester,  and  Bristol  were  rising  in 
importance ;  while  Winchester,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  West-Saxons, 
was  falling  into  the  second  rank. 

At  his  death,  in  1035,  Canute  left  three  sons,  Sweyn,  Harold,  and 
Hardicanute  (Harthacnut).  The  last  was  the  son  of  his  Norman 
queen  Emma ;  the  others  of  an  Englishwoman,  ^Ifgifu,  who,  strictly 
speaking,  was  hardly  his  wife  at  all.  Probably  Canute  intended  that 
Emma's  son  should  succeed  him  in  England,  and  accordingly  Hardi- 
canute was  supported  by  Godwin  and  the  West-Saxons  ;  but  the 
northerners,  actuated  perhaps  by  resentment  against  the  favour  shown 
by  Canute  to  Godwin  and  the  southerners,  preferred  Harold.  Ultimately 
it  was  arranged  at  Oxford,  by  discussion  and  compromise,  that  Harold 

Reign  of       should  reign  north  of  the  Thames  as  over-king,  and  that 

Harold.  Hardicanute  should  have  the  south.  Hardicanute  also 
obtained  Denmark,  while  Sweyn  had  Norway.  However,  Magnus,  the 
son  of  Olaf  of  Norway,  soon  dispossessed  Sweyn  ;  and  as  he  also 
threatened  Denmark,  Hardicanute  was  detained  to  look  after  his 
interests  there,  and  was  unable  to  visit  the  West-Saxons,  who  were  ruled 
by  Emma  and  Godwin. 

This  state  of  affairs  encouraged  Alfred  and  Edward,  the  sons  of 
Ethelred  and  Emma,  who  had  grown  up  in  Normandy,  to  attempt 
the  recovery  of  their  father's  throne ;  and  Alfred  at  any  rate,  and 
possibly  Edward,  came   over  for  that  purpose.      Alfred  fell   into  the 


1042  Harold  aiid  Hartliacnut  75 

hands  of  Harold's  men,  who  put  him  to  a  cruel  death  at  Ely.     Whether 

Godwin  took  any  part  in  his  arrest  it  is  impossible  to  say.     If  Godwin 

arrested  Alfred,  he  was  simply  doing  his  duty  ;  and  it  was 

Harold  and  his  men,  and  not  Godwin,  who  were  responsible   pedition  and 

for  the  cruelties  that  followed.     However,  the  result  of  the 

suspicion  against  him  was  to  create  ill-will  between  the  house  of  Godwin 

and  that  of  the  dukes  of  Normandy. 

For  two  years  the  West-Saxons  waited  for  Hardicanute  ;  but,  as  he  did 
not  come,  they  then  joined  the  rest  of  their  countrymen  in  acknowledging 
Harold,  and  Emma  took  refuge  with  Baldwin  of  Flanders. 
There  she  was  joined  by  her  son,  and  preparations  were  being      Canute's 
made  for  an  invasion  of  England,  when  Harold,  who  had         **^"' 
for  some  time  been  ailing,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-three.     The  whole 
nation  then  chose  Hardicanute  as  king.     The  new  sovereign's  reign  was 
brief.     The  only  events  of  importance  were  the  employment  of  his  house- 
carls  to  collect  an  oppressive  tax  and  the  invitation  to  England  of  his 
half-brother  Edward.     This  was  accepted,  and  when  Hardicanute  died 
suddenly  at  a  marriage  feast  in  1042  all  the  English  agreed  in  choosing 
Edward  king,  and  so  returned  to  the  ancient  line. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Invasions  of  the  Nortbrnen  renewed.   .  980 


Death  of  Dunstan, 
Massacre  of  the  Danes, 
Battle  of  Assandun, 
Accession  of  Harold,     . 


988 
1002 
1016 
1017 


CHAPTEE   IX 

THE   NORMAN   CONQUEST 

ENGLISH   KINGS 

Edward  the  Confessor,    a.d.  1042-1066  j  Harold  li.,        .        .        a.d.  1066 

The  Character  of  Edward  the  Confessor— Influx  of  Normans— Godwin  and  his 
Family  unsuccessfully  oppose  the  Normans— Visit  of  William  of  Normandy 
to  England— Return  of  Godwin  and  Banishment  of  the  Normans— Character 
of  Harold,  Godwin's  Son— Accession  of  Harold— Battles  of  Stamford  Bridge 
and  Hastings. 

The  character  of  Edward  the  Confessor  is  difficult  to  understand.     The 

personal  piety  which  gained  him  his  surname  suggests  a  comparison  with 

.  Henry  vi.  ;   his  addiction  to  foreign  favourites  anticipates 

Edward  the  Henry  III.  ;  his  fitful  energy,  combined  with  incapacity  for 

on  essor.     continuous  effort,  recalls  his  father  Ethelred.     Though  a 

man  of  mature  years  and  of  much  experience,  he  was  always  controlled 

by  the  influence  of  others  ;  and  his  manliness  was  chiefly  shown  in  an 

inordinate  addiction  to  the  chase. 

During  the  first  part  of  his  reign,  Godwin,  Leofric  of  Mercia,  and 
Siward  of  Northumbria  continued  to  be  the  leading  personages. 
Godwin  had  become  an  elderly  man ;  but  his  sons  were  growing  up  to 
manhood.  Sweyn  (Swegen)  and  Harold  were  already  earls,  and  his 
daughter  Edith  became  the  king's  wife. 

Edward  had  been  brought  up  in  Normandy,  and  he  was  naturally 
fond  of  Norman  life  and  manners.  These  as  a  rule  were  more  refined 
than  the  English,  for  the  Normans,  though  the  last  of  the  Teutonic 
settlers  in  the  Eoman  Empire,  had  shown  a  wonderful  power  of 
Introduces  assimilating  its  civilisation.  They  had  entirely  given  up 
Normans,  ^j^g^j.  q-^^  language  for  French,  and  delighted  to  welcome 
among  them  any  foreigners  who  were  distinguished  for  learning  or 
accomplishments.  Edward,  therefore,  was  wishful  to  bring  over  to 
England  what  he  could  of  Norman  civilisation.  He  spoke  French 
himself,  and  soon  filled  his  court  with  French-speaking  Normans,  some 

76 


1051  Edward  the  Confessor  77 

of  whom  he  raised  to  high  office  in  church  and  state.  One,  Robert  of 
Jumieges,  became  bishop  of  London  in  1044  and  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  in  1051.  The  king's  nephew,  Ralph,  became  an  earl  and 
ruled  in  Herefordshire  ;  Richard,  another  Norman  who  received  lands 
in  the  same  county,  built  the  first  private  castle  in  England,  and  the 
village  of  Richard's  Castle  in  Herefordshire  still  perpetuates  his  evil 
memory.  Among  the  rest  arrived  Ranulf  Flambard,  afterwards  so 
notorious  under  William  Rufus.  At  the  same  time,  general  causes  were 
bringing  England  into  closer  touch  with  the  Continent.  Foreign 
merchants  flocked  to  London,  and  it  seemed  as  though  a  similar  change 
to  that  which  had  turned  the  Normans  into  Frenchmen  was  beginning 
to  take  place  in  England. 

Naturally  there  was  much  discontent  at  this,  and  Godwin  and  his 
sons  set  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  English  party.     Matters  came 
to  a  head  in  1051.     In  that  year  Eustace  of  Boulogne,    Discontent, 
brother-in-law  of  Edward,  aime  over  on  a  visit,  imd  on  his   English, 
return  marched  into  Dover  as  though  it  were  a  conquered   Eustace  of 
town,  and  attempted  to  quarter  his  men  on  the  inhabitants.    Boulogne. 
The  men  of  Dover  resisted,  and  a  fight  followed  in  which  twenty 
Englishmen  and  nineteen  foreigners  were  slain.     Edward  then  called  on 
Godwin  as  earl  of  Wessex  to  punish  the  townspeople.      Godwin  very 
properly  demanded  that  the  men  of  Dover  should  be  heard  in  their  own 
defence,  and,  calling  on  his  sons  Swegen  and  Harold,  the     q^^j^j^ 
three    earls    assembled    their    forces  at  Beverstone   near     heads  the 
Gloucester,  at  which  town  Edward  was  keeping  his  court.        ^^  ** 
To  balance  their  force  Edward  summoned  Leofric,  earl  of  the  Mercians, 
and  Siward,  earl  of  the  Northumbrians.     On  Leofric's  suggestion  both 
armies  were  dismissed  and  a  witenagemot  was  summoned  at  London  ; 
but  for  some  unexplained  reason  Godwin,  who  seemed  all-powerful  at 
Gloucester,  found  himself  so  weak  in  London  that  he  was      Godwin 
outlawed  with  his  sons  and  fled  the  country.     Godwin      exiled, 
himself,  with  his  sons  Swegen  and  Tostig,  took  refuge  with  Baldwin  of 
Flanders  at  Bruges,  and  Harold  sailed  for  Ireland.     Edith,  the  king's 
wife,  was  shut  up  in  a  monastery  at  Wherwell,  and  for  a  time  the 
foreigners  reigned  supreme. 

While  the  English  party  was  thus  scattered,  Edward  received  a  visit 
from  William,   Duke   of    Normandy,   whose    great-aunt    Emma    was 
Edward's  mother,  but  he  had  himself  no  blood  relationship    --..„. 
with  the  English  royal  family.      The  Duke  was  now  about   Duke  of 
twenty-four  years  of  age.     He  was  the  son  of  Duke  Robert      °  ^' 

and  Herleva  or  Arietta,  the  daughter  of  a  tanner  at  Falaise.     His  father 


78  The  Norman  Conquest  I05i 

dying  whea  he  was  about  eight  years  old,  William  had  had  a  hard 
struggle  to  maintain  his  doubtful  title  ;  but  his  courage  and  resource  had 
enabled  him  while  yet  a  boy  in  years  to  triumph  over  all  opponents  on 
the  field  of  Val  es  dunes,  and  he  was  now  undisputed  ruler  of  his 
duchy,  and  already  recognised  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  time. 

In  England  there  was  everything  to  rouse  his  ambition.  He  knew 
that  Englishmen  had  chosen  Canute  king  and  loyally  served  him.  He 
His  Visit  to  found  Normans  round  the  king,  he  saw  Normans  filling 
England.  great  places  in  church  and  state,  he  heard  French  spoken 
on  every  side  ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  being 
himself  king  of  England.  For  a  Norman  there  was  nothing  uncommon 
in  this.  At  that  very  time  Robert  Guiscard,  another  Norman,  was 
establishing  himself  as  ruler  of  Southern  Italy.  William  had  seen  men 
like  Harold  Hardrada  and  Swegen  Estrithson  win  the  crowns  of  Norway 
and  Denmark  ;  and  if  Godwin  and  his  sons  were  out  of  the  way,  and  the 
state  full  of  his  well-wishers,  there  was  no  likelihood  that  the  Norman 
duke  would  meet  with  any  serious  resistance.  It  is  pretty  certain  that 
Edward  made  some  sort  of  promise  to  secure  the  succession  to  William. 
This  he  had  no  right  to  do,  and  such  disposition  of  tJie  crown  could  in 
no  way  curtail  the  free  choice  of  the  Witenagemot ;  but  it  certainly  was 
taken  as  giving  William  a  claim  to  consideration,  if  to  nothing  more,  and 
he  returned  home  well  satisfied. 

Next  year,  however,  the  scene  was  completely  changed.  A  reaction 
occurred  in  favour  of  Godwin,  who  was  encouraged  to  request  leave  to 

Return  of     return ;  and  on  Edward's  refusal  he  gathered  an  anned 

Godwin.  force,  and,  being  joined  by  Harold  from  Ireland,  sailed  up 
the  Thames.  Edward  also  gathered  his  forces,  principally  from  the 
north  ;  and  a  battle  seemed  imminent,  when  fighting  was  averted  by  the 
mediation  of  Stigand,  bishop  of  London,  and  it  was  agreed  to  submit 
the  whole  case  to  a  witenagemot  to  be  held  the  next  day.  During  the 
night  the  Frenchmen  made  their  escape.  Headed  by  Robert  of  Jumieges, 
the  primary  cause  of  the  trouble,  and  by  Ulf,  the  bishop  of  Dorchester, 
.        who  is  said  to  have  done  '  nought  bishoplike,'  they  fought 

of  the  their  way  to  the  coast  and  took  ship  for  home.      Next 

morning  the  great  gemot  met  in  the  open  air.  Robert  and 
Ulf  were  expelled  from  their  sees  and  outlawed,  Godwin  and  his  sons 
were  restored  to  their  dignities,  Edith  was  summoned  back  from 
Wherwell,  and  '  good  law  was  decreed  for  all  folk.'  The  archbishopric 
of  Canterbury  was  then  given  to  Stigand,  and  the  triumph  of  the  English 
party  was  complete. 

For  the  last  fifteen  years  of  Edward's  reign  he  was  as  much  under  the 


1063  Edward  the  Confessor  79 

control  of  the  house  of  Godwin  as  he  had  formerly  been  under  that  of 

the  Frenchmen.     Godwin  died  in  1053,  and,  as  his  eldest  son  Sweyn  had 

died  on  pilgrimage,  his  honours  passed  to  his  second  son    , 

Tx       n         1  ,  1  f .  ^  Ascendancy 

Harold,   who  was   then   about  thu-ty-two   years    of  age.    of  the  house 

Besides  his  position  and  influence,  Harold  also  inherited  the   °     o  wi  . 

abilities  of  his  father  both  in  war  and  peace,  and  he  added  to  them  a 

certain  nobility  of  mind  which  made  him  a  finer  character  than  Earl 

Godwin.    In  1055  Siward  died,  and,  as  his  son  Waltheof  was  yet  a  child, 

his  earldom  was  given  to  Godwin's  third  son,  Tostig,  who   ^  ^    .  , 

•  11,.  X  T      /.^       ,        Godwin's 

was  a  great  favourite  with  the  king.     In  1057  Leofric,  the    Sons  Harold 

List  of  the  three  great  earls,  also  died,  and,  after  being  held    ^"      °^  *^' 
for  a  short  time  by  his  son  -^Ifgar,  his  earldom  passed  to  his  grandson 
Edwin.      Gyrth,    Godwin's  fourth  son,   became  ^Ifgar's   ^^^  Earl- 
successor  as  earl  of  the  East- Angles  :  and  his  fifth  son,    dom  of 

Mercia. 
Leofwine,  ruled  over  the  group  of  shires  which  border  the 

estuary  of  the  Thames.  Thus  the  whole  land,  with  the  exception  of 
some  of  the  midland  shires,  was  under  the  supervision  of  Harold  and 
his  brothers. 

As  Edward  had  no  children,  it  was  determined  to  send  for  Edward,  the 
son  of  Edmund  Ironside,  who  had  grown  up  an  exile  in  Hungary  ;  and 
he  accordingly  returned  to  England  with  his  wife  and  three  children, 
Edgar,  Margaret,  and  Christina  ;  but  almost  immediately  on  his  arrival 
he  sickened  and  died,  so  that  the  male  line  of  Alfred  was  Edgar 
only  represented  by  the  boy  Edgar.  The  importance  of  the  Athcimg." 
return  of  Edward  is  that  it  shows  how  little  regard  was  paid  to  the 
alleged  promise  of  Edward  to  William  of  Normandy. 

During  the  fifteen  years  of  the  authority  of  the  house  of  Godwin  much 
progress  was  made  in  the  conquest  of  Wales.  Since  the  days  of  Cadwallon, 
the  ally  of  Penda,  no  Welsh  sovereign  had  really  been 
dangerous  ;  but  in  1039  Griffith,  son  of  Llewelyn  (Gruffydd- 
ap-Llewelyn),  ascended  the  throne  of  Gwynedd  or  North  Wales,  and  soon 
afterwards,  having  annexed  South  Wales  to  his  dominions,  allied  himself 
with  ^Ifgar  of  Mercia,  and  made  his  name  a  terror  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Usk,  the  Severn,  and  the  Wye,  and  even  sacked  and  burned  the  cathedral 
city  of  Hereford.  The  whole  regular  force  of  the  kingdom,  headed  by 
Harold  and  Tostig,  was  needed  for  his  overthrow  ;  but  at  length,  in  1063, 
his  people  were  so  discouraged  that  they  slew  their  too  adventurous 
sovereign  and  brought  his  head  to  Harold.  His  dominions,  shorn  of 
some  of  the  fertile  lowlands,  were  then  gi-anted  to  two  of  his  relations  to 
be  held  as  vassal  kingdoms.  The  power  of  the  Welsh  was  thus  broken 
for  many  years. 


80  The  Norman  Conquest  1063 

The  fall  of  Gruffydd  reduced  the  number  of  Harold's  opponents,  but  in 
1065  the  power  of  Harold  was  seriously  weakened  by  the  expulsion  of 
Fall  of  ^^^  brother  Tostig  from  the  earldom  of  the  Northumbrians. 
Tostig.  Tostig  began  by  being  a  man  of  good  intentions,  but  was 
utterly  wanting  in  tact;  and  he  allowed  the  severity  necessary  to  curb  the 
rude  Northumbrians  to  pass  into  tyranny,  and  even  to  be  sullied  with 
treachery  and  murder.  Accordingly,  taking  advantage  of  Tostig's  absence 
at  Edward's  court,  the  leading  Northumbrians  held  a  meeting  at  York, 
declared  Tostig  deposed  and  outlawed,  and  chose  in  his  stead  Morcar 
(Morkere),  the  younger  son  of  jElfgar.  With  Morcar  at  their  head  they 
marched  into  Middle  England,  where  they  were  joined  by  his  brother 
Edwin,  and  even  by  a  body  of  Welshmen.  In  face  of  such  unanimity, 
Edward  and  Harold  yielded.  Tostig's  expulsion  and  Morcar's  election 
were  both  confirmed,  but  the  earldoms  of  Huntingdon  and  Northampton 
were  taken  from  the  earldom  of  the  Northumbrians  and  given  to 
Waltheof,  the  son  of  Siward.  Tostig  withdrew  to  Flanders. 
From  that  moment  his  character  utterly  deteriorated,  and  he 
became  the  evil  genius  of  his  greater  brother.  To  Harold  this  revolution 
in  Northumbrian  affairs  was  a  most  serious  blow ;  for,  besides  withdrawing 
Northumbria  from  his  control,  it  practically  added  it  to  the  dominions  of 
Edwin,  so  that  the  lands  of  the  house  of  Leofric  were  both  larger  in  area 
and  more  compactly  situated  than  those  of  the  house  of  Godwin.  More- 
over, Edwin  was  a  born  intriguer,  determined  to  carry  out  a  separate 
policy  for  the  north  and  to  maintain  the  independence  of  that  part  of  the 
country  as  far  as  he  possibly  could. 

The  death  of  Edward  soon  followed  the  fall  of  Tostig.     He  died  on 

January  5,  1066,  just  after  the  consecration  of  his  noble  abbey  church  at 

Death  oi      Westminster ;  and  then  the  difficult  question  of  the  succession 

Edward.      came  up  for  settlement.     Of  the  direct  English  line  there 

was  living  the  Atheling  Edgar  ;  but  he  was  quite  a  boy,  and  even  when 

he  grew  up  his  character  was  very  weak.     With  Tostig  burning  for 

revenge  and  William  bent  on  prosecuting  his  claims,  it  was  no  time  for 

repeating  the  minority  of  Ethelred  the  Unready ;  and  as  Edward  in  the 

Reign  of      solemnest  manner  had  on  his  death-bed  named  Harold  as 

Harold  II.    j^jg  successor,  the  Witenagemot  lost  no  time  in  confirming 

his  wishes.     The  post  of  honour  and  of  danger  was  accepted  by  the  great 

earl,  and  a  day  later  Harold  was  crowned  at  Westminster  by  Ealdred, 

archbishop  of  York.      His  whole  reign  was  made  up  of  a  struggle  for  his 

kingdom. 

The  first  act  of  the  new^  king  was  to  make  sure  of  his  acceptance  among 
the  Northumbrians  by  a  visit  to  York  ;  his  next  to  conciliate  Edwin  and 


1066  Harold  11.  81 

Morcar  Idj  marrying  their  beautiful  sister  Pjaldgyth,  the  widow  of  the 

murdered  Griffith.     From  the  first  he  must  have  felt  the  danger  in 

which  he  was  placed  by  the  hostility  of  the  house  of  Leofric, 

the  policy  of  which  was  to  maintain  at  any  cost  the  virtual      *^    °  ^^^' 

independence  of  the  north,  whether  the  king  of  the  West-Saxons  were 

Harold,  or  Edgar  the  Atheling,  or  William  of  Normandy. 

If  Edward  the  Confessor  had  been  succeeded  by  Edward  of  Hungary, 

or  his  son  the  Atheling  Edgar,  William  could  have  said  little  or  nothing  ; 

but  it  happened  he  could  make  out  a  more  plausible  tale   „ 

TT       1  ,    ,  .  ,  ,.1  *  1-         William's 

against  Harold  than  against  any  other  candidate.    According   case  against 

to  the  most  probable  story,  Harold  had  been  wrecked  during 
a  pleasure  expedition  on  the  coast  of  Ponthieu,  and  had  been  handed 
over  by  the  count  of  Ponthieu  to  the  duke  of  Normandy.  Some  time 
was  spent  by  him  at  the  Norman  court,  and  he  even  accompanied 
William  in  an  expedition  against  the  Bretons  ;  and  it  is  during  this  visit 
that  he  is  said  to  have  promised  to  become  William's  *man,'  to  marry  his 
daughter,  and  even  to  support  his  claim  to  the  English  crown.  More- 
over, the  oath  which  he  took  to  fulfil  his  promise  was  made  additionally 
solemn  by  William's  craftily  inveigling  Harold  into  unknowingly  swear- 
ing on  the  most  sacred  relics.  These  details  cannot  be  proved ;  but  it 
is  noteworthy  that,  while  French  writers  place  great  stress  upon  the 
oath,  English  writers  attempt  no  categorical  denial.  Again,  Harold  and 
his  brothers  had  incurred  the  hostility  of  the  Normans  by  their  fonuer 
resistance  to  foreigners.  Something,  too,  might  be  made  of  the  murder 
of  Alfred  the  Atheling.  More  important  still,  it  was  possible  to  secure 
the  benediction  of  the  pope  for  an  expedition  one  of  whose  objects  was 
represented  to  be  the  punishment  of  the  English  for  the  uncanonical 
expulsion  of  Robert  of  Jumi^ges  ;  and  Stigand,  his  successor,  had  made 
matters  worse  by  receiving  his  pallium  from  an  anti-pope,  Benedict  x. 
Moreover,  the  adviser  of  the  pope  was  Hildebrand,  afterwards  Gregory 
VII.,  and  he  may  well  have  seen  that  a  conquest  of  England  by  William, 
under  the  benediction  of  the  pope,  would  be  certain  to  lead  to  an 
increase  of  papal  authority  over  the  English  church. 

Meanwhile,  since  his  visit  to  England,  William  had  been  steadily 
growing  in  power.     In  1053  he  had  strengthened  his  European  position 
by  a  marriage  with  Matilda,  the  daughter  of  Baldwin  of 
Flanders  ;  five  years  later  he  had  decisively  beaten  the   \yiiliam 
king  of  France  and  his  ally,  Geoffrey  of  Anjou  ;  in  1063   ^'"^"^  '°^* 
he  had  annexed   the   county  of  Maine ;   and   he    had   recently   con- 
cluded a  successful  war  with  Brittany.     Each  of  these  triumphs  added 
something  to  his  territory,  and   strengthened  his  claim  to  the  title 

F 


82  The  NoTTuan  Conquest  1066 

of  Conqueror  or  acquirer.  However,  on  the  death  of  Edward  he 
turned  aside  from  his  French  policy  and  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  prosecution  of  his  alleged  claim  to  the  English 
for^an?n-°"^  crown :  his  first  act  being  to  put  in  a  formal  applica- 
iSfrfand^  tion  for  the  crown ;  his  next  to  publish  a  statement  of 
his  claims  ;  and  his  third  to  prepare  for  an  armed  invasion 
of  the  country. 

Armed  with  this  plausible  tale  of  personal  and  ecclesiastical  wrongs, 
William  placed  his  case  before  the  Norman  barons,  foremost  among 
The  Norman  whom  were  William  Fitz-Osbern,  Odo  ofBayeux,  Robert  of 
Barons.  Montgomery,  Hugh  of  Avranches,  Hugh  of  Montfort,  and 

William  of  Warenne,  names  long  celebrated  in  English  annals.  Led  by 
William  Fitz-Osbern,  the  barons  gave  a  somewhat  hesitating  assent,  and 
promised  to  furnish  contingents  of  ships  and  men ;  Eustace  of  Boulogne 
and  Alan  of  Brittany  also  agreed  to  join  the  host,  and  a  multitude  of 
adventurers  from  all  parts  of  Europe  flocked  to  take  part  in  a  holy  war 
which  promised  such  substantial  rewards  of  honour  and  spoil. 

On  his  side  Harold  was  not  idle.  For  the  defence  of  his  kingdom  he 
trusted  first  to  his  fleet ;  secondly,  to  his  land  forces,  consisting  of  the 
Preparations  bouse-carls  or  standing  army,  the  thegns  and  their  followers  ; 
of  Harold.  ^nd  lastly,  the  general  levy  of  the  freemen  of  the  realm. 
In  the  early  summer  Harold  assembled  his  fleet  and  army  on  the 
southern  coast,  and  distributed  his  men  in  garrison  at  the  most  im- 
portant points.  He  was,  however,  before  the  time,  as  William  had  to 
build  his  fleet  before  he  could  sail ;  and  it  was  not  till  August  that 
the  Norman  ships  were  all  ready.  By  that  time,  however,  the  patience 
of  Harold's  soldiers  was  quite  exhausted  ;  the  harvest  required  their 
presence  at  home,  and,  doubtless  much  against  his  will,  Harold  permitted 
the  thegns  and  the  freemen  to  depart,  so  that  the  house-carls  alone 
remained  under  arms.    The  fleet  also  retired  to  London. 

Unfortunately,  Normandy  was  not  the  only  place  from  which  invasion 
was  threatened.  Tostig  was  burning  to  recover  his  earldom,  and  was  so  far 
.  lost  to  a  sense  of  right  that  he  was  travelling  from  court  to  court 
in  search  of  foreign  assistance.  From  William  he  received 
little  attention,  for  it  was  no  part  of  the  duke's  plan  to  replace  one  son  of 
Godwin  by  another  ;  but  he  contrived  to  get  together  a  few  ships  and  to 
plunder  some  of  the  English  ports.  However,  on  the  arrival  of  Harold's 
fleet  he  made  his  way  to  Scotland,  where  he  was  well  received  ;  and  there, 

Harold         either  by  accident  or  appointment,  he  met  with  Harold, 

Hardrada.  sumamed  Hardrada,  or  the  stern  of  counsel,  king  of  Norway, 
who  on  his  own  account  was  preparing  for  an  invasion  of  England. 


1066  Harold  11.  83 

Harold,  who  was  the  younger  brother  of  Olaf  the  Saint,  was  a  t3'pe  of  his 
energetic  and  far-wandering  race.  As  a  young  man  he  had  served  in  the 
guard  of  Norsemen  who  surrounded  the  Eastern  emperors  at  Constanti- 
nople, he  had  visited  Jerusalem  and  Egypt,  and  had  gained  a  great 
reputation  by  slaying  a  crocodile.  He  had  subsequently  fought  his  way 
to  the  crown  of  Norway,  and  had  the  repuUition  of  being  not  only  a 
mighty  warrior  but  also  the  strongest  and  tallest  man  of  the  north.  If 
William's  host  included  representatives  of  all  the  Romance-speaking 
nations  of  Europe,  Harold  Hardrada  had  under  his  banner  adventurers 
from  every  Scandinavian  land. 

With  this  mighty  host  Tostig  and  Harold  sailed  to  the  English  coast, 
ravaged   Cleveland  and    burnt    Scarborough,   and    then    entered    the 
Humber.      The   Northumbrian   fleet  had  retired   up   the 
Wharf e  to  Tadcaster  ;  so  the  Northmen  left  their  vessels  at   by^Tostfg 
Ricall,  where  they  guarded  the  junction  of  the  Wharfe  and   Jfar^J^a!** 
the  Ouse,  and  marched  by  land  to  York,       Harold  had 
reckoned  that  Edwin  and  Morctir  would  fight  hard  for  their  own  earl- 
doms, and  he  was  not  disappointed ;  for  the  earls  made  a  furious  attack 
on  the  invaders  at  Fulford,  on  Wednesday,  September  20,     Battle  of 
but  were  completely  routed  and  driven  with  great  slaughter     F'uiford- 
into  York.     On  hearing  of  this  invasion,  Harold  and  his  house-carls 
hurried  north,  and,  collecting  forces  on  the  road,  reached  York  on  Mon- 
day, 25th,  only  to  find  that  it  had  surrendered  to  the  Northmen  the  day 
before.     Luckily,  however,  the  invaders  had  retired  some  eight  miles  to 

Stamford  Bridge,  on  the  Derwent ;  and  thither,  without  a    „     ,     , 

^  ^  '  '  Battle  of 

moment's   delay,  Harold  pursued  them.     He  found  their    Stamford 

army  encamped  at  both  sides  of  the  river  Derwent,  and,        *  ^^' 

surprising  the  division  on  the  right  bank,  he  fought  his  way  across  the 

narrow  bridge  and  routed  the  main  body  with  terrible  slaughter  on  the 

'  battle-flats '  above.     Tostig  and  Harold  Hardrada  both  lay  dead,  and 

for  years  afterwards  the  fields  around  were  whitened  by  the  skeletons 

of  the  slain. 

But  while  Harold  was  winning  this  glorious  fight,  the  south  wind,  for 

which  William  had  long  been  waiting,  had  wafted  the  Norman  transports 

across  the  Channel,  and  his  army  had  eff'ected  an  unresisted    William's 

landing  on  the  shingly  beach  at  Pevensey,  where  the  grass-    Landing. 

grown  walls  of  the  Roman  Anderida  told  the  tale  of  a  yet  earlier  conquest. 

Spurring  horsemen  carried  the  news  to  York.      *  Had  I     , 

Harold 
been  there,'  Harold  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  '  they  had     marches 

never  made  good  their  landing.'     No  time,  however,  was 

lost.    Edwin  and  Morcar  were  enjoined  to  march  south  without  delay  ; 


84  The  Norman  Conquest  1066 

Harold  himself,  with  his  brothers  Gyrth  and  Leofwine  and  his  house- 
carls,  at  once  took  the  road  to  London,  where  the  whole  force  of  England 
was  ordered  to  assemble.     From  all  the  southern  shires,  and  from  the 

earldoms  that  owned  the  sway  of  Gyrth,  of  Leofwine,  and 
of  Edwin  of  Waltheof  the  son  of  Siward,  there  was  no  hanging  back, 
and  Morcar.  -p^^^  Cornwall  to  Norfolk,  from  Worcester  to  Kent,  free- 
men and  thegns  came  to  the  meeting-place  ;  but  Edwin  and  Morcar, 
true  to  their  separatist  policy,  and  forgetful  that  but  for  their  defeat  at 
Fulford  William's  landing  might  never  have  been  made,  held  their 
troops  back,  and  Harold,  impatient  at  the  stories  of  Norman  plundering, 
was  obliged  to  march  without  them. 

By  this  time  William  had  advanced  to  Hastings.  Between  the 
southern  coast  and  London  are  two  ridges  of  downs,  one  near  the  coast, 

the  other  much  nearer  the  Thames  ;  and  between  them  lay. 
Geography  ^^  those  days,  the  forest  tract  of  the  Weald.  Probably  it 
of  the  South   ^ould  have  been  the  best  generalship  to  have  compelled 

William  to  advance  through  this,  and  fought  on  the  northern 
ridge  ;  but  Harold  refused  to  allow  so  much  of  his  kingdom  to  be 
ravaged,  and  he  also  declined  an  offer  of  Gyrth  to  go  forward  with  an 
advanced  guard,  while  Harold  arrayed  the  whole  strength  of  the  king- 
dom for  a  decisive  battle.  The  plan  which  he  chose  was  to  make  the 
first  battle  a  real  trial  of  strength,  and  to  fight  it  on  the  hill  of  Senlac, 
seven  miles  from  Hastings,  on  October  the  14th,  1066,  the  day  of  Saint 
Calixtus. 

The  place  of  battle  was  admirably  chosen  for  the  sort  of  battle  Harold 
had  in  view — one  in  which  foot-soldiers  armed  with  battle-axes  and 
Choice  of  a  javelins  were  to  be  attacked  by  archers  and  cavalry.  In 
Battle-field,  many  respects  the  site  reminds  one  of  the  field  of  Waterloo. 
It  was  a  ridge  which  commanded  the  road  from  Hastings  to  London,  and 
was  so  near  to  the  former  that  William  was  compelled  either  to  take  it 
or  starve  ;  so  that  Harold  gained  the  great  military  advantage  of  forcing 
his  enemy  to  fight  on  ground  of  his  own  choosing,  and  in  the  way  that 
suited  him  best.  The  ridge  of  Senlac,  now  partially  covered  by  the  town 
of  Battle,  is  about  a  mile  long  ;  and  the  English  had  time  to  strengthen 
its  front  by  a  ditch,  and  possibly  by  a  palisade.  For  the  last  fifty  years 
the  regular  weapon  of  the  English  professional  soldiers  had  been  the 

double-handed  axe  ;  and  they  used  long  shields  for  defence 
and^weapons  against  the  arrows.  The  house-carls— each  of  whom  was 
E  *^r  h  thought  equal  to  two  ordinary  men — took  their  stand  in  the 

centre.  On  the  wings  were  the  freemen  and  thegns,  armed, 
some  with  axes,   others  with  javelins   and    the  ancient    two-handed 


1066 


Harold  II. 


85 


swords.  Besides  their  shields,  the  professional  soldiers  and  thegns  had 
coats  of  mail  coming  down  to  the  knee,  with  sleeves  reaching  to  the 
elbow.  From  their  king  downward  the  whole  army  was  on  foot.  The 
force  appears  to  have  been  neither  too  large  nor  too  small  for  its  work  ; 
but  if  some  of  the  freemen  could  have  been  replaced  by  the  stout  house- 
carls  whose  corpses  lay  at  Stamford  Bridge  it  would  have  been  more 
efficient,  for  the  freemen,  though  brave  and  enthusiastic,  were  the  weak 
point  in  the  array. 


xMile. 


Battle  of  Hastings  or  Senlac. 

OCTOBER    14    10«e. 

A  A  Suggested  position  of  Palisade.   c=cd  English. 
4*4  Norman  A  rchers.  ^hb  Normans.  B  B  V alley  between  armies. 


Meanwhile,  William  made  the  best  dispositions  in  his  power.     The 
strength  of  his  army  lay  in  the  armoured  knights,  who  trusted  chiefly  to 
the  light  javelins  which  they  hurled  from  a  distance  or 
used  at   close   quarters   to  stab  and  thrust,  and  in   the   and^armi^" 
archers,  whom  William  had  brought  to  great  efficiency ;  but,    Normans 
as  the  attack  had  to  be  made  uphill,  both  men-at-arms  and 
archers  were  at  a  great  disadvantage.     William's  plan  was  to  send  his 
foot-soldiers  to  the  front  supported  by  archers,  and  to  reserve  his  men- 
at-arms  till  they  could  be  used  with  advantage.     He  ranged  his  motley 
force  according  to  nationalities :  Bretons  on  the  left,  Normans  in  the 
centre,  adventurers  on  the  right.     His  best  chance  of  success  lay  in  the 


86  The  Norman  Conquest  1066 

fact  that  his  men  were,  for  the  most  part,  professional  soldiers  who  had, 
doubtless,  learned  to  act  in  concert,  and  also  that  the  English,  having  no 
archers,  could  do  little  harm  to  their  assailants  except  in  hand-to-hand 
fighting. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  battle  began,  and  at  three  in  the 
afternoon,  though  foot  and  archers  and  cavalry  had  done  their  best,  the 

Battle  of      English  line  was  still  unbroken.   William  himself  had  given 

Hastings.  \^\^  j^q^  ^^  example  of  reckless  daring,  and  had  slain  Gyrth 
with  his  own  hand  ;  Harold  himself,  constant  at  his  post,  where  waved 
the  Dragon  of  Wessex  and  his  own  standard  the  Fighting  Man,  had  been 
equally  an  example  of  patient  endurance.  The  Normans  were  beginning 
to  despair,  some  even  were  counselling  retreat,  when  accident  revealed 
to  William  the  weak  point  of  his  opponents.  Weary  of  their  long  wait- 
ing, the  freemen  on  the  left  broke  their  ranks  to  pursue  some  flying  foes, 
and  the  gap  thus  left  remained  unfilled.  With  the  decision  of  genius 
William  ordered  a  feigned  flight,  and  his  skilled  followers  carried  out  his 
orders  to  the  letter,  and  then,  turning  upon  their  pursuers,  established 
themselves  within  the  stockade,  and  took  the  English  centre  in  flank. 
Such  a  disaster  would  have  been  as  fatal  to  Wellington's  plans  at  Waterloo 
as  it  was  to  Harold's  at  Hastings.  For  a  time,  however,  the  shield- wall 
of  the  house -carls  was  still  unbroken,  and  night  would  soon  have 
covered  the  English  retreat,  when  William,  as  a  last  resource,  ordered 
his  archers  to  shoot  into  the  air  so  that  their  arrows  might  fall  on  the 
heads  of  the  English.  This  second  device  proved  as  successful  as  its 
predecessor  :  Harold  himself  fell,  his  brothers  Gyrth  and 
Haroid°and  Leofwine  were  already  slain,  no  unwounded  leader  was 
the^Sn  °Hsh  ^^^^ '  ^^^'  "^^^^  night  closed  in,  the  Normans  had  possession 
of  the  place  of  carnage,  and  the  English,  defeated  but  not 
cowed,  and  turning  upon  their  pursuers  at  every  point  of  vantage, 
were  making  a  sullen  retreat.  Four  hundred  years  passed  before  such 
another  stubborn  fight  was  fought  on  English  soil  ;  never  again  till 
Towton  did  such  a  multitude  of  slain  bestrew  an  English  field.  As  at 
Towton,  science,  and  science  only,  carried  the  day  ;  and  the  descendants 
of  both  conquerors  and  conquered  may  be  proud  of  the  fight  of  Senlac, 
and  take  the  attack  and  defence  as  typical  of  what  a  British  army 
can  do  now  that  Normans  and  Englishmen  have  united  to  form  one 
nation. 

The  real  seriousness  of  the  defeat  of  Hastings  lay  in  the  slaughter  of 
the  English  leaders.  No  one  was  ready  to  step  into  the  place  of  Harold 
and  his  brothers.  Edgar  Atheling  was  a  mere  boy,  and  Edwin  and 
Morcar  were  worse  than  useless.   Otherwise  the  fight  might  well  have  been 


1066  Intenegnwm  87 

renewed,  for  the  survivors  of  Hastings  might  have  been  rallied,  and 
Northumbria  and  Mercia  were  as  yet  untouched.  As  it  was,  there  was 
no  one  to  lead,  and  William  was  free  to  take  his  own  way. 

His  first  care  was  to  secure  his  retreat,  and  for  this  purpose  he  seized 
Dover,  Romney,  and  Winchester.     He  then  marched  by  way  of  Canter- 
bury to  Southwark.   This  he  burnt,  but,  luaking  no  attempt 
to  cross  London  Bridge,  he  marched  up  the  Thames  to   march  on 
Wallingford,  ravaging  as  he  went,  and,  crossing  there,  placed 
his  camp  at  Berkhampstead.   The  place  was  admirably  chosen,  as  it  com- 
manded the  junction  of  the  Watling  Street,  Ermine  Street,  and  Icknield 
Street,  and  so  completely  isolated  London. 

Meanwhile,  a  witenagemot  at  London  had  elected  Edgar  Atheling  king ; 
but  without  help  from  the  north  his  position  was  hopeless,  and  Edwin 
and  Morcar  declined  to  jeopardy  their  power  in  his  defence,  even  had 
William  not  been  barring  the  way.  That  such  was  the  case  became  more 
evident  day  by  day ;  and  at  length,  perhaps  in  hopes  that  William  might 
turn  out  a  second  Cnut,  an  embassage  of  the  chief  men  of  the  south,  in- 
cluding Edgar  himself,  made  William  a  formal  offer  of  the    „,.„. 

1111  1     •       Wilham 

crown.     It  was  accepted,  and  with  that  a  new  epoch  m    accepted 

English  history  began.  On  the  whole,  we  cannot  regret  the  *'  *"^* 
result  of  Hastings.  In  the  creation  and  development  of  the  British 
nation  it  was  a  necessary  if  painful  factor.  Just  as  great  advantages 
had  come  to  England  from  her  union  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  so  it  was 
of  prime  importtince  to  the  country  to  become  an  important  member  of 
the  family  of  European  nations.  The  Normans  brought  with  them  the 
greatest  political  ability  and  their  clergy  the  highest  culture  then  known 
in  Europe  ;  and,  though  it  is  a  hard  thing  for  any  nation  to  be  con- 
quered, still  the  descendants  of  the  heroes  who  fought  at  Hastings  have 
derived  greater  advantages  from  the  defeat  of  Harold  than  they  could 
possibly  have  done  from  his  victory. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

William  of  Normandy  visits  England,    .  1061 

Tostig  expelled  by  tlie  Northumbrians,  1065 

Battle  of  Stamford  Bridge,  September  25,  1066 

Battle  of  Hastings,  October  14,     .  1066 


Typo. Etching  Co.Sc. 


Book  II 

THE   NORMAN   KINGS   OF   ENGLAND 

1066-1154 


III.— THE  NORMAN  KINGS  OF  ENGLAND,  1066-1154. 


William  the  Conqueror,  =  Matilda  of  Flanders. 
1066-1087. 


Robert,  Duke     William  Rufus, 
of  Normandy,  1087-1100. 

d.  1135. 


I  I 

Henry,  =  Matilda      Adela= Stephen  of 


1100-1135. 


(seel.), 
d.  1118. 


William, 
d.  1128. 


William,     Matilda^(l)  Emperor        Robert  of 
d.  1120.      d.  1167.  Henry  v.      Gloucester. 

(2)  Geoffrey 
of  Anjou. 


(2)  Henry  II. 
1154-1189. 


Blois. 


I  I 

Stephen,  =  Matilda  of  Henry, 

1135-1154.  1  Boulogne.  Bishop  of 

I  Winchester. 


Eustace, 
d.  1153. 


And  others. 


IV.— THE  KINGS  OF  SCOTLAND,  1066-1214. 
Duncan  I.,  1034-1040. 

I 


Malcolm  III.,  ^  Margaret 
1058-1093.  d.  1093. 


Donald  Bane,  1094-1097, 

ancestor  of  John  Comyn, 

murdered  by  Bruce,  1306. 


Duncan  I. 
1093. 


I  I 

Edgar,     Alexander  I. 
1097-1107.      1107-1124. 


Matilda,       David  1.,^ 
d.  1118,        1124-1153. 
m.  Henry  I., 
d.  1135. 


:Dau.  of 

Waltheof. 


Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon. 


Malcolm  IV., 
1153-1165. 


William  the  Lion, 
1166-1214. 


David, 

Earl  of  Huntingdon, 

ancester  of  Bruce 

and  Balliol. 


signifies  illegitimate. 


CHAPTER    I 

WILLIAM  L:  1066-1087 
Born  1027  ;  married,  1053,  MatUda  of  Flanders. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY    PRINCES 

Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

Malcolm  in.,  1056-1093.       Philip  i.,  1060-1108.        Henry  iv.,  d.  1106. 

Popes. 
Alexander  n.,  d.  1073;  Gregory  vii.,  1073-1085. 

Completion  of  the  Conquest— Apportionment  of  the  Soil  and  Offices— Discontent 
of  live  Normans— Doomsday  Book— Quarrels  in  the  Royal  House. 

William  the  Conqueror  was  crowned  at  Westminster  on  Christmas 
Day,  1066.  Nominally  his  right  to  be  king  was  derived  from  his 
election  by  the  Witenagemot,  in  reality  he  reigned  aa  the  victor  of 
Hastings  ;  but  in  all  his  legal  documents  Harold's  rule  was  ignored, 
and  William  was  spoken  of  as  the  successor  of  Edward  the  William's 
Confessor.  This  twofold  right  of  election  and  conquest  Position, 
received  a  sinister  illustration  on  the  coronation  day.  Within  the 
abbey  the  ceremony  was  performed  as  heretofore,  and  the  consent 
of  the  congregation  was  demanded  as  usual ;  but  without  it  stood  a 
guard  of  Norman  soldiers,  who,  taking  the  acclamations  of  the  con- 
gregation as  the  roar  of  an  outbreak,  set  fire  to  the  neighbouring  build- 
ings, and  the  day  ended  in  destruction  and  massacre.  The  advantages 
of  the  election  and  coronation  were  immense.  Henceforward  William 
was  a  full  king,  and  any  movement  against  him  would,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  law,  be  not  legitimate  warfare  but  treasonable  rebellion. 

The  conquest  of  the  country  was,  however,  far  from  complete.  At 
Hastings  William  had  overthrown  the  standing  army  of  Harold  and 
the  forces  of  the  southern  and  south-eastern  shires  ;  but  he    „     .  , 

Partial 

had  yet  to  fight  against  the  Mercians,  the  Northumbrians,    nature  of  the 
and  the  men  of  the  south-west.     What  Edwin  and  Morcar     °"i"^^  • 
might  do  was  uncertain  ;  but  within  a  few  weeks  they  presented  them- 
selves before  William  and  accepted  him  as  king,  so  that  William's  position 


92  The  Norman  Kings  1067 

at  the  beginning  of  1067  was  not  unlike  that  of  Edward-  the  Elder 
before  the  conquest  of  the  Danelaw.  William  accepted  this,  and,  leav- 
ing the  earls  undisturbed,  contented  himself  with  apportioning  among 
his  followers  the  lands  of  the  house  of  Godwin  and  of  those  who  had 
fought  against  him  at  Hastings.  In  March  1067  he  paid  a  visit  to 
Normandy.  In  his  absence  the  general  management  of 
visits  Nor-  English  aflfairs  was  entrusted  to  his  half-brother  Odo  of 
mandy.  Bayeux,  who  in  Norman  eyes  was  a  man  '  worthy  as  well 
of  love  as  of  respect,'  and  to  the  king's  great  friend  William  Fitz-Osbern, 
who  as  long  as  he  lived  was  always  called  on  for  service  when  anything 
specially  difficult  required  to  be  done.  However,  in  the  Conqueror's 
absence  the  insolence  of  the  Norman  adventurers  seems  to  have  goaded 
the  English  to  revolt ;  and  in  Herefordshire  they  rose  under  Eadric 
the  Wild,  and  in  Kent  with  the  help  of  Eustace  of  Boulogne.  The 
First  Eng-  risings  were  unconnected  ;  and  as  William  had  taken  with 
lish  Risings,  jj-jj^  IS^dguT  Atheling,  Edwin,  Morcar,  Waltheof,  Stigand, 
and  the  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  there  was  no  one  to  weld  them  into  a 
national  movement,  and  consequently  they  were  easily  put  down. 

However,  on  William's  return  he  resumed  the  work  of  systematically 
conquering  the  island.  His  first  attention  was  given  to  Exeter,  where 
Gytha,  the  widow  of  Godwin,  and  her  grandchildren,  the  sons  of  Harold, 
had  taken  refuge.  Exeter  seems  to  have  had  some  idea  of  becoming  a 
free  city ;  but  William  would  hear  of  no  half-allegiance,  and  after  a 
siege  of  eighteen  days  Harold's  family  made  their  escape  and  Exeter 
capitulated.  The  same  year  Edwin  and  Morcar  and  Edgar  Atheling 
escaped  from  the  court,  and  a  revolt  was  organised  under  the 
nominal  leadership  of  Edgar.  As  the  rebels  expected  aid  of  Swegen 
Danish  In-  Estrithson,  king  of  Denmark,  the  danger  was  formidable, 
terference.  r^^^  William  marched  north  in  person.  His  advance  was 
slow  but  sure,  for,  repeating  the  tactics  of  Edward  the  Elder,  he  seized 
town  after  town  in  the  midlands,  and  secured  each  by  the  erection  of  a 
Castle-  Norman  keep,  strong,  well-provisioned,  and  holding  such  a 
building,  powerful  garrison  that  no  insurgents  would  dare  to  leave 
their  lands  at  its  mercy.  Among  others,  Warwick  and  Nottingham 
w^ere  so  treated.  At  the  news  of  his  approach,  Edwin  and  Morcar  lost 
heart  and  submitted,  and  Edgar  fled  to  Scotland  ;  so  William  contented 
himself  with  erecting  a  castle  at  York,  of  which  William  Malet  was 
made  governor,  and  then,  marching  southwards,  he  erected  castles  at 
Lincoln,  Stamford,  and  Cambridge.  As  he  had  already  erected  fort- 
resses at  Hastings,  Dover,  Winchester,  London,  Norwich,  Exeter,  and 
Bristol,  the  permanency  of  the  conquest  in  the  south  was  now  fully 


1071  William  I.  93 

provided  for,  and  two  attempts  of  the  sons  of  Harold  to  raise  the  west 
came  to  nothing. 

The  north,  however,  was  still  unsubdued ;  and  in  1069  the  men 
of  Durham  murdered  Robert  of  Comines,  who  had  rashly  accepted 
William's  offer  of  the  earldom  of  Northumbria  (meaning  the  district 
between  the  Tees  and  the  Tweed),  and  encouraged  by  this  the  men  of 
York  rose.  Again  William  marched  to  York,  and  erected  Revolt  of 
another  castle  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Ouse.  In  the  *^^  North, 
autumn,  however,  a  great  Danish  fleet  entered  the  Humber  ;  and  the 
English  under  Waltheof  having  joined  them,  the  wooden  castles  of  York 
were  both  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  the  garrisons  captured  or  slain — an 
action  in  which  Waltheof  gained  great  renown  by  his  personal  courage 
and  strength.  A  third  time  William  made  his  way  north ;  and  now,  im- 
patient of  the  obstinacy  of  the  men  of  Yorkshire,  he  harried  the  arable 
country  between  the  Humber  and  the  Tees,  so  as  to  interpose  a  wilder- 
ness between  him  and  his  northern  antagonists.  Convinced  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  struggle,  Waltheof  then  made  his  submission,  while  the 
inaction  of  the  Danish  fleet  was  secured  by  a  payment  of  money.  The 
north  being  now  '  pacified,'  William  crossed  the  hills  into  Cheshire  and 
subdued  Chester,  the  last  English  town  to  maintiiin  its  independence. 
Meanwhile,  Edgar  Atheling  had  taken  refuge  with  Malcolm,  king  of 
Scots,  but  did  little  for  his  cause  besides  repeatedly  crossing  the  Tweed 
and  plundering  the  northern  counties,  so  that  what  little  had  been  left 
by  the  mercy  or  weakness  of  William  fell  a  prey  to  the  rapacity  of 
Malcolm.  So  great  was  the  ruin  of  the  north,  that  it  is  doubtful  if  that 
district,  always  less  fertile  than  the  south,  ever  recovered  either  its 
material  prosperity  or  its  relative  civilisation  till  after  the  great  revival 
of  manufacturing  industry  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

The  fall  of  Chester  in  1069  marks  the  completion  of  the  actual  conquest ; 
but  in  the  same  year  the  men  of  the  Fens  rose  under  Hereward  the  Wake, 
who  found  a  stronghold  in  the  Isle  of  Ely.    In  1071  Edwin    Re^on  of 
and  Morcar  again  took  heart  to  revolt ;  but  Edwin  was    Hereward 
killed,  probably  by  his  own  men,  during  an  attempt  to   Edwin  and 
make  his  way  to  Scotland,  and  Morcar  joined  Hereward.    "*°''^^'"- 
Their  insurrection,  however,  was  short-lived.     William  made  his  head- 
quarters at  Cambridge,   and  attacked   Ely  both  by  land  and  water. 
Hereward  seems  to  have  escaped  ;  Morcar  was  captured  and  imprisoned 
for  life.     Hereward,  however,  soon  made  his  peace,  and  like  Waltheof 
was  admitted  to  favour.     The  insurrection  at  Ely  was  the  last  attempt 
of  Englishmen,  as  Englishmen,  to  maintain  their  independence. 


94  The  Norman  Kings 


1071 


After  these  insurrections  were  over,  William  directed  his  attention  to 
the  three  great  objects  of  his  general  policy  :   (1)  To  secure  his  hold 
William'      ^^^^  *^^  country,  (2)  to  reward  his  Norman  followers,  (3) 
General        to  keep  the  Norman  nobles  from  becoming  too  powerful. 
The  first  he  had  already  in  a  great  measure  accomplished 
by  castle-building  in  the  south  and  ravaging  in  the  north  ;  but  he  also 
Grants  of     secured  his  position  by  grants  of  land  held  from  himself. 
Land.  which  made  every  Norman  landlord  a  representative  of  the 

Norman  ruling  class  in  his  own  district,  while  in  all  but  a  comparatively 
few  cases  in  each  county  the  English  landowners  sank  into  the  under- 
tenants of  the  Norman  lords.  Also,  all  English  freeholders  were  forced 
to  receive  back  their  lands  by  the  king's  special  grant,  so  that  there  was 
not  a  rood  of  English  land  from  the  Land's  End  to  the  Tweed  the  title 
Knight  to  which  was  not  based  upon  the  king's  grant.  These  grants 
service.  were  made  on  condition  that  the  holder  served  the  king 
with  a  certain  number  of  knights  {debitum  servitium),  apparently  calcu- 
lated at  five  or  some  multiple  of  five,  who  could  be  called  on  to  serve 
with  the  king's  person  for  forty  days  in  each  year,  in  which  the  coming 
and  going  were  not  counted. 

It  was,  however,  a  most  difficult  matter  to  prevent  the  great  nobles 
themselves  becoming  a  source  of  danger  to  the  royal  power — capable  on 
Danger  from  the  one  hand  of  defying  the  authority  of  the  king,  on  the 
the  Nobles,  other  of  destroying  every  vestige  of  liberty  in  the  people. 
This  was  what  happened  in  Germany  and  in  France,  and  it  is  due  to  the 
genius  of  William  the  Conqueror  that  it  did  not  happen  in  England.  He 
had  himself  been  duke  of  Normandy,  and  he  was  determined  that  no 
one  in  England  should  have  similar  power  under  him.  Accordingly,  in 
rewarding  his  followers  with  titles  and  lands  he  followed  a  well  thought- 
out  plan.  To  very  few  was  given  the  title  of  earl,  and  if  a  man  were 
earl  of  two  shires  they  were  never  adjoining.  Of  land  he  had  plenty  to 
dispose,  for  he  not  only  forfeited  the  property  of  all  who  had  fought  at 
Hastings,  but  each  subsequent  outbreak  was  followed  by  wholesale 
confiscation,  while  what  remained  of  the  old  folkland  was  henceforth 
regarded  as  the  estate  of  the  king.  The  greater  part  of  these  vast  ter- 
Distribution  ritories  Were  distributed  to  his  followers ;  but  care  was 
of  Property,  taken  that  if  a  man  had  many  manors  they  should  lie  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  For  instance,  William's  half-brother, 
Kobert,  count  of  Mortain  and  earl  of  Cornwall,  had  seven  hundred  and 
ninety- three  manors ;  but  they  were  situated  in  twenty  counties. 
Moreover,  the  power  of  the  sheriff,  the  king's  representative  in  each 
county,  was  carefully  preserved,  so  that  it  was  no  easy  matter  for  such 


1071  William  I.  95 

a  noble  to  concentrate  his  military  forces  and  prevent  his  followers  being 

crushed  in  detail  by  the  royal  officers. 

Strictly  speaking,  only  three  exceptions  were  made  :  the  bishopric  of 

Durham,  the  earldom,  of  Kent,  and  the  earldom  of  Chester.    In  these 

the  whole  land  of  the  county  was  held  by  the  earl.     There    „ 

Earldoms, 
were  no  tenants-in-chief  of  the  king,  but  all  landholders, 

except  the  clergy,  held  mediately  from  the  earl.  The  bishopric  of 
Durham  was  designed  to  guard  against  invasion  from  Scotland  ;  and  as 
the  bishop  was  unable  to  found  a  legal  family,  at  every  vacancy  the  king 
could  secure  an  occupant  for  the  see  well  disposed  towards  himself. 
Similarly,  the  earldom  of  Kent  was  given  to  Odo  of  Bayeux,  who  was 
likewise  an  ecclesiastic  ;  and  after  his  death  no  successor  was  appointed. 
The  earldom  of  Chester,  granted  to  Hugh  of  Avranches,  was  the  only 
palatine  earldom  in  lay  hands ;  but  the  positions  of  Robert  of  Mont- 
gomery, earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and  of  William  Fitz-Osbern,  earl  of 
Hereford,  were  not  very  dissimilar,  so  that  the  three  great  earls  of  the 
Welsh  border  were  the  most  powerful  subjects  of  the  king.  Fortunately, 
their  energies  were  usually  absorbed  in  fighting  with  their  turbulent 
neighbours,  the  Welsh. 

Again,  in  regard  to  the  building  of  castles,  William,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  kept  all  castles  in  his  own  hands ;  he  named  the  governor 
or  constable  and  paid  the  garrison,  so  that,  imlike  the  con-  Garrisoning 
tinental  castles,  which  were  the  strongholds  of  disaffection  of  Castles, 
and  robbery,  under  William  the  Conqueror  each  castle  was  a  guarantee 
for  the  quiet  both  of  the  English  and  Normans  of  its  neighbourhood. 

Just  as  William  placed  Normans  at  the  head  of  the  landholders,  he  set 
Normans,  or  at  any  rate  men  of  foreign  birth,  at  the  head  of  the  church. 
As  abbeys  and  bishoprics  were  vacated  by  death  or  deposition,     Foreign 
foreigners  took  the  place  of  Englishmen.     In  1070,  Stigand,     bishops, 
whose  position  as  archbishop  had  always  been  dubious,  was  set  aside  ; 
William  gave  the  office  to  his  friend  and  adviser  Ltvnfranc,  abbot  of 
St.   Stephen's  abbey  at   Caen,  and  about  the  same  time 
Thomas  of  Bayeux,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time, 
became  archbishop  of  York.     Lanfranc  was  a  real  statesman,  and  the 
changes  which  he  made  in  the  English  church   were  on  the  whole 
beneficial.      He  raised  its  spiritual    condition   by  frequent  councils, 
encouraged  learning,  revived  the  discipline  of  the  monks,  and  also 
followed  the  most  advanced  thought  of  his  time  by  forbidding  for  the 
future  the  marriage  of  the  clergy.     These  changes  all  tended  to  make 
the  clergy  a  distinct  body  ;  and  as  William  the  Conqueror  deprived  the 
bishop  of  his  right  to  sit  with  the  earl  as  president  of  the  shire-moot,  and 


96  The  Norman  Kings  1072 

gave  him  a  court  of  his  own  in  which  clerical  offences  and  ecclesiastical 
cases  were  to  be  tried,  the  general  effect  of  his  policy  was  to  make  more 
distinct  than  before  the  separation  of  church  and  state. 

These  changes  resulted  in  a  substitution  of  foreigners  for  Englishmen 
in  all  positions  of  importance  ;  but  the  old  English  laws  were  not  done 
Result  of  the  away  with,  and  the  English  courts,  from  the  Witenagemot 
Changes.  downwards,  were  still  preserved,  though  their  importance 
was  materially  diminished.  French  was,  of  course,  the  language  of  the 
great ;  but  there  was  no  attempt  to  prevent  the  use  of  English,  and  the 
king  himself  is  believed  to  have  taken  lessons  in  the  language  of  his 
subjects.  He  certainly  tried  to  ascertain  what  the  English  laws  were, 
for  in  1070  he  caused  twelve  men  from  each  county  to  be  chosen  for 
the  purpose  of  stating  on  oath  the  customs  of  the  country. 

While  William  was  carrying  out  his  domestic  policy  he  steadily  main- 
tained the  rights  of  the  old  English  kings.  He  invaded  Scotland, 
penetrated  as  far  as  Abernethy,  near  the  banks  of  the  Tav, 

William's      ^      ,  ^^     ^      ^^    ^       ^  ^        c\  i-  ,     •         ,  ^wl 

Foreign        and   compelled   Malcolm  to     become  his   man     in    1072. 

Policy.  Probably  by  the  same  treaty,  he  secured  the  expulsion  of 
Edgar  Atheling,  who  is  next  heard  of  as  a  sojourner  with  the  count  of 
Flanders.  A  year  earlier  Malcolm  had  married  Edgar's  sister,  Margaret. 
This  marriage  was  a  turning-point  in  Scottish  history.  Hitherto  the 
Condition  of  kings  of  the  Scots  had  preserved  their  Celtic  character  ;  but 
Scotland.  Malcolm's  stay  with  Siward  acquainted  him  with  English 
manners,  and  his  predilection  for  them  was  confirmed  by  his  marriage. 
Henceforward  his  English  earldom  of  Lothian  was  recognised  as  the  most 
important  part  of  his  dominions.  English  habits  were  adopted  by  the 
king  and  his  courtiers,  and  for  many  years  the  king  of  Scots  held  the 
position  of  first  lay  baron  at  the  court  of  the  king  of  England.     The 

Wales  and   overlordship  of  the  king  over  the  princes  of  Wales  was 

Ireland.  likewise  strictly  enforced.  At  the  same  time  something 
was  done  towards  acquiring  influence  in  Ireland.  Two  successive  Danish 
archbishops  of  Dublin  came  to  Lanfranc  for  consecration,  and  it  is  said 
that  William's  sudden  death  alone  prevented  him  from  attempting  to 
effect  the  conquest  of  the  sister  island. 

With  Pope  Gregory  vii.,  the  famous  Hildebrand,  William  had  also 

many  dealings ;  but  he  refused  to  acknowledge  that  he  held  England 

in  any  respect  as  a  fief  of  the  papal   see,   saying  that 

Relatfons^    such    had   never  been   the    practice   of  his    predecessors. 

with  the       Moreover,  he  carefully  defined  the  conditions  on  which 

the  authority  of  the  pope  over  the  English  church  was 

to  be  exercised.     To  provide  against  the  case  of  a  disputed  election. 


1074  William  I.  97 

'  no   pope   was   to   be   recognised    in   England    unless   by   the   king's 
authority';  and  to  secure  that  no  orders  of  the  pope  should  interfere 
with  the  royal  power,  'no  papal  bull  was  to  be  received    „.  ^ 
unless  it  had  first  been  inspected  by  the  king.'     More-    siasticai 
over,  no  council  of  the  clergy  was  to  be  held  without  the 
king's  approval,  and  no  laws  or  canons  were  to  be  enacted  but  with  his 
consent.     Nothing  had  been  a  more  fruitful  source  of  trouble  abroad  than 
the  enforcement  against  the  royal  officials  of  the  ban  of  excommunication, 
so  William  gave  out  that  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts  none  of  his  liege- 
men or  officials  should  be  excommunicated  or  proceeded  against  for  vice 
without  the  king's  express  sanction. 

William's  determination  to  secure  the  royal  power  and  to  put  a  check 
upon  that  of  his  barons  was  a  sore  disappointment  to  those  who  had 
joined  in  his  expedition  in  the  hope  of  themselves  becoming 
dukes  or  earls  when  their  duke  himself  became  a  king.    For   of  the 
one  hundred  years  they   and  their  successors  struggled 
against  the  bonds  imposed  on  them  by  the  Conqueror's  system,  and 
attempted  to  secure  the  freedom  from  restraint  which  they  saw  enjoyed 
by  their  fellows  on  the  Continent.     Against  their  efforts  the  king  was 
usually  able  to  rely  on  the  clergy,  the  English,  and  especially  on  the 
townspeople. 

Before  the  Conquest  we  saw  that  the  towns  were  beginning  to 
be  of  considerable  importance  ;  and  the  new  order  of  things  was 
extremely  favourable  to  their  growth.  The  new  tastes  Growth  of 
introduced  by  the  foreigners,  the  security  of  property  ^^^  Towns, 
so  sternly  enforced  by  King  William,  the  constant  traffic  between 
the  English  and  Norman  ports,  all  tended  to  foster  commerce,  and  soon 
the  English  boroughs  assumed  an  importance  wholly  unknown  in  earlier 
times. 

The  disaffection  of  the  barons  first  showed  itself  in  1074.  The  leaders 
of  the  movement  were  Kalph  of  Wader  or  Guader,  earl  of  Norfolk,  son 
of  an  old  Breton  officer  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  Roger  xt  u  \ 

of  Breteuil,  second  son  of  William  Fitz-Osbern,  who  on  the   lion  of  the 
death  of   his  father    had  been  made  earl   of  Hereford. 
Ralph,  against  William's  injunction,  married  Emma,  the  sister  of  Roger ;  * 
and  Waltheof,  son  of  Siward,  who  since  his  adhesion  to  the  court  had 
been  made  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  had  married  the  Conqueror's 
niece  Judith,  was  a  guest  at  the  wedding.     At  the  marriage  Roger  and 
Ralph  decided  on  an  insurrection,  which  was  to  be  undertaken  while  the 
king  was  in  Normandy,  and  Waltheof  was  asked  to  join.     If  they 
1  *  There  was  that  brideale  to  many  men's  bale. ' 
Q 


98  Norman  Kings  1074 

succeeded,  one  of  the  three  was  to  be  a  king,  the  other  two  dukes.  In 
an  evil  moment  Waltheof  gave  his  consent ;  but  soon  repenting,  he 
acquainted  Lanfranc  with  what  was  on  foot.  According  to  the  plan,  the 
joint-rising  took  place  in  1075  ;  but  against  such  a  movement  William 
could  rely  on  the  church  and  the  English ;  and  while  Wulfstan,  the 
English  bishop  of  Worcester,  with  the  sheriff  of  Worcestershire,  dealt  with 
Roger,  Odo  of  Bayeux  and  others  advanced  against  Ralph.  Roger  was 
captured.  Ralph  fled  to  Denmark,  but  his  newly  married  Vife  held  out 
in  Norwich  Castle  for  three  months.  Roger  and  Waltheof  were  then 
tried  before  the  Witenagemot.     The  guilt  of  Roger  was  notorious,  that 

Death  of      of  Waltheof  doubtful ;  but  nevertheless  Roger  was  sentenced 

"Waltheof.  ^^  imprisonment,  and  Waltheof  to  death.  Even  if  guilty, 
he  was  the  less  guilty  of  the  two  ;  but  the  sentence  was  carried  out  at 
Winchester,  and  many  regarded  the  earl  as  a  martyr.  His  daughter 
married  David,  afterwards  king  of  Scots,  and  through  her  the  earldom 
of  Huntingdon  was  long  held  by  the  Scottish  kings. 

William's  next  trouble  arose  in  his  own  family.  He  had  three  sons 
who  grew  to  manhood — Robert,  born  about  1056,  William,  born  about 

William's     1060,  and  Henry,  born  in  1068.     It  was  part  of  his  policy 

Sons.  ^Q  gjyg  jjQ  English  lands  to  his  children,  and  this  is  said 

to  have  caused  the  anger  of  Robert,  who,  though  distrusted  by  his 
father  as  unstable  and  frivolous,  was  the  favourite  of  his  mother  Matilda. 

In  1078  Robert  left  his  father's  court,  and,  with  the  help  of  some 
other  young  men,  among  whom  was  Robert  of  Belleme,  son  of  the  earl 
Rebellion  of  of  Shrewsbury,  led  a  wandering  life  for  some  years.  In 
Robert.  jQyg   ^j^g  jj^j^g  of  France  established  him  in  the  border 

castle  of  Gerberoi.  There  Robert  was  besieged  by  the  Conqueror,  and, 
father  and  son  having  met  in  single  combat,  William  was  unhorsed,  and 
only  saved  from  death  by  the  bravery  of  an  Englishman,  who  paid  for 
his  loyalty  with  his  life.  Some  time  afterwards  Robert  was  reconciled 
to  his  father,  but  William's  distrust  of  his  character  remained  to  the  last. 
He  was,  however,  employed  in  a  raid  on  the  Scots,  and  signalised  his 
stay  in  the  north  by  building  the  fortress  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  at  one 
end  of  the  Roman  Wall. 

In  1082  the  wrath  of  the  king  was  excited  by  the  unbridled  arrogance 
of  his  half-brother,  Odo,  bishop  and  earl.  After  the  death  of  Waltheof, 
Imprison-  William's  attention  had  been  occupied  mainly  with  Con- 
mentofOdo.  tinental  affairs,  and  during  that  time  Odo  had  been  left  in 
charge  in  England.  His  rule  had  been  by  no  means  to  his  brother's 
liking.  He  had  oppressed  the  poor,  he  had  irritated  the  whole  people 
by  unjust  exactions,   he  had  punished  the  murder  of  the  bishop  of 


1085  William  L  99 

Durham  with  wholesale  and  indiscriminating  cruelty,  he  had  stolen  from 
Durham  a  pastoral  staff,  and  finally,  dreaming  of  the  papacy,  he  had 
enlisted  soldiers  for  a  campaign  beyond  the  Alps.  The  last  action 
roused  William  to  interfere.  Crossing  the  Channel,  he  arrested  Odo,  not, 
as  he  said,  'as  bishop  of  Bayeux,  but  as  earl  of  Kent,'  sent  him  to 
Normandy,  and  confined  him  in  the  castle  of  Rouen.  A  year  later 
Matilda  died  ;  and  1084  was  memorable  for  an  expected  invasion  from 
Denmark,  only  prevented  by  the  assassination  of  the  Danish  king, 
Canute,  by  his  own  subjects. 

This  event  concentrated  William's  attention  for  a  time  on  England, 
and  in  1085,  after  'mickle  thought  and  very  deep  speech  with  his 
Witan,'  he  decided  on  a  great  survey  of  the  country  to  find  *  how 
it  was  set,  and  by  what  men,'  and,  moreover,  how  much  land  each 
man  had  and  what  payments  were  due  to  the  king.  A  year  was 
occupied  in  the  inquiry.  Commissioners  were  sent  to  the  shire-moots, 
where  they  learned  the  great  divisions  of  the  shire  ;  and  finally  they 
had  before  them  the  reeve,  the  parish  priest,  and  six  villeins  from  each 
manor,  from  whom  they  asked  the  following  particulars:  Doomsday 
What  the  manor  was  called ;  who  held  it  in  the  time  of  Book. 
King  Edward  ;  who  held  it  now ;  how  many  hides  ^ ;  how  many  plough- 
lands  ^  were  in  the  lord's  demesne  ;  what  was  the  population ;  how 
many  were  respectively  villeins,  cotters,  slaves,  freemen,  and  socmen  ^ ; 
how  much  wood,  meadow,  and  pasture ;  what  mills  and  fishponds  (or 
fisheries) ;  how  much  had  been  added  or  deducted  ;  how  much  it  was 
worth  as  a  whole,  and  how  the  amount  was  made  up  ;  how  much  each 
freeman  and  each  socman  possessed.  The  answers  were  to  refer  to 
three  dates — that  of  the  time  of  King  Edward,  that  of  the  grant  of  the 
manor  to  its  present  owner,  and  that  of  the  date  of  the  survey  ;  and  they 
were  to  add  whether  it  could  be  held  at  a  higher  rate  than  at  present. 
Similar  questions  were  put  to  the  townspeople,  and  the  whole  was  care- 
fully enrolled  in  what  was  afterwards  spoken  of  as  the  Doomsday  Book. 
The  information  was  not  extracted  without  difliculty.  All  men  resented 
such  minute  inquiries  into  their  conditions  ;  and  the  writer  of  the 
Peterborough  chronicle  said  that  'it  was  a  shame  to  speak  what  he 
thought  it  no  shame  to  do.'  But  William  was  strong  enough  to  efl'ect 
his  purpose.  Cumberland,  Westmorland,  Northumberland,  and  Durham 
were  unsurveyed,  the  two  former  being  in  the  hands  of  the  Scots,  the 
two  latter  being  utterly  wasted.      The  result,   however,  to  us  is  the 

1  A  varying  amount,  fixed  by  Henry  ii.  at  100  acres. 

2  The  amonnt  a  man  with  one  plough  could  till  in  a  season — a  variable  quantity. 
Free  landowners  not  noble. 


100  Nortnan  Kings  1085 

possession  of  the  most  complete  and  accurate  record  of  the  condition 
of  our  country  eight  hundred  years  ago  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  any 
nation  to  possess. 

To  William  himself  the  immediate  results  of  the  Doomsday  survey  were 
of  the  highest  value.  On  its  completion  he  at  once  summoned  every  free- 
The  Saiis-  holder  to  Salisbury,  and  there,  on  the  plain  below  the  ancient 
bury  Oath.  }^^\i  Qf  garum,  William  exacted  from  each  man  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  himself.  The  importance  of  this  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. On  the  Continent  no  freeman  took  an  oath  of  allegiance  to 
any  one  but  his  immediate  lord  :  the  men  of  Normandy,  for  example, 
owed  no  duties  except  to  their  duke  ;  to  the  king  of  France  they  were 
under  no  obligation.  If  their  duke  rebelled  against  the  king,  it  was 
their  business  to  follow  him  to  battle.  To  do  so  was  no  act  of  treason  ; 
but  in  England  all  was  different.  Vassals  as  well  as  lords  fought  against 
the  king  with  a  halter  round  their  neck,  and  few  things  did  more  to 
curb  the  power  of  the  great  nobles  than  this  principle  of  double  responsi- 
bility. By  it,  moreover,  William  was  placed  at  once  in  a  position  more 
powerful  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  stood  to  his  subjects  in  a 
position  far  stronger  than  that  occupied  by  Alfred,  by  Edgar,  or  by 
Canute,  and  by  doing  so  he  had  placed  the  unity  of  England  and  the 
nationality  of  the  English  nation  on  a  far  firmer  basis  than  before. 

Though  this  oath  was  not  only  not  feudal,  but  struck  at  the  very  founda- 
tion of  feudalism,  it  is  not  inconvenient  to  take  the  meeting  of  Salisbury 
as  the  date  of  the  establishment  in  England  of  what  is 
vaguely  called  feudalism.     The  central  ideas  of  the  organisa- 
tion of  feudal  society  are  :  (1)  that  all  land  is  ultimately  held  by  grant 
from  the  king ;  (2)  that  the  grant  is  made  on  condition  of  performing 
some  service  to  the  sovereign,  of  which  the  most  honourable  was  military 
service,   and   paying  him   certain   dues  ;  and  (3)  that  those  who  hold 
directly  from  the  king  are  bound  together  by  so   doing  in  a  certain 
Tenants-      ^^g^  and  social  relation.     Moreover,  it  was  the  privilege  of 
in-chief.       g^ch  of  the  '  tenants-in-chief,'  as  those  are  called  who  hold 
Mesne  direct  from  the  king,  to  sublet  his  land  on  the  same  terms 

Tenants,  ^q  others,  who  held  from  him  as  'mesne  tenants,'  who  might 
in  turn  also  sublet  on  similar  terms  ;  though  the  lowest  grade  of  land- 
holders, even  if  required  to  fight  for  their  lord,  usually  held  their  lands 
on  what  was  called  servile  tenure — that  is,  by  doing  certain 
customary  services,  as  ploughing,  sowing,  and  the  like. 
Moreover,  both  the  king  and  his  tenants  were  in  the  habit  of  holding  lav*- 
courts,  in  which  the  tenant  of  the  king  or  the  subtenants  of  the  tenant - 
in-chief  were  bound  to  attend  and  have  their  cases  tried  accordinsr  to  the 


1087  WUliam  I.  101 

rules  of  the  country.      Besides,  the  king  or  tenant-in-chief  had  tke  .right 
to  levy  taxes  called  tallages  or  tallies  on  their  vassals.     • ,  5   >  J  J     • .    . 

This  was  the  ideal  of  feudalism,  but  in  England  it  never  existed  in 
perfection.     There  had  been  traces  of  it  before  the  Conquest,  and  after  the 
Conquest  all  land  was  certainly  held  by  the  king's  grant ;  but  in  other 
respects  the  practice  varied.     Besides  the  Salisbury  oath,  the  importiince 
of  which  has  been  pointed  out,  the  preservation  in  England  of  the 
witenagemot,  and  of  the  courts  of  the  shire  and  the  hundred,  prevented 
the   feudal   courts   from   engrossing  jurisdiction  ;  and  the 
Norman  kings  and  their  successors  were  quick  to  j)erceive    Modifica* 
that  their  true  interest  lay  in  preserving  every  institution   y°ud°/|sn, 
which  could  be  used  to  check  the  power  of  the  great  vassals. 
Still,  for  one  hundred  years  the  struggle   between   the   king   and   the 
barons  took  the  form  of  a  contest  as  to  how  far  the  barons  should  intro- 
duce into  this  country  the  forms  of  Continental  feudalism.     The  first 
blow  was  struck  at  their  plan  by  the  division  of  estates,  the  second  by 
the  oath  of  Salisbury. 

During  the  whole  of  his  reign  William  was  engaged  in  more  or  less 
open  hostility  with  Philip,  king  of  France,  who  naturally  looked  askance 
at  the  successes  of  his  powerful  vassal.    In  1073  an  English  army  attacked 
Maine,  a  French  province  lying  between  Nonnandy  and  Anjou,  and 
eflfected  its  capture ;    in   1079  we  saw  Philip  giving  his   vvars  with 
countenance  and  aid  to  William's  rebellious  son.      In  1087    ^'^^"cc- 
William,  stung  by  a  coarse  joke  of  the  French  monarch,  invaded  the 
Vexin,  the  district  between  Nonnandy  and  Paris,  of  which  the  chief 
town  is  Nantes  on  the  Seine.     This  William  burned,  and  while  riding 
through  the  streets  his  horse  plunged  on  some  hot  cinders   William's 
and  threw  his  rider  violently  against  the  high  iron  pummel    De»^*»- 
of  the  saddle,  causing  a  fatal  internal  injury.     For  six  weeks  William 
lingered  at  Rouen,  attended  by  his  sons  William  and  Henry  ;  and  then, 
after  releasing  his  prisoners  and  making  a  disposition  of  his  property,  he 
died. 

William  was  a  harsh  ruler,  and  it  is  impossible,  on  moral  grounds,  to 
justify  his  invasion  of  England  and  the  atrocities  to  which  it  gave  rise  ; 
but,  nevertheless,  he  bestowed  on  the  country  a  great  boon,  William's 
for  he  made  England  a  united  kingdom,  in  a  sense  which  Character, 
she  had  never  been  before.  He  arrived  at  a  critical  moment  of  history, 
when  the  great  earls  were  developing  a  system  of  local  independence 
which  in  all  probability  would  have  run  the  same  course  as  a  like  move- 
ment did  in  France  and  in  Germany,  and  produced  the  same  weakness  in 
the  crown,  the  same  oppression  for  the  people.      From  this  fate  William 


102  Noi'man  Kings  1087 

^aved*  Eiigland  ;,'',arid*by  making  the  crown  powerful,  and  relying  on  the 
Etigiish  and  the  "cier^y  against  the  barons,  and  enforcing  one  law  and  one 
allegiance,  he  took  a  great  step  towards  making  her  a  strong  and  united 
kingdom.  It  cannot,  however,  be  doubted  that  his  character  was  sullied 
by  terrible  crimes.  The  judicial  murder  of  Waltheof  cannot  be  defended 
on  the  evidence  known  to  us  ;  and  his  barbarous  action  of  laying  waste 
a  vast  area  of  cultivated  Hampshire  to  create  the  New  Forest  was  a  sin 
against  civilisation.  Churches  and  villages  alike  were  levelled  to  make 
room  for  the  'tall  deer,'  whom  the  king  was  said  to  love  'as  though 
he  were  their  father.'  Still,  on  the  whole,  William  must  be  reckoned 
as  one  who,  according  to  his  lights,  strove  to  do  what  was  right,  and 
whose  best  deeds  have  left  a  mark  more  enduring  than  his  crimes. 

Among  the  changes  of  this  reign,  the  waste  lands  not  enclosed  in  any 
manor  or  township  began  to  be  called  the  Forest,  and  were  reserved  for 
the  king's  sport.  The  bishoprics,  which  the  English  had  usually  placed 
in  villages,  were  transferred  to  towns,  as  Dorchester  to  Lincoln  and 
Crediton  to  Exeter.  The  name  township,  though  retained,  was  usually 
superseded  by  the  manor. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Conquest  of  England  completed,         .        .  1071 

Conspiracy  of  the  Norman  Earls,  .  1074 

Doomsday  Book  produced 1086 

Great  Court  at  Salisbury 1086 


CHAPTER   II 

WILLIAM  II.:   1087-1100 
Born  c.  1060. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Scotland,  France.  Emperor. 

Malcolm  in.,  d.  1093.  Philip  i.,  d.  1108.  Henry  iv.,  d.  1106. 

Pope. 
Urban  u.,  1087-1099. 

Contest  with  the  Barons  continued— The  enforcement  of  the  Feudal  Dues— 
The  first  Crusade. 

In  disposing  of  his  property,  William  the  Conqueror  followed  the  ideas 

of  the  time,  which  happened  to  agree  with  his  own.    To  his  eldest  son 

Robert  he  bequeathed  his  hereditary  duchy  of  Normandy, 

with  the  adjoining  county  of  Maine.    The  second,  William,   queror's 

he  despatched  to  England  with  his  dying  recommendation 

to  the  primate  Lanfranc  to  secure  his  election  to  the  crown.     The  third, 

Henry,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  had  to  content  himself  for  the  present  with  a 

legacy  of  £5000. 

Lanfranc  had  been  tutor  to  the  younger  William,  and  had  knighted 

him.     He  knew  well  both  the  abilities  and  the  vices  of  his  pupil ;  and 

while,  in  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  late  king,  he  summoned 

such  an  assembly  of  magnates  as  might  constitute  a  witenagemot,  and 

recommended  William  for  election,  he  was  careful  to  exact    _,     . 

1  111  •  1  -I    .  Election  of 

a  solenm  oath   that  the   new  sovereign  would   'preserve   William 

justice,  fairness,  and  mercy  in  every  transaction,'  would 

defend  *  the  peace,  liberty,  and  security  of  the  church,'  and  would  in  all 

cases  be  guided  *  by  the  advice  and  counsels '  of  Lanfranc  himself. 

William  ii.,  who  was  called  Rufus  from  his  ruddy  countenance,  is 

generally  admitted  to  have  been  a  man  of  bad  life,  though  it  must  be 

remembered  that  his  character  was  drawn  by  monks,  to    His 

whom  he  was  no  friend ;  but  his  abilities,  especially  for   Character. 

war,  were  decidedly  great,  and  during  the  thirteen  years  of  his  short 

reign  he  not  only  retained  the  hold  which  his  father  had  won  over  his 

103 


104  Norman  Kings  1087 

newly  acquired  dominions,  but  in  many  directions  made  himself  more 
powerful  and  more  secure  than  his  father  had  ever  been.  The  instinct 
of  self-preservation  made  him  the  natural  foe  of  the  great  barons,  whose 
tendency  to  make  themselves  omnipotent  in  their  own  districts  was  the 
greatest  danger  to  civilisation  ;  and  his  steady  check  on  castle-building 
and  rigid  enforcement  of  the  king's  peace  were  of  the  greatest  service  to 
the  townspeople,  on  whose  prosperity  the  advancement  of  the  country 
ultimately  depended.  Moreover,  his  struggle  with  the  barons  compelled 
him  to  secure  as  far  as  possible  the  goodwill  of  the  English  ;  and  so 
circumstances  obliged  him,  whether  designedly  or  not,  to  follow  such 
measures  as  would  in  the  end  advance  the  unity  and  prosperity  of  the  land. 
During  the  first  six  years  of  the  reign,  the  chief  attention  of  William 
had  to  be  given  to  the  movements  of  his  brother  Eobert  and  of  the 
Trouble  with  barons  with  whom  he  was  in  alliance.  As  these  had  lands 
Robert.  \)oi]i  in  Normandy  and  in  England,  their  policy  consisted 

in  preventing  either  a  war  or  a  separation  between  the  kingdom  and  the 
duchy  ;  but  as  most  were  of  opinion  that  the  yoke  of  the  easygoing  and 
afiable  Eobert  would  be  lighter  than  that  of  his  brother,  Robert  had  no 
difficulty  in  finding  adherents  who  would  help  him  against  William. 

Of  these  the  most  formidable  were  Odo,  bishop  of  Bayeux  and  earl 
of  Kent,  whom  the  Conqueror's  death  had  released  from  prison,  Roger 
of  Montgomery  and  his  turbulent  son  Robert  of  Belleme,  and  Robert 
Odo's  Con-  Mowbray.  Odo  took  the  lead,  and,  bargaining  with  Robert 
spiracy.  f^j.  ^j^^  ^j^j  q£  ^  Norman  army,  organised  in  England  a  vast 
conspiracy  which  was  to  include  risings  in  no  less  than  seven  districts.  He 
himself  led  the  Kentish  insurgents,  and,  intrusting  Rochester  to  Eustace 
of  Boulogne,  awaited  in  Arundel  Castle  the  landing  of  Robert. 

William's  first  care  was  to  secure  the  person  of  Odo,  and  after  a  siege 
of  seven  weeks  Arundel  Castle  was  taken  ;  Odo  was  then  despatched  to 
order  the  surrender  of  Rochester,  but  he  treacherously  threw  himself 
into  the  castle  and  made  a  most  formidable  resistance.  In  these  circum- 
stances William  saw  that  his  best  chance  was  to  appeal  to  the  English, 
who  naturally  regarded  the  tyranny  of  a  host  of  petty  chieftains  as 
Siege  of  worse  than  that  of  a  single  king.  Accordingly,  he  sum- 
Rochester,  jjionecl  the  '  brave  and  honourable  English,'  and  called  on 
them  to  lead  their  countrymen  to  his  aid,  declaring  at  the  same  time 
that  any  who  held  back  would  be  branded  with  the  name  of  '  nithing,' 
or  '  good-for-nothing  fellow,'  which  the  English  regarded  as  disgraceful, 
and  accordingly  flocked  to  his  standard  in  crowds. 

By  their  aid  the  castle  was  taken ;  but  even  William  dared  not  proceed 
to  extremities  against  his  uncle,  and,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  the 


1095  William  II.  105 

English,  who  wished  to  hang  him,  contented  himself  with  driving  Odo 
into  an  ignominious  exile.  Meanwhile,  Eobert  had  dallied  in  Nor- 
mandy, partly  through  indolence,  partly  from  want  of  money  ;  and  many 
of  his  followers  who  had  ventured  over  by  themselves  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  privateers  whom  William  had  permitted  to  be  fitted  out  by 
the  English  ports.  The  conspiracy,  therefore,  completely  failed,  for  all  the 
local  risings  had  been  put  down  by  the  king's  men.  Roger  Montgomery 
made  his  submission ;  and  though  Robert  Mowbray  in  the  north  was  still 
unsubdued,  southern  England  was  completely  in  William's  grasp. 

Seeing  that  he  was  the  stronger,  some  of  the  barons  were  now  ready 
to  aid  him  to  dispossess  Robert  of  Normandy  ;  and  in  1091  William  him- 
self appeared  with  an  army  in  the  duchy.  The  French  king  Philip,  how- 
ever, ottered  his  mediation,  and  the  barons  negotiated  a  treaty  between 
the  brothers  by  which  Robert  renounced  all  claim  to  Eng-  Treaty  with 
land,  and  agreed  in  consideration  of  the  grant  of  some  ^o^'^- 
English  estates  to  allow  William  to  retiiin  several  strong  castles  in 
Normandy.  A  {provision  was  also  inserted  that  whichever  brother 
survived  should  succeed  to  both  Nonnandy  and  England.  As  William 
repeatedly  delayed  to  hand  over  Robert's  indemnity,  war  again  broke 
out,  and  William  was  carrying  all  before  him  when  the  French  king 
again  interfered.  In  the  emergency  William  ordered  an  English  force 
of  foot-soldiers  to  be  assembled  at  Hastings  ;  but  when  they  arrived  his 
justiciar  Ranulf  commuted  their  services  for  a  payment  of  ten  shillings 
per  man,  and  sent  the  money  to  the  king.  With  it  William  bought  oft* 
the  French  king,  and  was  again  driving  Robert  to  extremity  when  the 
serious  state  of  affairs  on  the  Welsh  border  forced  him  to  return  to 
England  in  1094. 

His  presence  was  sorely  needed,  for  the  Welsh  had  seized  Mont- 
gomery Castle,  and,  the  barrier  being  thus  broken,  had  poured  out  of 
their  fastnesses  over  Cheshire,  Shropshire,  and  Herefordshire.  William 
met  the  danger  by  an  organised  invasion  of  the  mountains,  wars  with 
It  was,  however,  a  failure,  for  he  had  not  yet  learned  by  ^^*  Welsh, 
experience  that  his  heavy  cavalry  were  no  match  for  the  agile  Welsh- 
men, who,  refusing  all  ofl'ers  of  a  pitched  battle,  contented  themselves 
with  cutting  off  stragglers  in  their  mountains  and  ravines  ;  and  a  second 
invasion  in  1095  met  with  no  better  success.  Thus  baftled,  William  left 
the  war  to  be  carried  on  by  less  regular  though  more  effective  methods, 
and,  having  arranged  that  all  lands  taken  from  the  Welsh  should  be  held 
by  its  conqueror  as  a  free  grant,  he  departed.  This  plan  afforded  occu- 
pation to  the  unruly  barons  of  the  border,  and  was  so  successful  that  in 
a  short  time  almost  all  the  lowlands  of  Wales  and  the  southern  coast 


106  Nm-man  Kings  1089 

were  in  the  hands  of  Norman  adventurers,  whose  castles  crowned  the 
hill-tops  of  the  marches  or  border-land. 

With  Scotland  William  had  better  luck.     Malcolm,  king  of  Scots, 
took  advantage  of  William's  first  absence  in  Normandy  to   invade  the 
Invasion  of  northern  shires.     On  his  return  William  invaded  Scotland, 
Scotland.      ^^^  Malcolm  agreed  to  become  his  man  and  do  all  such 
obedience  as  he  had  done  to  his  father.     On  his  homeward  march  William 
was  struck  with  the  excellent  military  position  of  Carlisle, 
commanding  the  passage  of  the  lower  Eden.     Accordingly, 
he  ordered  it  to  be  fortified,  and  peopled  it  with  a  colony  of  south 
countrymen,  said  to  have  come  from  the  New  Forest.     Situated  near 
the  western  extremity  of  the  Eoman  wall,  Carlisle  matched  Newcastle 
at  its  eastern  end,  and  these  two  towns  long  remained  the  great  fortresses 
of  the  northern  border.   As  Strathclyde  had  been  since  the  grant  of  King 
Edmund  in  the  hands  of  the  Scottish  king,  the  fortification  of  Carlisle, 
which  carried  with  it  the  loss  of  Cumberland,  was  naturally  resented ;  and, 
finding  no  redress,  Malcolm  again  took  up  arms,  but  perished,  with  his 
eldest  son  Edward,  in  an  ambush  near  Alnwick  in  1093.     After  his 
death  a  series  of  contests  for  the  Scottish  throne  kept  the   north  of 
England  in  peace.      William's  difficulties  with  the   Scots   and  Welsh 
being  thus  dealt  with,  his  arms  were  turned  against  Robert  Mowbray, 
who  was  again  conspiring  to  dethrone  him.     Bamborough  Castle,  how- 
ever, which  was  too  strong  to  be  stormed,  and  too  accessible  by  sea  to 
be  starved  into  surrender,  defied  his  attacks,  so  William  contented  him- 
self with  building  over  against  it  another  stronghold,  Malvoisin,  or  the 
ill  neighbour.     The  plan  was  successful.      Decoyed  from  his  fastness, 
Mowbray  was  captured  by  the  garrison,  and  a  threat  to  put  out  his  eyes 
before  his  wife's  face  compelled  her  to  surrender  Bamborough 
of  Bam-       in  1095.      The  next  year  Robert  found  reason  to  pledge 
oroug  .      ;^ormandy  to  William  for  ten  thousand  marks  (13s.  4d. 
each),  which  concluded  the  long  contest  between  William  and  his  brother. 
Lanfranc  died  in  1089.     He  was  in  many  ways  a  great  man,  if  not  a 
great  bishop  ;  and  so  long  as  he  lived  he  was  thought  to  have  exercised  a 
Death  of      restraining  influence  over  the  young  king.     No  archbishop 
Lanfranc.    ^f  Canterbury  was  appointed  for  four  years,  but  in  temporal 
matters  William  gave  his  confidence  to  Ranulf,  surnamed  Flambard,  or 
Ranulf         the  Torch,  a  clever,  witty,  but  unscrupulous  ecclesiastic, 
Flambard.  ^j^^j  ^^^  ^^^^  -j^  England  in  the  time  of  the  Confessor,  and 
had  been  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Doomsday  survey.     It  was  he 
who  took  money  instead  of  service  from  the  foot-soldiers  at  Hastings. 
The  customary  payments  made  by  the  feudal  landholders  for  their 


1095  fFUliam  11.  107 

land  were  called  feudal  dues,  and  down  to  the  reign  of  Charles  ii.  these 

constituted  the  bulk  of  the  royal  revenue.     It  must  always  p^^^^j  j^^^ 

be  borne  in  mind  that  the  first  idea  of  feudalism  was  to 

provide  the  king  with  an  efficient  cavalry  force,  and  t^at  the  tenants-in- 

chief,  as  commanders  of  their  sub-tenantry,  were  in  a  position  somewhat 

analogous  to  colonels  of  regiments  at  the  present  day.     When  one  of 

these  died,  his  heir  had  to  pay  a  sum  of  money  called  a  *  relief,'  so  named 

from  the  Latin  relevitim^  which  meant  '  the  taking  up  again '       «  ,•  r 

of  land  which  had  lapsed  to  the  king  by  the  death  of  the 

former  tenant.     If  the  heir  was  a  minor,  and  consequently  incapable  of 

discharging  the  duties  of  his  position,  the  king  appointed  a  guardian  who 

managed  the  estates  for  the  benefit  of  the  king  and  super- 

intended  the  bringing  up  of  the  young  heir.     This  was 

called  '  wardship,'  and  was  a  source  of  much  profit ;  and  when   the 

minority  ended,  a  relief  had  to  be  ^xiid  as  usual.     If  the  heir  was  a 

woman,  the  king,  on  the  ground  that  she  must  not  ally  herself  with  one 

of  his  enemies,  claimed  the  right  to  bestow  her  in  marriage, 

and  in  this  way  the  king  rewarded  his  friends.     If  the 

person  suggested  was  distasteful  to  the  lady,  he  would  sometimes  excuse 

her  on  the  payment  of  a  sum  of  money.     Those  three  rights,  *  relief,' 

'  wardship,'  and  *  marriage,'  were  strictly  enforced  by  William  Rufus  and 

his  successors.      Besides  these  payments  incidental  to  the  life  of  the 

tenant,  three  other  dues  came  into  use  subsequently,  incidental  to  the 

life  of  the  sovereign.     These  were  the  payment  of  an  aid  to 

ransom  the  lord  from  captivity,  as  in  the  case  of  Richard  i. ; 

another  for  the  marriage  portion  of  his  eldest  daughter  on  her   first 

marriage  ;  and   a   third   payable  on  the  knighting  of  his 

eldest  son.     These  were   first   enforced   in   the  reign   of  Po^rtion^of 

Henry   i.      The   tenants-in-chief  of  the  king  exacted  the  J^'Sfiftln  "* 

same  dues  from  their  subtenants ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  Knighting 

lesser  tenants  the  relief  was  commonly  called  a  heriot,  which  ^jj^gjlon 

recalled  the  giving-up  of  the  war-gear  to  the  chief  on  the  Heriot 

death  of  his   follower.     The  right  to  collect  these  feudal 

dues  in  reasonable  amounts,  and  with  proper  regard  to  the  interest  of 

the  tenant,  was  not  disputed  ;  but  bitter  complaints  were  made  of  the 

atrocious  exactions   of    William  and    Flambard,   who   set  custom  at 

defiance  in  their  greediness  of  money. 

The  clergy  held  the  greater  part  of  their  lands  just  like  laymen,  by 
feudal  tenure,  but  with  this  difference.     There  were  no  Ecclesiasti- 
minorities  and  no  heiresses,  so  the  king  and  Flambard  ^^^  Holdings, 
made  up  for  this  loss  to  the  revenue  by  keeping  bishoprics  and  abbeys 


108  Norman  Kings  1095 

vacant  while  they  seized  the  revenue,  and  instead  of  a  relief  they  exacted 

a  large  payment  of  money  from  the  incoming  bishop  or  abbot. 

Thus  after  Lanfranc's  death  no  successor  was  appointed  for  four  years, 

and  William  was  only  induced  to  name  Anselm  as  archbishop  when  he 

believed  himself  to  be  at  the  point  of  death.     Anselm  was 

an  Italian  by  birth,  who  had  made  his  way  to  the  monastery 

of  Bee,  where  he  succeeded  Lanfranc  as  prior.     He  was  a  man  who  had 

the  confidence  of  Lanfranc,  and  at  the  moment  of  his  appointment  he 

was  on  a  visit  to  the  earl  of  Chester.     He  was  a  man  both  of  ability 

and  courage,  of  pure  and  saintly  life,  and  his  book  Cur  Deus  Homo 

proves  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  theologians  of  his  time. 

Altogether  the  choice  was  an  excellent  one  ;  but  on  his  recovery  William 

found  that  in  his  new  archbishoj)  he  had  to  deal  with  a  man  whose  stern 

rectitude  brooked  no  tampering  with  vice  of  any  kind.     With  such  a 

man  William  had  nothing  in  common.     Anselm  would  neither  stand  by 

and  see  the  church  plundered  nor  wink  at  the  sinfulness  of  William's 

court.     A  series  of  quarrels  followed,  and  in  1097  Anselm,  unable  to 

bear  the  wickedness  of  William,  retired  to  Rome  in  order  to  lay  his  case 

before  Pope  Urban  11. 

In  1096  all  Europe  was  stirred   by  the  preparations  for  the   First 

Crusade.     In  635  Jerusalem  had  been  conquered  by  the  Arab  followers 

The  First     of  Mahomet ;  but  under  the  influence  of  Mohammedanism 

Crusade,      ^^ie  Arabs  had  become  a  comparatively  civilised  people,  of 

the  stamp  depicted  in  the  Arabian  Nights.     After  the  first  conquest  was 

over  they  had  begun  to  treat  the  Christians   well,  and  allowed  them 

either  to  live  in  the  city  or  to  come  and  go  as  pilgrims  and  merchants. 

Under  their  rule  the  great  Easter  fair  at  Jerusalem  became  one  of  the 

.     chief  events  of  the  commercial  world,  where  Italian  traders 
Causes  of.  *        m     -r. 

from  Amalfi,  Pisa,  and  Genoa,  and  latterly  from  Venice, 

met  the   merchants   of  the   East  and  exchanged  the  manufactures  of 

Europe  for  the  silks  and  spices  which  were  brought  across  the  desert  in 

caravans  from  Arabia  and  India,  and  even  from  distant  China.     All  this 

was  changed,  however,  when,  in  1076,  Jerusalem  fell  into  the  hands  of 

the  Seljukian  Turks,  a  wild  tribe  of  Mohammedan  mountaineers,  who 

emerged  from  the  highland  fastnesses  of  Central  Asia  and  invaded  the 

civilised  lowlands,  much  as  the  Goths  and  Vandals  had  done  in  Europe. 

They  hated  Christianity  with  all  the  old  Mohammedan  frenzy,  and  cared 

nothing  for  commerce  ;  so  they  persecuted  the  pilgrims  and  robbed  the 

merchants.     Moreover,  their  steady  advance  into  Asia  Minor  threatened 

to  rob  the  Eastern  Emperor  of  some  of  his  most  valuable  dominions, 

and  even  menaced  Constantinople  itself      The  cries,  therefore,  of  the 


1099  William  II.  109 

persecuted  pilgrims,  the  murmurs  of  bankrupt  merchants,  and  the 
demands  for  assistance  from  the  Eastern  Emperor,  Alexius  Comnenus, 
created  great  excitement  in  Europe.  The  Normans,  too,  who  during  the 
last  fifty  years,  under  Robert  Guiscard  and  his  brother  Roger,  had  recon- 
quered Southern  Italy  and  Sicily  from  the  Saracens,  were  most  anxious 
to  carry  their  arms  into  Asia  ;  and  all  joined  to  make  the  most  of  a  wave 
of  enthusiasm  excited  by  Peter  the  Hermit,  who  had  himself  suffered 
from  persecution,  and  who  travelled  through  Europe  to  preach  a  holy 
war  for  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Pope 
Urban  ii.,  seeing  that  such  a  course  would  redound  to  the  honour  of  the 
papacy  and  make  for  the  unity  of  Christendom,  placed  himself  at  its 
head.  At  the  council  of  Clermont,  the  cry  of  *Dieu  le  volt!'  was 
adopted  as  the  watchword  of  the  Christian  army.  Thousands  of  soldiers, 
some  from  pure  motives,  some  from  interest,  others  from  mere  love  of 
adventure,  were  eager  to  join  in  the  expedition.  The  kings  of  France 
and  England  approved  of  it,  for  it  took  away  some  of  their  most  warlike 
subjects ;  and  William  Rufus  was  glad  to  advance  £6666,  or  10,000 
marks,  in  pledge  for  Normandy,  to  enable  his  troublesome  brother  Robert 
to  betake  himself  to  the  East.  The  main  body  of  the 
Crusaders,  led  by  Bohemund  of  Taranto,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
Robert  of  Normandy,  Stephen  of  Blois,  and  other  chieftains,  made  their 
way  to  Constantinople.  There  they  crossed  the  Straits,  and,  after 
winning  a  battle  near  NiCiTa  over  the  Turkish  awalry,  besieged  and  took 
Antioch.  Jerusiilem  was  taken  1099,  and  a  Christian  capture  of 
kingdom  on  a  feudal  model  was  established  there  under  Jerusalem. 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon.  Except  a  few  of  the  leaders,  such  as  Bohemund 
of  Taranto,  who  became  prince  of  Antioch,  few  of  the  CVusaders  gained 
much  except  glory  from  their  efibrts  ;  but  the  real  importance  of  the 
Crusades  was  much  more  considerable  than  is  represented  by  the  transient 
fame  of  the  knights  or  the  short-lived  splendour  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jerusalem.  The  tide  of  Mohammedan  conquest  was  „ 
undoubtedly  turned  back  many  years,  and  a  fresh  lease  of 
existence  was  gained  for  the  Empire  of  the  East.  Co-operation  in  the 
Crusades  spread  a  European  feeling  among  the  hitherto  disconnected 
countries  of  Europe,  and  opened  up  the  knowledge  of  a  higher  civilisation 
to  those  which  were  less  advanced.  A  taste  for  the  luxuries  of  the 
East  raised  the  whole  standard  of  Western  civilisation.  Even  learning 
and  literature  profited.  Peace  and  order  were  better  secured  by  the 
consolidation  of  the  great  monarchies,  and  the  merchants  of  the  Italian 
Republics  re-established  their  trade  with  the  East. 
The  cession  of  Normandy  to  William  made  him  the  most  powerful 


110  Norman  Kings  iioo 

monarch  of  Western  Europe.  He  had  successfully  put  down  the  power  of 
his  rebellious  vassals,  and  had  filled  his  coffers  at  their  expense.  The 
Greatness  of  Scots  and  the  Welsh  had  ceased  to  be  dangerous.  An  ex- 
Wilham.  pedition  against  Ireland,  which  would  have  completed  the 
plan  of  the  Conqueror  and  consolidated  the  British  Isles,  presented  no 
very  serious  difficulties.  In  1100  the  duke  of  Guienne  and  count  of 
Poitou  had  actually  offered  to  pledge  his  dominions  to  the  rich  English 
king.  William  was  barely  forty,  and  it  seemed  as  if  his  career  might 
have  only  begun,  when  a  sudden  death  brought  it  to  a  close. 

Though  many  and  picturesque  accounts  have  been  given  of  his  death, 

the  actual  manner  of  it  is  unknown.     After  a  jovial  meal,  he  and  his 

.,.    ^      ,      companions  set  out  to  hunt  in  the  New  Forest,  and  in  the 

His  Death.  ^  ,  p  .1      ,  .  •  ,  \  ,       , 

evenmg  the  corpse  of  the  kmg,  with  an  arrow  through  the 
heart,  was  found  by  a  poor  woodman.  Who  shot  the  arrow  none  could 
tell,  and  whether  it  struck  the  king  by  accident  or  by  intention  was 
never  known.  One  story  pointed  to  Sir  Walter  Tyrrel  as  the  accidental 
slayer  of  the  king  ;  but  he  denied  it  on  his  oath,  and  no  witnesses  of  the 
deed  were  forthcoming.  The  corpse  was  taken  in  a  cart  to  Winchester, 
and  there  buried  ;  and  in  the  excitement  of  a  new  reign  few  cared  to 
inquire  how  the  Eed  King  met  his  end. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Lanfranc  dies, 1089 

Cumberland  taken  from  the  King  of  Scots,  1092 

Anselm  becomes  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  1094 

Jerusalem  taken  by  the  Crusaders,    .  1099 


Born  1068;  married/  J 


CHAPTER  III 

HENRY  I.:    1100-1135 

1100,  Matilda  of  Scotland. 


121,  Adela  of  Louvain. 


CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperors. 

David  I.,  1124-1153.        Philip  l,  d.  1108.  Henry  iv.,  d.  1106. 

Louis  VI.,  d.  1137.  Henry  v.,  d.  1125. 

Conciliatory  measures— Suppression  of  the  Barons— The  Investiture  question — 
Reorganisation  of  the  central  Government— Social  progress. 

The  sudden  death  of  William  and  the  absence  of  Robert  in  the  East  left 
the  throne  vacant  for  the  Atheling  Henry,  the  only  one  of  the  Con- 
queror's sons  born  after  he  became  king.     Left  landless  by 
his  fiither,  Henry's  cool  and  calculating  nature  had  shown   early 
liim  how  to  make  his  own  fortune  out  of  the  quarrels  and 
weaknesses  of  his  brothers.     He  invested  three  thousand  pounds  of  his 
father's  legacy  in  buying  from  the  spendthrift  Robert  the  investiture  of 
Mont-Saint-Michel  and  the  surrounding  district ;  and  he  soon  showed 
William  that  it  was  better  to  have  him  as  a  friend  than  a  foe  in  his 
wars  with  his  elder  brother.    Accordingly,  after  1095,  Henry  had  lived 
for  the  most  part  in  England,  and  was  now  ready  when  the  opportunity 
came.     His  first  act  was  to  gallop  to  Winchester  and  seize  the  treasury, 
his  next  to  get  together  a  hurried  meeting  of  the  witena-    Elected 
gemot  and  secure  the  form  of  election.     From  the  first  he   King, 
was  well  aware  that  he  would  have  to  fight  for  his  crown  against  Robert, 
and  for  the  dignity  of  the  throne  against  the  barons  ;  so  his   conciliatory 
next  steps  were  all  directed  to  secure  a  party  for  himself,    measures. 
His  main  hope  was  from  the  English,  and,  to  secure  their  goodwill,  he 

married  Matilda  of  Scotland,  niece  of  Edgar  Atheling  and 

Marriage, 
the  heiress  of  the  claims  of  the  old  English  line,  in  order 

that  his  children,  as  descendants  of  William  the   Conqueror  and  of 

Alfred,  might  have  an  equal  claim  to  the  goodwill  and  allegiance  of  both 

races.     He  also  hoped  to  conciliate  the  barons  by  imprisoning  Ranulf 

111 


112  Norman  Kings  iioo 

Flambard,  and  by  the  issue  of  a  Charter  of  Liberties  ;  and  he  delighted 
churchmen  by  recalling  the  saintly  Ansehn. 

Henry's  Charter  is  a  very  important  document ;  for  it  shows  us  what 
were  the  chief  grievances  of  which  the  nobles  and  clergy  complained,  and 

the  way  in  which  they  might  be  remedied.     After  boldly 

stating  that  he  had  been  crowned  by  the  '  common  counsel 
of  the  barons  of  the  whole  realm,'  Henry  declared  that  the  church  should 
be  free,  and  that  on  the  death  of  archbishops,  bishops,  or  abbots  he 
would  exact  nothing  from  their  lands,  or  from  their  men,  until  a 
successor  had  entered  upon  possession.  In  regard  to  feudal  dues,  the 
heirs  of  tenants  were  not,  *  as  in  the  time  of  his  brother,'  to  pay  an  extor- 
tionate sum,  but  a  just  and  legal  relief ;  and  the  tenants-in-chief  were 
to  observe  the  same  rule  with  regard  to  their  subtenants.  Barons  were 
to  notify  to  the  king  the  intended  marriage  of  their  female  relations  (as 
in  the  case  of  Roger  of  Breteuil),  but  the  king  would  neither  exact  a  fee 
nor  forbid  the  match,  unless  the  proposed  husband  was  an  enemy. 
Heiresses  were  to  be  given  in  marriage  according  to  the  advice  of  the 
barons  ;  and  childless  widows  should  not  be  married  except  at  their  own 
pleasure.  Similar  treatment  was  to  be  given  by  the  tenants-in-chief  to 
their  subtenants.  The  king's  sole  right  to  coin  money  was  to  be 
maintained.  Money  and  personal  property  might  be  disposed  of  by 
will.  Forfeitures  were  not  necessarily  to  forfeit  a  man's  whole  estate, 
as  they  had  done  under  the  two  Williams,  but  should  be  moderate 
in  amount.  Lastly,  the  law  of  King  Edward,  with  the  improvements 
of  the  Conqueror,  was  to  be  restored.  These  arrangements  were 
a  distinct  improvement,  and  show  the  king  in  his  best  light  as 
the  medium  of  securing  even  justice  between  one  class  and  another. 
In  one  particular,  however,  a  most  dangerous  privilege  was  intro- 
duced. Lands  held  on  military  tenure,  so  long  as  the  nobles  kept 
themselves  well  furnished  with  horses  and  weapons  for  the  king's 
wars,  were  to  be  free  from  any  other  tax  or  service.  The  danger  of  this 
enactment  lay  in  its  creating  a  non-taxpaying  class,  who,  if  the  feudal 
service  fell  into  disuse,  as  it  subsequently  did,  would  be  relieved 
from  contributing  to  the  expenses  of  the  country,  as  actually  happened 
in  the  case  of  the  French  nobles. 

The  imprisonment  of  Ranulf  Flambard  was  pleasing  to  churchmen, 
nobles,  and  people  alike.     It  was  said  that  he  had  not  only  fleeced  but 

flayed  the  flock.     His  ill-gotten  wealth,  however,  helped 
mentof       him  to  get  a  rope  conveyed  into  the  Tower  in  a  jar  of 

wine,  and  with  it  he  managed  to  escape  and  fled  to  Nor- 
mandy, where  he  soon  occupied  himself  with  intrigues  against  Henry. 


noo  Henry  I.  113 

The  need  of  all  these  concessions  was  shown  when,  at  the  close  of  1100, 
Robert  returned  to  Normandy.     For  he  was  at  once  invited  to  attack  his 
brother,  both  by  Eanulf  Flambard  and  by  a  majority  o^  p  i^  ^ 
the  barons  of  England,  who  begged  him  to  come  and  be   claims  the 
their  king,  and  to  rid  them  of  the  goodman  Godric  and  his 
wife  Godiva,  as  they  called  Henry  and  Matilda,  after  some  English  story. 
But,  though  the  barons  were  faithless,  Anselm  and  the  English,  who 
rejoiced  in  Henry's  marriage  and  made  much  of  his  English  birth,  were 
loyal,  and  declared  that  if  Henry  put  himself  at  their  head  they  had  no 
fear  of  meeting  the  Normans.     Accordingly,  when  Robert  landed  at 
Portsmouth,  Henry  met  him  at  Alton  with  a  powerful  army,  and  the 
issue  was  so  doubtful  that  terms  were  made.     Robert  gave   compromise 
up  his  claim  in  exchange  for  a  yearly  pension  of  ^2000 ;   arranged. 
Henry  handed  over   to  Robert  almost  all  his  Nonnan  possessions  ; 
and  it  was  arranged  that  the  survivor  should  inherit  the  dominions 
of  the  other  if  the  deceased  left  no  lawful  heirs.     Robert  then  went 
home. 

The  invasion,  however,  had  shown  Henry  which  of  his  barons  were 
faithless,  and  he  methodically  set  himself  to  deprive  them  of  their  dan- 
gerous power.  The  strongest  and  most  turbulent  of  all  was  Robert  of 
Robert  of  Belleme,  now  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  whose  castles  BeiiSme. 
in  Sussex  and  on  the  Welsh  border,  and  especially  that  of  Bridgenorth, 
made  him  a  most  formidable  subject.  Forty-five  charges  of  treason  were 
brought  against  him,  and,  as  he  failed  to  appear  when  called  on,  Henry 
at  once  marched  on  Bridgenorth,  and  in  three  weeks  it  surrendered. 
The  fall  of  Shrewsbury  and  Arundel  quickly  followed,  and  Robert  was 
forced  into  exile  in  1102.  All  England  rejoiced  at  the  oppressor's 
departure,  and  cried  with  one  voice  :  'Rejoice,  King  Henry,  and  praise 
the  Lord  God  because  you  have  begun  to  reign  in  freedom,  now  that  you 
have  conquered  Robert  of  Belleme,  and  driven  him  out  of  the  country.' 
Similar  justice  overtook  others.  Ivo,  of  Grantmesnil,  who  boasted  that 
he  was  the  first  man  in  England  who  had  '  declared  war  on  a  neighbour,' 
was  heavily  fined,  to  hinder  others  from  doing  the  like ;  William  of  Mor- 
tain,  the  unworthy  son  of  the  great  Robert,  was  also  banished ;  so  that,  of 
William  the  Conqueror's  great  earldoms,  the  bishopric  of  Durham  and 
the  earldom  of  Chester  alone  were  left. 

The  troubles  with  Normandy,  however,  were  not  yet  concluded.     The 
clever  Robert  of  Belleme  contrived  to  win  Duke  Robert  to  his  side,  and 
in  1104  war  again  broke  out  between  the  brothers.      For    invasion  of 
some  time   no  decisive  battle   was  fought;    but   in  1106    Normandy. 
Henry,  fighting  on  foot,  English  fashion,  at  the  head  of  an  army  composed 


114  Noi'man  Kings  iioe 

of  Anglo-Norman  barons  and  English  footmen,  defeated  Robert  and  his 
Norman  chivalry.  This  battle  was  fought  on  September  29th,  the  fortieth 
Battle  of  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  Duke  William ;  and  the  English 
Tenchebrai.  ^j.^  g^^^j  ^^  \i2i\Q  regarded  Tenchebrai  as  a  proper  revenge  for 
Hastings.  Indeed,  these  wars  between  the  English  kings  and  the  Nor- 
man dukes  must  be  regarded  as  chiefly  important  because  they  fostered 
an  English,  as  against  a  Norman,  feeling,  so  that  the  sons  and  grandsons 
of  the  victors  of  Hastings  began  to  regard  themselves  as  Englishmen 
when  matched  against  the  barons  of  Normandy.  In  the  battle  Robert  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  lodged  in  Cardiff  Castle,  where  he  remained  till  his 
death  in  1135.  Henry  was  now  undisputed  king  of  England  and  duke 
of  Normandy.  With  Scotland  he  was  on  friendly  terms,  as  brother-in- 
law  of  its  king.  The  Welsh  princes,  bridled  in  their  mountains  by  a  ring 
of  castles,  were  giving  no  trouble  ;  and  the  Teutonic  element  west  of  the 
Severn  was  further  strengthened  in  1105,  when  Henry  liberally  gave 
homes  in  Pembrokeshire  to  a  colony  of  Flemings  whom  a  sudden  inroad 
of  the  sea  had  deprived  of  their  native  district.  For  more  than  ten  years 
the  whole  of  Henry's  lands  enjoyed  peace. 

The  year  1107  witnessed  a  most  important  alteration  in  the  method  of 
appointing  bishops  and  abbots.  The  question  how  this  should  be  done 
Investiture  ^^^  ^^^  some  years  been  the  subject  of  a  struggle  between 
Question.  the  popes  and  the  emperors,  generally  known  as  the  'con- 
test about  investitures ' ;  and  Anselm,  during  his  residence  abroad,  had 
imbibed  the  papal  views  on  the  subject.  At  that  date  a  bishop  or  abbot 
filled  two  different  positions.  As  a  churchman,  his  functions  were  those 
of  an  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  of  a  sacred  character  ;  as  a  landholder, 
he  was  a  feudal  vassal  of  the  king  and  a  leader  of  soldiers.  The  two 
were  obviously  incompatible  ;  but,  as  such  was  the  case,  it  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  king  that  bishop  or  abbot  should  not  be  one  of 
his  enemies — to  the  church,  that  he  should  not  be  a  mere  partisan  soldier 
of  the  king.  The  difliculty,  in  fact,  was  not  unlike  that  raised  by  the 
marriage  of  heiresses,  in  which  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  a  husband  was 
claimed  both  by  the  king  and  by  the  lady.  Before  the  Conquest  such 
elections  had  been  made  in  the  witenagemot,  practically  in  deference 
to  the  wishes  of  the  king  ;  and  a  similar  practice  had  been  in  use  under 
the  Conqueror.  Anselm  now  wished  that  the  bishop  or  abbot  should  be 
elected  by  the  clergy,  and  that  he  should  receive  the  ring  and  crozier, 
the  insignia  of  his  office,  not  from  the  king,  but  from  the  archbishop. 
For  some  time  neither  Henry  nor  Anselm  would  give  way,  and  Anselm 
again  left  England.  But  as  Henry  and  Anselm  were  both  reasonable 
and  far-sighted  men,  who  knew  well  how  much  each  had  to  lose  by  a 


1107  Henry  I.  115 

quarrel  with  the  other,  a  compromise  was  arrived  at  in  1 107.  The  election 
of  bishops  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  cathedral  chapters,  or  in  the 
case  of  Canterbury  of  the  monks  of  Christ  Church,  but  was  settled  by 
to  be  held  at  the  king's  court.  On  election,  the  new  bishop  Compromise, 
was  to  do  homage  to  the  king  for  his  lands,  and,  that  done,  he  was 
to  be  consecrated  by  the  archbishop  and  bishops  and  receive  the  ring  and 
crozier.  In  this  way  the  spiritual  rights  of  the  church  were  secured, 
and  due  stress  laid  on  the  ecclesiastical  character  of  its  prelates,  while 
the  royal  influence  was  paramount  at  the  election,  and  his  rights  as 
feudal  superior  were  fully  guarded.  This  arrangement  was  afterwards 
adopted  as  the  basis  of  the  settlement  of  the  same  question  on  the 
Continent  between  Pope  Calixtus  v.  and  Henry's  son-in-law,  Henry  v. 
The  contest  about  investitures  was  only  one  phase  of  the  great  question 
of  the  proper  relation  between  church  and  state.  During  the  middle 
ages  it  was  the  constant  aim  of  the  clergy  to  raise  the  church  into  a  self- 
governing  corporation,  as  far  as  possible  independent  of  the  state.  To 
complete  their  scheme,  they  required  to  elect  their  own  officers,  to  make 
their  own  laws,  to  try  their  own  criminals,  and  to  pay  taxes  Aims  of  the 
only  to  ecclesiastical  authorities ;  and  at  one  time  or  Church, 
another  every  one  of  these  became  the  subject  of  a  struggle  with  the 
English  kings.  It  was  a  part  of  the  same  scheme  to  separate  the  clergy, 
as  far  as  possible,  from  all  external  interests  and  connections ;  and  for 
that  purpose  the  more  advanced  thinkers  among  them  were  for  rigidly 
enforcing  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.  Anselm  attempted  to  enforce  this 
rule  in  England  ;  but  it  was  long  before  it  was  very  strictly  observed  by 
the  beneficed  clergy.  In  England  the  gift  of  parishes  was  usually  in 
the  hands  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  and  consequently  the  laity  always 
retained  a  strong  hold  over  the  secular  clergy,  both  in  the  upper  and 
lower  ranks. 

The  first  bishopric  to  which  an  election  was  made,  according  to  the  new 
method,  was  that  of  Salisbury  ;  and  the  choice  showed  the  working 
of  the  new  system,  for  it  fell  upon  Henry's  chaplain  and  treasurer, 
Roger,  whom  he  had  originally  engaged  on  the  ground  of  the  Roger  of 
extreme  rapidity  with  which  he  could  perform  the  Mass,  Salisbury, 
which  it  was  then  usual  to  hear  daily.  Roger,  however,  soon  showed 
himself  to  be  an  excellent  man  of  business,  equal  to  everything  placed  in 
his  hands,  and  after  Henry's  accession  he  became  the  king's  right-hand 
man  in  everything  which  concerned  the  business  of  the  kingdom.  Henry 
delighted  in  order,  and  the  years  of  peace  that  followed  the  battle  of 
Tenchebrai  gave  him  the  opportunity  he  desired  of  putting  both  the 
local  and  central  government  of  the  country  on  an  orderly  footing. 


116  Norman  Kings  1108 

Accordingly,  between  1108  and  1112  an  order  was  issued  for  the 
holding  of  the  courts  of  the  '  hundred '  and  the  '  shire '  '  according  to  the 
fashion  in  which  they  had  been  held  in  the  time  of  King  Edward,  and 
not  otherwise.'  The  importance  of  this  was  twofold.  First, 
Hundred  *  ^  it  secured  that  justice  should  be  administered  at  every 
Ihfre^^  man's  door ;  and  second,  it  checked  the  tendency  for  the 

administration  of  justice  to  fall,  as  it  did  on  the  Continent, 
into  the  hands  of  the  barons,  and  kept  it  in  those  of  the  king.  The  courts 
were  presided  over  by  the  king's  officer,  the  sheriiF.  The  decisions  in 
cases  between  man  and  man  were  made  by  the  whole  body  of  persons 
who  attended  the  court  by  right ;  in  criminal  cases  the  ancient  practice 
of  compurgation  and  the  ordeal  were  still  used,  though  the  Normans 
preferred  the  methodof  trial  by  judicial  combat  between  the  accuser  and 
the  accused,  or  their  representatives. 

After  the  Conquest  the  place  of  the  Witenagemot  was  taken  by  the  Mag- 
num Concilium,  or  Great  Council.      The  difference,  however,  was  mainly 

Magnumi     ^^^  ^^  name,  as  the  Normans  spoke  of,  as  a  great  council. 

Concilium,  -yvhat  the  English  described  as  a  witenagemot.  The  arch- 
bishops, bishops,  abbots,  and  earls  still  held  their  places  ;  but  the  king's 
thegns  were  now  called  barons,  for  the  English  thegns,  if  they  retained 
their  lands,  became  tenants-in-chief,  and  all  new  grants  of  land  after  the 
Conquest  were  made  on  feudal  terms.  As  the  archbishops,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  earls  held  their  lands  on  the  same  tenure,  the  council  was  in 
practice  a  meeting  of  the  king's  tenants-in-chief,  and  in  this  its  character 
as  a  witenagemot  became  gradually  lost.  The  full  Magnum  Concilium, 
however,  was  only  summoned  on  very  great  occasions,  such  as  the  meet- 
ing at  Salisbury  in  1086  ;  and  the  ordinary  business  of  state  was  done 
by  the  King's  Council,  or  Curia  Regis.  This  body,  whose 
exact  position  it  is  impossible  to  define,  consisted,  generally 
speaking,  of  the  king  in  council  with  the  chief  officers  of  state,  such  as  the 
justiciar,  the  chancellor,  the  treasurer,  the  chamberlain,  the  constable, 
the  marshal,  and  any  other  persons  whose  attendance  the 
'  king  chose  to  require.  The  justiciar,  under  the  Norman  and 
early  Angevin  kings,  was  the  chief  officer  of  the  realm.  When  the  king 
was  in  Normandy  he  acted  as  regent,  and  in  his  absence  presided  over 
the  Curia  Regis.  His  memory  is  still  preserved  in  the  title  of  the  Lord 
Chief- Justice,  the  head  of  our  system  of  common  law.  The  chan- 
cellor was  the  king's  chief  secretary,  and  keeper  of  his  seal.  The 
chamberlain  had  charge  of  the  king's  household.  The  constable  and 
marshal  were  chiefly  concerned  with  military  matters  touching  the 
feudal  array. 


1118  Henry  I.  •  117 

The  duties  of  this  body  were  most  varied.  When  it  was  sitting  to 
give  advice  to  the  king  on  matters  of  state,  it  was  called  the  king's 
'  ordinary  council,'  as  opposed  to  the  Magnum  Concilium, 
which  sat  on  special  occasions.  Sometimes  it  acted  as  a 
law-court,  and  tried  cases  between  great  barons,  such  as  would  formerly 
have  come  before  the  witenagemot,  or  cases  brought  up  on  appeal 
from  the  shire-moot.  It  was  then  called  simply  the  Curia  Regis.  A 
great  part  of  its  business  concerned  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and 
when  sitting  for  this  purpose  it  was  called  the  Court  of  xhe 
Exchequer.  Fortunately,  its  accounts  were  most  carefully  Exchequer, 
kept ;  and  as  the  Pipe  Roll,  or  revenue  account  of  1130  has  been  pre- 
served, a  good  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  working  of  the  court.  Every- 
thing turned  upon  money,  for  Roger  was  just  as  strict  as  Ranulf 
Flambard  had  been  in  exacting  every  penny  due  to  the  king  ;  and  in  it 
is  seen  what  a  profitable  source  of  income  were  reliefs,  wardships,  and 
marriage,  to  say  nothing  of  payments  to  expedite  or  delay  justice,  to 
secure  the  king's  influence,  or  permission  to  be  relieved  from  duties  or 
absolved  from  promises,  to  take  up  an  office  or  be  allowed  to  vacate 
one — for  in  Henry's  days  everything  had  its  price,  and  every  function 
of  life  was  made  somehow  or  other  to  contribute  its  quota  to  the 
royal  exchequer. 

Through  the  various  functions  of  this  court-of-all-work  the  king  was 

able  to  keep  a  tight  hand  over  the  government  of  the  country  ;  and  it 

was  mainly  through   its   working  that  a  superstructure   of  Norman 

centralisation  was  placed  over  the  strong  groundwork  of 
-ni-iii  1.1.1  ..        1    Norman 

English  local  government,  which  is  the  great  constitutional   Centralisa- 

achievement  of  the  family  of  the  Conqueror.     To  complete    *°"* 

the  system,  however,  it  was  needful  to  create  a  close  connection  between 

the  central  Curia  Regis  and  the  local  courts;  and  the  way  to  do  this  was 

indicated  in  1124,  when  a  special  deputation  from  it  was  sent  to  hold  a 

session  in  the  country,  and  'hanged  so  many  thieves  as  never  was 

before,   being  in  that  little   while  altogether  forty-four  men.'      This 

vigorous  administration  of  justice  by  the  royal  authority  gained  Henry 

the  title  of  the  'Lion  of  Justice';  and  the  stem  grasp  which  was 

knitting  together  the  inhabitants  of  England  of  all  races  into  the  English 

people  was  an  immense  boon  to  the  country. 

Queen  Matilda  died  in  1118,  leaving  Henry  two  children — Matilda,  a 

girl  of  sixteen,  and  William,  fifteen.     Matilda  had  at  eight  ^     .    r 

years  of  age  been  married  to  Henry  v.,  the  emperor,  and   Queen 

her  marriage  portion  was  levied  as  a  feudal  aid,  at  the  rate       *  *    ^* 

of  three  shillings  per  hide.     At  the  moment  of  his  wife's  death  Henry 


118  •  Norman  Kings  ins 

was  again  at  war,  for  Louis  vi.,  king  of  France,  had  formed  a  league 
against  him,  which  included  Fulk  of  Anjou  and  Baldwin  of  Flanders, 
William       and  was  designed  to  aid  the  interests  of  William  Clito,  the 
Clito.  Qj^iy  g^j^  q£  ^j^g  imprisoned  Duke  Kobert  of  Normandy. 

Baldwin,  however,  died  the  same  year  ;  Fulk  was  detached  from  the 
league  by  a  promise  that  Henry's  son  should  marry  his  daughter  ;  and 
in  1119  Henry  defeated  Louis  and  William  Clito  in  a  skirmish  at 
Brenville.  The  league  was  thus  broken  up,  and  soon  after,  by  the  media- 
tion of  the  pope,  peace  was  restored. 

Henry's  next  object  was  to  secure  the  succession  of  his  son  to  the 
English  throne.     He  had  already  had  allegiance  sworn  to  him  by  the 

Norman  barons,  and  was  returning  in  triumph  to  England, 
Henry's  son,   when  the  prince  was  drowned  in  the  'White  Ship,'  which 

was  run  upon  a  rock  by  the  drunken  carelessness  of  the 
crew.  After  the  death  of  his  son,  Henry  married  again,  but  had  no 
children,  so  his  hopes  of  keeping  the  succession  in  his  own  line  rested 
on  his  being  able  to  persuade  the  barons  to  accept  as  queen  his  daughter 
Matilda,  who  was  left  a  childless  widow  in  1125,  and  returned  to  England. 
Accordingly,  in  1126  he  induced  the  Great  Council  to  swear  to  receive 

Matilda  as  the  future  sovereign.  A  formidable  rival,  how- 
accepted  as     ever,  existed  in  the  person  of  William  Clito,  who  was  a 

young  man  of  excellent  character  and  considerable  ability, 
who  had  by  no  means  relinquished  his  hopes  of  succeeding  his  uncle. 
In  1123  he  had  risen  in  Normandy  with  the  aid  of  Count  Waleran. 
Foiled  there,  he  again  allied  with  the  king  of  France,  who  named 
him  count  of  Flanders,  as  the  representative  of  his  grandmother 
Matilda,  on  the  death  of  Charles  the  Good.  Henry's  resentment, 
however,    pursued    him    here,    and   aided   the    disaffected    to    revolt. 

This  time  William  was  victorious ;  but,  unluckily  for 
William       him,  a  slight  wound  from  a  lance  was  allowed  to  mortify, 

and  he  died  just  when  good  fortune  seemed  to  be  return- 
ing, in  1128. 

A  few  months  before  the  death  of  William  Clito,  Henry  married  his 

daughter  Matilda  to  Geoffrey,  eldest  son  of  Fulk,  count  of 
marries  Anjou,  a  lad  of  fifteen.  The  counts  of  Anjou  had  long 
An?ou^^  °^  played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  Northern  France. 

Their  territory  of  Anjou,  with  the  neighbouring  districts  of 
Maine  and  Touraine,  over  which  they  claimed  and  often  exercised  a 
suzerainty,  adjoined  the  lands  of  the  dukes  of  Normandy,  Brittany,  and 
Aquitaine,  and  the  royal  domains  of  the  kings  of  France.  As  a  family 
they  had  shown  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  affairs,  both  military  and 


1135  Henry  I.  119 

civil ;  had,  as  a  rule,  been  distinguished  by  thoroughness  ;  and  had  con- 
siderable inclination  for  intellectual  studies.  Fulk  himself  had  been  a 
very  successful  ruler,  and  the  marriage  of  his  heir  to  the  heiress  of 
Henry  of  England  was  a  great  triumph  for  his  house.  Geoffrey  himself, 
though  now  quite  a  boy,  was  quick-witted,  handsome,  and  attractive, 
though  his  sharp  temper  and  the  disparity  of  the  ages  of  bridegroom 
and  bride  prevented  the  marriage  from  being  a  really  happy  one.  No 
chUd  was  born  to  Geoffrey  and  Matilda  till  1133. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  both  English  and  Normans  this  marriage 
was  most  unpopular  :  with  the  English,  because  it  was  a  marriage  out 
of  the  country,  which  was  understood  to  be  contrary  to  the  king's 
promise  ;  and  with  the  Normans,  because  they  hated  the  Angevins,  and 
regarded  the  acceptance  of  an  Angevin  ruler  as  a  sort  of  degradation. 
Henry,  however,  repeatedly  insisted  on  a  renewal  of  the  oaths  made  to 
Matilda  ;  and  when  her  son  Henry,  afterwards  Henry  ii.,  was  born,  the 
name  of  the  child  was  joined  in  the  oath  with  that  of  Henry's 
his  mother.  On  the  birth  of  his  little  grandson,  Henry  Death, 
finally  left  England,  and  died  somewhat  suddenly  in  Normandy,  in 
1135. 

Henry  i.  was  a  great  king.  Policy  made  him  identify  himself  with 
what  was  best  for  his  people,  who  wanted  nothing  so  much 
as  to  be  safe  from  the  tyranny  of  the  great  landowners.  For  Character 
two-and-thirty  years — almost  a  generation — he  secured  *"  °  ^^^' 
absolute  peace  in  England  ;  and  the  great  strides  made  by  the  country 
in  material  and  intellectual  progress  attested  the  value  of  the  work  of 
the  peace-loving  king.  During  this  time  commerce  increased  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  The  connection  of  England  with  the  Continent  brought  it 
within  the  influence  of  the  wave  of  commercial  prosperity  which  was 
stimulated  by  the  Crusades.  The  union  of  Normandy  and  England 
under  the  same  crown  made  the  Channel  for  many  years  almost  an 
English  lake  ;  and  our  merchants  traded  regularly  not  only  within 
Henry's  dominions  but  with  Ireland,  Brittany,  Flanders,  and  Denmark, 
and  even  further  afield.  Moreover,  the  good  order  kept  in  England, 
and  particularly  its  freedom  from  the  Continental  curse  of  private  war, 
induced  numbers  of  artificers  and  craftsmen  from  other  lands  to  settle 
under  Henry's  protection,  and  their  industry  gave  a  further  impetus  to 
the  growth  of  the  middle  classes. 

In  these   circumstances  the  townsmen  were   anxious   to   get  from 
the  king  such  constitutional  rights  as  would  secure  them   Growth  of 
something  at   any  rate   of  the  local  self-government   en-   *^®  Towns, 
joyed  by  the  free  cities  of  the  Continent.      At  first  the   beginnings 


120  Norman  Kings  iioo 

were  small.      The  great  desires  of  the  townspeople  were — (1)  to  pay 

the  hurgi  firma  or  principal  tax  of  the  town  direct  to  the  king,  instead 

of  having  it  collected  by  the  sheriff  and  counted  with  the  contribution 

of  the  shire  ;   (2)  to  elect  their  own  officers,  and  to  have   their  cases 

tried  in  their  own  courts ;  (3)  for  the  chief  traders  to  form  themselves 

into  a  guild  recognised  by  the  feudal  law.     In  most  cases  English  towns 

were  on  the  demesne  of  the  king  ;  in  others,  as  in  that  of  Beverley, 

on  that  of  the  archbishop  of  York ;  in  others,  as  Leicester,  on  that  of 

the  earl.      Charters  granted  to  London  and  Beverley  in  the  reign  of 

Henry  i.  are  still  preserved,  and  may  be  taken  as  examples  of  what 

other  towns  were  aiming  to  acquire. 

The  progress  made  by  the  monastic  bodies   during  the  peace  was 

almost  as  important  as  that  of  the  rise  of  the  middle  classes  in  the 

towns.     The  Norman  Conquest  of  England  nearly  coincided  with  a 

considerable  revival  of  religious  life  in  Europe,  phases  of 
Monasteries.  .        *  f  •>  r 

which  were  the  reformation  of  the  papacy  under  Gregory  vii. 
(Hildebrand),  the  struggle  about  investitures,  the  great  outburst  of 
crusading  zeal,  and  finally  the  reformation  of  old  and  the  foundation 

^,       .         of  new  monastic  orders.     This  movement  took  its  rise  from 

Clugniacs. 

the  abbey  of  Clugny ;  and  the  priories  founded  as  off- 
shoots of  that  great  monastery,  of  which  Pontefract,  Reading,  and 
Lewes  are  examples,  carried  its  ideas  into  this  country.  The 
Clugniac  monks  made  much  of  the  services  and  decorations  of  their 
chapels,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  ritualists  of  monasticism.  They 
were  also  most  important  as  being  the  first  monastic  body  which 
regarded  its  different  monasteries  as  being  all  part  of  a  congrega- 
tion which  managed  its  affairs  as  a  whole.  Their  example  stimu- 
lated others,   and  soon  two   other   orders   came  into   existence,  both 

Austin         designed  to  improve  on  their  ideal.     The  first  of  these  was 

Canons.       ^j^g  Austin  Canons,  designed  to   be   a  link  between  the 

secular  parish  clergy  and  the  monks,  of  which  the  first  priory  founded 

was  that  of  Holy  Trinity,  Aldgate,  in  London.     The  second  and  more 

important  was  that  of  the  Cistercians,  so  called  from 
Cistercians,  . 

Citeaux,  in  Burgundy.     The  true  founder  of  the  order  was 

Stephen  Harding,  an  Englishman  ;  and  its  most  distinguished  member 
the  famous  St.  Bernard.  The  Cistercians  were  the  puritans  of  monasti- 
cism. Unlike  the  Benedictines,  whose  great  abbeys  had  become  centres 
of  industrial  life  and  the  nucleus  of  flourishing  towns,  the  Cistercians 
sought  the  wild  and  more  unfrequented  valleys  for  the  sites  of  their 
houses ;  unlike  the  Clugniacs,  they  disdained  all  ornaments  in  their 


1135  Henry  I.  121 

chapels.  They  had  no  coloured  glass  and  no  bell-tower,  and  by  their 
white  dress  they  endeavoured  to  indicate  they  were  not  as  the  black- 
robed  Benedictines. 

This  effervescence  of  new  monastic  life  seems  to  have  had  a  stimulat- 
ing effect  upon  other  orders  ;  and  William  of  Malmesbury,  himself  a 
Benedictine,  tells  us  that  the  Cistercians  were  '  a  mirror  to  the  diligent, 
a  goad  to  the  negligent,  a  model  to  all.'  Situated  as  abbeys  were  in 
flourishing  towns,  or  by  the  side  of  a  Norman  castle,  and  acting  as  hotels 
where  great  and  small,  king  and  palmer,  found  accommodation  for  the 
night,  an  observant  monk  found  himself  in  touch  with  every  movement 
of  his  time  ;  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  proofs  of  the  reality  of  the 
better  life  springing  up  under  Henry,  and  a  strong  proof  of  how  rapidly 
Saxon  and  Norman  were  mingling  into  one  nationality,  is  the  revival  of 
an  entirely  new  interest  in  the  history  of  England.  The  Revival  of 
only  survivor  of  Alfred's  scheme  of  a  regularly  kept  History, 
chronicle  was  that  preserved  in  the  abbey  of  Worcester.  About  the 
year  1120  a  copy  of  this  was  made  for  the  use  of  the  monks  of  Peter- 
borough ;  and  while  the  original  has  been  lost,  the  copy  remains,  and  was 
continued  by  the  Peterborough  monks  in  English  till  the  year  1154. 
Besides  this,  Henry,  archdeacon  of  Huntingdon,  began  about  the  same 
year  to  collect  materials  for  a  complete  history  of  England  ;  and  William 
of  Malmesbury,  the  greatest  historian  since  Bede,  was  ^ 

writing  his  Acts  of  the  Bishops  and  his  Acts  of  the  English  Malmes- 
Kings^  and  brought  his  history  down  to  the  events  of  his 
own  time..  Henry  himself  was  a  scholar.  He  spoke  English,  French, 
and  Latin.  His  children  were  well  educated ;  and  his  illegitimate 
son,  Kobert  of  Gloucester,  was  a  personal  friend  of  William  of 
Malmesbury.  The  Latin  classics  were  by  no  means  unknown.  One 
copy,  at  least,  of  Euclid  found  its  way  to  England. 

It  is  from  the  reign  of  Henry  i.  that  we  can  trace  the  first  beginnings 
of  the  university  of  Oxford.  Henry  built  a  palace  at  Beaumont,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  town,  and  it  is  possible  that  his  presence  Beginnings 
attracted  learned  men.  At  any  rate,  it  is  certain  that  of  Oxford, 
between  1117  and  1121  Thibaut  d'Estampes,  a  learned  Norman,  was 
teaching  letters  to  some  sixty  to  one  hundred  scholars.  In  1133  Robert 
Pullein,  afterwards  a  cardinal,  gave  lectures  on  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
The  name  of  another  teacher  is  also  known — Robert  of  Cricklade  ;  and 
in  the  following  reign  Vacarius  further  enlarged  the  course  of  studies 
by  lecturing  on  the  civil  law.  From  this  time  forward  Oxford  appears 
to  have  had  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  scholars  and  teachers. 


122 


Norman  Kings 


1135 


Altogether  the  England  of  Henry  i.  exhibited  in  almost  every  direc- 
tion a  hopeful  promise  both  of  constitutional  order,  national  feeling,  and 
material  and  intellectual  prosperity,  which  is  the  best  record  of  the 
success  of  its  scholarly  sovereign. 


CHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Expulsion  of  Robert  of  Bell^me, 

1102 

Battle  of  Tenchebrai, 

1106 

Investiture  Question  settled, 

1107 

Battle  of  Brenville,     .... 

1118 

Matilda  marries  Geoffrey  of  Anjou,   . 

1128 

Birth  of  Henry  of  Anjou,   . 

1133 

CHAPTER    IV 

STEPHEN:  1135-1154 
Born  c.  1094  ;  married,  1124,  Matilda  of  Boulogne. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

David  I.,  d.  1153.  Louis  vi.,  d.  1137.         Frederic  Barbarossa, 

Malcolm  iv.,  d.  1165.        Louis  vii.,  d.  1180.  1152-1190. 

Stephen's  success— Contest  for  the  Crown— Battles  of  Northallerton  and  Lincoln 
—Siege  of  Oxford— Effects  of  the  War— Henry  of  Anjou. 

When  her  father  died  in  Normandy,  Matilda  was  in  Anjou  ;  and  she  and 
her  husband,  instead  of  hurrying  to  England  and  securing  it  at  all  hazards, 
made  the  fatal  mistake  of  making  the  first  attempt  upon  Mistakes  of 
Normandy.  If  they  thought  that  in  consequence  of  the  Matilda, 
late  king's  arrangement  the  succession  of  Matilda  was  a  matter  of  course, 
they  were  completely  mistaken  ;  for  a  rival  wa.s  already  in  the  field,  and 
acting  with  such  promptitude  that  the  crown  of  England  had  slipped  from 
Matilda's  reach  almost  before  her  movement  in  Normandy  hatl  begun. 

This  rival  was  Stephen  of  Blois,  third  son  of  the  Conqueror's  clever 
daughter  Adela  and  her  husband  the  count  of  Blois,  count  of  Mortain 
by  gift  of  Henry,  and  of  Boulogne  by  right  of  his  wife,  the  character  of 
heiress  of  the  younger  Eustace.  Stephen  was  a  man  of  Stephen, 
whom  it  might  be  said  that  he  would  have  been  thought  to  have  had 
every  qualification  for  kingship  if  he  had  never  reigned.  He  was  now 
about  forty  years  of  age,  handsome  and  vigorous  in  body,  and  a  master  of 
all  chivalric  exercises.  His  courage  was  unimpeachable,  and  his  personal 
character  excellent.  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Christina,  younger 
sister  of  the  good  Queen  Matilda  ;  so  his  children,  like  those  of  Henry, 
represented  the  old  English  line.  Unlike  Matilda,  who  was  barely  known 
to  the  English  people,  he  had  been  bred  in  Henry's  court,  lived  all  his 
life  in  England,  and  had  been  formally  acknowledged  to  be,  after  the 
king  of  Scots,  the  first  baron  of  the  realm.  He  seemed  just  the 
man  to  be  an  ideal  English  king  in  every  way  superior  to  his  rival 

123 


124  Norman  Kings  1135 

Matilda,  by  birth  a  woman — and  no  distaff  had  yet  reigned  over  the 
chivalry  of  Western  Europe — by  education  a  German,  by  marriage  an 
Angevin,  who  represented,  moreover,  in  the  eyes  of  the  baronage  the 
stern  system  of  repression  and  exaction  as  practised  by  Eanulf  Flambard 
and  Roger  of  Salisbury. 

It  was  not,  however,  by  the  nobles  that  Stephen  was  first  chosen  as 
king.  Sailing  at  once  from  Boulogne,  he  was  accepted  with  enthusiasm 
His  prompt  ^7  ^^  ^^^^  ^f  London  ;  and,  their  aid  being  secured,  he  made 
action.  j^jg  y^^j  ^q  Winchester,  where  he  was  gladly  received  by  his 

brother  Henry,  the  bishop,  and  put  in  possession  of  the  king's  treasure. 
Already  the  confusion  incident  on  the  cessation  of  the  king's  peace,  at 
the  death  of  the  king,  showed  the  necessity  for  an  immediate  decision  ; 
and,  actuated  probably  by  this,  Roger  of  Salisbury,  the  justiciar  and 
official  representative  of  law  and  order,  threw  in  his  lot  with  Stephen, 
bringing  with  him  his  nephew  Nigel,  bishop  of  Ely,  the  treasurer,  and 
his  illegitimate  son  Roger-le-poer,  the  chancellor.     William,  archbishop 

Crowned      of  Canterbury,  performed  the  coronation  ;  so  that,  with 

'^^^^-  the  townspeople,  the  officials,  and  the  church  on  his  side, 

Stephen's  position  seemed  well  assured.  Some  of  the  barons  hesitated 
longer,  especially  Robert  of  Gloucester,  eldest  son  of  the  late  king ;  but 
eventually  Stephen  won  them  by  lavish  promises,  and  the  Norman 
barons,  thankful  to  escape  from  an  Angevin  ruler,  followed  suit.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Matilda  was  not  to  have  a  single  open  adherent, 
either  in  England  or  in  Normandy. 

Before  long,  however,  the  real  unfitness  of  Stephen  for  his  post  began 
to  show  itself.  He  was  too  lavish  both  of  promises  and  gifts.  Besides 
Unfitness  of  promising  generally  to  observe  the  good  laws  and  customs 
Stephen.  ^f  Henry  and  Edward  the  Confessor,  which  he  did  in  two 
charters  issued  at  his  coronation,  and  at  the  holding  of  his  first  council, 
he  also  recklessly  diminished  his  wealth  by  lavish  grants  of  lands,  and 
all  without  winning  the  real  affection  of  the  recipients  or  binding  them 
to  him  by  obligation.  A  favourite  maxim  of  the  Empress  Matilda, 
'  Never  glut  a  hawk  if  you  wish  him  to  serve  you,'  may  well  have  been 
derived  from  observation  of  Stephen's  error. 

The  first  person  to  declare  in  Matilda's  favour  was  David,  king  of 
Scots  ;  but  Stephen  bought  him  off  for  a  time  by  the  grant  of  the 
earldom  of  Carlisle,  with  the  county  of  Cumberland  for  his 
of^Scots  ^"^  s^^  Henry.  But  in  1138  he  again  took  up  arms,  and,  after 
M'^n?^^°'^  cruelly  ravaging  Northumberland  and  Durham,  made  his 
way  into  Yorkshire.  By  this  time,  however,  he  was  not 
Stephen's  only  opponent :  Robert  of  Gloucester  and  Miles  of  Hereford 


1139  Stephen  125 

were  in  rebellion,  and  Stephen  was  amply  occupied  in  a  series  of  sieges 

entailed  by  the  need  of  bringing  them  and  their  friends   to   reason. 

Fortunately,  the  north  was  in  good  hands.    Archbishop  Thurstan  of  York 

and  Walter  Lespec,   the  founder  of  RievauLx  abbey,  assembled  the 

northerners  at  York  ;  and,  the  aged  Thurstan  being  left  behind,  Walter 

led  them  out  to  Cowmoor,  two  miles  beyond  Northallerton,  and  there,  at 

the  spot  where  the  Hambledon  Hills  come  near  to  the  lower  spurs  of 

the  Pennine  range  on  the  west,  they  awaited  the  onset  of  the  Scots. 

The  whole  army  fought  on  foot  round  a  car  on  which,  as    ^^^^^  ^f 

a  standard,  were  placed  on   masts  the  sacred   banners  of   Northaller- 

St.   Peter,  St.   Wilfrid,  and  St.   John  of  Beverley.     The   ^°"- 

charge  of  the  Scots  was  fierce  and  well  sustained,  but  they  could  make 

no  impression  on  the  solid  array  of  spearmen,  while  the  archers,  already 

beginning  to  tiike  their  place  in  English  warfare,  sent  their  shafts  with 

fatal  eflfect  among  the  unarmoured  Scots.    In  the  end  the  Scots  withdrew, 

leaving  more  than  a  thousand  dead,  and  all  their  spoil  and  biiggage  ;  and 

for  nearly  two  hundred  years  the  memory  of  the  Battle  of  the  Standard 

saved  Yorkshire  from  invasion. 

Meanwhile,  Stephen's  military  skill  had  served  him  well  in  the  south. 

Bristol  was   unassailable,   but  Hereford  and  Shrewsbury  fell  into  his 

hands.     His  queen  captured  Dover  ;  Robert  and  Miles  tied  the  country  ; 

and  the  hanging  of  some  of  the  garrisons  taught  a  severe  lesson  to  the 

rest.      Altogether,  the  year  1138  was  Stephen's  fortunate  year.       Its 

successor,  1139,  was  as  unfortunate.     Hitherto,  Stephen  had  wisely  kept 

on  good  terms   with  Roger  of  Salisbury,   in  whose  hands  rested  the 

administration   of  the  country,  and  had  even  granted  his    Stephen 

most  exorbitant  requests ;  but  in  a  fatal  moment  he  quarrelled   JH^r"*^^* 

with  Roger  and  his  family,  seized  their  castles  of  Salisbury,    Roger  of 

Ely,  and  Devizes,  and  flung  them,  bishops  as  they  were,  into     *  *^  ^^^' 

prison.     Nothing  more  foolish  could  well  have  been  done.     The  fall  of 

Roger  threw  the  whole  administrative  machine  out  of  gear ;  while  the 

imprisonment  of  a  bishop,  which  might  have  been  tolerated  from  the 

Conqueror,  was  not  to  be  endured  from  his  grandson,  and  had  the  efiect 

of  throwing  Henry  of  Winchester  and  the  whole  influence  of  the  church 

on  the  side  of  the  empress.     On  August  29th  Henry  summoned  his 

brother  to  appear  before  a  church  council  to  answer  for  his  conduct ;  and, 

though   Stephen   tried   to   save  himself  by  a  humiliating  submission, 

Matilda  and  her  brother  Robert  landed  at  Arundel  on  the    ,,  ^.,  , 

Matilda 

last  day  of  September,  where  they  were  received  by  Adela,   arrives  in 

the  late  king's  widow.     Robert  soon  passed  on  to  Bristol ; 

but  Matilda  was  for  some  weeks  besieged  at  Arundel  by   Stephen. 


126  Normcm  Kings  U39 

Eventually,  however,  feeling  probably  that  Robert  was  his  more  dangerous 
opponent,  Stephen  allowed  Matilda  to  join  her  brother.  The  personal 
contest  between  Stephen  and  Matilda  was  almost  confined  to  the  years 
1139-1143.  After  Matilda  joined  her  brother,  Stephen  made  no  attempt 
to  penetrate  into  the  west-midland  shires,  where  the  influence  of  Eobert  of 
Gloucester  and  Miles  of  Hereford  was  supreme,  but  contented  himself 
with  holding  the  shires  that  lay  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  Peak 
to  Wareham,  with  securing  the  waterway  of  the  Thames,  and  en- 
deavouring to  prevent  other  barons  from  going  over  to  the  side  of  the 
empress. 

In  the  winter  of  1140  the  earl  of  Chester,  the  one  English  earl  whose 
position  approached  that  of  Continental  feudalism,  and  whom  Stephen 
had  done  all  in  his  power  to  win,  seized  Lincoln  castle.       The  citizens 
and  Bishop  Alexander  appealed  to  Stephen  to  aid  them  against  the 
tyrant.     On  arriving  at  Lincoln,  Stephen  found  that  Randolf, 
captured  at    or  Ralf,  of  Chester  had  left  the  castle  to  be  defended  by  his 
wife,  and  had  himself  gone  to  Chester  to  raise  forces.      The 
castle  of  Lincoln,  which  with  the  cathedral  is  situated  on  a  high  rock  on 
the  north  side  of  a  gap  in  the  wolds,  through  which  the  Witham,  rising 
near  Grantham,  makes  its  way  round  to  the  sea  at  Boston,  is  an  ex- 
tremely strong  place  ;  and  before  Stephen  could  take  it,  the  earl,  who 
had  been  joined  on  the  Fosse  way  by  Robert  of  Gloucester,  arrived  to 
relieve  it.      Swimming  their  horses  across  the  ford  of  the  Witham,  they 
attacked  Stephen's  forces  in   the   early  morning   on  the  low  ground 
between  the  river  and  the  castle  height.      The  followers  of  the  two  earls 
vied  with  each  other  in  the  energy  of  their  attack.     Stephen's  Flemings, 
under  William  of  Ypres,  were  put  to  the  rout ;   and  he  himself,  after  a 
terrible  conflict  on  foot,  in  which  he  broke  a  battle-axe  over  the  helmet 
of  the  earl  of  Chester,  was  taken  prisoner.     The  city  was  then  sacked  to 
punish  the  citizens  for  their  appeal  to  the  king.       This  happened  in 
February  1141,  and  for  a  short  time  Matilda  carried  all  before  her. 
Robert  d'Oilly,   the   constable   of  Oxford  castle,   put  that  important 
fortress  into  her  hands.     Henry  of  Winchester,  disgusted  at  his  brother's 
failure,  and  alarmed  for  the  interests  of  the  church,  used  his  authority  as 
ivr    -M         papal  legate  to  bring  the   clergy  over  to  her  side ;    the 
recognised   submission  of  London  followed,  and  Matilda  was  formally 
of  the  ^       recognised  as  Lady  of  the  English.     No  sooner,  however, 
English.      ^g^g  Matilda  in  power  than,  like  Stephen,  she  began  to  show 
Her  Un-      how  unfit  she  was  to  govern.    If  he  listened  only  too  readily 
to  foolish  counsellors,  she  would  give  heed  to  no  counsel 
at  all — not  even   to   that  of  the    old  kincr  of  Scots   or  of  Henry   of 


1147  Steplien  127 

Winchester.  She  confiscated  wholesale  the  lands  of  her  opponents, 
disposed  as  she  pleased  of  church  property,  refused  to  give  to  the  citizens 
of  London  the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  browbeat  the  most 
influential  citizens  in  order  to  exact  money. 

Meanwhile,  Stephen's  queen,  Matilda  of  Boulogne,  had  been  showing 
herself  a  worthy  great-granddaughter  of  Edmund  Ironside.     With  the 
aid  of  William  of  Ypres  she  had  landed  in  Kent,  and  her 
approach  to  London  determined  the  citizens  to  revolt.     As   declares  for 
one  man  they  rose  against  the  empress,  and  an  ignominious     ^^"^  ^"' 
flight  to  Oxford  brought  her  brief  success  to  a  close.     Again   Henry 
of  Winchester  changed   sides  ;    and   Matilda,  furious  at  his  want  of 
faith,  at  once  besieged  him  in  a  new  castle  which  he  had  just  built  at 
Winchester.     To  aid  the  bishop,  Matilda  of  Boulogne  and  William  of 
Ypres  marched  with  the  Londoners  and  Flemings.     Matilda    Stephen 
was  again  compelled  to  fly,  and  in  trying  to  cover  her  retreat   '■^leased, 
her  brother,  Robert  of  Gloucester,  was  captured.     In  November  he  was 
exchanged  for  Stephen. 

In  1142   Robert  of  Gloucester  went  to  the  Continent  to  persuade 
Geofi'rey  to  come  to  his  wife's  assistance  ;  and  in  his  absence  Stephen 
besieged  the  empress  in  Oxford  castle.     The  importance  of 
Oxford  lay  in  its  commanding  the  navigation  of  the  upper   besieged  in 
Thames ;    its  strength  in  its  situation  on  a  spit  of  land   °**°'*^- 
between  the  Thames  and  the  Cherwell,  surrounded  on  all  sides  but  one 
by  marshes.      With  great  difficulty  Stephen  forded  the  river  and  formed 
the  siege  ;  but  before  long  a  frost  set  in,  the  marshes  and  rivers  were 
frozen  hard,  and  the  castle  could  be  strictly  blockaded.      Before  Robert 
could  relieve  her,  the  case  of  the  garrison  was  desperate  ;  but  with  four 
chosen  knights  all  dressed  in  white  the  empress  escaped  across  ice  and 
snow  to  Wallingford,  where  she  was  welcomed  by  Brian  Fitz-Count,  one 
of  her  stoutest  supporters.     Oxford  immediately  surrendered,  and  shortly 
afterwards  the   forward  movement  of  the  empress's  party    Returns  to 
came  to  an  end.     The  empress  herself  remained  in  England    Normandy, 
till  the  death  of  Earl  Robert  in  1147,  soon  after  which  she  returned  to 
Normandy. 

Meanwhile,  her  husband  Geoffrey  had  been  far  more  successful     When 
his  wife  set  ofi*  for  England  he  had  begun  a  campaign  against  Normandy. 
Here  his  engineering  skill  stood  him  in  good  stead.     Castle 
after  castle  fell  before  his  machines,  and  by  1144  the  whole   success  in 
of  the  duchy  was  in  his  hands.      Till  1147  Geoifrey  kept  it    Normandy, 
under  his  own  control ;  but,  his  son  Henry  being  then  fifteen  years  of 
age,  Normandy  was  given  over  to  him. 


128  Norman  Kings  1147 

Young  Henry  had  received  an  excellent  education,  partly  conducted 

under  the  eye  of  his  scholarly  father,  partly  under  the  no  less  competent 

Kobert  of  Gloucester  ;  and  he  was  now  expected  to  take  his 

Early  life  of  .  .         ,..         -r  i  •   •       ,  i        -, 

Henry  of        part  in  active  life.     In  1149  he  visited  England,  and  was 
"^°"'  knighted  by  his  great-uncle  David  of  Scotland  ;  but  he  soon 

returned,  and  till  1152  was  busied  in  the  affairs  of  his  duchy,  which  he 
had  to  defend  against  the  attacks  of  Louis  vii. 

In  1151  the  differences  between  the  house  of  Anjou  and  the  king  of 

France  were  arranged  by  the  mediation  of  St.  Bernard.     In  the  same 

year  Geoffrey  died,  leaving  his  son  count  of  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Touraine, 

besides  being  duke  of  Normandy ;  and  in  the  spring  of  the  next  year 

Henry  made  himself  the  mightiest  uncrowned  head  in  the  west  by 

He  m  r  •      accepting  an  offer  of  marriage  made  to  him  by  Eleanor, 

Eleanor  of     duchess  of  Aquitaine  and  countess   of  Poitou,  Saintonge, 

and  Limousin,  the  divorced  wife  of  Louis  vii.       Another 

war  with  the  French  king  followed,  in  which  Henry  had  decidedly  the 

better ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1153  he  found  himself  strong  enough  to 

leave  the  Continent  and  renew  the  contest  with  Stephen. 

Since  the  siege  of  Oxford,  the  war  in  England  had  ceased  to  be  carried 

on  in  any  regular  way  ;  but  that  brought  no  diminution  of  its  horrors  to 

__  the  wretched  inhabitants  of  the  country.     All  the  lawless 

Horrors  .   .  "^ 

of  the  spirits  of  the  time  took  advantage  of  it  to  work  their  own 

will.  Castles  sprang  up  in  all  directions,  and  the  garrisons 
lived  on  the  plunder  of  their  neighbours.  For  the  only  time  in  English 
history  men  built  castles  when  and  where  they  listed  ;  and  no  less  than 
twelve  hundred  of  these  dens  of  iniquity,  giving  an  average  of  thirty  a 
county,  sprang  up  during  Stephen's  reign.  Barbarism  was  rapidly  re- 
turning. *  If  three  men  came  riding  into  a  town,'  wrote  the  chronicler, 
'  all  the  inhabitants  fled.'  You  could  ride  a  day's  journey  without  seeing 
a  man  cultivating  the  ground.  Trade  and  agriculture  were  alike  ruined  ; 
and  it  was  said  that  '  God  and  his  saints  were  asleep.'  Some  barons 
made  horrible  things  called  '  rachentages,'  or  neckties,  so  devised  that 
when  one  was  put  on  a  man  he  could  neither  '  sleep,  nor  stand,  nor  lie, 
but  had  to  bear  all  the  iron '  ;  others  threw  their  prisoners  into  noisome 
dungeons  with  rats  and  toads  ;  others  hung  them  up  and  caused  smoke 
to  blow  over  them,  so  that  they  were  all  but  choked.  Such  things  were 
the  everyday  life  of  France  and  Germany,  but  in  England,  happily,  they 
were  new ;  and  the  experience  of  Stephen's  reign  taught  Englishmen, 
once  for  all,  that  without  a  strong  central  administration  the  barons 
could  not  be  kept  in  check. 

Since  the  death  of  Eobert  of  Gloucester,  however,  Stephen  had  been 


1154  Stephen  129 

gradually  gaining  ground  ;  and  in  the  winter  of  1152  he  besieged  Brian 
Fitz-Count  in  his  castle  of  Wallingford.     To  save  him  an  appeal  was 
made  to  Henry  of  Anjou,  and  he  came  over  in  person.     The 
two  armies  met  at  Malmesbury,  but  the  retreat  of  Stephen   arrives  in 
prevented   a   battle.      The   barons  of  neither   side   were      "san  . 
anxious  for  a  complete  victory,  but  wished  to  prolong  the  war  for  their 
own  interests.    At  this  critical  moment,  however,  Stephen  lost  his  eldest 
son  Eustace,  for  whose  interests  as  well  as  his  own  he  was  now  fighting. 
Archbishop  Theobald  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  propose  a  com- 
promise ;  and  in  November  1153  it  was  agreed  at  Walling-  Treaty  of 
ford  that  Stephen  should  hold  the  crown  for  the  remainder  vvallingford. 
of  his  life,  and  that  Henry  should  be  his  adopted  son  and  successor. 

The  treaty  of  Wallingford  brought  the  long  contest  to  a  close.  As 
recognised  successor,  and,  according  to  one  account,  with  the  actual  office 
of  justiciar,  Henry  took  into  his  own  hands  the  restoration  of  order ; 
and  so  well  did  he  do  his  work  that  it  was  said  that,  during  the  two  last 
years  of  his  reign,  Stephen  had  more  of  the  reality  of  sovereignty  than 
he  had  ever  possessed  before.  So  much  progress,  indeed,  Stephen's 
was  made  that  Henry  was  able  to  revisit  his  Continental  Death, 
dominions,  and  was  there  in  1154  when  Stephen's  death  made  him  the 
recognised  king  of  England. 

In  spite  of  all  the  horrors  of  Stephen's  reign,  perhaps  aided  by  them, 
the  monastic  revival  had  made  much  progress.     The  military  knights  of 
St.  John  and  of  the  Temple  had  established  many  of  their   „    ,    . 
depots  in  the   country.     The  Premonstratensian  order  of  ticai  Pro- 
canons  had  also  been  founded  ;   and   a  peculiarly  English   ^*"***' 
order  of  convents  for  monks  and  nuns  had  been  founded  by  Gilbert  of 
Sempringham.      The    church,   too,   had  gained  strength.      The  only 
element  of  consistency  to  be  found  in  the  policy  of  Henry  of  Winchester 
is  his  attachment  to  the  interest  of  the  church  ;  and  his  aims  were  more 
rationally  pursued  by  Archbishop  Theobald,  whom  the  pope  was  per- 
suaded to  recognise  as  the  *  born  legate '  of  the  pope  in  England.     Theo- 
bald collected  round  him  a  number  of  the  ablest  young  men  of  the  time, 
among  whom  was  Thomas  of  London,  afterwards  the  famous  archbishop 
of  Canterbury. 

CHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Northallerton,      ....        1138 
Arrest  of  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,     .  1139 

Matilda  in  England,   ....         1139-1142 
Henry  of  Anjou  marries  Eleanor  of  Guienne,        1152 
Treaty  of  Wallingford,        ....        1153 
I 


Book  III 

THE  EARLIER  ANGEVIN  KINGS 

SOMETIMES  CALLED  PLANTAGENETS 


g-| 

o 

H„S 

,^a 

Osl„ 

S5I.Z? 

s 

•=i- 

RA 

TO    ILL 

FFAIRS 

I066 

1 

\^    t 

3 

o- 

v.— THE  EARLIER  ANGEVIN  KINGS,  1154-1272. 
Henry  II.,  =  Eleanor  of  Guienne, 


1154-1189. 


divorced  wife     of 
Louis  VII.,  d.  1204. 


II  I  I 

Henry,    Kichakd  L,  Geoffrey,  r=  Constance  J  oh n,= Isabella  Eleanor=King  of 


d.  1183.     1189-1199.      d.  1186. 


of  Brit-      1199- 
tany.  1216. 


Arthur, 
d.  1203. 


of  An- 
gouleme. 


Castile. 


Blanche, 
m.  Louis  of  France 
(see  vii.). 


Henry  III.,  =  Eleanor  of  Joan, 


1216-1272. 


Eleanor 


Richard, 


Provence.      m.  Alexander     m.  Simon  de     King  of  the 

of  Scotland.        Montfort.         Romans, 

d.  1271. 


I  I  I 

Edward  I.,       Edmund  Crouchback,  Margaret, 

1272-1307.  d.  1295.  ra.  Alexander  iii. 

(see  VI.). 


VI.— THE  KINGS  OF  SCOTLAND  FROM  1153-1286. 
Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon  (see  iv.). 


Malcolm  IV.,  1153-1165. 


WlLLLlM  THE  LlON,   1166-1214. 


Alexander  II.,  =  Joan,  sister  of  Henry  in. 
1214-1249. 


Alexander  III., 

m.  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  iii., 

1249-1286. 


188 


VII.— THE  KINGS  OF  FRANCE,  98V-1285. 
Hugh  Capet,  987-996. 

Robert  I.,  996-1031. 

Henry  I.,  1031-1060. 

Philip  I.,  1060-1108. 

Louis  VI.,  1108-1137. 

Louis  VII.,  ^  (1)  Eleanor  of  Provence, 


1137-1180. 


divorced  1152. 

(2)  Constance  of  Castile. 

(3)  Alice  of  Champagne. 


Philip  Augustus  (3),  1180-1223. 


Louis    VIII.  =  Blanche  of  Castile 


(invader  of  England  1216), 
1223-1226. 


(see  v.). 


Louis  IX.  (Saint),  1226-1270. 


Philip  IIL  1270-1285.  Robert  (see  v.), 

ancestor  of  the  Bourbon  kings. 


134 


CHAPTEE   I 

HENRY  II.:   1154-1189 

Born  1133  ;  married,  1152,  Eleanor  of  Guienne. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

Malcolm  iv.,  »l.  1165.  Louis  vji.,  d.  1180.  Frederic  i.,  d.  1190. 

William  the  Lion,  d.  1214.  Philip  Augustus,  d.  1223. 

Popes. 
Hadrian  iv.  (Nicholas  Breakspear),  1154-1159;  Alexander  in.,  1169-1181. 

Reorganisation  of  the  Kingdom— The  great  Scutage— The  Becket  Quarrel— 
Judicial  Reforms— Conquest  of  Ireland— Abortive  Revolt  of  the  Barons — 
Quarrels  in  the  Royal  Family. 

The  acquisition  of  the  English  crown  made  Henry  ii.  the  monarch  of 
greatest  consequence  in  Europe.  He  was  king  of  England,  with  feudal 
rights  over  the  sub-king  of  Scotland  and  the  prince  of  North  Dominions 
Wales;  he  was  duke  of  Normandy,  count  of  Anjou  and  of  Henry  ll. 
Maine  ;  and  in  right  of  his  wife  he  was  duke  of  Aquitaine,  which  gave 
him  not  only  the  actual  rule  of  Poitou,  Perigord,  Querci,  Limousin,  and 
Gascony,  but  also  a  suzerainty  more  or  less  real  over  all  the  countries 
which  lay  west  of  the  Khone,  chief  among  which  was  the  county  of 
Toulouse.  To  these  extensive  dominions  he  virtually  added  the  duchy 
of  Brittany,  through  the  marriage  of  his  son  Geoffrey  to  its  heiress 
Constance  in  1160.  After  this  event  he  had  in  his  hands  the  mouths  of 
the  Seine,  the  Loire,  and  the  Garonne,  and  with  them  command  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  coasting  trade  of  France.  These  possessions  would 
have  made  any  prince  powerful ;  but  Henry  owed  their  acquisition  mainly 
to  his  own  character,  and  the  energy  and  skill  with  which  he  had  made 
the  most  of  the  advantages  he  derived  from  his  birth. 

Henry's  gifts,  both  of  mind  and  body,  were  clearly  to  be  traced  to  his 
ancestry.     The  bent  of  his  mind  was  Angevin,  and  showed  the  same 
eagerness  and  thoroughness,  combined  with  versatility,  that   His  Char- 
had  long  been  characteristic  of  the  counts  of  Anjou.     His  ^^ter. 
body,  strong,  thick-set,  and  sinewy,  might  have  been  derived  from  either 


136  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1154 

side  of  his  descent.  Like  all  his  ancestors,  he  was  thoroughly  versed  in 
war,  and  had  the  Angevin  talent  for  diplomacy,  while  his  love  of  law 
and  order  connected  his  mind  with  that  of  Henry  i.  His  energy  was 
wonderful.  Not  for  a  moment  was  he  idle.  His  days  were  spent  in  war 
or  the  chase,  in  the  conduct  of  business,  or  in  vigorous  discussion.  He 
rarely  sat  down ;  and  so  difficult  was  it  for  him  to  sit  still  and  do 
nothing,  that  he  usually  occupied  himself  with  drawing  pictures 
while  hearing  the  Mass.  Such  a  man  gave  little  rest  to  his  at- 
tendants. He  kept  his  courtiers  working  till  they  were  tired.  He 
rarely  slept  two  nights  in  the  same  place  ;  and  so  rapid  were  his 
journeys,  that  hardly  an  officer  in  all  his  dominions  could  be  certain  that 
the  king  might  not  visit  him  in  the  course  of  the  day.  In  days  when, 
as  had  been  amply  demonstrated  in  the  time  of  Stephen,  the  whole 
working  of  the  administrative  machine  depended  on  the  personal 
influence  of  the  king,  these  qualities  were  invaluable.  He  had  also  the 
royal  gift  of  remembering  faces  he  had  once  seen  ;  but  his  good  qualities 
were  to  some  extent  marred  by  the  inheritance  of  the  terrible  Angevin 
temper,  which  often  led  him  into  actions  which  afterwards  cost  him  dear. 
One  of  Henry's  first  actions  indicated  the  lines  of  his  future  policy. 
He  sought  out  Eoger  of  Salisbury's  nephew  Nigel,  bishop  of  Ely,  and 

«  ^,.  ,-  made  him  his  treasurer,  with  orders  to  restore  the  exchequer 
Re-establish-  i  i  .  ,    i  ,         ,  .     .       , 

mentofthe  to  the  condition  under  which  he  remembered  it  m  the  old 
Exchequer.  ^^^^  ^^  Yiemj  I.  This  Nigel  did,  and  from  1156  we  have 
handed  down  to  us  the  first  extant  pipe  roll  since  that  of  1 130.  The 
accounts  clearly  show  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  late  reign.  The  revenue 
had  diminished  by  two-thirds,  and  the  large  sums  needed  for  repairs  prove 
the  ruinous  condition  of  the  royal  property.  From  that  time  forward 
there  was  a  steady  improvement,  and  Nigel  was  able  to  hand  his  office 
on  to  his  son  Richard,  bishop  of  London,  from  whose  pen  in  the 
Dialogus  de  Scaccario  we  have  a  most  interesting  and  even  amusing 
account  of  the  working  of  the  exchequer  in  his  day.  Henry  appointed 
two  justiciars— Richard  de  Lucy,  honourably  known  as  the  loyal 
constable  of  the  Tower  of  London  and  of  Windsor  Castle,  and  Robert, 
earl  of  Leicester.  The  chancery  he  gave  to  an  even  more  interesting 
character,  Thomas  of  London. 

Thomas  was  born  at  London  in  1117,  and  was  the  son  of  Gilbert  Becket, 

a  native  of  Rouen,  and  Rohesia  of  Caen,  his  wife.     His  father  was  a 

Thomas  of  burgess  of  London,  and  at  one  time  port-reeve.     The  boy 

London.       ^^^  g^^^  ^^  y^^  educated  by  the  Austin  canons  at  Merton 

in  Surrey,  and  then  for  a  short  time  to  Paris.     He  then  entered  business, 

but  friends  found  him  a  more  congenial  place  in  the  household  of  arch- 


1158  Henry  11.  137 

bishop  Theobald.  His  talents  were  fully  appreciated  by  the  archbishop, 
who  made  him  his  confidential  adviser.  With  Theobald  he  went  to  Rome 
in  1143,  and  to  the  Council  of  Eheims  in  1148  ;  and  some  time  between 
these  dates  he  gave  a  further  year  to  study  at  Auxerre  and  Bologna.  In 
1155  Thomas  took  deacon's  orders  on  his  appointment  to  the  important 
position  of  archdeacon  of  Canterbury  ;  and  when  Henry  became  king, 
Theobald  strongly  recommended  him  for  the  office  of  chancellor.  The 
new  chancellor  was  now  thirty-four  years  of  age,  of  an  extremely 
handsome  appearance,  charming  manner,  and  also  a  thorough  man  of 
business  ;  and  before  long  he  made  himself  as  necessary  to  Henry  as  he 
had  been  to  archbishop  Theobald. 

At  his  coronation,  and  again  at  his  first  council,  Henry  promised 
reformation,  and  in  general  a  return  to  the  '  days  of  his  grandfather ' ; 
and  the  first  years  of  his  reign  were  devoted  to  this  work.  Abuses 
The  foolish  grants  of  crown-lands  made  by  both  Stephen  abolished, 
and  Matilda  were  resumed  ;  the  eleven  hundred  and  fifteen  '  adulterine 
castles'  built  in  Stephen's  reign  were  ordered  to  be  levelled  to  the  ground ; 
the  bad  money  issued  from  irregular  mints  was  replaced  by  a  good 
coinage,  issued  in  1158.  The  bands  of  Flemish  and  other  mercenaries 
who  had  fought  for  either  side  and  plundered  for  themselves  were 
expelled  from  the  country  ;  and  in  1155  and  1156  the  judges  from  the 
king's  court  went  on  circuit  through  thirteen  shires  as  they  had  done  in 
the  time  of  Henry  i.  The  most  troublesome  matter  was  to  get  back  the 
royal  castles  from  the  hands  of  the  barons,  and  Henry  found  it  necessary 
to  march  in  person  against  some  of  the  more  recalcitrant.  Thus  earl 
William  of  Aumale,  lord  of  Holderness,  was  made  to  give  up  Scarborough  ; 
and  upon  this  William  Peverel  of  the  Peak  and  Roger  of  Hereford 
submitted.  Hugh  Mortimer,  strong  in  his  castles  of  Cleobury,  Wigmore, 
and  Bridgenorth,  tried  resistance,  but  utterly  failed  ;  and,  the  most 
powerful  being  thus  subdued,  the  rest  submitted. 

At  the  same  time  Henry  insisted  upon  his  sovereign  rights  ;  forced  his 
cousin  Malcolm,  king  of  Scots,  to  give  up  Cumberland,  Westmorland, 
and  Northumberland,  with  the  strong  castles  of  Newcastle,  Scotland 
Bamburgh,  and  Carlisle,  which  had  been  held  by  the  Scots  ^"**  Wales, 
during  the  last  reign  ;  and  Malcolm  acknowledged  himself  to  be  Henry's 
man,  'in  the  same  manner  as  his  grandfather  had  been  the  man  of 
Henry  the  Elder.'  Henry  had  more  trouble  with  Owen,  prince  of  North 
Wales,  with  whom  he  fought  an  indecisive  battle  at  Consillt,  near  Flint, 
in  1157  ;  but  eventually  Owen,  alarmed  by  the  landing  of  an  expedition 
sent  to  Anglesea,  agreed  to  do  homage,  and  his  submission  carried  with 
it  that  of  his  vassal  princes  of  South  Wales. 


138  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  ii58 

England  being  now  at  peace,  Henry  was  able  to  go  to^  France  in  1158 

and  stay  there  six  years,  and  occupied  himself  with  enforcing  his  rights 

over  his  Continental  dominions.     He  had  already  paid  a 

Henry  on  ...  .  .  ''   ^ 

the  Conti-  flymg  Visit  there  in  1156,  m  consequence  of  the  pretensions 
of  his  brother  Geoffrey,  who,  under  his  father's  will,  claimed 
Anjou,  Touraine,  and  Maine  as  soon  as  Henry  became  king  of  England. 
Henry,  however,  declined  to  recognise  his  right,  and  not  only  compelled 
him  to  give  up  his  claim,  but  took  from  him  his  castles.  The  chief 
object  of  his  present  visit  was  to  secure  the  town  of  Nantes,  and  he  then 
County  of  went  on  to  assert  his  claims  to  the  suzerainty  over  the 
Toulouse,  county  of  Toulouse.  The  right  of  the  dukes  of  Aquitaine 
to  this  was  somewhat  uncertain,  but  it  had  been  asserted  by  Louis  vii. 
so  long  as  Eleanor  was  his  wife  ;  now,  however,  he  denied  it,  and 
prepared  to  help  the  count  in  resistance  to  Henry's  demands.  Henry 
therefore  organised  a  great  expedition  to  Toulouse  ;  but  on  arriving  there 
he  found  that  the  king  of  France  had  thrown  himself  into  the  town,  and, 
declining  to  set  his  own  vassals  the  bad  example  of  a  vassal  besieging  his 
liege  lord,  Henry  retreated,  taking  care,  however,  to  retain  possession  of 
all  the  castles  which  he  had  taken  in  his  advance.  Eventually,  in  1172, 
Raymond  did  homage  to  Henry  for  his  county  of  Toulouse. 

The  expedition  to  Toulouse  of  1159  had  indirectly  an  effect  of  much 
import  to  the  future  of  the  English  nation  by  being  the  occasion  of  the 
The  Great  imposition  of  the  Great  Scutage.  According  to  feudal 
Scutage.  i^y^^  ^  tenant-in-chief  was  bound  to  serve  his  lord  either  in 
person  or  by  deputy  for  forty  days  each  year,  in  which  the  coming  and 
going  did  not  count.  This  plan  worked  fairly  well  for  an  expedition  to 
Wales  or  a  short  campaign  against  an  unruly  baron  ;  but  it  was  obviously 
unsuitable  for  continued  warfare,  and,  when  the  scene  of  strife  was 
distant,  inflicted  great  hardship  upon  the  tenant.  Accordingly,  in  1156, 
when  Henry  made  his  expedition  to  Normandy  against  his  brother 
Geoffrey,  he  excused  the  clerical  holders  of  fiefs  from  attendance  on 
payment  of  so  much  per  knight's  fee  of  shield  money  ;  and  in  1159  he 
extended  the  same  privilege  to  all  the  barons  of  Normandy  and  England, 
and  used  the  ^180,000  so  obtained  in  hiring  soldiers,  while  he  exacted 
personal  service  from  the  men  of  his  father's  dominions  and  of  Aquitaine. 
Scutage,  therefore,  in  its  institution  appeared  as  an  indulgence 
advantageous  alike  to  both  king  and  barons ;  in  reality,  however,  it 
struck  a  hard  blow  at  feudalism.  For,  in  the  first  place,  by  enabling 
the  king  to  hire  trained  soldiers,  it  made  him  independent  of  baronial 
assistance  ;  and,  secondly,  it  broke  down  the  unwise  concession  of  Henry's 
charter,  that  lands  held  by  knight  service  should  be  liable  to  no  other 


1163  .  Henry  11,  139 

impost.    Scutage,  which,  once  begun,  rapidly  became  a  regular  institution, 
also  helped  to  make  the  feudal  tenants  less  warlike,  and  aided  the  tendency 
which  was  rapidly  making  progress  in  England  by  which  feudalism, 
instead  of  being,  as  on  the  Continent,  the  basis  of  society,    „   ,       , 
was  becoming  merely  one  among  the  four  usual  methods  of  Land 
land  tenure.     These  were  knight  service,  free  socage,  frank 
almoign   (the  tenure    on  which   some   church  lands   were  held),   and 
customary  service  or  villein  tenure. 

The  institution  of  scutage,  even  if  not  suggested  by  Becket,  was  pro- 
bably carried  into  effect  by  him.  Thomas  had  made  an  admirable 
chancellor,  throwing  himself  into  all  Henry's  plans  with 
characteristic  energy,  perhaps  even  sinking  too  much  the  elected 
deacon  and  friend  of  archbishop  Theobald  in  the  lay  ofl&cial. 
Clergymen,  at  any  rate,  thought  he  had  been  hard  on  his  own  order  in 
the  matter  of  the  scutage  ;  and  when,  on  the  expedition  to  Toulouse,  he 
appeared  in  full  armour,  and  actually  overthrew  a  French  knight  in 
single  combat,  he  seemed  no  whit  behind  the  military  ecclesiastics  of  an 
earlier  age.  Henry  therefore  was  perfectly  satisfied ;  and  when  Theobald 
died  in  1161,  he  was  determined  that  Becket  should  add  to  his  office  of 
chancellor  that  of  archbishop,  that  the  threads  of  both  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical administration  might  be  in  the  hands  of  his  most  trusted  servant. 
Theobald,  too,  had  desired  Becket  for  his  successor  ;  so  in  1162  he  was 
elected  archbishop  by  the  monks  of  St.  Augustine's,  Canterbury,  in 
presence  of  a  great  council — Gilbert  Foliot,  bishop  of  Hereford,  alone  of 
the  council  objecting  on  the  ground  of  the  scutage — and  was  consecrated 
by  the  aged  Henry  of  Winchester.  The  king,  however,  had  made  a 
mistake.  As  those  who  knew  him  best  had  always  expected,  Becket 
showed  himself  to  be  at  heart  the  ecclesiastical  disciple  of  Theobald. 
From  the  moment  of  his  consecration  he  set  himself  to  magnify  his 
office,  and,  in  proof  of  his  new  attitude,  roused  Henry's  disgust  by  resign- 
ing his  post  of  chancellor,  as  inconsistent  with  the  demands  of  his  new 
position.  The  resignation,  indeed,  meant  more  than  Henry  at  first  im- 
puted to  it.  For  it  marked  the  moment  when  the  ecclesiastical  revival, 
which  under  various  forms  had  been  promoted  by  Anselm,  Henry  of 
Winchester,  and  Theobald  of  Canterbury,  had  made  the  old  relations  be- 
tween the  church  and  the  state  impossible.  Many  causes  had  led  to 
this,  and  it  was  a  question  rather  on  what  battle-ground  the  next  quarrel 
between  church  and  state  should  be  fought,  than  whether  there  should  be 
a  contest  at  all. 

The  first  question  on  which  the  king  and  the  archbishop  differed  was 
one  of  taxation.      In  July  1163,  Henry,  in  a  council  held  at  Woodstock, 


140  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  ii63 

proposed  that  a  tax  of  2s.  per  hide,  the  greater  part  of  which  had  of  late 
been  used  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  sheriffs,  should  go  direct  into  the 
^.      ^         ,  king's   exchequer.      For   some  reason   Becket  obiected  to 

First  Quarrel       . 

with  the  this,  and  declared  that  he  would  take  care  that  no  more 

op.  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  church  lands.  The  matter  is  obscure,  but 
ultimately  the  king  gave  way,  and  the  tax  under  the  old  form  was 
apparently  abolished.  The  incident,  however,  is  the  first  example  since 
the  Conquest  of  successful  resistance  to  taxation.  In  the  end,  however, 
the  quarrel  turned,  not  as  might  have  been  expected  on  scutage,  or  upon 
the  taxation  of  church  lands,  but  on  the  right  way  of  dealing  with  clergy 
accused  of  crime.  Before  the  Conquest,  when  the  bishop  sat  with  the 
ealdorman  in  the  shire-moot,  and  the  archdeacon  brought  his  cases 
before  the  hundred  court,  little  distinction  had  been  made  between  lay- 
men and  ecclesiastics.  William  the  Conqueror,  however,  probably  with 
the  sole  view  of  weakening  the  influence  of  the  English  bishops,  had  re- 
moved the  bishop  from  the  shire-moot  and  given  him  a  court  of  his  own, 
and  ordered  that  the  archdeacon  should  no  longer  bring  suits  in  the 
hundred  court.  Henceforth  all  clerical  cases  were  tried  in  ecclesi- 
TrialofEc-  astical  courts  according  to  the  church,  or  canon,  law; 
clesiastics.  .^^^  ^^le  lay  authorities  were  directed  to  aid  the  clergy  in 
carrying  out  the  sentences  of  their  courts.  The  change,  however,  was 
wider  than  William  had  ever  anticipated.  The  practice  of  using  the  papal 
tribunal  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  the  English  ecclesiastical  courts  was 
the  logical  consequence  of  the  new  system  ;  while  the  use  of  the  canon 
law,  made  even  more  a  distinct  branch  of  law  by  the  attention  given  to 
the  revived  study  of  the  Eoman  law,  did  more  than  anything  else  to 
make  the  clergy  a  separate  caste. 

Moreover,  the  ecclesiastical  courts  could  inflict  no  punishment  which 
involved  the  loss  of  life  or  limb.  Its  sentences  were  restricted  to  a  fine,  or 
to  imprisonment  in  a  monastery,  or  to  depriving  the  criminal  of  his  orders. 
The  Clerical  This  state  of  affairs  was  most  serious.  The  word  '  clergy,'  as 
Orders.  then  interpreted,  included  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  who 

were  described  as  clerks  in  holy  orders  ;  subdeacons,  acolytes,  exorcists, 
readers,  and  ostiarii ;  and  also  persons  who  had  received  the  '  first 
tonsure '  but  were  for  all  practical  purposes  laymen,  so  that  in  practice 
all  the  professional  classes,  except  regular  soldiers,  were  included  in 
it.  Moreover,  the  king's  justices  complained  that  since  his  accession 
no  less  than  one  hundred  murderers  and  innumerable  thieves  and  robbers 
had  made  their  escape  from  due  punishment  on  the  plea  that  they  were 
clerics.  The  facts,  indeed,  were  notorious ;  but  the  clergy,  who  feared 
that,  if  the  jurisdiction  of  the  lay  courts  over  '  criminous  clerks '  were 


1164  Henry  I L  141 

once  admitted,  a  serious  diminution  of  clerical  independence  would 
follow,  believed  that  the  right  remedy  was  to  be  found  in  a  stricter  exa- 
mination into  the  character  of  candidates  for  the  tonsure  ;  and  Becket, 
on  becoming  archbishop,  at  once  set  himself  to  do  this.  Henry's 
Henry,  however,  was  not  prepared  to  wait  the  action  of  so  Proposition, 
slow  a  remedy,  and  proposed  that  for  the  future  a  criminal,  who,  on 
being  brought  before  the  ordinary  courts,  claimed  to  be  a  clerk,  should 
be  handed  over  to  the  bishop  to  be  tried  before  the  ecclesiastical  court  in 
the  presence  of  a  royal  officer.  If  convicted,  he  was  then  to  be  unfrocked, 
and  handed  back  to  the  lay  authorities  for  the  infliction  of  the  usual 
punishment.  To  this  Becket  demurred,  asserting  that  it  would  be 
sufficient  punishment  for  a  cleric  to  be  degraded  from  his  orders.  If 
he  offended  a  second  time  he  would  do  so  as  a  layman,  and  could  be 
treated  as  such.  In  1163  the  case  of  Philip  de  Broi,  a  clerk  accused  of 
crime,  drew  special  attention  to  the  matter,  and  the  question  was  raised 
at  a  council  held  at  Westminster  in  October  1163.  The  councilor 
discussion  was  renewed  at  Clarendon  in  January  1164,  and  Clarendon, 
there  Becket,  under  some  pressure,  agreed  to  '  obey  the  customs '  of  the 
realm.  The  question  arose  what  these  customs  were.  Accordingly, 
Henry  appointed  a  commission  to  inquire,  headed  by  Richard  de  Lucy. 
In  nine  days  it  presented  its  report  in  the  form  known  as  the  '  Constitu- 
tions of  Clarendon.' 

These  constitutions,  however,  sixteen  in  number,   dealt  with  many 
other  things  than  the  trial  of  '  criminous  clerks,'  and  attempted  to  settle 

most  questions  then   in  dispute  between  the  church  and   ^ 

mi  11  1  Constitu- 

state.      ihus,  questions  about  advowsons  and  presentations   tionsof 

to  livings  were  to  be  tried  in  the  king's  court      Clerics      ""^'^  °"* 

were  not  to  quit  the  realm  without  the  consent  of  the  king.     Appeals 

from  ecclesiastical  courts  were  to  go  to  the  king  ;  and  unless  he  consented 

that  they  go  no  further,   the   litigants  were  to  be  content  with  the 

decision  of  the  archbishop.      The  old  rule  of  William  the  Conqueror  that 

no   tenant-in  chief  or  minister  of  the  king  should  be  excommunicated 

without   his   consent,  and   the   rule   that   clergy   were   to   hold    their 

lands  as   tenants-in-chief,  and   to   perform  all  duties  and  attend  the 

king's  court  with  the  other  tenants-in-chief,  were  reaffirmed.     Elections 

of  archbishops,  bishops,  and  abbots  were  to  take  place  by  order  of 

the  king,  in  the  king's  chapel ;  and  the  bishop  or  abbot  elect  was  to  do 

homage  for  his  lands  before  he  was  consecrated  or  installed.     These  were 

merely  restatements  of  ordinary  practice  and  of  the  settlement  of  Henry 

and  Anselm.      A  clause,  however,  that  the  sons  of  villeins  should  not  be 

consecrated  without  the  consent  of  their  lords  was  new.     It  was  probably 


142  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1164 

designed  partly  to   safeguard  the  rights  of  the  lords  of  the  manor, 

who  lost  the   services   of    the   villein   who    took  orders,   and    partly 

to  put  a  check  on  the  ordination  of  the  lower  classes.      In  practice, 

the   leave   of  the  lord  could  always  be   obtained  on   payment  of  a 

small  sum. 

These    constitutions,   therefore,   amounted  to   a  code,   and  justified 

Becket's  fears  that  in  agreeing  to  '  obey  the  customs '  he  was  committing 

himself  to  more  than  he  intended.      For  six  days  they  were 
Becket's 
Opposition     debated,  clause  by  clause,  and  finally  he  refused  to  give  his 

and  ight.  ^Q^ggj^^^^  During  the  spring  and  summer  Thomas  twice 
attempted  in  vain  an  escape  from  England  and  appeal  to  the  pope ; 
and  meanwhile  his  enemies  at  court  were  doing  all  they  could  to  foment 
the  quarrel  between  him  and  the  king.  Their  success  was  seen  when  the 
council  met  at  Northampton  in  November.  A  series  of  charges  were 
brought  against  Becket,  culminating  in  a  demand  for  the  immediate  pro- 
duction of  the  whole  of  the  moneys  that  had  passed  through  his  hands  as 
chancellor.  Becket,  on  his  side,  seems  to  have  lost  his  temper  under 
persecution,  and  behaved  with  such  rashness  that  Gilbert  Foliot,  now 
bishop  of  London,  called  him  'a  fool.'  His  brother  bishops  were  unable  to 
persuade  him  to  bate  a  jot  of  his  pretensions  by  way  of  meeting  the  king. 
Henry,  on  the  other  side,  was  full  of  fury  at  the  arrogance  of  the  arch- 
bishop ;  and  at  length,  escaping  from  the  town  at  dead  of  night,  Becket 
made  his  way  to  the  coast  and  took  ship  for  the  Continent.  His  departure 
was  a  serious  matter  for  Henry,  as  Becket's  presence  on  the  Continent 
introduced  a  new  complication  into  his  difiiculties  with  the  king  of  France, 
and  also  because  the  open  quarrel  between  the  king  and  the  archbishop 
dissolved  the  alliance  between  the  church  and  the  crown  which,  on  the 
whole,  had  been  preserved  since  the  Conquest,  and  so  far  strengthened 
the  hands  of  the  feudal  barons. 

Becket  found  the  pope  unwilling  to  take  his  side,  for  at  that  moment 

Alexander  iii.  was  contending  against  the  pretensions  of  an  anti-pope, 

who  was  supported  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa  ; 

appeals  to    and  too  much  enthusiasm  for  Becket  might  have  thrown 

the  Pope,     jjgjjj.y   Qj^  ^ijg  g^j^jg   gi^jg^     Yov  six  years,  therefore,  the 

struggle  went  on.  Henry's  first  move  was  to  confiscate  the  whole  of 
the  property  of  the  see  of  Canterbury  and  drive  from  the  country  all 
the  kindred  of  Becket.  In  1166  the  archbishop  retorted  by  excom- 
municating seven  of  Henry's  strongest  adherents,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  the  justiciar,  Richard  de  Lucy  ;  and  in  1167,  after  an  unsatisfactory 
interview  with  Henry,  Becket  excommunicated  Gilbert  Foliot  and 
nine  others.     In  time,  however,  both  Becket  and  Henry  grew  weary 


1170  Henry  11.  143 

of  the  struggle.     The  archbishop  was  anxious   to  return  :   Henry  had 
recognised  how  much  harm  was  being  done   to  him  by   Reconcilia- 
Becket's   alliance   with  the   French   king  ;   so  in  1170  a  H°e"nry^^"" 
reconciliation  between  them  was  patched  up,  without  any  Becket. 
settlement  of  the  question  of  the  Constitutions,  and  after  some  delay 
Becket  returned  to  England  on  December  1st. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  such  a  reconciliation  could  have  been  more 
than  a  truce  ;  but,  unfortunately,  a  new  cause  of  offence  had  been 
given  to  Becket.  Some  years  before  Henry  had  formed  a  New 
scheme  for  getting  his  eldest  son,  Henry,  crowned  king  of  Quarrel. 
England  during  his  own  lifetime  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1170,  before  his 
reconciliation  with  Becket,  he  determined  to  carry  it  out.  By  ancient 
right  the  function  of  crowning  the  king  of  England  was  a  privilege  of 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  ;  but  in  Becket's  absence  Henry  decided 
to  have  the  ceremony  performed  by  the  archbishop  of  York,  Koger 
Pontl'eveque,  an  old  rival  of  Becket.  The  exiled  archbishop  was  furious, 
and  obtained  a  papal  bull  forbidding  Roger  to  perform  the  ceremony  ; 
but,  in  spite  of  this,  Roger  persevered,  and,  supported  by  Foliot,  bishop 
of  London,  and  Jocelyn,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  performed  the  coronation 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  in  the  presence  of  Henry  himself.  In  spite  of 
this,  the  reconciliation  took  place  ;  but,  on  returning  to  England,  Becket 
brought  with  him  letters  from  the  pope  suspending  all  the  bishops  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  coronation  ceremony. 

Becket  was  warmly  received  by  the  populace,  but  was  treated  coldly 
by  both  the  laity  and  clergy  of  the  upper  classes,  and  was  forbidden  to 
visit  the  young  king.  His  spirit,  however,  was  in  no  way  ^lurder  of 
depressed.  He  refused  to  absolve  the  bishops,  and  on  Becket. 
Christmas  day  he  issued  another  excommunication  against  Ralf  de  Broc, 
who  had  been  steward  of  the  lands  of  Canterbury  during  his  exile. 
Meanwhile,  the  bishops  of  York,  London,  and  Salisbury  had  hurried 
over  to  Normandy  to  lay  their  case  before  the  king ;  and  exaggerated 
tales  described  Becket  as  traversing  the  country  surrounded  by  a  guard 
of  supporters.  Furious  at  the  bishops'  story  and  the  other  reports,  Henry 
let  fall  the  words  :  'Are  there  none  of  the  cowards  eating  my  bread  who 
will  rid  me  of  this  turbulent  priest  ? '  It  was  not  the  first  time  Henry 
had  used  words  to  much  the  same  effect  ;  and  probably  he  meant 
nothing  except  that  he  was  very  angry,  for  a  council  was  called  to 
deliberate  on  the  matter,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  arresting 
Becket  on  a  charge  of  treason.  However,  before  this  could  be  done,  a 
terrible  crime  had  been  committed.  Four  knights,  Hugh  de  Morville, 
William  de  Tracy,  Reginald  Fitz  Urse,  and  Richard  le  Breton,  took 


144  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  U70 

Henry's  rash  words  in  a  literal  sense  ;  and,  slipping  unnoticed  from  the 
court,  they  made  their  way  separately  to  England,  and  met  one  another 
at  the  house  of  Ralf  de  Broc.  Thence,  on  December  29th,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Canterbury,  and,  making  their  way  into  the  archbishop's 
palace,  demanded  in  rude  terms  that  he  should  withdraw  the  excom- 
munication of  the  bishops.  Becket  refused  with  equal  rudeness,  and 
then  made  his  way  into  the  cathedral,  pursued  by  the  knights.  There, 
after  further  altercation,  in  which  equally  exasperating  language  was 
used  on  either  side,  the  knights  drew  their  swords,  and,  being  deserted 
by  all  his  companions  save  his  cross-bearer,  Edward  Grim,  who  himself 
tells  the  story,  the  archbishop  was  butchered  on  the  altar-steps  of  his 
own  cathedral. 

Nothing  worse  could  have  happened  both  for  Henry  and  for  England. 
Public  opinion,  which  had  looked  coldly  on  Becket  during  his  life,  veered 
Effect  of  round  after  his  death.  In  spite  of  all  Henry  could  do  to 
the  Murder.  g^Qp  tlie  reports,  it  was  believed  that  miracles  had  been 
wrought  at  Becket's  tomb,  and  his  fame  as  a  saint  and  a  martyr  were 
fully  established.  That  Henry  was  guiltless  of  any  intentional  part  in 
his  death  was  generally  admitted  ;  and,  having  sworn  his  innocence,  he 
received  full  absolution  from  the  papal  legates.  To  enforce  the  Constitu- 
tions, however,  was  utterly  impossible  ;  and,  consequently,  for  over  three 
hundred  years  criminous  clerks  continued  to  be  tried  by  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts ;  appeals  continued  to  be  sent  to  Rome ;  and,  the  royal  power 
over  church  affairs  having  received  a  decided  check,  opportunity  was 
given  for  an  increase  of  the  influence  of  the  pope,  of  which  full  advantage 
was  taken.  For  years  the  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Canterbury  was  the  most  popular  event  in  English  life  ;  and  it  was  only 
by  very  slow  degrees  that  the  state  recovered  the  hold  over  the  clergy 
and  the  church  which  was  lost  by  the  fatal  impatience  of  the  murderers 
of  Thomas  Becket. 

During  the  time  the   struggle  with  Becket  was  going   on,   Henry 

had  not  ceased  to  carry  forward  his  schemes  for  the  reform  of  the 

Judicial       administration  of  justice.     As  early  as  1155  he  had  revived 

Reforms,      j^jg  grandfather's  plan  of  sending  judges  from  the   curia 

regis  to  sit  in  the  county  courts.     The  visitations  of  the  judges  may  be 

regarded  as  a  substitute  for  the  regular  journeys  of  the  English  kings, 

serving  to  connect  the  local  courts  with  the  central  administration,  to 

keep  in  check  the  power  of  the  provincial  magnates,  and  to  bring  to 

Justices-      every  one's  door  the  power  of  appeal  to  the  highest  autho- 

in-eyre.        j,^^y  j^  ^j^g  j^nd.     These  judges  were  called  justices-in-eyre, 

a  corruption  of  the  latin  form  in  itinere.     The  administration  of  justice, 


U70  Henry  11.  145 

however,  was  not  their  only  business.  To  look  after  the  collection  of  the 
king's  revenue  was  quite  as  important  a  function  :  and  they  had  also  to 
see  that  the  proper  precautions  were  taken  for  keeping  the  kin^s  peace ; 
that  the  oath  of  allegiance  was  taken  by  those  from  whom  it  was  due  ; 
and  that  care  was  taken  that  every  one  should  be  enrolled  in  a  frank 
pledge  or  association  of  ten  men  for  mutual  security,  which  was  an 
ancient  device  for  securing  the  apprehension  of  criminals,  and  making 
each  person's  good  conduct  a  matter  of  concern  to  a  number  of  others. 
In  1173  the  circuits  of  the  justices-in-eyre  were  fixed  at  six — the  home, 
midland,  eastern,  western,  north-eastern,  and  northern  circuits — and 
remained  substantially  the  same  tiU  recent  times. 

Besides  arranging  the  regular  circuits  of  the  judges,  Henry  also  intro- 
duced changes  into  the  method  of  administering  justice,  both  in  civil  and 
criminal  cases.  In  old  English  times,  civil  cases  or  disputes  ^rial  by 
between  individuals  were  decided  by  the  whole  body  of  i^^' 
suitors  at  the  shire-moot,  in  accordance  with  the  oaths  of  persons 
who  knew  the  facts,  such  as  where  the  boundary  of  the  estate 
ran,  or  who  owned  a  certain  wood.  The  Normans,  however,  had  intro- 
duced the  method  of  trial  by  battle,  or  of  a  judicial  combat  between  the 
litigants  or  their  representatives.  Such  a  decision  was  obviously  unfair, 
and  was  extremely  unpopular,  especially  among  townspeople  ;  so  Henry 
introduced  an  improved  method.  Ever  since  the  Conquest,  and  possibly 
earlier,  use  had  been  made  of  the  method  of  '  sworn  inquest,'  by  which 
a  body  of  sworn  men  were  employed  to  record  certain  facts.  William 
the  Conqueror  employed  it  to  discover  the  laws  of  the  old  English  in 
1070,  and  again  in  the  Doomsday  survey.  This  plan  Henry  r-yc. 
II.  now  applied  to  civil  cases,  offering  it,  however,  as  an 
optional  alternative.  The  new  regulation  was  promulgated  in  the  grand 
assize,  the  date  of  which,  however,  is  unknown,  but  must  be  earlier 
than  1164,  for  in  that  year  a  clause  in  the  constitutions  of  Clarendon 
enjoined  the  use  of  the  same  plan  in  the  case  of  disputes  about  ecclesias- 
tical property. 

In  1156  the  process  of  criminal  judicature  was  dealt  with  by  the 
assize  of  Clarendon.  Hitherto  the  old  English  method  of  compurgation 
and  the  ordeal,  or  the  Norman  plan  of  trial  by  battle,  had  criminal 
been  in  use  ;  but  Henry  now  ordered  that,  when  the  royal  Cases, 
judges  came  into  a  county,  twelve  legal  men  of  each  hundred,  and  four 
legal  men  from  each  township,  should  present  to  them  on  oath  any  one 
in  the  township  or  hundred  who  was  notoriously  a  robber,  murderer,  or 
receiver  of  such ;  and  in  case  the  judge  was  not  in  the  county  but  near  it, 
the  sheriff  had  to  make  a  similar  inquiry  and  report  to  the  judges.     The 

K 


146  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  ii70 

accused  were  then  put  to  the  ordeal  of  water.  If  they  failed,  they  were 
punished  by  hanging  or  otherwise  as  the  judges  directed  ;  but  if  they  by 
any  chance  passed  the  ordeal,  it  was  assumed  that  men  who  stood  so 
badly  in  the  opinion  of  their  neighbours  must  be  good-for-nothing 
fellows,  and  they  were  ordered  to  leave  the  country  within  forty  days. 
Jury  of  Pre-  The  body  of  sixteen  men  who  formed  the  '  jury  of  present- 
sentment.  ment '  may  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  grand  jury  who  decided 
that  the  prisoners  ought  to  be  tried,  or,  in  modern  parlance,  '  returned  a 
true  bill  against  the  accused ' ;  but  the  question  of  guilt  or  innocence  was 
determined  by  the  ordeal.  This  scheme  was  reissued  and  the  severity  of 
the  punishment  increased  by  the  assize  of  Northampton,  enacted  in  1176. 
However,  in  1216  a  Lateran  Council,  held  in  Eome  by  the  famous 
Innocent  iii.,  forbade  the  use  of  the  ordeal  as  an  institution  too  barbarous 
for  Christian  men.  A  substitute  for  it  was  found  in  the  institution  of 
the  petty  jury  or  little  jury.  This  consisted  of  twelve 
sworn  men,  who  were  taken  from  the  neighbourhood  where 
the  crime  was  committed,  and  were  supposed  to  know  the  facts  of  the 
case.  If  they  did  not  agree,  others  were  added  till  twelve  gave  a  verdict 
one  way  or  another.  This  plan,  however,  was  awkward,  and  by  degrees 
the  additional  jurymen  came  to  be  merely  witnesses,  who  gave  their 
evidence  before  the  court ;  and  the  verdict  was  pronounced  by  the 
original  twelve,  who  were  required  to  be  unanimous.  As  the  petty  jury 
was  a  substitute  for  the  ordeal,  which  was  regarded  as  the  judgment  of 
God,  there  was  no  appeal  from  its  decision.  Moreover,  the  accused  was 
not  allowed  to  call  witnesses  on  his  own  behalf  or  to  be  represented  by 
an  advocate.  It  was,  however,  assumed  that  unless  the  jury  were  quite 
satisfied  of  a  prisoner's  guilt  he  should  have  the  benefit  of  the  doubt — 
an  assumption,  however,  not  always  observed  in  practice. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  course  of  the  Becket  struggle  a  step  had  been 
Conquest  of  taken  towards  the  conquest  of  Ireland.  The  condition  of 
Ireland.  Ireland  had  long  been  an  invitation  to  interference.     Both 

in  regard  to  the  constitution  of  its  society  and  its  system  of  land  tenure 
that  country  was  still  in  the  state  of  tribal  organisation  from  which 
every  other  Aryan  nation  in  Europe  had  long  ago  emerged.  The  only 
state  of  the  social  tie  recognised  was  real  or  imaginary  relationship  to 
Country.  some  chieftain,  which  constituted  membership  of  his  sept  or 
clan.  To  this  the  land  of  the  district  belonged  in  common  ownership  ; 
and  individual  ownership  of  land,  which  experience  has  shown  to  be 
necessary  for  any  serious  advance  in  agriculture  or  civilisation,  was 
practically  unknown.  Among  the  crowd  of  petty  chieftains,  however, 
four    had  a  pre-eminence,   styling    themselves    respectively  kings   of 


U70  Henry  IL  147 

Ulster,  Connaught,  Leinster,  and  Munster ;  but  their  authority  was  of 

a  most  fluctuating  character,  the  power  of  the  Ardriagh  or  head  king 

was  absolutely  nominal,  and  the  country  was  kept  in  continual  turmoil 

by  their  dissensions  and  rivalries.     On  the  coast  were  the  settlements 

of  the  Northmen,  in  Dublin,  Waterford,  Cork,  and  Limerick ;  but  the 

Ostmen  never  succeeded  in  conquering  the  inland  districts. 

At  one  time  it  seemed  possible  that  a  new  invasion  of  the  Northmen 

might  lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  strong  government,  either  Norse 

or  native.     This,  however,  did  not  happen.     On   the  one    , 

^^  .  .  Invasions  of 

hand,  the  Northmen  were  defeated  by  the  natives  in  the   the  North - 

great  battle  of  Clontarf  in  1017  ;  on  the  other,  Brian  Boru,   "™*"' 

or  Boroimhe,  the  strongest  of  the  native  kings,  fell  at  the  moment  of 

victory  ;  and  though   the   invaders  had  been  driven  oflf,   the  country 

relapsed  into  its  old  tribal  condition.     In  England   the  unity  of  the 

church  had  been  a  most  powerful  factor  in  promoting  the  unity  of  the 

state  ;  but  in  Ireland  the  church  was  almost  powerless  for  this  purpose. 

Ever  since  the  synod  of  Whitby  it  bad  been  cut  off  from  intercourse 

with  the  churches  of  the  West ;  it  had  never  been  organised  ,  .  ^  ^^ 

^,        ,  ,  ,11  .        .       ,    .         ,  ,    Irish  Church, 

by  a  Theodore,  and  consequently  had  maintained  its  old 

defective  monastic  organisation  without  properly  defined  dioceses ;  and 

when  its  immense  monastic  institutions,  which  had  been  the  home  of  its 

famous  learning,  such  as  Bangor  or  Clonmacnoise,  had  been  sacked  by  the 

invading  Northmen,  it  sank  into  profound  disorder.     Since  the  Norman 

conquest  of  England,  however,  something  had  been  done  to  improve  its 

condition.     Lanfranc  and  Anselm  had  both  tried  to  make  obedience  to 

Canterbury  the  basis  of  a  reorganisation  of  the  Irish  bishoprics  ;  and 

owing  to  the   exertions  of  St.   Malachi,   who   became  archbishop  of 

Armagh  in  1134,  a  papal  legate  was  sent,  dioceses  were  properly  divided 

and  placed  under  the  direction  of  four  archbishops,  those  of  Armagh, 

Tuam,  Cashel,  and  Dublin. 

Meanwhile,  the  conquest  of  Ireland,  as  the  natural  completion  of  that 

of  England,  had  often  been  mooted  at  the  English  court ;  and  in  1155 

Henry  ii.  took  advantage  of  the  papacy  of  Nicholas  Breakspear,  the 

only  born  Englishman  who  ascended  the  papal  throne,  to  obtain  from 

him  a   bull  authorising  him  to  conquer  Ireland  '  for  the 

enlargement  of  the  church's  borders,  for  the  restraint  of 

vice,  the  correction  of  morals,  and  the  planting  of  virtue.'     Nothing, 

however,  was   done  at  the  time,   for  the   Empress   Matilda  strongly 

advised  Henry  to  defer  any  action  ;  and  eventually  the  squabbles  of  the 

Irish  princes,  and  not  English  ambition,  proved  the  cause  of  the  loss  of 

Ireland's  independence. 


148  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1170 

As  early  as  1152,  Dermot  Macmorrough,  king  of  Leinster,  had  carried 
off  by  force  Devorgil,  the  wife  of  O'Euarc,  the  chief  of  the  men  of 
Breffny,  in  the  adjoining  kingdom  of  Connaught.     For  eighteen  years  the 
Dermot  of   injured  husband  never  forgave  the  thief ;  and  he  found  his 
Leinster.     opportunity  of  revenge  when  his  friend  Koderic  O'Connor, 
king  of  Connaught,  defeated  Murtogh  O'Lochlainn,  the  representative 
of  the  ancient  house  of  the  O'Neals  of  Ulster,  and  had  become  the  most 
powerful  king  in  Ireland.     O'Ruarc  persuaded  him  to  order  the  banish- 
ment of  Dermot.     AccordinglJ^,  Dermot  was  compelled  to  fly  ;  but  he 
betook  himself  to  Bristol,  and,  thence  making  his  way  to  Henry's  court, 
offered  him  homage  and  fealty,  and  implored  him  to  aid  him  against  his 
enemies.     At  the  moment,  1166,  Henry  was  far  too  busy  to  undertake 
an  expedition  himself;   but  he  accepted  the  homage  and  the  fealty, 
promised  a  speedy  aid,  and  gave  him  a  letter  authorising  any  of  his 
subjects  to  join  the  Irish  prince.      Armed  with  this  letter,  Dermot 
sought  aid  among  the  Norman  settlers  in  South  Wales,  who  represented 
the  forward  movement  of  the  conquering  Normans  in  this  country,  and 
Richard  de  won  over  to  his  side  Richard  de  Clare,  earl  of  Striguil, 
Clare.  better  known  as  Strongbow,  to  whom  he  offered  the  hand 

of  his  daughter  Eva  and  the  prospect  of  succeeding  to  the  crown  of 
Leinster.  By  the  promise  of  the  crown  of  Wexford  he  also  enlisted  the 
services  of  two  half-brothers,  Maurice  Fitzgerald  and  Robert  Fitz- 
Stephen.  Accompanied  by  a  small  band,  Dermot  then  returned  to 
Ireland  in  1167,  but  was  promptly  defeated  by  Roderic  O'Connor,  and 
compelled  to  await  in  hiding  the  arrival  of  his  Welsh  allies.  However, 
in  1168  Robert  Fitz-Stephen  landed  at  Bannow,  joined  Dermot,  and 
captured  Wexford.  Some  time  was  then  spent  in  a  series  of  expeditions 
against  Dermot's  special  enemies  ;  but  in  1169  Maurice  Fitzgerald 
made  his  appearance,  and  the  allied  forces  then  captured  Dublin.  Not 
till  1170  did  Strongbow  cross  the  Channel.  Waterford  was  immediately 
taken.  The  marriage  of  the  earl  of  Striguil  and  Eva  followed.  In  1171 
the  death  of  Dermot  transferred  his  rights  to  the  husband  of  Eva  ;  but 
the  invaders  had  much  ado  to  hold  their  own  in  Dublin  against  an 
army  of  Northmen  from  Man  and  the  Western  Isles,  who  had  been 
summoned  to  the  aid  of  their  kinsfolk  ;  and,  the  Northmen  being  expelled, 
they  had  to  repel  another  attack  of  Roderic  O'Connor.  It  was  now 
clear  to  Henry  that  the  Norman  adventurers  were  in  all  probability 
about  to  set  up  a  semi-independent  power  across  St.  George's  Channel, 
Henry  in  which  might  be  a  cause  of  the  utmost  annoyance  to  him- 
ireland.  g^j^^  jjg  therefore  determined  to  interfere,  and  in  1171  he 
came  over  to  Ireland  with  a  large  force,  and  received  the  submission 


UTS  Henry  11.  149 

of  the  English  adventurers.  The  adhesion  of  the  Irish  chieftains  soon 
followed.  The  first  to  do  homage  was  Dermot  Macarthy,  king  of  South 
Munster.  His  example  was  followed  by  Donell  O'Brien,  king  of  North 
Munster,  and  others  ;  and  in  1172  Roderic  O'Connor  of  Connaught,  who 
claimed  to  be  king  of  all  Ireland,  also  yielded.  Henry  then  placed 
garrisons  in  Waterford  and  Wexford,  and  made  a  grant  of  Dublin  to 
the  Bristol  merchants  ;  but  his  projects  for  a  complete  conquest  of  the 
island  were  frustrated  by  the  necessity  of  himself  returning  to  England, 
and  he  never  found  another  opportunity  of  revisiting  the  country. 
In  1177,  however,  he  formed  a  plan  for  making  his  youngest  son, 
John,  lord  of  Ireland  ;  but  no  real  progress  was  made  in  the 
work  of  reorganising  the  country,  and  the  English  with  difficulty 
maintained  their  hold  on  Dublin,  Waterford,  and  Wexford,  and  the 
districts  immediately  round  them,  which  came  to  be  known  as  the 
English  pale. 

One  reason  for  Henry's  visit  to  Ireland  had  been  his  desire  to  be  out 
of  the  way  till  the  storm  of  indignation  caused  by  the  murder  of 
Becket  had  in  some  degree  subsided  ;  but  during  his  absence  the 
threads  of  a  formidable  conspiracy  were  woven,  which  broke  out  in 
1173  and  1174,  and  taxed  to  their  utmost  the  resources  of  the  court. 
This  conspiracy  had  its  origin  in  two  causes — (1)  The  vexa- 
tion of  the  barons  at  the  succession  of  blows  which  Henry  of  the 
had  struck  at  the  power  of  feudalism  ;  (2)  the  dissatisfac-  ^'■o""- 
tion  of  Henry's  sons  with  his  proposed  disposition  of  his  dominions. 
Since  Henry's  accession,  the  barons  felt  that  their  rights  and  privileges 
had  been  invaded  on  every  side.  The  resumption  of  the  royal  castles 
had  reduced  their  military  power.  They  were  no  longer  allowed  the 
privilege  of  coining  money.  Scutage  had  not  only  diminished  their 
military  efficiency,  but  had  destroyed  their  cherished  hope  of  immunity 
from  general  taxation.  The  aids  for  the  knighting  of  the  king's  eldest 
son  and  for  the  dowry  of  his  eldest  daughter  had  been  rigorously  col- 
lected. Above  all,  the  assize  of  Clarendon  had  shown  that  the  king 
meant  to  be  in  all  cases  and  over  all  causes  supreme,  and  that  no 
baronial  privileges  or  immunities  were  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  equal 
administration  of  the  law  of  the  land.  To  such  men  as  the  great  earl  of 
Chester,  Hugh  Bigod,  earl  of  Norfolk,  Robert,  earl  of  Leicester,  the 
unworthy  son  of  the  old  justiciar,  and  Robert  Mowbray,  who  regarded 
themselves  as  the  representatives  of  the  great  barons  of  the  Con- 
quest, his  whole  policy  seemed  one  long  insult  to  their  class,  and 
they  were  only  waiting  their  opportunity  to  set  on  foot  a  formidable 
rising. 


150  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  U73 

In  the  second  place,  Henry  had  signally  failed  to  preserve  harmony 
in  his  own  house.  His  coronation  of  his  son  Henry  had  proved  to  be  a 
Family  mistake,  for  the  young  man  could  not  understand  that  his 

Dissensions,  father  designed  his  coronation  to  be  little  more  than  a  means 
of  securing  his  undisputed  succession  to  the  throne,  while  his  marriage 
to  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  France  exposed  him  to  the  influence  of  his 
intriguing  father-in  law,  Louis  vii.  It  was  a  rumour  of  young  Henry's 
discontent  which  recalled  his  father  from  Ireland  ;  and  after  a  visit  paid 
to  the  court  of  France  in  1172,  the  young  king  asked  his  father  to  give 
him  England,  Normandy,  and  Anjou  as  a  separate  sovereignty.  Henry, 
however,  had  never  designed  to  play  the  part  of  King  Lear,  and  refused 
to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  For  his  younger  children,  Richard  and 
Geoffrey,  Henry  thought  he  had  made  ample  provision  ;  Eichard  was  to 
succeed  his  mother  and  be  duke  of  Aquitaine.  Geoffrey  was  to  be  duke 
of  Brittany  as  the  husband  of  Constance,  daughter  of  Duke  Conan.  In 
1167  his  plans,  however,  were  somewhat  upset  by  the  birth  of  his 
youngest  son  John,  whom  he  forthwith  named  Lackland  ;  and  it  was  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  this  child  that  was  at  the  bottom  of  much  of 
his  subsequent  trouble.  In  1173  Henry  proposed  to  give  the  castles  of 
Chinon  and  Mirebeau,  formerly  held  by  his  younger  brother  Geoffrey,  as 
a  provision  for  John  ;  but  to  this  scheme  the  young  Henry,  as  count  of 
Anjou,  refused  consent,  and,  escaping  by  night  from  the  court,  fled  to  the 
king  of  France.  There  he  was  joined  by  his  younger  brothers,  Richard 
and  Geoffrey  ;  and  their  mother  Eleanor,  disguised  in  men's  clothes,  was 
also  on  her  way,  when  she  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  The  French  court 
then  became  a  centre  of  intrigue,  and  the  young  princes  spared  no  bribes 
to  gain  allies  against  their  father.  They  found  few,  however,  among 
Henry's  Continental  vassals  ;  but  the  English  barons  jumped  at  the 
opportunity,  and  soon  a  most  formidable  conspiracy  was  on  foot,  led  by 
Hugh  of  Chester,  Hugh  Bigod,  Robert  of  Ferrers,  and  Robert  Mowbray. 
William  the  Lion,  king  of  Scots,  was  won  over  by  an  offer  of  the  earl- 
dom of  Northumberland  ;  Hugh  de  Puiset,  prince-bishop  of  Durham, 
alone  among  ecclesiastics  also  took  the  same  side  ;  while  a  promise  of 
the  earldom  of  Kent  and  the  county  of  Mortain  won  the  assistance  of 
Philip  of  Flanders  and  Matthew  of  Boulogne. 

Against  this  formidable  conspiracy  Henry  relied,  for  the  defence  of 
his  Continental  dominions,  on  the  service  of  twenty  thousand  Brabanters, 

Henry's       whom  his  wealth  enabled  him  to  hire  as  mercenaries ;  for 

Successes,  ^jjg^^  ^f  England,  he  depended  on  the  efforts  of  Richard 
de  Lucy,  the  justiciar,  William  Mandeville,  earl  of  Essex,  Ralf  Glanville, 
sheriff  of  Lancashire,  and  a  number  of  lesser  barons  and  officials.     He 


1174  Hen/ry  11.  151 

had  also  on  his  side  all  the  bishops  except  Hugh  of  Durham  ;  all  his  own 

towns  ;  and,  of  more  importance  still,  the  goodwill  of  the  masses  of  the 

people,  who  were  ready  to  serve  in  the  militia  and  give  a  loyal  support 

to  his   officers  rather  than  risk  a  renewal  of  the  evil  days  of  King 

Stephen.     Taking  advantage  of  the  absence  in  Normandy  of  the  earls 

of  Chester  and  Leicester,  the  king's  friends  struck  the  first  blow  by 

besieging  and  taking  the  town  of  Leicester  in  July  1173  ;  in  the  same 

month  a  chance  shot  killed  Matthew  of  Boulogne  ;  and  in  August,  Hugh 

of  Chester  was  taken  in  the  castle  of  Dol.     Louis  would  gladly  have 

made  peace  ;  but  as  Henry  still  refused  to  give  up  his  hold  over  the 

government  of  his  dominions,  his  sons  were  determined  to  carry  on  the 

war.    Accordingly,  Robert  of  Leicester  made  his  way  to  England  and 

joined  Hugh  Bigod  in  his  stronghold  of  Framlingham  in  Suffolk  ;  but 

the  two  earls  were  utterly  routed  by  the  constable  Humphrey  de  Bohun 

at  the  battle  of  Fornham,  and  their  Flemish  mercenaries  were  killed  off 

almost  to  a  man  by  the  peasantry.     The  Earl  of  Leicester  himself  was 

taken,  and  joined  Ralf  of  Chester  and  Queen  Eleanor  in  the  dungeons  of 

Falaise.     Meanwhile,  the  king  of  Scots  had  been  checked  from  joining 

his  friends  by  the  necessity  of  breaking  through  the  line  of  strong  border 

castles  from  Carlisle  to  Newcastle  which  barred  his  southern  march  ;  but 

they  were  one  by  one  falling  into  his  hands  when  Henry,  in  1174,  found 

himself  strong  enough  to  leave  Normandy,  and,  taking  his  prisoners  and 

Margaret,  wife  of  the  younger  Henry,  with  him,  crossed  the  Channel  to 

Southampton.    Henry  had  long  before  acquitted  himself  in  the  eyes  of  the 

law  and  the  church  from  complicity  in  the  murder  of  Becket ;  but  he  felt 

it  needful  to  do  something  which  would  strike  the  popular  imagination,  so 

he  at  once  proceeded  to  Canterbury,  made  his  way  barefoot    Henry's 

to  the  cathedral,  submitted  to  be  scourged  before  the  mar-    Penance. 

tyr's  tomb,  and  spent  a  whole  night  in  prayer  before  his  shrine.    Thence 

he  went  to  London,  where  the  joyful  news  reached  him  that,  at  the  very 

moment  that  he  was  on  his  knees  at  Canterbury,  the  king  of  Scots,  made 

venturesome  by  success,  had  been  surprised  and  taken  at   ^ 

•^  Capture  of 

Alnwick  by  Robert  de  Stuteville,  sheriff  of  Yorkshire.    The   the  King  of 

material  and  moral  effect  of  the  capture  and  coincidence 

was   invaluable  to  Henry  ;   and  he  lost  no  time  in  following  up  his 

success  by  marching  on  Framlingham  and  compelling  Hugh  Bigod  to 

surrender.     The  leaders  being  thus  disposed  of,  the  surrender  of  their 

castles  soon  followed.     Hugh  of  Durham  gave  up  Durham,  Norham,  and 

Northallerton ;    Robert   Mowbray   surrendered  Thirsk.     In  the   three 

weeks  from  his  landing  Henry  had  received  the  submission  of  all  the 

rebels,  and  the  country  was  once  more  at  peace. 


152  Earlier  Angemn  Kings  1174 

Such  a  signal  collapse  of  the  English  rebellion,  proving  as  it  did  how 

completely  the  policy  of  Henry  was  supported  by  the  English  people, 

and  how  little  even  the  quarrel  with  Becket  had  disturbed 

ofthe^"^^°"  the  loyalty  of  the  church,  completely  discouraged  Henry's 

RebeUion  continental  foes.  Louis  was  soon  compelled  to  sue  for 
peace.  Young  Henry's  submission,  and  that  of  his 
brothers  followed  ;  and,  a  general  amnesty  being  agreed  on,  they 
accepted  the  terms  offered  by  their  father  the  year  before.  Thus  closed 
the  last  attempt  of  the  English  barons  to  compel  the  king  to  permit  them 
to  make  feudalism  as  it  was  on  the  Continent — as  it  happened,  just  a 
hundred  years  after  the  first  attempt  for  the  same  purpose. 

Of  the  capture  of  William  the  Lion  Henry  took  instant  advantage 
to  place  on  a  definite  footing  the  relations  between  England  and 
Scotland.  Ever  since  the  days  when  Constantine,  king  of  Scots, 
with  the  consent  of  his  people,  took  Edward  the  Elder  for  father 
and  lord,  the  Scottish  kings  had  at  intervals  done  homage  to  the 
kings  of  England  ;  but  as,  in  addition  to  Scotland  proper,  they  also 
held  Galloway  by  a  special  grant  of  King  Edmund,  and  Lothian  as 
an  English  earldom,  it  was  not  very  clear  what  the  homage  meant, 
and  naturally  the  Scots  interpreted  it  in  the  most  limited,  the  English  in 

Treaty  of     *^®  widest  sense.     Henry  now  determined  to  set  the  matter 

Faiaise.  ^^  j,gg^  ^j^^g  £qj.  ^jj  gy  ^^^  treaty  of  Falaise,  William 
agreed  for  himself  and  his  heirs  to  be  the  liegemen  of  the  English  king 
for  Scotland  and  all  his  other  lands,  and,  as  security  for  his  good 
behaviour,  placed  in  Henry's  hands  the  castles  of  Edinburgh,  Stirling, 
Roxburgh,  Jedburgh,  and  Berwick. 

The  rebellion  being  thus  put  down,  Henry  was  able  to  give  his  atten- 
tion to  reforms.     By  a  series  of  measures  all  the  castles  in  the  kingdom 

^     .  were  either  destroyed  or  taken  into  his  hands.     In  1176  the 

Assize 

of  North-     assize  of  Northampton  renewed  that  of  Clarendon,  and  also 
amp  on.       contained  a  number  of  other  regulations  for  the  better  pre- 
servation of  the  king-'s  peace.      In  1178  he  made  a  change  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  curia  regis,  which  was  a  great  step  in  developing  a 
judicial  system.     As  business  increased,  there  was  a  natural  tendency 
that  the  curia  regis,  which  in  the  days  of  Henry  i.  had  dealt  with  all  the 
business  of  the  crown,   should  split  up  into  small  committees.      The 
earliest  of  these  was  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  for  financial  matters.     In 
1178  Henry  made  a  selection  of  five  judges  from  those  of  the  curia  regis, 
and  intrusted  to  their  hearing  a  great  part  of  the  judicial 
business  which  had  formerly  come  before  the  court  as  a  whole. 
Before  long  this  court  developed  into  two  courts  of  King's  Bench  and 


U81  Henry  II.  153 

Common  Pleas.  In  theory,  the  Court  of  Exchequer  tried  cases  con- 
nected with  finance  ;  that  of  King's  Bench,  pleas  in  which  the  king  was 
concerned,  including  some  criminal  business  ;  and  that  of  Common  Pleas, 
cases  between  one  subject  and  another.  In  practice,  however,  their 
functions  were  not  so  distinct.  From  each  of  these  courts  there  was,  in 
civil  cases,  an  appeal  to  the  king  in  the  Ordinary  Council. 

His  last  measure  of  reform  in  England  was  the  assize  of  arms,  issued 
in  1181.  In  old  English  times  the  defence  of  the  country  had  been 
intrusted  to  the  fyrd,  or  militia  (see  page  44),  in  which  Assize  of 
every  man  between  the  age  of  sixteen  and  sixty  was  bound  Arms, 
to  serve  if  required.  To  this  the  Danish  kings  had  added  the  huscarls, 
a  body  of  professional  soldiers  (see  page  73) ;  and,  though  these 
perished  at  Hastings,  no  king  since  the  Conquest  had  been  without  a 
body  of  paid  soldiers,  whom  he  employed  in  garrisoning  his  castles,  and 
in  warfare  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent ;  and  since  the  institu- 
tion of  scutage,  Henry  ii.  had  relied  mainly  on  hired  troops.  Moreover, 
since  the  Conquest,  the  feudal  array,  of  which  some  germs  were  to  be 
traced  at  an  earlier  date,  had  become  a  regular  part  of  the  military 
machinery  of  the  country.  However,  since  the  institution  of  scutage 
Henry  had  used  the  feudal  obligation  as  a  means  rather  of  raising  money 
than  soldiers.  He  was  naturally  jealous  of  anything  which  might 
increase  the  military  efficiency  of  the  barons,  while  circumstances  had 
fully  shown  how  excellent  a  force  the  fyrd  might  be  made,  and  how 
loyal  the  freemen  who  composed  it  were.  It  had  done  excellent  service 
against  the  Scots  at  Northallerton  and  Alnwick  ;  and  against  the 
rebellious  barons  of  1173,  1174,  it  had  formed  almost  the  sole  reliance  of 
the  justiciar.  Such  a  trustworthy  force  deserved  encouragement,  and 
in  1181  Henry  issued  the  assize  of  arms,  in  which  it  was  carefully 
stated  what  weapons  of  oft'ence  and  defence  every  freeman  was  to  possess, 
in  accordance  with  the  value  of  his  estate,  and  arranged  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  these  at  regular  intervals.  No  serf  was  allowed  to  serve  in  the 
militia.  In  this  way  the  king  had  two  armies  :  one  a  small  one  of  paid 
troops,  whom  he  hired  to  garrison  his  castles  and  fight  his  battles  on  the 
Continent ;  the  other  the  militia,  on  which  he  relied  for  the  defence  of 
England  against  foreign  foes,  or  for  putting  down  insurrections  at  home. 
From  this  time  forward,  feudalism  became  more  than  ever  a  mere  method 
of  land  tenure. 

In  those  days  armies  were  rarely  large.     Fighting  consisted  almost 
entirely  in  the  defence  and  besieging   of  castles.      Very    Method  of 
few  pitched  battles  were  fought,  and  it  was  in  sieges  and   ^^*'"^^^^- 
not  in  open  warfare  that  Henry  and  his  son  Richard  won  their  great 


154.  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  118I 

reputations  as  soldiers.  The  art  of  castle-Luilding  had  been  carried 
to  a  very  high  pitch,  and  as  a  consequence  the  machines  used  for 
attacking  them  were  also  most  elaborate.  Enormous  catapults  and 
mangonels  capable  of  hurling  huge  rocks  were  employed ;  and  the 
arts  of  mining  and  countermining  had  been  developed  to  a  high 
pitch.  Indeed,  gunpowder  had  comparatively  little  to  add  either  to 
the  violence  of  the  projectiles  used  or  to  the  murderous  nature  of  the 
assault. 

After  the  rebellion  of  1174  Henry  had  no  more  trouble  with  the 
English  barons  ;  but  for  the  remainder  of  his  reign  his  troubles  with  his 
sons  never  wholly  ceased.  This  was  partly  due  to  the  intrinsic  difficulty 
of  governing  the  unruly  barons  of  Aquitaine.  This  task  Henry  intrusted 
Henry's  to  his  second  son  Eichard,  whom  he  designed  to  succeed  his 
Sons.  mother  as  duke.  At  seventeen  Richard  undertook  the  task, 
and,  throwing  himself  into  it  with  all  the  energy  of  his  nature,  soon 
established  apparent  peace.  The  barons  of  the  south,  however,  to  whom 
private  war  was  as  much  a  part  of  life  as  the  songs  of  their  troubadours, 
bitterly  resented  any  interference  with  their  habits  ;  and  one  of  the 
ablest  of  them,  Bertrand  of  Born,  who  added  the  qualities  of  a  born 
lampooner  to  those  of  a  political  intriguer,  set  himself  to  stir  up  strife, 
not  only  among  his  fellow-barons,  but  also  between  Richard  and  his 
brothers.  The  jealousy  between  them  soon  grew  to  such  bounds  that 
Henry  with  difficulty  kept  the  peace.  Young  Henry  was  in  constant 
alliance  with  his  father-in-law  Louis,  and,  after  his  death  in  1180,  with 
his  brother-in-law  Philip  Augustus ;  while  Geoffrey  of  Anjou  was  so 
unpopular  that  his  difficulties  with  his  own  barons  of  Brittany  were 
a  constant  source  of  anxiety.  However,  in  the  middle  of  these 
disputes,  young  Henry  died  in  1183  ;  but  his  death  rather 
accentuated  the  difficulties  with  Richard,  who  hated  Henry's 
plan  of  removing  him  from  Aquitaine  in  order  to  give  it  to 
John,  and  consequently  was  willing  to  make  common  cause  with 
Philip  of  France,  to  whom  he  oflfered  to  do  homage  for  his  duchy 
of  Aquitaine  and  all  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  house  of 
Anjou.  In  1186  Geoiffrey  too  died  ;  but  as  he  left  a  daughter,  Con- 
stance, and  a  posthumous  son,  Arthur,  his  death  made  little  difference 
to  the  situation. 

The  next  year  matters  were  still  further  complicated  by  a  proposition 

for  a  third  Crusade.    The  small  Turkish  states,  which  had  been  singly  no 

Third  match  for  the  Christians,  had  lately  been  united  into  a 

Crusade,      powerful  kingdom,  stretching  from  the  Euphrates  to  the 

Nile,  by  the  genius  of  Noureddin  and  his  son  Saladin  ;  and  before  its 


1189  Henry  II.  155 

strength  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  were  defeated  at  the  battle  of 
Tiberias,  in  July  1187,  and  Jerusalem  was  taken.  This  news  stirred  Europe 
to  its  depths.  Pope  Gregory  viii.  at  once  proclaimed  a  third  Crusade  ; 
and  in  1189  the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa  started  for  the  East.  To 
Henry  ii.  the  disaster  came  home  with  especial  force.  On  the  marriage 
of  Geoffrey  Plantagenet  to  the  Empress  Matilda,  his  father  Fulk  had 
retired  to  Palestine,  married  Milicent,  the  daughter  of  Baldwin  i.,  and 
the  heiress  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  An  Angevin  dynasty  therefore 
reigned  both  in  Palestine  and  in  England  ;  but  in  1 186  the  male  line  of  the 
Jerusalem  Angevins  died  out,  leaving  a  girl,  Sibyl,  who  bestowed  herself 
and  her  crown  on  the  valiant  Guy  of  Lusignan,  who  had  made  the  last 
stand  against  Saladin's  advancing  host.  To  Henry,  therefore,  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  was  almost  a  family  disaster.  His  first  impulse  was  to  join 
the  Crusade  at  once  ;  and  to  provide  money  he  ordered  the  tenth  part  of 
the  goods  of  every  man  in  England  to  be  collected  under  the  name  of  the 
Saladin  tithe,  an  impost  of  some  constitutional  importance  saladin 
because  it  was  levied  on  personal  property,  and  not,  like  all  Tithe, 
previous  taxes,  on  land.  As  early  as  1185  Henry  had  proposed  to  go  to 
the  aid  of  the  struggling  Angevins  ;  but  a  great  council  had  implored 
him  not  to  abandon  his  people,  and  the  project  had  been  given  up. 
Now,  however,  he  felt  that  he  ought  to  go  ;  but  the  difficulties  in  his  way 
were  enormous. 

Philip  and  Richard  were  again  making  common  cause,  and  endeavour- 
ing to  compel  Henry  to  permit  the  marriage  of  Richard  to  Philip's  sister 
Adela,  to  whom  he  had  been'long  betrothed, and  who  had  been  Henry's 
brought  up  and  educated  under  Henry.  Before  this  alliance  ^^ath. 
Henry  was  able  to  make  little  resistance.  The  final  blow  fell  upon  him 
in  1189,  when  he  found  his  Angevin  dominions  suddenly  invaded  by  a 
powerful  army  from  France  proper  led  by  Philip,  and  another  from 
Poitou  under  the  command  of  Richard.  Henry  was  ill ;  he  had  no 
English  troops  with  him,  his  mercenaries  had  deserted  for  want  of  pay, 
and  few  of  his  old  followers  remained  to  aid  him  but  his  illegitimate  son 
Geoflfrey  and  William  Marshall,  who,  having  been  the  faithful  friend 
of  the  younger  Henry,  had  now  attached  himself  to  the  falling  fortunes 
of  his  father.  In  spite  of  all  Henry's  efforts,  both  Tours  and  Le  Mans 
were  lost ;  and,  all  hope  being  abandoned,  the  sick  and  worn-out  man  was 
compelled  to  come  almost  as  a  suppliant  to  a  meeting-place  appointed  for 
him,  and  to  accept  a  humiliating  treaty  by  which  all  the  demands 
of  Philip  and  Richard  were  granted  without  reservation.  Among 
them  Henry  had  agreed  that  the  allegiance  of  all  Richard's  associates 
should  be  transferred  to  him  ;  and  when  at  the  head  of  this  list  he 


156  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  H89 

read  the  name  of  his  favourite  son  John,  he  abandoned  himself  to 
despair,  allowed  the  fever  to  take  its  course,  and  the  third  day  he 
died. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Thomas    Becket    becomes    Archbishop    of 

Canterbury, 1162 

Constitutions  of  Clarendon,         .  1164 

Assize  of  Clarendon, 1166 

Murder  of  Becket, 1170 

Norman  expedition  to  Ireland,  .  1169-1170 

Great  rising  of  the  barons  defeated,  1174 

Treaty  of  Falaise, 1174 

Assize  of  Arms, 1181 


CHAPTEE    II 

RICHARD  I.:  1189-1199 
Bom  1157  ;  married,  1191,  Berengaria  of  Navarre. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperors. 

William  the  Lion,  d.  1214.        Philip  Augustus,  d.  1223.        Frederic  i.,  d.  1190. 

Henry  vi.,  d.  1197. 
Pope. 
Innocent  iii.,  1198-1216. 

Exploits  and  Imprisonment  of  Richard — In  his  absence  the  Kingdom  is  governed 
by  his  Ministers— Constitutional  and  Social  Progress  of  the  time— Richard's 
Death. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  Richard  was  immediately  accepted  as  king, 
even  by  such  immediate  followers  of  Henry  as  William  Marshall, 
who  had  fought  Richard  hand  to  hand  a  few  days  before.  Accession 
He  at  once  despatched  his  mother  Eleanor  to  England,  ofR»chardi. 
while  he  stayed  to  make  terms  with  Philip  Augustus,  whom  Henry's 
death  had  changed  from  a  friendly  colleague  into  a  jealous  rival.  He 
then  crossed  the  Channel,  and  wiis  crowned  with  unusual  ceremony  at 
Westminster. 

Richard's  character  was  cast  in  a  different  mould  from  that  of  any  of 
his  predecessors.  His  huge  frame,  long  legs  and  arms,  and  herculean 
strength  might  remind  men  of  his  ancestor  the  Conqueror, 
whose  genius  for  war  and  whose  uncompromising  will  he 
also  inherited.  His  fresh  complexion  and  golden  hair  also  showed  his 
Norse  descent,  and  when  he  was  in  the  East  his  natural  aptitude  for 
naval  affairs  showed  him  no  less  the  descendant  of  the  Vikings.  The 
firmness  with  which  he  had  enforced  law  and  order  in  Poitou  proved  him 
to  be  no  Stephen  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  little  aptitude  for 
business  or  for  the  subtler  forms  of  diplomacy  in  which  the  Angevins 
excelled  ;  and,  except  as  a  leader  of  the  host  and  enforcer  of  order,  and  a 
magnificent  personality,  he  had  few  of  the  qualities  needed  for  an  English 

167 


158  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1189 

king.  Fortunately,  however,  Richard  was  aware  of  his  own  deficiencies, 
and  throughout  his  reign  he  had  the  good  sense  to  intrust  the  govern- 
ment of  England  to  subordinates ;  and  usually  he  chose  as  his  officials  men 
who  had  been  well  trained  in  the  methods  of  his  more  businesslike  father. 

Richard  had  taken  the  Cross  in  1187,  and  wished  to  start  on  the 
Crusade  as  soon  as  possible  ;  so  his  first  measures  were  directed  to  raising 
money  and  to  making  the  necessary  dispositions  for  the  good  government 
of  the  country  during  his  absence.  It  had  long  been  a  custom  that 
officers  of  state  should  pay  for  leave  to  undertake  their  duties  and  for 
leave  to  lay  them  down.  Richard  took  advantage  of  this  to  make  a 
wholesale  change  in  his  officials,  to  fill  up  as  many  vacant  offices  as 
possible  both  in  church  and  state,  and  to  grant  rights  and  immunities  to 
any  one  who  was  willing  to  pay  for  them.  Among  other  appointments, 
Richard  Fitz-Nigel,  author  of  the  Dialogus  de  Scaccario,  the  treasurer, 
was  made  bishop  of  London,  William  Longchamp  bishop  of  Ely,  and 
Hubert  Walter  bishop  of  Salisbury.  Ralf  Glanyille,  who  was  going  on 
the  Crusade,  had  to  pay  for  resigning  the  office  of  justiciar,  and  Hugh 
de  Puiset  or  Pudsey,  bishop  of  Durham,  and  William  Mandeville  for 
sharing  it  between  them.  Most  of  the  sheriffdoms  also  changed  hands  ; 
charters  were  granted  to  towns  ;  and,  above  all,  the  treaty  of  Falaise  with 
the  Scots  was  cancelled.  For  a  payment  of  10,000  marks  the  castles  of 
Roxburgh  and  Berwick  were  restored  to  the  king  of  Scots,  and  he  and 
his  heirs  were  released  for  ever  from  the  homage  promised  for  Scotland 
itself. 

Having  raised  money  in  this  way,  he  had  next  to  consider  the  peace 

of  the  country.     His  first  difficulty  was  with  his  brother  John,  of  whose 

treacherous  character  he  was  perfectly  aware.      The  best 

ment  of       course  would  probably  have  been  to  have  taken  him  with 

Ministers.  -^^^  ^^  Palestine  ;  but  it  was  decided  to  leave  him  in  Europe, 
but  bound  on  oath  not  to  revisit  England  for  three  years,  and  to  appeal 
to  his  gratitude  by  such  a  liberal  provision  as  should  leave  him  nothing 
to  ask  for.  Accordingly,  besides  giving  him  the  county  of  Mortain,  he 
received  grants  in  England  amounting  to  nearly  one-third  of  the  kingdom, 
and  comprising  the  castles  of  Marlborough,  Luggershall,  and  Lancaster  ; 
the  honours  without  the  castles  of  Wallingford,  Tickhill,  and  Nottingham ; 
and  the  shires  of  Derby,  Cornwall,  Devon,  Somerset,  and  Dorset,  Avith 
all  their  revenues.  In  the  general  management  of  the  country  Richard 
trusted  to  the  good  sense  and  tact  of  his  mother  Eleanor.  The  actual 
administration,  after  several  changes  occasioned  by  the  sudden  death  of 
William  of  Mandeville,  he  virtually  placed  in  the  hands  of  William  Long- 
champ,  the  chancellor;  and  on  December  11th,  1190,  he  quitted  England. 


U91  Richard  I.  159 

As  was  usual  when  people  were  filled  with  crusading  zeal,  the  Jews 
suffered  from  persecution.  In  England  the  Jews  were  regarded 
technically  as  the  king's  special  dependants,  and,  being  taxed  Persecution 
by  him  at  will,  were  a  great  source  of  wealth  to  him.  Most  °^  *^®  Jews, 
of  their  riches  were  acquired  by  money-lending ;  and  as,  owing  to  the 
canonical  prohibition  of  usury  and  to  the  uncertainty  of  the  times,  a 
high  rate  of  interest  was  charged,  and  also  in  an  agricultural  community 
the  value  of  being  able  to  borrow  capital  was  not  understood  so  well  as 
by  a  commercial  people,  they  were  extremely  unpopular.  Special 
quarters  were  assigned  to  them  in  most  towns,  which  were  walled  in  and 
the  gates  locked  at  night ;  they  were  compelled  to  wear  a  particular 
dress,  and  any  favourable  opportunity  to  attack  them  was  seized  by  their 
debtors.  A  disturbance  of  this  kind  broke  out  in  Westminster  on 
Richard's  coronation  day,  and  during  the  autumn  and  winter  riots  against 
the  Jews  attended  with  bloodshed  occurred  at  York,  Norwich,  Stamford, 
St.  Edmunds,  and  other  towns.  At  York  the  unhappy  Jews  were  allowed 
to  take  refuge  in  the  castle,  where  they  were  regularly  besieged  ;  and, 
despairing  of  life,  the  men  killed  the  women  and  children  and,  having  set 
fire  to  the  castle,  flung  themselves  into  the  flames.  Altogether  not  less 
than  five  hundred  perished  at  York  alone,  and  one  of  the  first  duties  of 
the  chancellor  was  to  punish  the  rioters. 

William  Longchamp,  who  had  acted  as  Richard's  own  chancellor  for 
many  years,  and  who  was  thoroughly  devoted  to  his  master,  was  a  lame 
man,  of  insignificant  appearance  and  lowly  birth.  He  was,  wiliiam 
however,  a  thorough  man  of  business,  industrious,  energetic,  Longchamp. 
and  inventive ;  but  he  knew  nothing  of  England  and  the  English,  his 
manners  were  far  from  conciliatory,  and  before  he  had  been  long  in 
office  he  contrived  to  make  himself  thoroughly  unpopular.  This  gave 
John  an  admirable  opening  for  mischief.  Against  Eleanor's  advice, 
Richard  had  foolishly  excused  him  from  his  oath  of  absence,  and  when, 
in  1191,  Eleanor  was  obliged  to  leave  England,  John  returned 
home,  acted  as  king  in  his  own  counties,  appointed  a  regular  staff  of 
officials,  and  apparently  took  it  for  granted  that  he  had  seen  the  last  of 
his  brother.  His  attitude  encouraged  Hugh  of  Durham  and  others  to 
revolt ;  and  as  William  of  Longchamp  had  no  personal  friends  and  many 
enemies,  the  whole  kingdom  was  soon  in  a  condition  of  smouldering 
insurrection.  Hearing,  on  his  journey,  of  Longchamp's  difficulties, 
Richard  sent  to  England  Walter  of  Coutances,  the  bland  and  waiter  of 
inoffensive  archbishop  of  Rouen  and  old  official  of  Henry  ii.,  Coutances. 
with  orders  to  do  the  best  he  could.  Walter  reached  England  in  April 
1191,  and  found  things  for  the  moment  quiet.     A  new  trouble,  however, 


160  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  ii9i 

soon  arose  through  the  conduct  of  William  Longchamp  to  GeoflFrey,  the 
illegitimate  son  of  Henry  ii.,  whose  election  as  archbishop  of  York  had 
been  secured  by  Richard.  Like  John,  Geoffrey  had  been  put  under  a 
vow  of  absence,  but  had  also  been  released,  and  arrived  in  England  in 
August  1191.  Longchamp  refused  to  believe  in  his  release,  and  had  him 
seized  in  a  church  at  Dover  ;  and  the  archbishop  was  dragged  through 
the  streets  to  the  castle  by  his  hands  and  feet,  clinging  to  his  pastoral 
cross  and  excommunicating  his  tormentors  as  he  went.  Such  a  scene 
recalled  all  the  difficulties  that  had  arisen  from  the  quarrel  with  Becket. 
John,  of  course,  made  common  cause  with  Geoffrey  ;  and  then  Walter  of 
Coutances,  thinking  it  time  to  produce  his  commission,  took  the  reins  of 
government  into  his  hands,  William  of  Longchamp  left  the  country, 
and  the  new  arrangements,  made  by  Richard's  authority,  were  cheerfully 
acquiesced  in. 

Meanwhile,  Richard  had  made  himself  a  European  reputation  by  his 
exploits  in  the  East.  He  had  joined  the  French  king  at  Vezelai  in  the 
Richard's  summer  of  1190,  and  then,  leaving  Philip  to  go  by  land,  had 
Journey.  made  his  way  to  Marseilles,  where  he  took  ship.  He 
reached  Sicily  in  September,  and  became  the  guest  of  Tancred,  the 
de  facto  king  of  Sicily,  who  was  himself  a  Norman.  In  Sicily  he  stayed 
till  the  following  March,  when  he  was  joined  for  four  days  by  his 
mother  Eleanor,  who  brought  with  her  Berengaria  of  Navarre,  to  whom 
he  was  at  once  betrothed  ;  and  then,  setting  sail,  he  was  driven  to 
Cyprus,  which  he  took  from  its  ruler,  Isaac  Comnenus,  as  a  punishment 
for  the  massacre  of  some  English  sailors  who  had  been  wrecked  on  that 
island.  There  he  married  Berengaria;  and  in  June  1191  he  reached 
Acre. 

The  strong  fortress  of  Acre  is  situated  on  a  promontory,  which  forms 
the  northern  side  of  the  bay  of  Acre,  of  which  Mount  Carmel  forms  the 
Siege  of       southern.       It  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  and  had  been 
Acre.  besieged  by  a  Christian  army,  under  Guy  of  Lusignan,  since 

August  1189.  The  siege,  however,  had  made  little  progress.  Frederick 
Barbarossa  had  set  out  in  1190,  but  met  an  inglorious  ending  by  being 
drowned  in  a  little  river  in  Asia  Minor  in  July  the  same  year.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  only  a  small  fragment  of  the  German  contingent  ever 
reached  Syria.  Philip  Augustus  reached  Acre  in  April  1191.  The 
leaders,  Richard,  Philip,  and  Guy,  however,  showed  little  harmony  or 
vigour.  The  camp  was  ill-arranged  and  undratned,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  disease  broke  out,  of  which  Archbishop  Baldwin  of  Canterbury 
and  Ranulf  Glanville  had  both  died  before  Richard's  arrival.  Mean- 
while, Saladin  had  gathered  a  large  force  for  the  relief  of  Acre,  and  had 


1192 


Richard  I.  161 


hemmed  in  the  Christians  on  the  land  side,  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  say 
who  were  the  besieged  and  who  the  besiegers. 

Things  were  in  this  hopeless  state  when  King  Richard  arrived  ;  and 
his  acknowledged  military  skill  put  new  heart  into  the  besiegers.  The 
military  engines  were  plied  with  fresh  vigour  and  more  capture  of 
intelligence.  Richard,  with  his  crossbow,  fought  in  the  ^^'■^• 
front  ranks,  and  within  a  month,  in  spite  of  a  serious  illness  which  for 
some  days  incapacitated  him,  a  breach  was  made  and  the  town  stormed 
with  terrible  slaughter.  The  sacrifice  of  life,  however,  had  been 
appalling.  In  one  cemetery,  it  is  said  that  no  less  than  124,000  corpses 
were  buried  within  the  year,  and  it  was  reckoned  that  by  disease  and  the 
sword  the  capture  cost  the  lives  of  300,000  men.  Acre  being  taken,  an 
attack  on  Jerusalem  was  the  next  project  of  the  crusaders,  Advance  on 
but  the  difficulties  of  keeping  together  such  a  motley  host  as  Jerusalem, 
the  crusading  army  was  quite  beyond  Richard's  diplomacy,  while  his 
very  success  at  Acre  awakened  the  jealousy  of  other  princes.  The  great 
bone  of  contention  was  the  crown  of  Jerusalem.  Sibyl  had  died  child- 
less, and  Richard  favoured  the  claims  of  her  husband,  Guy  ofLusignan. 
Philip  preferred  those  of  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  marquess  of  Tyre. 
However,  in  August  1191,  Philip  pleaded  illness  and  went  home,  so  that 
the  chief  command  remained  in  Richard's  hands.  Under  his  guidance 
the  army  turned  south  and  beat  off  a  great  Saracen  host  at  the  battle  of 
Arsuf,  where  the  steadiness  of  the  footmen,  and  especially  of  the  cross- 
bowmen,  showed  to  the  cavaliers  of  Europe  the  value  of  infantry.  All 
Richard's  efforts,  however,  were  in  vain.  Twice  he  led  his  troops  within 
twelve  miles  of  Jerusalem,  but  each  time,  recognising  the  folly  of  be- 
sieging such  a  fortress  with  Saladin's  unbroken  army  in  the  field,  he  felt 
compelled  to  retreat.  At  length  Richard  saw  that  the  tiisk  on  which  he 
was  engaged  was  hopeless  with  his  materials.  The  news  of  John's  pro- 
ceedings in  England  warned  him  that  he  ought  to  be  absent  no  longer, 
and  in  September  1192  he  concluded  a  treaty  with  Saladin,  by  which 
Joppa  and  its  district  were  secured  for  the  Christians,  with  the  right  of 
free  access  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  with  full  liberty  to  carry  on 
commerce  over  the  whole  land.  In  leaving  Jerusalem,  Richard  presented 
to  Guy  of  Lusignan  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

This   done,   Richard  left  the   task   of  bringing  back    the    English 
Crusaders  to   Hubert   Walter,  and  himself  set  sail  for  Marseilles   in 
October  1192.     Unfortunately,  his  squadron  was  dispersed    Richard's 
by  a  storm ;  and  when  Richard  himself  was  within  three    Return, 
days'  sail  of  Marseilles,  he  learned  that  Raymond  of  Toulouse  meant  to 
seize  him  on  landing.     Contrary  winds  not  only  made  it  impossible  to 


162  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1192 

pass  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  but  even  drove  the  king  to  Corfu. 
Thence  he  again  set  out  in  a  small  pirate  craft,  but  was  wrecked  near 
Ragusa,  and  his  only  chance  was  to  make  his  way  through  the  empire  in 
disguise.  By  some  mismanagement  he  arrived  at  Vienna,  where  resided 
his  personal  enemy,  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria.  By  this  time  his  presence 
was  well  known ;  and,  being  recognised  by  emissaries  of  the  duke,  he 
Richard  ^^^  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.      Overjoyed   at  his 

Imprisoned,  i^ck,  Leopold  wrote  in  triumph  to  Philip  Augustus,  and 
the  French  king  passed  the  good  tidings  on  to  John. 

John  instantly  spread  a  report  that  Richard  was  dead,  demanded  that 
all  the  castles  of  England  should  be  handed  over  to  himself,  and  did 
John's  homage    to   Philip    Augustus    for    Richard's    Continental 

Treachery,  dominions.  Eleanor,  however,  refused  to  be  taken  in  by 
the  rumour,  and  made  common  cause  with  Geoffrey  of  York  and  Hugh 
of  Durham.  Presently  Richard's  true  fate  was  ascertained,  and  com- 
munication was  opened  with  him. 

Early  in  1193  Leopold  transferred  his   captive  to  the  hands  of  the 
Emperor  Henry  vi.  at  Speyer.      On  his  way  to  Speyer,  Richard  met  two 

.    .        abbots   who   had   been   sent    out  from  England  to  meet 
Negotiations  ,  .  ,  .     .  ^      ^  •         ^ 

for  his  Re-      him,  and  negotiations  were  at  once  begun  for  his  release. 

The  terms  demanded  by  the  emperor  were  hard.     ^100,000 

of  English  money  were  to  be  paid  as  a  ransom  ;  Isaac  of  Cyprus  was  to 

be  liberated ;  and  Eleanor  of  Brittany  was  to  be  betrothed  to  a  son  of 

Leopold  of  Austria.     The  money,  however,  was  cheerfully  paid,  both  by 

the  laity  and  the  clergy  ;  but  it  took  much  ingenuity  to  raise  so  large  a 

sum,  and  eventually  four  distinct  taxes  were  imposed  by  a  great  council : 

(1)  An  aid  for  the  king's  ransom,  at  the  rate  of  twenty  shillings  per 

knight's  fee  ;  (2)  an  income  and  property  tax  of  one-fourth  of  the  income 

and  movable  property  of  every  man  in  the  kingdom,  lay  or  cleric ;  (3) 

a  one-fourth  part  of  the  wool  of  the  Cistercians  and  of  the  Gilbertines 

(see  page  129) ;  and  (4)  a  carucate  of  two  shillings  on  the  hide,  a  caru- 

cate   which  was  taken  for  the  purpose  as  equivalent  to   one   hundred 

acres.     In  January  1194  Richard  was  released,  and  at  once  returned  to 

Arrival  in     England.      Before   leaving   Henry,   he  agreed   to   do   him 

England,     homage  for  the  titular  kingdom  of  Burgundy ;  and  to  remove 

any  doubt  as  to  his  rank,  he  was  careful  to  wear  his  crown  in  England, 

with  some  of  the  solemnities  of  a  new  coronation.     Richard  landed  in 

England  on  March  13th,  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  capturing  Nottingham, 

the  last  stronghold  of  his  brother  John.     He  remained  in  England  till 

May  12th,  when,  his  presence  being  urgently  needed  in  France,  he  again 

sailed  for  the  Continent,  and  never  was  able  to  return. 


1194  Richard  L  163 

During  his  second  absence  the  government  of  the  country  was  intrusted 
to  the  justiciar,  Hubert  Walter,  now  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  till  1197, 
and  then  to  Geoffrey  Fitzpeter  ;  and  these  two  old  servants  Hubert 
of  Henry  took  care  to  manage  everything  according  to  the  Walter. 
practice  of  their  former  master.  Fortunately,  they  had  no  more  trouble 
with  John.  Warned  by  past  experience,  Kichard  was  careful  to  return 
to  his  brother  none  of  the  property  that  had  been  forfeited  by  the 
justices.  Henceforth  he  had  to  content  himself  with  money  only,  and 
John  himself  was  wise  enough  to  recognise  that  his  true  interest  lay  in 
keeping  on  good  terms  with  his  masterful  elder  brother. 

Besides  the  ordinary  routine  of  business,  the  chief  care  of  the  justices 
had  to  be  devoted  to  raising  money.  During  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
Richard  was  engaged  in  a  constant  struggle  with  Philip  Difficulties 
Augustus,  who  represented  the  natural  tendency  of  the  ^'^^  France. 
French  kings  to  encroach  on  the  territories  of  their  vassals.  To  check 
this,  Richard  trusted  first  to  creating  a  great  alliance  of  the  neighbouring 
states  against  Philip,  for  which  purpose,  in  1197,  he  used  his  influence 
as  king  of  Burgundy  to  secure  the  election  of  his  nephew  Otto,  son  of  his 
sister  Matilda  and  Henry  the  Lion  of  Saxony,  as  successor  to  the 
Emperor  Henry  vi. ;  and,  in  the  last  resort,  to  a  magnificent  castle,  the 
Chateau  Gaillard,  which  he  built  near  Les  Andelys,  on  the  chateau 
Seine,  as  a  defence  for  the  Norman  frontier.  This  great  Ga»iia«"d- 
masterpiece  of  engineering  skill  of  the  time  was  designed  by  Richard 
himself.  It  completely  commanded  the  river,  and  he  believed  it  capable 
of  checking  any  advance  into  Normandy  till  a  relieving  force  could  be 
collected  from  England. 

The  administration  of  Hubert  Walter  is  marked  by  several  incidents 
of  constitutional  importance,  most  of  which  were  merely  developments  of 
the  methods  of  Henry  II.      In  1194,  in  issuing  a  commis- 
sion  to   the  itinerant  justices,  besides  intrusting  to  them   tionai 
an  immense  list  of  multifarious  business,   all  connected,      ""°2ress. 
more  or  less,  with  the  exchequer,  he  directed  that  all  their  inquiries 
were  to  be  conducted  by  taking  the  evidence   of  sworn  recognitors, 
appointed  as  follows  : — Four  knights  were  to  be  chosen  out  of  the  whole 
shire.     These  were  to  choose  two  from  every  hundred,  and  these  two 
named  ten  others  to  act  with  them  as  '  legal  men.'       This  practice  is  im- 
portant, not  only  in  connection  with  the  jury,  but  also  with  the  practice 
of  election.     In  1194,  and  also  by  the  method  of  recognition,  a  survey  of 
the  whole  land  was  carried  out  with  a  view  to  the  new  method  of  taxa- 
tion by  carucate,  which  had  the  effect  of  superseding  the  ancient  Dooms- 
day survey  ;  and  again,  '  the  lawful  men  of  the  shire '  acted,  along  with 


164  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1194 

commissioners,  in  assessing  the  amount  clue  from  each  estate,  a  further 
step  in  connecting  taxation  and  representation. 

Other  expedients  for  taxation  had  important  social  effects.  Tourna- 
ments had  hitherto  been  discouraged  in  England :  they  were  now  licensed 
Tourna-  ^J  Richard's  orders,  but  every  knight  who  took  part  in  one 
ments.  Yid^^  to  pay  for  an  individual  licence  to  do  so  according  to 
his  rank.  The  ready  grant  of  charters,  moreover,  had  an  immense  effect 
on  the  development  of  the  towns,  in  the  history  of  which  almost  an 
epoch  is  caused  by  the  charters  of  Richard.  The  intimate  connection 
between  England  and  the  Continent,  and  the  good  order  kept  at  home 
Charters  to  ^Y  Henry  11.,  had  both  been  favourable  to  the  development 
Towns.  Qf  town  life,  and  the  English  trading  classes  had  rapidly 
restored  the  losses  of  Stephen's  reign.  In  consequence,  the  process  of 
bargaining  for  privileges,  which  was  noticed  under  Henry  i.,  was 
renewed.  The  citizens  of  London  paid  100  marks  to  have  sheriffs  of 
their  own  choosing.  The  burghers  of  Cambridge  paid  300  marks  of 
silver  and  one  mark  of  gold  to  have  their  town  at  a  ferm  or  fixed  rent, 
and  to  be  free  from  the  meddling  of  the  sheriff  of  the  shire.  Shrewsbury 
did  the  like.  The  weavers  of  Oxford  paid  two  marks  to  have  a  guild  of 
their  own.  Thomas  of  York  gave  a  coursing  dog  to  be  alderman  of  the 
guild  of  merchants.  Besides  these  payments,  which  are  recorded  in  the 
pipe  roll,  and  which  are  typical  of  hundreds  of  the  kind,  numbers  of 
charters  were  granted.  These,  for  the  most  part,  followed  the  lines  of 
those  granted  to  some  neighbouring  town.  The  burghers  of  Bedford 
copied  their  charter  from  Oxford ;  those  of  Preston,  that  of  Newcastle. 
Most  striking  of  all,  the  citizens  of  London  took  advantage  of  the 
squabble  between  William  Longchamp  and  John  to  bargain  for  the  right 
to  have  a  communa,  apparently  a  corporation  after  the  Continental 
fashion  ;  and  henceforward  their  chief  officer  was  styled  the  lord  mayor, 
and  the  town  governed  by  him  and  twelve  aldermen,  one  from  each  of 
the  city  wards. 

In  assessing  taxes,  however,  the  new  officers  of  London,  who  be- 
longed to  the  merchant  class,  were  thought  to  be  unfair  to  the  poorer 
William  citizens.     The  grievances  of  the  latter  were  taken  up  by 

Fitz-Osbert.  WiUiam  Fitz-Osbert,  a  member  of  the  burgher  class,  who 
had  been  a  Crusader,  and  who  was  marked  as  an  eccentric  character 
by  his  habit  of  wearing  a  beard.  As  William  was  a  born  agitator, 
and  apparently  a  capital  speaker,  the  disturbance  grew  so  serious  that 
Hubert  Walter  was  forced  to  interfere.  His  proceedings  were  charac- 
terised by  some  rashness  and  much  brutality.  When  William  took 
refuge  in  a  church,  the  archbishop  ordered  it  to  be  set  on  fire,  and  when 


U99  Richard  I.  165 

William  rushed  out  he  was  seized,  and,  wounded  as  he  was,  stripped, 
dragged  through  the  city  at  a  horse's  tail,  and  hanged  with  eight  of  his 
comrades.  The  affair  of  William  Fitz-Osbert  is  typical  of  what  went  on  in 
most  corporate  towns,  where  the  jealousy  between  the  governing  class  and 
the  general  body  of  the  citizens,  represented  respectively  by  the  merchant 
guild  and  by  the  inferior  craft  guilds,  in  which  the  weavers,  arrow- 
smiths,  and  other  artificers  banded  themselves,  was  always  an  important 
feature  of  mediaeval  town  politics.  Hubert's  action,  though  successful 
for  the  moment,  met  with  so  much  disapproval  that  he  was  obliged  to 
resign,  but  took  office  again  at  Richard's  special  request.  In  1198,  how- 
ever, a  new  trouble  arose,  and  both  Richard  and  his  justiciar  met  a 
serious  rebuff.  Richard,  finding  that  he  wanted  not  only  money  but 
men  to  withstand  Philip's  constant  attacks,  sent  a  demand  for  three 
hundred  knights,  to  be  paid  by  his  English  vassals.  However,  when 
Hubert  proposed  at  a  great  council  that  he  and  the  other  crown  vassals 
should  agree  to  the  king's  request,  Hugh  of  Avalon,  the  Hugh  of 
most  saintly  and  respected  bishop  of  the  English  church,  Avalon. 
demurred,  and,  stating  his  opinion  that  English  military  tenants  were 
only  bound  to  do  service  in  England,  refused  his  consent.  The  bishop 
of  Salisbury  followed  Hugh's  lead  ;  and  though  their  objection  struck 
at  the  principle  of  scutage  for  foreign  wars,  as  well  as  at  personal  service, 
the  scheme  had  to  be  given  up.  This  successful  resistance  to  a  scheme 
of  taxation  marks  a  further  advance  in  constitutional  progress. 

After  this  failure,  Hubert  Walter  became  still  further  discredited,  and 
had  to  hand  over  his  office  to  Geoffrey  Fitzpeter,  another  Geoffrey 
official  trained  in  the  school  of  Henry  ii.  The  administra-  ^^tzpeter. 
tion  of  Geoffrey,  however,  was  suddenly  cut  short  by  the  wholly  un- 
expected death  of  Richard  himself.  In  the  spring  of  1199  he  seemed  to 
be  coming  to  the  end  of  his  difficulties  with  Philip.  His  league  against 
the  French  king  had  at  length  been  formed  ;  and  his  Chateau  Gaillard, 
or  Saucy  Castle,  was  bidding  defiance  to  any  French  attack  along  the 
line  of  the  Seine,  when  Richard  was  informed  that  a  treasure  had  been 
found  on  an  estate  in  Limousin.  Rumour  exaggerated  the  value  of  the 
prize,  and,  as  money  was  of  great  consequence  to  Richard,  he  advanced 
his  claim  to  the  whole  of  it  as  legal  right  of  the  duke  of  Aquitaine. 
His  demand  was  rejected  by  the  viscount  of  Limousin  and  by  Achard,  the 
actual  owner  of  the  estate  of  Chains,  where  the  treasure  had  been 
found.  The  castle  was  not  particularly  strong,  and  was  defended  by 
only  seven  knights  and  eight  serving-men  ;  but  one  of  them,  who  had 
stood  a  whole  day  defending  himself  with  a  frying-pan  against  the 
enemy's  bolts  on  the  chance  of  a  shot  at  King  Richard,  at  length  got  his 


166  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1199 

opportunity,  and  lodged  an  arrow  in  the  neck  of  the  king.  Bad 
Death  of  surgery  and  Richard's  impatience  brought  on  mortification, 
Richard.      ^^^  ^^  ^  £g^  ^^yg  ^j^^  ^ing  was  dead. 

The  personality  of  Richard  the  Lion  Heart  has  secured  permanent 
fame.  His  personal  share  in  the  administration  of  English  affairs  was 
Importance  slight  and  unimportant ;  but  the  advantage  gained  by 
of  his  Reign,  ^he  country  from  ten  years'  continuance  of  the  system  of 
Henry  ii.  was  most  valuable,  and  its  effects  were  seen  in  the  combina- 
tions of  parties  during  the  next  reign.  Richard  himself  had  the  power 
of  attracting  the  personal  love  of  his  intimate  friends,  though  his 
character  was  not  one  to  secure  general  respect.  In  private  life  he 
was  witty  and  humorous.  When  the  pope  claimed  as  'his  son ' 
a  bishop  Richard's  men  had  captured  in  battle,  he  sent  in  reply  the 
bishop's  coat  of  mail,  with  the  request  that  he  would  see  'whether 
it  were  his  son's  coat  or  no.'  He  was  also  a  man  of  generous  im- 
pulses and  faithful  to  his  friends,  but  was  wanting  in  nobility  of 
character  and  in  the  higher  virtues  of  statesmanship.  His  bravery  was 
unquestioned ;  but  even  in  war  his  cruelty,  selfishness,  and  vanity 
deprive  him  of  much  of  his  apparent  claim  to  respect. 


CHIEF  BATES, 

A.D. 

Siege  of  Acre, 

1191 

Richard  imprisoned,   .... 

1192-1194 

Chateau  GaiUard  built, 

1197 

CHAPTEK  III 
JOHN:  1199-1216 
1189,  Hadwisa  or  Avice  of  Gloucester  (divorced) 


,,        ,-__  .    -  r  1189,  Hadwisa  or  Avice  of  (jfl 

Born  1167  ;  married  {  .       '  Tin      t  \         i* 

1 1200,  Isabella  of  Angouleme. 


CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

William  the  Lion,  d.  1214.  Philip  Augustus,  d.  1228.  Otto  iv.,  1208-1218. 
Alexander  ii.,  d.  1249. 

Pope. 
Innocent  m.,  1198-1216. 

John's  ill  Character  leads  to  the  Loss  of  France,  a  Quarrel  with  the  Church,  and 
finally  his  iniquitous  Life  and  Government  cause  a  union  of  all  Classes  to 
extort  the  Great  Charter — A  French  Prince  invited  to  take  the  Throne. 

In  the  early  days  of  his  reign,  Richard  had  regarded  Arthur,  the  son  of 
Geoffrey,  as  his  heir  ;  but  after  Arthur  had  been  handed  over  by  the 
Bretons  to  Philip,  and  was  being  educated  at  the  French    ^ 

.  Question  of 

court  with  Philip's  son,  he  seems  to  have  changed  his  mind,   the  Succes- 
and  during  his  last  years  he  certainly  regarded  John  as  his 
successor,  and  on  his  death-bed  he  made  his  followers  swear  to  receive 
his  brother  as  next  king.     Philip,  however,  was  still  in  Arthur's  favour, 
and  at  Richard's  death  made  an  effort  to  secure  his  succession. 

When  his  brother  died,  John  was  abroad.  His  first  step  was  to 
secure  Normandy  ;  but  while  he  was  doing  so,  young  Arthur,  aided 
by  his  mother  Constance  and  the  Bretons,  secured  Anjou,  Action  of 
Maine,  and  Touraine  ;  and  for  these  counties  Arthur  Jo^"- 
immediately  did  homage  to  the  French  king.  Eleanor,  however,  who 
wished  John  to  succeed,  as  being  more  likely  than  Arthur  to  keep 
together  all  the  vast  dominions  of  herself  and  her  husband,  showed  that 
even  threescore  years  and  ten  had  not  damped  her  energy.  Summoning 
to  her  aid  Mercadier,  the  commander  of  Richard's  paid  Brabantines,  she 
attacked  Anjou,  and  then  cleverly  secured  Aquitaine  for  John  by  com- 
pelling Philip  to  receive  her  homage  for  it  as  duchess  in  her  own  right. 


168  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1199 

Aquitaine  and  Normandy  being  thus  secure,  John  was  able  to  leave  his 
other  Continental  dominions  for  the  jDresent  and  secure  his  position  in 
England. 

Already  he  sent  over  Archbishop  Hubert  and  William  Marshall  to 
aid  Geoffrey  Fitzpeter  in  his  difficult  task  of  keeping  the  peace.  In 
England  there  never  seems  to  have  been  any  question  of  taking  Arthur 
as  king.  A  meeting  of  the  most  important  barons  was  held  at  Notting- 
ham, and  there,  Hubert  and  the  Marshall  promising  all  good  things  in 

^    his  name,  John  was  elected  king,  the  uncle  of  full  age  being 

John  elected.  ^  '  -,.  ,         ,  ,    ^      ,.  ,  .     ^  ^ 

preferred,   according   to   the   old  English  practice,  to  the 

nephew,  who  was  a  minor.  In  May,  John  came  over,  and  after  a  solemn 
admonition  was  crowned  at  Westminster  by  Archbishop  Hubert,  who 
carefully  stated  in  his  address  that  John  succeeded  not  by  any  inherent 
right,  but  by  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  realm. 

Geoffrey  Fitzpeter  remained  justiciar,  William  Marshall  kept  his 
office,  and  Archbishop  Hubert  showed  how  completely  the  ecclesiastical 
ideas  of  Archbishop  Theobald  had  passed  away  by  accepting 
the  post  of  chancellor.  Geoffrey  Fitzpeter  was  then  made 
earl  of  Essex,  in  succession  to  William  de  Mandeville ;  and  William 
Marshall,  to  whom  Richard  had  given  Strongbow's  heiress,  Eva,  was 
made  earl  of  Striguil,  though  he  is  better  known  as  earl  of  Pembroke. 

In  June,  John  was  back  on  the  Continent,  where  he  found  the  tide 
completely  turned  in  his  favour.     Philip  had  disgusted  Arthur  and  the 
Arthur  Bretons  by  treating  his  conquests  in  Normandy  and  Maine 

discredited,  ^s  his  own.  The  count  of  Flanders  and  Otto  the  emperor 
were  preparing  to  aid  John.  The  troubles  of  an  interdict,  which  Philip 
had  brought  on  himself  by  putting  away  his  wife  Ingeborga  of  Den- 
mark, and  taking  instead  Agnes  of  Meran,  were  impending.  Philip, 
therefore,  found  peace  necessary,  and  offered  favourable  terms.  John 
was  recognised  as  lawful  ruler  of  all  his  brother's  dominions  ;  and  as  a 
pledge  of  amity,  Louis,  Philip's  eldest  son,  married  John's  niece,  Blanche, 
the  daughter  of  Blanche  of  England  and  Alphonzo  of  Navarre.  To 
fetch  the  bride,  the  indefatigable  Eleanor  at  once  set  out  to  Spain,  and 
on  account  of  the  interdict  the  marriage  was  celebrated  at  Rouen. 

The  character  of  John  is  one  not  easy  to  draw.     He  was  handsome, 
well  made,  and  of  most  insinuating  manners  ;  clever  enough  when  he 
Tohn's  chose  to  exert  himself,  and  neither  a  bad  general  nor  a  bad 

Character,  diplomatist.  He  also  had  been  well  educated,  and  was  well 
read.  All  these  good  qualities,  however,  only  made  his  complete  failure 
the  more  signal.  His  ruin  was  due  to  his  utter  indifference  to  principle 
of  anv  kind.     Neither  truth,  nor  pity,  nor  duty  stood  in  the  way  of  his 


1199  John  1 69 

will.  His  passions  required  to  be  gratified  at  all  costs  ;  being  a  bad 
man  himself,  he  judged  others  by  his  own  standard,  and  was  incapable 
of  appealing  to  anything  higher.  Even  these  bad  traits,  however,  might 
not  have  sufficed  to  ruin  him  had  it  not  been  that  on  the  Continent  he 
had  to  deal  with  Philip  Augustus,  an  abler  man  than  had  sat  on  the 
throne  of  France  for  years  ;  and  in  England  he  had  to  meet  for  the  first 
time  since  the  Conquest  a  people  who,  having  realised  what  good  govern- 
ment meant,  were  detennined  not  to  allow  the  wickedness  or  weakness  of 
the  sovereign  to  be  a  cause  of  the  reappearance  of  disorder.  John's  first 
act  of  infatuation  was  to  divorce  his  wife  Hadwisa  or  Avice  Divorce  of 
of  Gloucester,  to  whom  he  had  been  married  since  1189.  ^v*^^- 
She  was  the  granddaughter  of  Robert  of  Gloucester,  and  therefore  John's 
third  cousin  ;  but  the  marriage  had  been  celebrated  under  a  papal  dis- 
pensation. It  had,  however,  from  the  first  been  protested  against  by 
Archbishop  Baldwin,  and  John,  probably  by  a  lie,  now  persuaded 
three  Aquitanian  bishops  to  annul  it.  On  this  her  lands  should,  of 
course,  have  been  restored  to  her,  as  had  been  done  in  the  case  of  John's 
mother  Eleanor ;  but  John  gave  the  county  of  Gloucester  only  to  the 
husband  of  Avice's  elder  sister,  and  kept  the  rest  himself.  Avice  had  a 
crowd  of  relations  who  were  equally  offended  by  the  insult  to  herself, 
and  exasperated  by  the  loss  of  her  lands  ;  so  the  whole  Gloucester  con- 
nection was  now  turned  against  John.  As  though  this  were  not  enough, 
John  then  proceeded  to  marry  Isabella  of  Angouleme,  the 
affianced  bride  of  Hugh  the  Brown,  son  of  the  count  of  La  with'^isl^ 
Marche,  and  nephew  of  Guy  of  Lusignan.  The  marriage  A*ne^ul€me 
was  made  by  the  consent  of  the  bride's  father,  and  ap- 
parently of  the  bride  herself ;  but  the  whole  family  of  Lusignan  were 
furious.  As  they  were  the  most  powerful  and  turbulent  of  the  barons 
of  Poitou,  their  wrath  was  no  slight  matter ;  and  John  immediately 
made  things  worse  by  seizing  the  castle  of  another  member  of  the  family. 
In  1202  the  barons  of  Poitou,  with  the  Lusignans  at  their  head, 
appealed  to  Philip  ;  and  the  French  king,  having  now  arranged  his 
matrimonial  difficulties  by  taking  back  his  former  wife,  at   ^         ,     .  ,_ 

*'  '^  '  Quarrel  with 

once  took  up  their  cause.  John  was  summoned  to  answer  the  Barons 
for  his  conduct  before  the  French  court,  and,  as  he  did  not 
appear,  was  condemned  in  default  to  forfeit  all  lands  held  under  the 
crown  of  France.  The  legality  of  this  sentence  was  extremely  doubtful  ; 
but  Philip  at  once  summoned  the  aid  of  Arthur  and  invaded  Nor- 
mandy, while  Arthur  laid  siege  to  his  grandmother  Eleanor,  whom  the 
Poitevin  troubles  had  drawn  from  her  retirement  at  Fontevraud,  in 
the  castle  of  Mirebeau.     Eleanor's  danger  roused  John  to  momentary 


170  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1202 

exertion,  and  he  surprised  Arthur  just  when  on  the  point  of  success, 
and  carried  him  off  prisoner.  This  success  gave  John  the  better  of  the 
game  ;  but,  having  imprisoned  his  nephew  first  at  Falaise  and  then  at 
Kouen,  it  is  certain  that  he  was  wicked  and  foolish  enough  to  compass 

Death  of      ^^^  death,  though  how  or  when  is  not  certainly  known. 

Arthur.  j^g  ^qq^  as  Arthur's  death  was  known,  Philip  invaded 
Normandy,  and  the  Norman  towns  fell  fast  before  him.  So  long,  how- 
ever, as  Chateau  Gaillard  held  out  Rouen  was  safe,  and  its  siege  was  the 
Invasion  of  crisis  of  the  war.  The  defence  was  intrusted  to  Roger  de 
Normandy.  £acy,  and  the  stand  he  made  gave  ample  time  to  John,  if 
he  had  used  it  well,  to  bring  an  overwhelming  army  to  its  relief.  But 
for  some  reason  or  another  John's  abilities  failed  him  at  the  crisis.  A 
night  attack  on  the  besiegers  planned  by  him,  but  carried  out  by 
the  earl  of  Pembroke,  failed,  owing  to  the  boats  of  the  expedition  being 
behind  time.  Then  the  king  sank  into  aimless  despondency,  wandered 
hither  and  thither  without  object  or  result,  and  finally  left  Normandy 
to  its  fate.     After  holding  out  from  August  1203  to  March 

Gaillard       1204,  Roger  de  Lacy  was  compelled  to  capitulate  ;  but  the 

cap  ure  .  igug^^jj  ^f  ^jj^^g  gained  and  the  difficulties  of  the  besiegers 
amply  demonstrated  both  the  judgment  and  the  skill  of  its  founder  and 

^     ,     ,      architect.     A  month  later  Eleanor  died,  and  with  her  de- 
Death  of 
Eleanor  of   parted  John's  last  hold  on  the  loyalty  of  his  Continental 

subjects.     After  Chateau  Gaillard  had  fallen,  Normandy, 

Anjou,  Touraine,  and  Maine  soon  fell  into  Philip's  hands  ;  and  before  the 

Loss  of  summer  of  1204  was  out,  nothing  but  the  Channel  Islands 

Normandy,    remained  to  the  English  king  of  the  hereditary  territories 

of  William  the  Conqueror  and  Geoffrey  of  Anjou. 

The  loss  of  Normandy  marks  a  very  important  epoch  in  the  history 
of  the  English  baronage.  Up  to  this  date,  many  of  the  greatest  of  them. 
Influence  of  such  as  the  earls  of  Chester,  held  lands  on  both  sides  of  the 
this  loss.  Channel.  Now  they  were  forced  to  choose  between  the  two. 
Generally  speaking,  one  son  took  the  French  lands  and  another  the  Eng- 
lish ;  but,  whatever  arrangement  was  made,  divided  interest  became  a 
thing  of  the  past.  Henceforward,  the  English  barons,  though  they  still 
spoke  French,  regarded  themselves  as  Englishmen,  and  looked  on  Eng- 
lish interests  as  their  own  ;  and  thus  the  Anglicising  of  the  Normans, 
which  had  been  begun  by  the  wars  between  Duke  Robert  and  his 
brothers,  was  carried  a  step  further  by  the  loss  of  Normandy.  Any 
physical  distinction  between  the  English  and  Normans  had  long  been 
lost.  William  the  Conqueror  had  established  a  special  fine  to  be  levied 
on  a  hundred  when  any  Norman   was  murdered  within  its  bounds  ; 


1204  John  171 

but  the  author  of  the  Dialogus  de  Scaccario  tells  us  that  under  Henry  ii. 
this  fine  was  paid  in  all  cases  ;  '  for,  in  consequence  of  marrying  and 
giving  in  marriage,  the  nations  were  so  mingled  that  at  that  day  it  was 
impossible,  speaking  generally,  to  say  who  was  a  Norman  and  who  was 
an  Englishman.'  At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  in  spite 
of  this  movement  the  use  of  the  French  language  was  spreading.  Between 
1154  and  1205  no  book  written  in  English  survives;  and  apparently 
French  was  the  habitual  language  of  conversation,  not  only  at  court,  but 
among  the  upper  classes  generally. 

The  last  years  of  the  twelfth  century,  though  unfruitful  of  English 
literature,  were  fruitful  of  Latin  writing,  and  especially  of  history,  which 
was  written  not  so  much  by  monks,  as  in  the  preceding  Historical 
period  of  literary  activity,  as  by  men  of  the  world.  As  a  ^^^^^^s^- 
contemporary  record  of  events  the  Acts  of  Henry  II.  and  Richard  /., 
written  by  Richard  Fitz-Nigel,  treasurer,  bishop  of  London,  and  con- 
tinued by  Roger  of  Howden,  another  officer  of  the  court,  is  invaluable, 
as  the  work  of  men  who  took  an  actual  part  in  the  events  which  they 
chronicled  ;  while  far  removed  from  these,  but  connected  in  spirit  with 
William  of  Malmesbury,  stands  William  of  Newburgh,  an  Augustinian 
canon  of  Newburgh,  near  Coxwold  in  Yorkshire,  who  attempted  to  make 
his  history  of  England  from  William  the  Conqueror  to  John  a  really 
philosophic  work.  Besides  these  we  must  place  Gerald  the  Welshman, 
the  most  amusing  writer  of  his  day,  the  chief  authority  on  the  conquest 
of  Ireland  and  the  contemporary  topography  of  Wales  ;  and  Walter 
Map,  the  known  author  of  the  Triflings  of  Courtiers,  and  reputed  writer 
of  the  satirical  Apocalypse  and  Confession  of  Bishop  Goliath,  a  bitterly 
satirical  exposure  of  the  frailties  of  the  clergy. 

By  the  time  of  Gerald  the  Welshman,  Oxford  had  become  the  resort 
of  the  *  most  learned  and  renowned   clerks   in  England,'  had  regular 
faculties,  teachers  of  various  grades,  and  a  numerous  body 
of  scholars.      There  grammar,  dialectics,  and  rhetoric — the  of  the 

,    .    .  1.    T  1        ,      .       .  ,  -,1      Universities. 

trivium — were  studied  by  the  juniors  ;  and  geometry,  arith- 
metic, music,  astronomy — the  quadrivium — by  the  seniors  ;  while  more 
advanced  learners  still  specialised  on  theology  and  law.  All  the  students 
were,  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  regarded  as  clerks,  though  many  were 
not  even  in  minor  orders ;  and  before  long  the  relations  between 
the  church  and  the  universities  became  a  matter  of  great  importance. 
England,  therefore,  had  reaped  and  was  reaping  a  great  harvest  from 
the  peace  and  good  government  of  Henry  ii.  and  of  Richard's  ministers, 
Hubert  Walter  and  Geoffrey  Fitzpeter,  when  the  loss  of  his  Continental 
possessions  forced  John  to  take  up  his  residence  in  his  island  kingdom. 


172  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1204 

John's  troubles  soon  began.     Since  the  death  of  Becket,  the  struggle 

between  church  and  state  had  been  almost  suspended.     At  his  death 

nine   sees   were  vacant,  which  enabled  Henry  11.  to  pack 

Death  of         ,  .  .  ,      ,  .  .  .  ,       ,  .      \ 

Hubert  the  episcopate  with  his  nominees,  with  the  result  that, 
during  the  remainder  of  his  reign  and  those  of  his  sons,  the 
ecclesiastical  bishops  of  the  type  of  Theobald  or  Gilbert  Foliot  disappeared, 
and  were  replaced  by  a  set  of  official  bishops  of  the  type  of  William 
Longchamp  and  Hubert  Walter,  among  whom  St,  Hugh  of  Avalon, 
appointed  bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1186,  was  quite  an  exception.  In  1205 
Hubert  Walter  died,  and  John  naturally  expected  to  replace  him  by  one 
of  his  own  friends.  It  happened,  however,  that  the  right  of  electing  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  been  for  some  time  in  dispute.  It  was 
claimed  as  their  exclusive  privilege  by  the  monks  of  the  abbey  of 
Christ  Church  ;  but  a  concurrent  voice  at  least  was  also  demanded  by  the 
suffragan  bishops  of  the  province  of  Canterbury.  For  some  time,  how- 
ever, the  difficulty  had  been  got  over  by  a  compromise.  In  the  case  of 
Becket  the  actual  election  seems  to  have  been  made  by  the  monks,  and 
the  bishops  gave  their  consent,  thus  affording  Gilbert  Foliot  an  oppor- 
tunity for  his  remonstrance.  In  no  other  see  did  the  bishops  claim  to 
interfere.  Usually  the  election  was  made  by  the  chapter,  and  the  king 
gave  or  refused  his  consent  to  their  choice,  as  when  Henry  11.  refused  to 
admit  Gerald  the  Welshman  as  bishop  of  St.  Davids  when  his  name  was 
presented  by  the  chapter. 

However,  on  Hubert's  death  the  junior  monks  of  the  cathedral  priory  of 
Christ  Church,  thinking  to  elude  the  interference  both  of  the  king  and  of 
the  bishops,  secretly  held  a  meeting,  and  without  even  the 
an  Arch"  °  king's  licence  to  elect  chose  Eeginald  their  sub-prior,  a  man 
bishop.  of  no  mark  whatever.     In  pursuance  of  their  plot  they  hur- 

Reginaldthe   ried  off  Reginald  to  Rome  to  ask  the  pallium  from  the  pope, 

Sub-Prior.  ^  ,  .        ,  .  .  ,  .      ,.      .         .„       ' 

after  making  him  promise  not  to  assume  his  dignity  till  he 

had  made  sure  of  the  pope's  goodwill.    The  vanity,  however,  of  Reginald 

got  the  better  of  his  discretion,  and  directly  he  landed  on  the  Continent 

he  assumed  the  state  and  with  it  the  slowness  of  an  archbishop-elect. 

News  of  his  proceedings,  therefore,  reached  England,  and  the  bishops 

had  time  to  reach  Rome  and  anticipate  Reginald's  request  by  a  protest 

^,      .       ,   against  his  election.     John,  too,  was  not  idle.     He  sum- 
Election  of     ^  .       '        '  ,  .     .      , 
John  de         moned   a  formal   meeting  of  the   monks  and  insisted  on 

^^^'  their  electing  John  de  Grey,  one  of  his  officials,  and  a  man 

of  much  military  and  administrative  ability.     That  done,  he  despatched 

twelve  of  the  monks  to  Rome,  and  made  them  swear  to  elect  no  one  but 

John  de  Grey.     After  carefully  hearing  the  case.  Innocent  set  aside  the 


1212  John  173 

claims  of  the  suffragan  bishops,  but  declared  both  elections  to  be  invalid  : 
that  of  Reginald  as  secret  and  without  the  king's  licence  ;  that  of  de  Grey- 
as  premature,  having  been  held  before  Reginald's  was  annulled.     He 
then  persuaded  the  monks  to  elect  Stephen  Langton,  ^^    r-i    ^• 
Englishman  of  distinguished  learning  and   irreproachable    Stephen 
character,  well  known  to  John.      He  had  been  rector  of 
the  university  of  Paris,  had  been  raised  by  Innocent  to  the  cardinalate 
and  employed  by  him  in  the  most  important  business  of  the  papacy. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  great  superiority  of  his  candidate.  Inno- 
cent's action  was  most  high-handed,  and  John  refused  to  receive  Langton. 
Innocent  proceeded  to  consecrate  Langton  in  1207  ;  and,  on  John's 
further  persisting,  in  1208  he  put  the  country  under  an  ^^^ 
interdict.  The  ecclesiastical  weapon  had  first  been  em-  Interdict, 
ployed  on  a  large  scale  in  the  eleventh  century.  It  consisted  in  forbid- 
ding all  religious  services  except  baptism  and  extreme  unction.  Marriages 
could  not  be  celebrated,  and  the  dead  were  placed  without  service  in 
unconsecrated  ground.  An  exception  in  favour  of  the  chapels  of  the 
Templars  was  the  only  one  allowed.  It  had  been  found  extremely 
effective  in  moving  public  opinion  against  recalcitrant  kings  and  lawless 
barons,  and  had  recently  been  used  with  great  effect  against  Philip 
Augustus.  John,  however,  cared  little  about  it,  and  retaliated  by  seiz- 
ing the  property  of  all  the  priests  and  orders  that  obeyed  it ;  so,  in  1209, 
Innocent  went  a  step  further,  and  excommunicated  John  himself.  John's 
reply  was  to  seize  the  property  of  the  bishops.  With  the  money  thus 
taken  from  the  church,  John  raised  large  forces,  and  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  settle  his  outstanding  difficulties  with  the  Scots,  the  Irish,  and 
the  Welsh.  He  compelled  the  king  of  Scots  to  do  him  homage,  to  per- 
mit him  as  overlord  to  arrange  the  marriages  of  his  son  and  daughters, 
and  to  pay  him  £10,000.  In  Ireland  he  reduced  the  barons  to  order, 
divided  the  Pale  into  counties,  ordered  English  law  to  be  observed,  and 
left  John  de  Grey  in  charge  as  governor  ;  and  he  compelled  the  submis- 
sion of  Llewelyn,  prince  of  Wales. 

Finding  John  still  obdurate,  the  pope  proceeded,  in  1211,  to  issue 
a  threat  of  deposition.  This  soon  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  Hitherto 
the  laity  had  looked  on  in  silence,  but  the  threat  of  deposi-  Threat  to 
tion  brought  their  smouldering  discontent  to  a  head  ;  and,  depose  John, 
from  this  time  forward,  a  distinct  movement  for  his  expulsion  seems 
to  have  grown  up,  of  wliich  the  most  obvious  mark  was  the  circulation  of 
a  prophecy  of  Peter  the  Hermit  of  Wakefield,  that  within  a  year  John 
would  cease  to  be  king.  All  1212  Philip  was  collecting  his  forces,  and, 
though  John  was  doing  the  same,  he  became  more  and  more  aware  that 


174  Earlier  Angemn  Kings  1212 

his  position  was  hopeless.  It  was  true  that  he  had  a  force  of  60,000 
men  and  a  fleet  strong  enough,  on  paper,  to  beat  ofi"  any  invasion  ;  but 
his  real  difficulty  arose  from  the  disaffection  of  his  people.  The  church 
he  had  set  utterly  against  him  ;  the  nobles  he  had  disgusted  not  only  by 
systematically  calling  for  scutage  and  other  imposts  more  frequently  and 
of  larger  amounts  than  had  ever  been  known  before,  but  also  by  seizing 
their  castles  and  demanding  their  children  as  hostages  for  their  good 
behaviour,  and,  above  all,  by  the  unblushing  brutality  with  which  he  out- 
raged their  family  life  for  the  gratification  of  his  lusts. 

It  was  clear,  therefore,  to  John  that  unless  he  could  divide  his  enemies 

he  would  be  lost  ;  so,  in  1213,  he  made  up  his  mind,  at  all  hazards,  to 

,  ,         ,       secure  the  pope  as  his  friend.   The  price  the  pope  demanded 

John  makes  i-titi        ti  i-i 

terms  with  was  high,  but  John  did  not  shrink  ;  and  he  actually  agreed 
°^^'  to  hold  England  as  a  fief  of  the  papacy,  to  swear  fealty  to 
the  pope,  and  to  pay  a  yearly  sum  of  1000  marks.  No  act  of  John's  has 
been  more  severely  condemned  by  posterity  than  this  ;  but  it  is  fair  to 
remember  that  the  kings  of  Sicily  and  Aragon  held  their  territories  on 
similar  terms  without  experiencing  serious  inconvenience,  and  that  in  the 
eyes  of  some  of  the  nobility  it  may  even  have  appeared  an  advantage  to 
have  the  pope  to  appeal  to  as  overlord.  At  any  rate  they  took  the  advan- 
tage of  their  right,  and  no  serious  objection  seems  to  have  been  raised  to 
John's  action  at  the  time. 

The  immediate  result  of  John's  submission  was  an  order  from  the  pope 
to  Philip  to  stop  his  proceedings.     The  French  king,  therefore,  turned 
his  attention  to  Flanders,  and  John  took  the  opportunity  to 
Jef^se^t'o°"^    despatch  an  English  fleet  under  his  half-brother  William 
Fralfce  Longsword,  earl  of  Salisbury,  which  destroyed  the  French 

vessels  in  the  harbour  of  Damme,  and  removed  all  fear  of 
invasion.  Elated  by  this  success,  John  called  on  his  barons  to  serve  in 
an  invasion  of  France  ;  but  his  barons  had  no  real  trust  either  in  his 
intentions  or  his  capacity,  and  excused  themselves  on  the  ground  that  the 
sentence  of  excommunication  had  not  yet  been  removed.  To  get  rid  of 
this  difficulty,  John  then  agreed  to  give  full  compensation  to  those  who  had 
been  injured  during  the  interdict,  and  received  Langton.  Having  thus  pur- 
chased his  release,  he  again  called  on  his  vassals  to  cross  the  Channel,  and 
himself  reached  Jersey.  The  barons,  however,  again  refused  to  embark  ; 
some  on  the  special  ground  that  their  term  of  service  had  expired  ;  but 
the  northern  barons  took  up  the  general  ground  that  John  had  no  right 
to  demand  their  services  for  foreign  warfare.  Furious  at  this  plea,  John 
returned  home,  but  was  met  by  a  demand  preferred  by  Langton  that  the 
offenders  should  be  tried  by  their  peers  ;  and  his  expedition  to  the  north 


1215  John  175 

effected  nothing.  Meanwhile,  the  justiciar,  Geoffrey  Fitz-Peter,  had 
summoned  at  St.  Albans  a  remarkable  assembly,  composed  both  of  the 
magnates  and  of  the  reeve  and  four  villeins  from  each  manor  on  the  royal 
domain.  The  special  object  of  their  coming  was  to  assess  the  damage  done 
to  the  clergy,  but  many  other  matters  were  discussed,  and  eventually 
the  justiciar  gave  orders  that  the  laws  of  Henry  i.  should  be  observed. 
Three  weeks  later,  Langton  carried  matters  a  step  further  by  reading'  to 
the  barons  assembled  at  St.  Paul's  the  charter  of  Henry  i.  This  gave 
just  the  definiteness  to  the  demands  of  the  barons  which  had  hitherto 
been  needed,  and  it  was  at  once  determined  to  compel  John  to  give  some 
such  charter  as  a  proof  of  his  intention  to  rule  better  for  the  future. 

Almost  directly  afterwards  Geoffrey  Fitz-Peter  died.     The  death  of 
this  faithful  servant,  who  had  on  the  whole  preserved  the  traditions  of 
Henry  ii.,  was  felt  by  John  as  a  relief.     *  When  he  gets  to    ^  ^^^  ^^ 
hell,'  said  he,  '  let  him  go  and  salute  Hubert  Walter,  for,    Geoffrey 
by  God's  Feet,  now  am  I  for  the  first  time  king  and  lord  of 
England.'     Innocent  in.  had  foiled  John's  attempt  to  place  a  creature  of 
his  own  at  Canterbury  ;  over  the  justiciarship  he  had  no  such  control, 
and  John  gave  it  to  Peter  des  Roches,  a  Poitevin,  whom  he  had  had 
made  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  who  since  his  struggle  with  the  church 
had  aided  and  abetted  him  in  all  his  measures.     His  appointment  re- 
moved all  hope  that  the  king's  violence  might  be  kept  under  control, 
and  showed  the  barons  that  they  must  trust  to  themselves  alone. 

The  next  year,  1214,  was  spent  by  John  mostly  on  the  Continent ; 
but  for  all  that  it  was  the  critical  year  in  the  history  of  the  struggle. 
A  great  league  had  been  formed  by  him  with  Otto,  the  emperor,  and 
Ferrand,  count  of  Flanders,  with  a  view  to  crushing  Philip ;  and,  this 
done,  England's  turn  would  come  next.  John  himself  went  to  Poitou  ; 
but  an  English  force  under  Salisbury  was  sent  to  join  Otto  and  Ferrand 
in  an  attack  upon  Philip  in  Flanders.  The  allied  forces  met  at 
Bouvines,  and  Philip  won  a  complete  victory,  capturing  Battle  of 
both  the  count  of  Flanders  and  the  earl  of  Salisbury.  Few  Bo"vines. 
battles  have  had  more  ftir-reaching  eft'ects,  both  on  Continental  and 
English  politics.  John  was  forced  at  once  to  make  a  truce  with  Philip 
for  five  years,  and  to  return  to  England  to  face  the  storm  of  opposition. 

He  found  the  barons  determined  to  enforce  their  rights,  which  had 
been  formulated  as  the  laws   of  King  Edward  with  the    Barons 
other  liberties  granted  by  Henry  i.      To  gain   time,  he   ^^"l"w 
put  them  off  with   a  promise   to   answer  their  demands   of  King 
at  Easter ;  and  meanwhile  he  did  what  he  could  to  sow 
dissension,  and  to  strengthen  himself  for  the  struggle.      He  fortified 


176  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1215 

his  castles ;  brought  over  a  crowd  of  foreign  mercenaries  from  Poitou 
and  Brabant ;  appealed  for  protection  to  the  pope  ;  made  a  desperate 
effort  to  win  over  Langton  and  the  clergy  by  granting  freedom 
of  election  to  episcopal  sees  and  religious  houses  ;  demanded  an 
oath  of  allegiance  from  every  freeman  throughout  England,  and  a 
renewal  of  fealty  from  every  feudal  tenant ;  and,  finally,  put  himself 
under  the  special  protection  of  the  church  by  taking  the  cross  as  a 
crusader. 

The  barons,  however,  were  too  strong  for  him.  With  the  full  consent 
of  the  archbishop,  they  mustered  their  forces  at  Stamford.  The  host 
numbered  two  thousand  knights,  besides  squires  and  foot- 
prepare  for  men,  and  was  under  the  leadership  of  Eustace  de  Vesci  and 
Nicholas  de  Stuteville,  leaders  of  the  northern  barons ;  Robert 
Fitz- Walter,  who,  as  grandson  of  Richard  de  Lucy,  may  be  taken  to 
represent  the  official  nobility  of  Henry  11.  ;  Roger  Bigod  of  Norfolk 
and  Henry  Bohun  of  Hereford,  representing  the  old  nobility ;  and 
William  Marshall,  Pembroke's  son.  Thence  under  the  command  of 
Fitz- Walter  they  marched  south,  and  from  Brackley  sent  commissioners 
to  the  king  to  set  forth  their  demands.  These  were  reported  to  John 
by  the  archbishop  and  William  Marshall ;  but  John's  angry  exclama- 
tion, '  They  might  as  well  have  asked  my  crown,'  showed  that  he  would 
only  yield  to  force.  The  barons,  therefore,  marched  on.  Before  long, 
however,  it  was  clear  that  they  had  the  nation  at  their  back.  The 
publication  of  their  demands  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  The  Lon- 
doners welcomed  them  with  open  arms.  Even  John's  most  faithful 
followers,  such  as  the  earl  of  Pembroke  and  Ralf  of  Chesterj  felt  that  his 
case  was  desperate,  and,  coming  to  London,  threw  their  influence  into 
the  national  scale.  John  found  himself  deserted  by  all  but  foreigners 
like  Peter  des  Roches,  and  mere  mercenaries  like  Folkes  de  Breaute, 
and,  brought  to  bay  at  last,  was  obliged  to  agree  to  the 
Charter  demands  of  the  nation  and  affix  his  signature  to  the  Great 
signe  .  Charter,  which  he  did  at  Runnymede,  near  Windsor,  on 
June  15th,  1215.  The  demands  of  the  barons,  to  which  John  now  gave 
his  consent,  form  the  Great  Charter.  This  document  contains  altogether 
sixty-three  clauses,  and  deals  with  the  church,  the  baronage,  the  collec- 
tion of  aids  and  scutages,  the  administration  of  justice,  purveyance, 
trade,  and  a  variety  of  other  points,  some  of  permanent  and  others  of 
only  temporary  interest.  The  most  important  of  John's  concessions 
were  these : — 

The   church  of  England  was  'to  be  free  and   have   all  its  rights,' 
especially  the  newly -granted  right  of  '  freedom  of  election.'     It  should 


1215  John  177 

be  noted,  however,  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  define  the  rights  of  the 

church  ;  and  with  regard  to  elections,  such  important  matters  could  not 

be  left  wholly  to  the  caprice  of  the  cathedral  clerf?y  and  the 

1         TTTi    ..1,1.,,  .       ,     ,       °  .       The  Church, 

monks.    What  the  kmg  lost  the  pope  gained ;  but  m  practice 

the  pope  was  generally  willing  to  nominate  the  prelate  whom  the  king 

wished,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  case  down  to  the  Reformation. 

The  feudal  dues  were  fixed.     In  the  charter  of  Henry  i.  it  had  been 

conceded  that  reliefs  should  be  'just  and  lawful.'     This  had  not  been 

found  sufficiently  definite,  and  the  relief  was  now  fixed  for  _ 

Feudal  Dues, 
an  earl  or  baron  at  ;£100  for  each  whole  barony,  and  for 

knights  at  100  shillings  for  each  whole  knight's  fee  of  twenty  pounds 

a  year  in  value.     The  estates  of  minors  were  for  the  future  to  be  well 

managed,  and  the  buildings  kept  in  repair.     Not  more  than  a  fair  profit 

was  to  be  made,  and  when  the  heir  came  of  age  the  estate  was  to  be 

handed  over  to  him  without  a  relief.     Heiresses  and  heirs  were  not  to 

be  contracted  in  marriage  without  notice  being  given  to  their  relations, 

and  widows  were  not  to  be  married  against  their  will. 

No  aids  and  scutages  were  to  be  collected,  *  unless  by  the  common 
consent  of  the  realm,'  except  *for  redeeming  the  lord's  body  from 
captivity,  for  the  making  his  eldest  son  a  knight,  and  for  Aids  and 
the  first  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter.'  Any  other  aids  Scutages. 
and  scutages  were  to  be  voted  by  a  council,  '  to  which  were  to  be  sum- 
moned the  archbishops,  bishops,  abbots,  earls,  and  greater  barons  by 
sealed  letters.'  A  general  summons  was  also  to  be  issued  through  all 
sheriffs  and  bailiffs  to  the  other  tenants-in-chief,  and  the  letters  were  to 
state  the  cause  why  the  meeting  was  to  be  held.  The  result  of  this  con- 
cession was  to  secure  the  feudal  landowners  as  a  class  from  the  illegal 
exaction  of  feudal  dues.  It  cannot,  however,  be  taken  as  forbidding 
arbitrary  taxation  in  general,  but  only  as  an  important  step  in  that 
direction.  The  assembly  also  was  a  strictly  feudal  assembly,  composed 
entirely  of  tenants-in-chief,  present  in  their  own  persons,  and  was  in  no 
way  representative.  It  forms,  however,  an  important  step  in  the  growth 
of  parliament.  Another  very  important  provision  connected  with  the 
land  was  that  no  tenant  by  knight  service,  or  by  any  free  tenure,  could  be 
asked  to  perform  any  service  to  which  he  was  not  bound,  a  wide-reaching 
phrase,  which  probably  points  to  the  vexed  question  of  foreign  service. 

As  has  been  noted,  the  higher  courts  of  the  country  were  developed  out 
of  the  Curia  Regis.     This  court  went  with  the  king  or  with  the  justiciar 
(when  the  king  was  abroad)  wherever  he  might  happen  to   The  Law 
go,  which  was  a  great  source  of  hardship  to  suitors,  for,  as   ^o"'^^. 
the  king  was  incessantly  travelling,  they  might  have  to  journey  from 

M 


178  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1216 

one  end  of  England  to  the  other  before  their  suit  could  be  heard.  To 
remedy  this,  it  was  arranged  that  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  should 
always  stay  at  a  fixed  place.  The  place  ultimately  chosen  was  West- 
minster, where  lay  one  of  the  king's  chief  palaces.  In  time  the  other 
chief  courts,  the  King's  Bench  and  Exchequer,  settled  at  the  same  place  ; 
and  Westminster  Hall,  built  by  William  Rufus,  continued  for  centuries 
to  be  the  headquarters  of  English  judicature  till  the  erection  of  the 
New  Law  Courts  in  1882. 

It  was  also  settled  that   the  justices-in-Eyre   were   to   make   their 
circuits  four  times  a  year,  so  that  suitors  should  not  be  kept  waiting. 
Justices-in-    ^^  these  assizes,  the  judges  dealt  with  criminal  prisoners, 
Eyre.  ^itjj  all  cases  of  recent  dispossession  of  property  (novel 

disseisin),  with  questions  arising  out  of  succession  to  landed  property 
{mort  d^ancestor),  and  with  matters  concerning  presentation  to  livings 
(darrein  presentment).  Such  cases  were  to  be  decided  by  a  jury,  and  all 
fines  were  to  be  similarly  assessed. 

*  No  free  man,'  ran  the  xxxix.  clause,  '  is  to  be  taken  or  imprisoned,  or 
deprived  of  his  property,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  in  any  way  molested. 
Habeas  ^^^^  ^il^  we  go  upon  or  send  upon  him,  except  by  the 
Corpus.  legal  judgment  of  his  equals,  or  by  the  law  of  the  land.' 
This  celebrated  clause  must  not  be  taken  as  conferring  any  new 
right ;  but  simply  as  restating  in  the  fullest  terms  what  had  been  in 
theory  and  usually  in  practice  the  right  of  every  Englishmen  from  the 
earliest  recorded  days.  The  difficulty,  however,  lay  not  in  stating  the 
law  but  in  carrying  it  into  effect,  and  many  centuries  had  to  elapse 
before  this  elementary  right  was  secure  for  every  class.  By  the  law  of 
the  land  was  meant  the  judgment  by  the  ordeal,  then  on  the  point  of 
being  abolished,  or  trial  by  battle.  Scarcely  less  important  was  the  xl.  : 
'  To  none  will  we  sell,  to  none  will  we  deny  right  or  justice.' 

An  attempt  was  made  to  get  rid  of  the  abuses  of  purveyance,  by 
which  the  kings  could  require  the  services  of  carriages  and 
carts,  and  to  be  supplied  with  provisions  at  the  market 
rate  ;  but  as  the  right  of  pre-emption  was  preserved,  there  was  still 
plenty  of  room  for  abuse.  London  was  to  have  the  same 
rights  with  regard  to  aids  and  scutages  as  the  barons,  and 
other  towns  were  to  keep  their  charters. 

Merchants  were  to  come  and  go  freely  into  the  kingdom,  and  to  be 

subject  to  no  exactions.     Those  of  states  with  which  we 

ere  ants.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^  treated  by  us  as  we  found  that  our 

merchants  were  treated  by  them. 

One  of  the  best  features  of  the  Charter  was  the  way  in  which  every 


1215  John  179 

right  granted  to  a  baron  was  carefully  extended  to  include  the  case  of 
the  simple  freeman.  The  stock  of  the  merchant  and  tradesman,  and 
the  agricultural  implements  of  the  villein,  are  preserved  from  undue 
amercement  just  as  much  as  the  land  of  the  lord.  His  property  was  to 
go  to  his  heirs  as  much  as  that  of  the  landowner ;  and,  finally,  by  a 
most  comprehensive  enactment,  the  barons  and  clergy  ^esne- 
agreed  that  every  liberty  granted  by  the  king  to  his  tenants  Tenants, 
should  be  observed  by  them  towards  their  men. 

These  provisions  and  many  others,  which  concerned  every  class  of  the 
population,  form  the  substance  of  the  Great  Charter,  which  has  ever 
since  been  regarded  by  Englishmen  as  the  foundation  of  their  liberties. 
In  later  times  it  took  the  position  in  popular  esteem  which  had 
hitherto  been  held  by  the  *laws  of  Henry  i.'  or  the  'laws  of  King 
Edward,'  and  has  been  confirmed  over  and  over  again. 

To  ensure  that  its  provisions  should  be  carried  out,  a  committee  of 
twenty-five  barons  was  appointed,  including  Robert  Fitz-   Carrying 
Walter,  Eustace  de  Vesci,  Roger  Bigod,  Henry  Bohun,    pibucation 
and  the  mayor  of  London  ;  and  a  copy  of  it  was  sent  to    °f  Charter, 
every  county  and  to  every  important  church  and  town  in  the  kingdom, 
some  of  which  copies  are  still  extant. 

No  sooner,  however,  was  the  Charter  agreed  to  than  John  set  about 
freeing  himself  from  his  oath.     Flying  secretly  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  he 
hurried  oflf  Pandulf,   the  papal   legate,   to    represent    to   The  Pope 
Innocent  the  injury  done  to  the   interests  of  the   crown,   f^miifs*^" 
and  therefore   indirectly   to  the  papacy   itself.     Pandulf  Oath, 
did  his  work  well.      The  pope  granted    the   necessary  dispensation. 
He  also   threatened    to   excommunicate   the    barons   for   levying  war 
on  a  crusader,  and  for  exacting  concessions  detrimental  to  the  honour 
of  the  Holy  See  ;  and,  finally,  suspended  Langton,  whose  conduct  had 
naturally  been  painted   in  the  blackest  colours,  from  the   exercise   of 
his  episcopal  functions.     In  September,  Langton  left  England  to  lay  the 
case  before  the  pope. 

John  on  his  side  was  not  idle.     The  granting  of  the  Charter  had 
satisfied  the  wishes  of  his  opponents,  and  such  faithful  friends  Jis  the 
earls  of  Pembroke,  Chester,  and  Salisbury  were  willing  to  give  him 
a  further  chance.     He  himself,  however,  could  think  of  nothing  but 
mere  revenge.     All  summer  he  was  collecting  troops,  and  after  harvest 
was  over  he  sent  a  body  of  foreign  mercenaries,  under  the  john 
command  of  Falkes  de  Breaute,  to  harry  the  estates  of  the    Estates  of* 
barons  with  fire  and  sword,  and  himself,  spreading  devas-   *^^  Barons, 
tation  as  he  marched,  crossed  the  border  to  ravage  Scotland,  in  revenge 


180  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1218 

for  the  young  King  Alexander's  adherence  to  the  side  of  the  popular 
party. 

Dismayed  at  the  ruin  of  their  estates,  and  apparently  unable  by  their 

own  resources  to  make  head  against  John's   trained  mercenaries,  the 

Crown         barons,  at  the  close  of  1215,  offered  the  crown  to  Louis, 

LouisVf*      eldest  son   of  Philip  Augustus,  and  husband  of  Blanche 

France.        (see  page  168).     By  him  it  was  accepted  in  the  alleged 

right  of  his  wife.      John's   great   fleet   having  been    destroyed   in   a 

storm,    seven    thousand    Frenchmen    landed    in    November ;   and    in 

February  another  band  of  Frenchmen  sailed  up  the  Thames  and  joined 

the  barons  in  London.     In  May,  Louis  followed,   and   his  arrival  off 

Sandwich  with  six  hundred  and  eighty  knights  was  the  signal  for  a 

precipitate  retreat  of  John.     Want  of  resolution  in  imminent  danger 

was  one  of  the  most  salient  features  of  the  king's  character  ;  but  in 

this  case  he  may  have  felt  doubtful  whether  his  French  mercenaries 

would  fight  against  the  son  of  their  king.     Eavaging  as  he  went,  John 

retreated  to  Winchester  ;  and  meanwhile  Louis  made  his  way  to  London, 

where  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  the  barons  and 

accepted  by  citizens.     The  young  prince  made  a  very  good  impression, 

on  oners.    ^^^  ^^^  popularity  by  making  Simon  Langton,  a  brother 

of  the  archbishop,  his  chancellor.      The  French  mercenaries,  of  whom 

John's    army   was    largely   composed,   refused    to    fight    against  him. 

Alexander  of  Scotland  travelled  to  Dover  to  do  him  homage.     William 

of  Salisbury  and  other  earls  declared  for  Louis  ;  and  for  a  time  it  seemed 

as  though  John  would  be  completely  deserted. 

A  reaction,  however,  set  in.  Though  Louis  was  received  by  the  open 
country,  the  castles  were  all  held  for  John.  An  attempt  to  seize  Dover, 
John's  commanded  by  Hubert  de  Burgh,  ended  in  failure,  and 

Successes,  -^yasted  three  months  of  valuable  time.  A  siege  of  Windsor 
was  equally  fruitless  ;  while  a  report,  which  was  industriously  circu- 
lated, that  if  Louis  were  successful  his  first  act  would  be  to  rid  himself 
of  all  those  barons  who  had  taken  arms  against  their  lawful  sovereign, 
spread  consternation  among  his  followers.  For  some  time  John  remained 
in  the  south  ;  but  at  the  end  of  September  he  marched  north,  ravaging 
as  he  went,  and  took  the  city  of  Lincoln.  Thence  he  went  by  way  of 
Peterborough  to  Lynn,  where  he  had  placed  much  of  his  treasure. 
Disasters  at  From  Lynn  he  marched  back  into  Lincolnshire,  across  the 
the  Wash,  g^nds  of  the  Wash  ;  but  in  crossing  the  channel  of  the 
Welland  his  baggage  was  overwhelmed  in  a  whirlpool,  caused  by  the 
violent  collision  between  the  waters  of  that  river  and  the  incoming 
tide. 


1216 


John 


181 


Prostrate  with  vexation,  John  made  his  way  to  the  abbey  of  Swines- 
head,  and  there,  according  to  the  story,  he  endeavoured  after  his  fashion 
to  drown  his  grief  in  a  hearty  supper.  The  result  was  a  fever.  With 
difficulty  he  reached  Newark,  and  there  died  on  October  Death  of 
19th,  1216,  leaving  behind  him  the  name  of  the  worst  king  J°^"- 
who  ever  reigned  in  England,  and  one  of  the  worst  men  who  have  ever 
disgraced  our  race.  Had  he  lived  he  would  probably  have  lost  his 
throne  :  his  death  at  this  crisis  saved  the  kingdom  for  his  descendants. 


CHIEF  DATES. 


A.T). 

Loss  of  Normandy,      .... 

1204 

Hubert  Walter  dies,    .... 

1205 

John  does  homage  to  the  Pope, 

1213 

Battle  of  Bouvines,      .... 

1214 

Great  Charter, 

1215 

CHAPTEE   IV 

HENRY  III.:  1216-1272. 
Born  1207  ;  married,  1236,  Eleanor  of  Provence. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 
Scotland.  France.  Emperors. 

William  the  Lion,  d.  1214.       Philip  Augustus,  d.  1223.        Otto  iv. ,  d.  1218. 
Alexander  ii.,  d.  1249.  Louis  viii.,  d.  1226.  Frederick  ii.,  d.  1250. 

Alexander  ill.,  d.  1286.  Louis  ix.,  d.  1270. 

Philip  III.,  d.  1285. 
Popes. 
Honorius  iii.,  d.  1227  ;  Innocent  iv.,  1241,  d.  1254 ;  Alexander  iv.,  d.  1261. 

The  Regency  of  William  Marshall,  Earl  of  Pembroke— His  place  taken  by  Hubert 
de  Burgh— Henry  takes  the  Rule  into  his  own  hands,  governs  badly,  and 
allows  himself  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Favourites — Rise  of  a  Baronial  Party 
under  Simon  de  Montfort — The  Barons'  Wars. 

The  reaction  against  Louis,  of  which  some  symptoms  had  appeared 
before  John's  death,  made  rapid  progress  after  the  removal  of  the 
Henry's  tyrant.     The  wickedness  of  John  and  the  enmities  which 

advantages,  j^jg  personal  character  had  created  were  buried  in  his  tomb, 
while  the  innocence  of  his  eldest  son  Henry,  now  only  in  his  tenth  year, 
called  for  the  protection  of  all  good  subjects.  It  took  time,  however, 
for  a  new  royal  party  to  be  formed,  and  at  first  the  supporters  of  the 
king  were  outnumbered  by  those  of  Louis.  No  time  was  lost  by 
Pembroke  in  putting  Henry's  rights  on  a  legal  footing,  and  on 
October  28th  he  was  crowned  at  Gloucester,  and  did  homage  to  Gualo, 
the  papal  legate,  as  representative  of  the  pope.  That  done,  a  council  was 
held,  in  which  the  magnates,  following  the  practice  of  the  kingdom  of 
Jerusalem,  elected  the  earl  as  rector  regis  et  regni,  ruler  of  the  king  and 
kingdom,  while  the  king's  person  was  intrusted  to  Peter  des  Eoches.  To 
gain  support  and  to  break  definitely  with  the  evil  traditions 
Measures  of  of  the  late  reign,  the  royalists  then  took  the  judicious  step 
t  e  eign.  ^^  publishing  so  much  of  the  Charter  as  met  with  general 
approval  and  presented  no  special  difficulty  in  execution.     They  omitted, 


1217  Henry  III.  183 

however,  the  clauses  about  taxation— perhaps  as  too  hampering  to  the 
government  at  such  a  crisis  as  a  civil  war — and  those  dealing  with  the 
forests  and  some  other  matters,  all  of  which  were  postponed  for  future 
consideration. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  next  claimed  their  attention.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Dover  Castle,  which  the  bravery  of  Hubert  de  Burgh  had  main- 
tained for  the  royalists,  Louis  was  supreme  in  the  south-  Louis's 
western  shires.  Elsewhere  also  he  had  many  supporters  in  the  Position, 
open  country  and  in  the  towns  ;  but  the  castles  of  the  midlands  and  the 
north  were  all  in  royalist  hands — and  in  those  days  the  possession  of 
the  castles  was  the  real  test  of  military  superiority.  The  citizens  of 
Lincoln,  for  example,  were  eagerly  in  his  favour,  but  the  castle  was  held 
for  the  royalists,  and  till  it  was  taken  the  town  could  not  be  left  unpro- 
tected. In  December,  Louis  was  obliged  to  pay  a  visit  to  France,  and 
his  departure  was  the  signal  for  the  desertion  of  the  earl  of  Salisbury 
and  William  Marshall,  Pembroke's  son,  who  threw  in  their  lot  with  the 
young  king.  In  April  he  returned,  and  at  once  despatched  the  count  of 
Perche  to  aid  Robert  Fitz-Walter  in  the  siege  of  Lincoln,  while  he  him- 
self resumed  the  attack  on  Dover.  Perche's  march  was  a  scene  of 
terrible  outrage,  for  Louis'  foreigners  showed  themselves  as  unscrupu- 
lous plunderers  as  those  of  John.  To  relieve  Lincoln,  Pem-  Battle  of 
broke  collected  a  powerful  force.  Passing  round  the  town,  Lincoln, 
he  stormed  the  northern  gate,  assisted  by  a  sally  from  the  castle,  took 
the  besiegers  in  the  rear,  threw  them  into  confusion  in  the  narrow, 
winding,  and  steep  streets  of  the  town,  and  completely  routed  them. 
Perche  was  killed  and  Fitz-Walter  was  taken  prisoner.  To  punish  the 
citizens  for  their  disloyalty,  the  town  was  then  sacked  ;  and  so  great 
was  the  booty  that  the  battle  was  long  remembered  as  '  Lincoln  Fair.' 

The  disaster  at  Lincoln  destroyed  Louis'  military  supremacy,  and  forced 
him  to  return  to  London  ;  but  he  still  had  hopes  of  the  arrival  of  a  fleet  of 
eighty  vessels  under  Eustace  the  Monk,  with  the  reinforce-  Battle  of 
ments  collected  by  the  energy  of  his  wife  Blanche.  By  Dover, 
this  time,  however,  the  indefatigable  Hubert  de  Burgh  had  supplied  the 
loss  of  John's  fleet  by  collecting  another  at  Dover.  He  had  only  forty 
ships,  but  with  these  he  boldly  sallied  out,  on  August  24th,  and,  making  up 
by  skill  for  his  want  of  numbers,  took  the  '  weather-gauge  '  of  the  French 
by  a  clever  manoeuvre,  and,  as  his  men  grappled  the  French  vessels,  he 
ordered  them  to  throw  quicklime  in  the  eyes  of  their  defenders.  This 
new  method  of  attack  took  the  Frenchmen  by  surprise.  The  rout  of  their 
fleet  was  complete  ;  their  leader  was  killed,  and  Louis'  last  hope  ruined. 

The  victory  was  a  signal  for  a  general  advance  of  the  royalists  ;  and 


184  ,  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1217 

Louis  saw  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  from  continuing  the  struggle. 
On  September  11th,  the  treaty  of  Lambeth  brought  hostilities  to  a 
close  ;  and  within  a  few  weeks  Louis  had  left  the  country.  The  treaty 
Treaty  of  ^^  Lambeth  is  almost  as  important  as  the  Great  Charter 
Lambeth,  itself.  It  was  based  on  the  principle  of  a  general  amnesty 
for  the  past,  and  the  restitution  of  all  forfeited  property.  Ten  thousand 
marks  were  paid  to  Louis,  nominally  for  his  expenses,  in  reality  to 
secure  his  speedy  departure  ;  and  shortly  afterwards  Pembroke  and 
Grualo  wisely  issued  a  new  edition  of  the  Great  Charter,  and  also  a 
Charter  of  the  Forests,  which  included  not  only  the  articles  relating  to 
forest  law  embodied  in  the  original  form  of  the  charter,  but  other  regu- 
lations which  probably  made  it  almost  as  popular  a  document  as  the 
Great  Charter  itself.  When  for  the  future  the  confirmation  of  the 
charters  was  demanded,  the  Great  Charter  and  the  Charter  of  the  Forests 
are  the  two  meant. 

These  events  occupied  the  year  1217.   At  the  close  of  that  year,  Gualo, 

who  seems  to  have  worked  in  harmony  with  Pembroke,  and  to  whom 

some  praise  is  certainly  due  for  his  share  in  these  pacificatory 

measures,  left  the  kingdom,  and  his  place  was  taken  by 

Pandulf,  an  inferior  man,  who  remained  till  1221.     However,  in  1218, 

Langton  returned  to  England,  and,  till  his  death  in  1229,  had  the  chief 

ecclesiastical  power.     In  1219  Pembroke  died,   leaving  behind  him  a 

reputation  not  only  for  unflinching  loyalty  but  also  for  priceless  services 

to  the  country  at  large.    No  '  rector '  was  appointed  in  his  place,  but  the 

Hubert  de    chief  power  was  exercised  by  Hubert  de  Burgh,  who  had 

Burgh.         been  justiciar  since  1215.     Hubert  was  the  last  of  the  great 

statesmen   trained   under   Henry  ii.,  and  his  rule  from  1219  to  1232 

was  a  period  of  great  importance.      His  chief  task  was  to  complete 

Pembroke's   measures   by  getting  all  the  castles  back  again  into   the 

king's  hands,  and  also  of  ridding  England  of  such  lawless  foreigners 

as  Falkes  de  Breaute,  whom  Pembroke  had  been  obliged  to  tolerate  as 

the  price  of  their  military  services. 

In   achieving   his  first  object,  the  chief  obstacle  was  the  action  of 
William  of  Aumale,  who  repeated  the  conduct  of  his  grandfather  in  1155, 
'William  of  ^^^  refused  to  give  up  his  castles.     He  was  abetted  by  the 
Aumale.       g^ri  of  Chester,  and  also  by  Falkes,  and  probably  had  the 
secret   support  of  Peter   des   Eoches,   who   was  jealous    of    Hubert's 
authority.    The  years  1220  and  1221  were  mainly  occupied  in  dealing  with 
Falkes  de     ^^^'  ^^*  ^*  length  he  was  reduced  to  complete  submission. 
Breaut6.      Falkes'  turn  came  next.     This  rascal,  a  refugee  from  Nor- 
mandy, had  been  John's  right-hand  man,  and  as  such  had  been  rewarded 


1227  Henry  III.  185 

with  everything  his  master  had  to  offer.  He  had  married  an  heiress, 
had  received  numerous  estates  ;  he  was  sheriff  of  six  counties,  and  had 
the  custody  of  several  castles,  notably  that  of  Bedford.  This  he  in- 
trusted to  his  brother  William,  a  man  as  lawless  as  himself,  who  actually 
ventured  to  imprison  one  of  the  king's  judges  because  he  had  condenmed 
him  to  pay  a  fine  at  Dunstable  assizes.  Hubert  immediately  marched 
to  besiege  the  castle. 

The  siege  of  Bedford  Castle  was  a  most  formidable  undertaking,  and 
typical  of  the  warfare  of  the  time.  The  defences  consisted  of  an  outwork 
or  barbican,  of  an  inner  wall,  and  of  the  keep  itself.  It  was  giege  of 
amply  provisioned  and  garrisoned,  and  Falkes  expected  it  Bedford, 
to  hold  out  for  twelve  months.  The  attack  began  in  midsummer. 
Hubert  erected  against  it  two  wooden  towers,  from  the  tops  of  which 
the  archers  could  shoot  down  on  the  defenders  of  the  outer  works, 
and  with  their  aid  the  barbican  was  assaulted  and  taken.  Then  seven 
military  engines  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  inner  wall.  That,  too, 
was  forced,  and  the  cattle  and  horses  of  the  garrison  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  besiegers.  Finally,  under  the  protection  of  a  machine  called  a  cat, 
the  sappers  began  operations  and  undermined  the  huge  walls  of  the  keep 
itself.  One  corner  sank,  and  a  vast  rent  appeared  in  the  walls.  The 
garrison  then  sued  for  mercy,  but  Hubert  wished  to  give  a  lesson  to  such 
as  they.  Eighty  of  the  leaders  were  hanged,  the  rest  driven  from  the 
country,  and  the  castle  itself  was  razed  to  the  ground.  Falkes  himself 
then  gave  up  the  game  and  was  allowed  to  relieve  the  country  of  his 
presence  by  a  permanent  exile.  The  discomfiture  of  his  friends  dis- 
couraged des  Koches ;  and  after  1224  he  had  little  influence  for  some 
years,  and,  being  dismissed  from  the  chancellorship  in  1227,  left  the 
country  to  take  part  in  the  Crusades. 

In  1227,  Henry,  who  was  then  twenty,  declared  himself  of  age  to 
govern.  His  minority,  besides  the  stirring  events  already  mentioned, 
was  remarkable  for  several  advances  in  the  unwritten  law. 

T>w      •        •  •  .  Henry 

Durmg  its  contmuance  there  sprmgs  mto  evidence  an  inner  comes  of 
circle  of  advisers,  who  revived  in  a  somewhat  different  form  *^*' 
the  political  as  distinguished  from  the  judicial  powers  of  the  old  Curia 
Kegis.  The  appointment  of  the  regent  by  the  coimnon  council  appears  to 
be  the  beginning  of  a  claim  for  the  nation,  as  represented  by  the  council, 
to  have  a  voice  in  the  appointment  of  ministers  ;  and,  lastly,  the  distinc- 
tion naturally  drawn  between  a  boy  king,  who  could  in  no  way  be 
responsible  for  the  policy  of  the  government,  and  the  ministers  them- 
selves, seems  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  maxim  that  *  the  king  can  do 
no  wronsr.' 


186  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1227 

The  character  of  the  new  sovereign  presents  a  curious  group  of 
anomalies.  Avoiding  altogether  the  personal  wickedness  of  his  father, 
Character  of  Henry  derived  from  him  the  faithlessness  and  cunning 
Henry  III.  which  had  been  shown  by  many  of  the  Angevin  race.  He 
had,  too,  his  father's  capacity  for  exciting  personal  enmity  ;  but  lacked 
his  ability  and  capacity  for  vigorous  action.  He  had  no  military  tenden- 
cies and  no  special  political  ideas  except  gratitude  and  attachment  to  the 
papacy,  and  dislike  of  the  influence  of  strong  men.  In  private  life,  how- 
ever, his  character  was  blameless.  A  fondness  for  extravagant  display 
was  his  chief  fault,  and  was  to  some  extent  redeemed  by  his  fondness  for 
architecture,  literature,  and  culture.  In  personal  appearance  he  was 
slight,  and  a  droop  of  one  eyelid  gave  an  unhappy  expression  to 
his  face. 

Under  his  personal  rule,  Hubert  continued  to  act  as  justiciar  for  five 
years  longer  ;  but  in  1228  he  lost  a  good  supporter  by  the  death  of  Arch- 
bishop Langton,  whose  death  was  at  once  followed  by  an 
attempt  of  the  pope  to  raise  a  regular  revenue  from  England. 
Already  he  received  1000  marks  a  year  as  overlord,  and  .£199,  8s.  in  Peter's 
Pence,  paid  in  a  certain  fixed  sum  for  each  diocese.  These  sums,  how- 
ever, were  inadequate  to  support  the  expenditure  of  the  popes.  This  had 
been  enormously  increased  by  the  necessities  of  their  temporal  posses- 
sions, the  mass  of  business  which  the  energy  of  Innocent  iii.  had  accumu- 
lated in  their  hands,  and  by  the  constant  wars  in  which  his  successors, 
Gregory  ix.  and  Innocent  iv.,were  involved  with  the  Emperor  Frederick  ii. 
The  first  taxes  raised  from  the  clergy  had  been  collected,  nominally  at 
least,  for  the  Crusades,  on  the  principle  that  if  the  laity  of  Europe  fought 
for  the  holy  cause  the  clergy  of  Europe  ought  at  least  to  provide  the 
money  ;  but  the  practice  once  begun,  call  after  call  was  made,  and  eventu- 
ally even  the  pretence  of  a  crusade  was  dropped.  The  right  of  the  pope 
to  demand  such  payment  was  based  on  the  analogy  of  feudalism,  and  the 
taxes  were  supposed  to  correspond  to  the  aids  paid  to  the  temporal  lord. 
In  England  the  pope,  as  overlord,  proposed  to  exact  money  from  both 
Refusal  of  ^^^  Isiitj  and  the  clergy,  and  in  1229  Gregory  ix.  demanded 
the  Laity.  ^  tenth  of  all  property  for  the  war  against  the  emperor. 
He  was,  however,  met  by  such  a  firm  refusal  from  the  former,  headed  by 
Submission  Ranulf  of  Chester,  that  he  had  to  give  way  ;  but  the  clergy 
of  the  Clergy,  y^^j.^  compelled  to  yield,  and  eventually  had  to  set  aside  for 
the  pope  the  tenth  of  their  yearly  income  and  the  first  year's  emoluments 
Annates  and  ^^  ^1^  benefices.  These  sums  were  called  annates  and  first- 
First-fruits,  fruits.  In  addition  to  these,  special  gifts  were  sometimes 
asked  ;    and   under  Gregory  ix.  the  demands  were  so  exorbitant  that 


1228  Henry  III.  187 

the  laity  began  to  remonstrate  at  the  impoverishment  of  the  country. 

In  1237,  Cardinal  Otho  came  over,  and,  in  spite  of  the  irritation  of  the 

clergy  and  people,  collected  vast  sums  for  the  papal  treasury  ;  and,  in 

1245,  at  the  council  of  Lyons,  the  English  complained  that  60,000  marks 

a  year  went  into  the  hands  of  the  pope  and  the  foreign  clergy.     Besides 

this  direct  taxation,  the  pope  supplied  his  needs  indirectly  by  paying 

his   servants  with   English   livings,  just  as   the  kings  had  paid  their 

iusticiars  and  chancellors  by  getting  them  made  bishops. 

"L,  .  ,11  .  r         .1  ^  •     1-  Provisors. 

This  system  was  called  povisorSj  and  created  great  mdigna- 

tion  on  the  part  of  the  patrons  whose  rights  were  thus  invaded.     The 

laity  were  the  first  to  remonstrate.     A  Yorkshire  knight,  Sir  Robert 

Twenge,  had  the  public  spirit  to  go  to  Rome  and  lay  his  case  before 

the  pope  ;  and  his  remonstrances  were  so  far  successful  that  the  pope 

promised  henceforth  to  confine  his  interference  to  livings  in  the  gift  of 

the  clergy.     Their  case  was  then  taken  up  by  Robert  Grossetete,  bishop 

of  Lincoln,  and  eventually  the  pope  promised  to  stop  the  practice — a 

promise,  however,  which  was  ill  kept. 

It  was  during  the  sordid  controversies  between  the  pope  and  the  ancient 
and  wealthy  ecclesiastical  orders  of  endowed  clergy  that  a  change  little 
short  of  a  religious  revolution  was  being  introduced  into  Eng-    Rjge  of  the 
land  by  the  arrival  of  the  mendicant  friars  of  the  orders  of   Friars. 
St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic,  and  their  later  rivals  the  Carmelites  and  the 
Augustinians.     The  founders  of  the  two  former,  St.  Francis  (1182-1226), 
St.  Dominic  (1170-1221),  had  been  struck  by  two  phases  of  contemporary 
life  with  which  the  church  as  it  then  existed  seemed  power- 
less to  deal.     Dominic,  as  a  Spaniard,  orthodox,  rigid,  dog- 
matic, mourned  the  heresy  which  he  saw  spreading  among  the  town  popu- 
lations of  southern  France,  and  believed  the  only  remedy  for  it  was  to  be 
found  in  an  order  of  popular  preachers  :  men  who  should  be  able  to  meet 
the  heretical  ministers  on  their  own  ground,  and  should  show  by  their 
devotion,  their  poverty,  and  their  learning  that  Christianity  had  some- 
thing more  to  ofier  than  was  apparent  in  the  lives  of  gorgeous  ecclesiastics 
wholly  immersed  in  secular  business,  or  fat  monks  and  abbots  whose 
highest  ideal  was  to  withdraw  themselves  into  the  solitude  and  sanctity 
of  their  cloister  and  leave  the  world  to  get  on  as  best  it  could. 

St.  Francis,  on  the  other  hand,  an  Italian,  the  son  of  a  merchant  of 
Assisi,  was  struck,  not  with  the  heresy  of  the  upper  classes,  but  with  the 
irreligion  and  misery  of  the  squalid  population,  whom  the 
growth  of  commerce  and  the  tyranny  of  the  rural  nobility 
were  accumulating  in  the  towns.     He  saw  that  the  authorities  of  these 
were  wholly  incapable  of  dealing  with  the  sanitary  difficulties  inherent  to 


188  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1228 

the  rapid  growth  of  population  in  a  limited  area,  and  that  the  clergy- 
were  quite  inadequate  either  in  numbers  or  zeal  to  grapple  with  a  problem 
so  rapidly  increasing  both  in  magnitude  and  difficulty.  But  though 
they  approached  the  subject  from  different  points  of  view,  Francis  and 
Dominic  were  practically  in  accord  as  to  the  methods  to  be  adopted. 
Both  placed  their  reliance  on  the  creation  of  an  order  of  preaching 
brothers,  who  were  to  live  on  the  alms  given  them  by  the  poor  among 
whom  they  were  sent ;  both  abandoned  the  monkish  idea  of  a  religious 
life  of  country  seclusion  ;  and  both  sent  their  disciples  to  preach,  at  any 
rate  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  mass  of  squalid,  heterodox,  irreligious 
humanity  which  weltered  in  the  unutterable  filth  and  the  pestilential 
atmosphere  of  the  purlieus  of  mediseval  towns.  But  though,  in  general, 
their  objects  were  the  same,  a  gradually  widening  distinction  existed 
^Yie  between  the  two.     The  Dominican  always  made  preaching 

Dominicans,  against  heresy  his  great  object ;  the  Franciscan  took  a 
broader  view  of  his  duty,  and  soon  the  old  saying  '  nothing  that  concerns 
humanity  is  outside  my  sphere  of  interest'  might  be  taken  as  their 
motto.  Dominic,  as  a  profound  student  of  theology,  was  naturally  in 
/pj^g  favour  of  that  study  ;  but  St.  Francis,  with  somewhat  of  a 

Franciscans,  practical  tradesman's  contempt  for  literary  culture,  inter- 
dicted or  at  any  rate  discouraged  study  among  his  followers,  and  wished 
them  to  devote  themselves  entirely  to  a  life  of  action.  Facts,  however, 
were  too  strong  for  St.  Francis.  Before  long,  his  followers  found  that  if 
they  were  really  to  aid  the  diseased,  the  lepers,  and  the  maimed,  they 
must  study  anatomy  and  the  science  of  medicine — and  in  doing  so  they 
became  the  first  physicists  in  the  world  ;  that  if  they  would  cope  with 
the  sharp  wits  of  the  townspeople  they  must  not  neglect  their  logic ;  and 
consequently,  if  the  Dominicans  have  to  boast  the  great  names  of  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  Albert  the  Great,  the  Franciscans  may  glory  in  those  of 
Roger  Bacon,  Duns  Scotus,  and  William  of  Ockham. 

The  Dominicans  arrived  in  England  before  1221  ;  the  Franciscans  in 
1224  ;  but  the  success  of  the  two  orders  was  by  no  means  equal.  The 
The  Friars  English  were  not  given  to  heresy,  and  the  black  friars  found 
in  England,  more  scope  among  the  Albigenses  of  Toulouse  than  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames  ;  but  for  the  Franciscans  there  was  ample  work, 
and  in  a  short  time  these  grey  friars  became  by  far  the  most  popular  of 
all  the  orders.  Soon  every  town  in  England  had  its  convent  of  grey 
friars,  invariably  built  like  a  mission  chapel  of  the  present  day  in  the 
lowest  slums,  and  from  it  there  issued  forth,  two  and  two,  a  band  of 
devoted  men  eager  to  help  their  poor  neighbours  in  every  possible  way, 
as  preachers,  doctors,  comforters,  or  friends.     The  influence  of  such  a 


1232  Henry  III.  189 

body  was  enonnous,  for  the  friars  held,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
position  held  now  by  the  press.  Their  sermons  took  the  place  of  the 
leading  article  ;  the  arrival  of  a  friar  from  Oxford  or  London  was  the 
event  of  the  day  ;  his  opinions  represented  the  latest  news  ;  and,  as  he 
was  thoroughly  democratic  in  habits  and  tone,  the  influence  of  the  friars 
gave  an  enormous  impetus  to  the  spread  of  popular  ideas  and  the  forma- 
tion of  public  opinion. 

Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  great  justiciar,  fell  in  1232.  Earl  Ranulf,  whose 
spirited  action  in  1229  defeated  the  papal  schemes,  was  by  no  means  a 
good  friend  to  Hubert  de  Burgh.  Representing  as  he  did  pgu  ^f 
the  last  of  the  great  barons  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  there  Hubert, 
was  much  in  Hubert's  policy  which  galled  him  ;  and,  in  1232,  he  made 
common  cause  with  Peter  des  Roches,  who  had  come  home  in  1231,  to 
induce  Henry  to  dismiss  his  minister.  Hubert  had  many  enemies.  His 
great  wealth  excited  the  cupidity  of  some  ;  his  marriage  with  a  sister  of 
the  king  of  Scots  aroused  the  envy  of  others  ;  his  stern  enforcement  of  law 
and  order  gained  him  the  hatred  of  a  third  section  ;  and  Henry,  whose 
habitual  dislike  of  any  powerful  adviser  was  beginning  to  show  itself,  was 
won  over  by  their  representations.  In  1232,  Hubert  was  suddenly  dis- 
missed, and  a  long  series  of  charges,  not  unlike  those  made  by  Henry  ii. 
against  Becket,  were  brought  against  the  fallen  minister.  Before  the 
trial  Hubert  took  sanctuary  in  a  church.  Henry  had  a  moat  dug  round 
it  and  starved  him  into  surrender.  He  was  then  stripped  of  most 
of  his  wealth  and  placed  in  honourable  confinement.  From  this  he 
escaped,  but  made  no  attempt  to  regain  his  power,  and  died  in  1234. 
Hubert  de  Burgh  was  the  last  of  the  line  of  great  justiciars.  After  his 
fall  the  importance  of  the  office  declined,  mainly  because  the  king  was  of 
full  age  and,  having  hardly  any  continental  dominions,  was  constantly  in 
England.  The  name  gradually  drops  out  of  sight,  and  the  chancellor 
became  the  most  important  of  the  king's  officers. 

After  Hubert's  fall,  Henry  took  the  conduct  of  affairs  into  his  own 
hands,  and  twenty-six  years  of  bad  government  followed.  This  was 
partly  due  to  Henry's  own  character,  but  was  partly  due  Henry's 
to  changes  which  were  taking  place  in  the  country,  and  <i»ffic"ities. 
which  required  to  be  met  by  corresponding  changes  in  the  method  of 
government,  and  these  Henry  had  not  the  genius  to  supply.  William 
the  Conqueror  and  Henry  ii.  had  found  a  great  source  of  power  in  their 
wealth,  which  arose  partly  from  the  large  extent  of  the  crown  lands,  and 
partly  from  being  able  to  levy  aids,  and  afterwards  scutages,  practically 
at  will.  But  the  extravagance  of  Richard  and  John  had  stripped  the 
crown  of  a  large  part  of  its  possessions,  while,  though  the  clauses  about 


190  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1232 

aids  and  scutages  had  been  omitted  when  the  Great  Charter  had  been 
re-published,  the  king  had  found  it  in  practice  impossible  to  levy  these 
taxes  without  the  consent  of  the  tenants.  The  king,  therefore,  was 
continually  pressed  for  money.  One  result  of  this  was  that  he  could 
not  provide  himself  with  a  standing  army  of  foreign  mercenaries,  which 
meant  that  he  had  to  rely  for  defence  against  insurrection  on  the  personal 
following  of  Englishmen  whom  he  could  get  to  support  his  measures. 
That  is  to  say,  he  depended  for  support  upon  public  opinion.  Hence- 
forward, a  king,  like  a  prime  minister  of  our  own  day,  had  to  keep  together 
a  party  strong  enough  to  support  him  ;  and  the  future  success  of  Henry 
and  his  successors  for  many  years  depended  on  the  question,  whether  or 
not  they  were  able  to  get  the  confidence  of  the  nation  and  produce  an 
irresistible  king's  party. 

Besides  the  general  causes  of  poverty,   special  reasons  operated  in 
Henry's   case  ;   for   his   weakness   and  good-nature,  combined  with  an 

utterly  false  reputation  for  wealth,  made  him  the  con- 
Causes  of  tinual  prey  of  adventurers  of  every  class,  who  regarded  his 
over  y.  ]j^ing(jon^  as  a  happy  hunting-ground  for  people  whose  claims 
were  unrecognised  in  their  own  countries.  Indeed,  Henry  was  told  to  his 
face  that  England  had  become  like  a  vineyard  whose  fence  was  broken, 
so  that  all  that  go  by  pluck  ofi'her  grapes.  For  example,  the  very  first  use 
made  by  Peter  des  Roches  of  the  fall  of  Hubert  de  Burgh  was  to  dismiss 

the  English  servants  of  the  court  and  to  replace  them  by 

Bretons  and  Poitevins,  and  to  lavish  upon  his  countrymen 
and  relations  all  the  patronage  on  which  he  could  lay  his  hands.  One 
of  these,  his  nephew,  Peter  de  Rivallis,  was  treasurer  of  the  chamber  in 
the  king's  household,  dean  of  Bridgenorth,  constable  of  all  the  royal 
castles  in  Shropshire,  sheriff'  of  that  county  and  of  Stafi'ordshire  for  life, 
and,  at  one  time  or  other,  sheriff"  of  York,  Berkshire,  Gloucester,  Somerset, 
Dorset,  Devon,  Lancashire,  Northumberland,  Essex,  Hampshire,  Lincoln- 
shire, Norfolk,  Suffolk,  and  Kent. 

Such  lavish  bestowal  of  favours  on  foreigners  had  the  natural  result 
of  rousing  English  national  feeling  ;  for  the  barons,  though  they  might 

speak  French,  were  now  thoroughly  English  at  heart.  The 
the  Opposi-  natural  leader  of  the  opposition  would  have  been  Ranulf  of 
tion.  Chester,  had  he  not  died,  in  1232,  during  the  proceedings 

against  Hubert.     William  Marshall  the  younger  was  also  dead,  so  the 

duty  of  leadership  devolved  upon  his  younger  brother 
Earl  of  Pern-   Richard  Marshall,  now  earl  of  Pembroke,  a  man  of  excellent 

character,  a  good  warrior,  far-sighted  in  politics,  and  of  un- 
impeachable patriotism.      Under  him  the  barons  declared  that,  unless 


1242  Henry  III.  191 

Henry  would  dismiss  Peter  des  Roches  and  his  alien  counsellors,  they 
would  elect  a  new  king.  In  return,  Henry  denounced  Richard  as  a 
traitor ;  and  when  he  demanded  to  be  tried  by  his  peers,  Peter  con- 
temptuously asserted  that '  there  are  no  peers '  in  England.  On  this,  the 
bishops  also  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  barons,  and  published  a  sentence 
of  excommunication  against  the  men  who  had  turned  away  the  king's 
heart  from  his  natural  subjects.  Civil  war  followed,  and  in  October 
1233  the  king  in  person  was  defeated  by  the  earl  Richard  at  Monmouth. 
The  next  year,  however,  the  earl  was  cunningly  enticed  into  Ireland 
and  there  slain  by  treachery.  Still  the  bishops,  under  Archbishop 
Edmund  Rich,  whom  the  pope  had  just  nominated,  persisted  in  demand- 
ing a  reform,  and  the  archbishop  declared  his  readiness  to  excom- 
municate Henry  himself.  Before  the  threats  of  the  church  Henry  gave 
way ;  and,  while  the  earl  Richard  was  on  his  deathbed  in  Ireland,  Peter 
des  Roches  and  his  friends  were  dismissed  and  Hubert  de  Burgh  was 
restored  to  his  estates. 

Henry  had  now  an  opportunity  of  making  a  fresh  start,  but,  no  sooner 
had  he  extricated  himself  from  the  evil  influence  and  avarice  of  Peter  des 
Roches  and  his  Poitevins,  than  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Henry's 
fresh  body  of  claimants  for  his  bounty.  In  1236,  at  the  age  Mamage. 
of  twenty-nine,  he  married  Eleanor  of  Provence,  one  of  the  four  beauti- 
ful daughters  of  Raymond  Berenger,  count  of  Provence,  whose  sisters 
married,  respectively,  Louis  ix.  of  France,  Charles  of  Anjou,  afterwards 
king  of  Naples,  and  Henry's  young  brother  Richard,  afterwards  king  of 
the  Romans.  She  was  a  high-spirited  and  passionate  woman,  devoted  to 
her  husband,  and  setting  with  him  an  example  of  domestic  virtue  and 
happiness,  but,  naturally,  ignorant  of  English  life,  and  incapable  of  giving 
her  husband  any  real  assistance  in  his  political  difficulties.  She  brought 
with  her  her  uncles,  William  of  Savoy,  bishop-elect  of  Valence,  Boniface 
of  Savoy,  and  Peter  of  Savoy,  and  a  train  of  needy  Provencal  ^he  Pro- 
dependents,  attracted  by  Henry's  undeserved  reputation  ven^als. 
for  wealth,  whom  Henry's  good-nature  soon  endowed  with  as  large  a 
share  of  the  public  money  as  had  previously  been  engrossed  by  the 
Poitevins.  He  sought  to  make  William  bishop  of  Winchester  in 
succession  to  Peter  des  Roches  ;  Peter  became  earl  of  Richmond  ;  and 
Boniface,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop  Edmund  Rich  in  1245,  was  made 
archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Nor  were  these  all.  Henry's  mother,  Isabella  of  Angouleme,  had  taken 
advantage  of  John's  death  to  marry  her  old  lover,  Hugh  de  la  Marche, 
and  had  by  him  a  second  family  of  sons  and  daughters.  In  1242,  Henry, 
who  was  desirous  of  making  a  figure  on  the  Continent,  was  led,  all  against 


192  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1242 

the  wishes  and  advice  of  his  English  council,  to  interfere  in  a  quarrel 
between  Hugh  and  Louis  ix.  The  chief  result  of  this  was  to  give  him  an 
R  f       opportunity  of  displaying  his  military  incompetence  at  the 

Taillebourg     battles  of  Taillebourg  and  Saintes,  where  he  was  not  only 
defeated,  but  barely  saved  from  capture  by  the  address  of 
his  brother  Eichard.     On  his  return,  however,  he  was  followed  by  a  fresh 
More  batch  of  hungry  Poitevins,  and  some  of  his  half-brothers 

Poitevins.  j^jj(j  sisters,  including  another  William  of  Valence.  Of 
these,  Guy,  the  eldest,  received  large  sums  of  money  ;  William  of 
Valence  became  earl  of  Pembroke ;  Ailmar,  or  Ethelmar,  was  elected 
bishop  of  Winchester  in  1250.  The  solitary  advantage  from  the  expedi- 
tion was  that  Henry  definitely  gave  up  his  claim  to  Poitou,  and  was 
invested  formally  with  the  duchy  of  Guienne,  which  practically  meant 
the  district  of  Gascony. 

Lastly,    Henry  was  in  debt   to   the   pope.      On   the  death   of  the 

Emperor  Frederick  11.,  in  1250,  Innocent  iv.,  who  was  de- 
Henry's  ^  ■)  J  1 

Debts  to  the   sirous  of  getting  Naples   and   Sicily  out  of  the  hands  of 
°^^'  his  descendants,  made  an  offer  to  Henry  of  that  crown  for 

Eichard,  earl  of  Cornwall.  Frederick,  however,  had  married  Eichard's 
sister,  and  the  proposal  to  rob  his  own  nephew  Henry  of  his  inheritance 
was  rejected  as  dishonourable.  But  on  that  prince's  death  in  1254, 
Henry  accepted  the  offer  for  his  second  son  Edmund.  He  was,  how- 
ever, in  no  condition  to  afford  so  distant  an  expedition,  even  had  he  had 
the  ability  to  conduct  it  with  success ;  but  the  success  of  the  plan 
required  instant  action,  and  the  pope,  determined  to  lose  no  time, 
carried  on  the  war  himself,  putting  down  all  the  expenses  to  Henry's 
account.  To  this  imposition,  Henry,  with  great  weakness,  submitted, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  by  the  year  1267  Henry's  debt  to  the 
pope  amounted  to  £135,000. 

Bankruptcy,  therefore,  was  impending  ;  and  neither  at  home  nor 
abroad  had  Henry  any  record  of  achievements  to  set  against  this  enormous 
Bankruptcy  expenditure.  In  England,  Henry  had  been  acting  as  his  own 
imminent.  chief  minister.  Since  1244  he  had  had  neither  treasurer, 
chancellor,  nor  justiciar,  but  had  himself  carried  on  the  duties  of  these 
officials  through  the  hands  of  their  clerks  ;  but  his  abilities  were  quite 
inadequate  for  such  a  system,  and  the  whole  machinery  of  government 
fell  into  hopeless  confusion.  Want  of  money  was  as  usual  at  the  bottom 
of  his  difficulties,  and  a  number  of  his  own  servants  were  convicted 
of  highway  robbery,  to  which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  arrears 
into  which  their  salaries  had  fallen.  The  king  was  constantly  wrangling 
with  the  chapters  about  the  election  of  bishoprics  ;  his  foreign  favourites 


1255  Henry  III.  193 

and  the  seneschals  of  his  castle  were  continually  adding  to  the  ill-feeling 
by  their  rapacity  and  insolence  ;  and  it  really  seemed  as  though  the  days 
of  King  Stephen  were  rapidly  coming  back. 

Such  a  state  of  affairs  naturally  roused  and  spread  discontent ;  but  it 
was  difficult  for  the  barons  to  act  without  a  leader,  and  since  the  death 
of  Archbishop  Edmund  in  1240,  no  one  of  the  first  im-  want  of 
portance  had  taken  his  place.  All  the  sons  of  the  great  *  Leader. 
William  Marshall  were  dead.  Hubert  de  Biurgh  died  in  1234  ;  and  the 
king's  younger  brother  Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall,  whose  English 
sympathies  and  real  ability  had  pointed  him  out  as  a  possible  leader,  had, 
since  his  marriage  with  Sancia,  the  queen's  sister,  allowed  himself  to 
drop  out  of  sight,  and  even,  to  some  extent,  to  sympathise  with  the 
foreigners.  Robert  Grossetete,  too,  died  in  1253 ;  while  Archbishop 
Boniface  usually  resided  abroad,  and,  being  a  foreigner  himself,  his  sym- 
pathies were  all  the  other  way.  Grumble,  however,  the  barons  did ; 
and  as  the  king's  necessities  compelled  him  constantly  to  call  meetings  of 
the  great  council — to  which  the  name  parliament,  an  Italian 
word,  first  used  of  a  meeting  held  in  Italy  by  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa  in  1155,  was  now  gradually  being  given — they  had  many  oppor- 
tunities for  remonstrance.  For  instance,  in  1244  the  earls,  barons,  and 
bishops  had  demanded  control  over  the  appointment  of  ministers.  In 
1248  they  implored  him  to  reappoint  the  treasurer,  chancellor,  and 
justiciar;  and  the  same  request  was  repeated  in  1255.  Of  course  the 
demand  was  refused ;  but  such  a  demand  showed  that  the  opposition 
had  realised  the  right  way  to  influence  the  king's  policy,  and  were 
slowly  feeling  their  way  towards  making  ministers  responsible  to  the 
nation.  Besides  demanding  a  voice  in  the  appointment  of  ministers, 
the  opposition  made  every  grant  of  money  an  excuse  for  a  fresh 
demand  for  the  confirmation  of  the  Charters.  Henry,  however,  had  an 
extraordinary  elasticity  of  conscience  in  regard  even  to  the  most  solemn 
oaths,  and  though  in  1253  he  was  made  to  say  '  So  help  me,  God,  all 
these  will  I  faithfully  keep  inviolate  as  I  am  a  man,  a  Christian,  a 
knight,  a  crowned  and  anointed  king,'  yet  in  1255  the  old  quarrel 
was  raging  as  before,  and  the  Charters,  as  usual,  were  re-confirmed  and 
published. 

At  length  the  barons  found  a  leader  against  the  foreigners  in  the 
person  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  earl  of  Leicester.       Oddly   gimon  de 
enough,   Simon  was   himself  a  foreigner.       He   was    the    Montfort. 
youngest  son  of  another  Simon  de  Montfort,  who  had  led  the  crusade 
against  the   Albigenses,      Simon,   the  elder,   was  by  his  mother  the 
nephew  and  co-heir  of  the  earl  of  Leicester,  who  died  in  the  preceding 


194  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1256 

reign.  The  strained  relations  between  France  and  England  did  not 
encourage  Simon  to  press  his  claim,  and  the  lands  of  the  earldom  were 
placed  in  the  custody  of  Ranulf,  earl  of  Chester.  Ranulf,  however, 
was  childless,  and  in  view  of  his  death  an  arrangement  was  made  by 
which  Amaury,  the  eldest  son  of  Simon,  resigned  his  claims  to  his 
younger  brother,  who  was  then  recognised  by  Henry  as  earl  of  Leicester. 
The  young  earl  was  a  man  of  strong  body  and  active  habits,  accomplished 
as  the  times  went,  and  had  inherited  the  fervent  piety  that  had  distin- 
guished his  father  ;  and  his  worth  is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
on  terms  of  intimate  friendship  with  all  the  best  men  of  his  time.  In  the 
earlier  part  of  his  career,  however,  he  showed  little  promise  of  being  the 
leader  of  a  national  movement.  Himself  a  foreigner,  and,  comparatively 
speaking,  an  upstart,  he  had  little  claim  on  English  sympathies,  and  it 
was  many  years  before  his  good  qualities  won  general  recognition. 

In  1238  Simon  married  Eleanor,  the  king's  sister,  and  widow  of  the 
younger  William  Marshall ;  but  this  alliance  did  little  to  improve  his 
position,  and  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  king  and  with  Eichard,  the 
king's  brother,  who  looked  on  the  marriage  as  a  disparagement  to  his  sister. 
From  1240  to  1242  Simon  took  part  in  a  crusade.  He  then  lived  quietly 
at  home  till  1248,  when  he  was  made  seneschal  of  Gascony.  Simon  was  a 
stern  man,  who  could  ill  brook  the  turbulence  of  the  Gascon  nobles,  and  his 
attempts  at  repressing  them  gained  him  the  same  unpopularity  among 
them  that  had  been  the  lot  of  Richard  i.  in  his  early  days  (see  page  154). 
Their  main  reason  for  preferring  the  rule  of  Henry  to  that  of  Louis  was 
that  the  former  was  farther  off,  and  they  bitterly  resented  the  law  and 
order  of  which  the  new  seneschal  made  himself  the  representative. 
Accordingly  they  complained  to  Henry.  The  king  weakly  took  their 
side,  or,  at  any  rate,  ceased  to  support  Simon  ;  and  in  1253  he  vacated 
his  post  and  for  some  time  lived  abroad. 

In  1257,  however,  Simon  was  back  in  England  quarrelling  with  William 
of  Valence,  and  from  that  moment  began  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the 

,     ^     opposition  to  Henry's  ill  rule.     The  time  was  favourable  for 
Simon  leads      ^^  •'  -,    o    ^•  o    ^•         •   o 

the  opposi-  effective  movement.  A  widespread  feeling  of  dissatisfac- 
tion permeated  all  ranks.  Henry's  younger  brother  Richard, 
the  wealthy  earl  of  Cornwall,  had  just  gone  to  Germany,  where  he  had 
been  elected  king  of  the  Romans.  Henry  was  desperately  in  debt,  the  pope 
was  pressing  for  immediate  payment,  and  when  the  parliament  known  as 
the  Mad  Parliament  met  at  London  in  April  1258  he  was  compelled  to 
put  himself  into  the  hands  of  his  barons.  Accordingly  it  was  arranged 
that  a  committee  of  twenty-four,  chosen  half  from  the  royal  council  and 
half  by  the  barons,  was  to  enforce  all  needful  reforms,  and  especially 


1263  Henry  III.  105 

to  name  a  justiciar,  chancellor,  and  treasurer.  The  king's  chief 
nominees  were  his  nephew,  Henry  of  Cornwall,  son  of  the  king  of  the 
Romans,  and  his  three  half-brothers,  the  Lusignans  ;  those  of  the  barons 
the  earls  of  Gloucester,  Leicester,  Hereford,  and  Norfolk.  Of  these  the 
earl  of  Gloucester,  Richard  of  Clare,  was  by  birth,  property,  and 
descent  the  natural  head  of  the  English  barons.  His  grandfather  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  extorting  the  Charter  ;  his  own  vigorous 
character  brought  him  to  the  front,  and  his  influence  among  the  baronage 
was  decidedly  higher  than  that  of  Simon.  After  sitting  a  month  in 
London,  parliament  adjourned,  and  after  a  short  recess  resumed 
their  sitting  at  Oxford.  There  the  barons,  who  on  the  pretence 
of  the  Welsh  war  had  assembled  in  military  array,  demanded  that  all 
royal  castles  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  Englishmen,  and  that 
heiresses  should  be  married  to  natives  ;  and  they  also  complained  of 
the  illegal  exaction  of  feudal  services,  delays  of  justice,  and  of  the  abuse 
of  purveyance. 

The  first  order  of  the  twenty -four,  obviously  carried  over  the  heads  of 
the  foreign  members,  was  that  all  royal  castles  should  at  once  be  replaced 

in  the  king's  hands,  and  to  this  the  foreigners,  headed  by    ^ 

*=•  '  o        J  J     Expulsion 

Henry's  half-brothers,  refused  to  submit.      Leaving  the   of  the 
court,  the  aliens  threw  themselves  into  Winchester  Castle  »eners. 

and  stood  a  siege.  Their  resistance,  however,  was  vain,  and  before  the 
end  of  July  they  had  all  fled  the  kingdom,  carrying  with  them  only 
6000  marks.  Their  departure  removed  one  great  obstacle  to  reform,  and 
afibrded  Henry  a  new  chance  of  regaining  his  popularity. 

With  his  consent,  therefore,  a  new  form  of  government  was  set  up  by 
the  provisions  of  Oxford.  The  twenty-four  agreed  that  the  king  should 
for  the  future  be  advised  by  a  permanent  council  of  fifteen,  Provisions 
elected  indirectly  by  the  original  twenty-four.  These  were  °^  Oxford, 
to  exercise  a  general  supervision  over  the  government,  and  three  times 
a  year  they  were  to  confer  with  another  body  of  twelve  chosen  for  the 
purpose  by  the  barons.  Stringent  oaths  were  imposed  on  the  new  officers, 
and  it  was  arranged  that  sherifi's  and  other  state  ofi&cials  should  hold 
office  for  a  year  only,  and  should  give  in  their  accounts  at  the  close  of  the 
year.  Sheriff's  were  for  the  future  to  be  elected.  The  leading  members 
of  the  fifteen  were  the  earls  of  Gloucester,  Leicester,  and  Norfolk,  and 
of  the  twelve,  the  earl  of  Hereford,  John  Balliol  (founder  of  Balliol 
College),  and  Hugh  le  Despenser.  The  provisional  government  worked 
much  as  arranged  from  1258  to  1263,  the  permanent  council  of  fifteen 
having  their  three  conferences  a  year  with  the  elected  twelve,  and 
between  them  arranging  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  needful  reforms. 


196  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1263 

The  chief  interruption  was  caused  by  the  jealousy  between  the  earls' 

of  Gloucester  and  Leicester.     The  subject  is  obscure  ;  but  it  is  generally 

,   .  believed  that  the  earl  of  Gloucester,  looking  at  things  from 

Leicester  ,      i  •  i        . 

and  the  merely  baronial  point  of  view,  was  satisfied  with  the 

expulsion  of  the  foreigners,  and  that  Earl  Simon,  taking  a 
more  comprehensive  and  liberal  line,  wished  to  carry  out  such  reforms  as 
would  make  tyranny  impossible  for  the  future,  whether  the  tyrants  were 
sovereigns,  alien  interlopers,  or  native  nobility.  In  February  1259,  a 
resolution  was  carried  by  which  the  fifteen  and  the  twelve  bound  them- 
selves and  their  heirs  to  observe  towards  their  dependents  the  same 
rules  which  the  king  had  promised  to  observe  towards  his  vassals,  and 
this  is  thought  to  be  a  victory  of  Earl  Simon  over  the  strictly  baronial 
party.  However,  in  1262  Richard,  earl  of  Gloucester,  died,  and  his  son 
Gilbert,  the  new  earl,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of 
Leicester.  Meanwhile  the  relations  between  the  court  and  the  govern- 
ment had  been  growing  extremely  strained.  The  provisions  were 
naturally  hateful  to  Henry,  and  two  successive  popes  had 
between  the  given  him  bulls  absolving  him  from  his  oath  to  observe 
CounSl.^*^^  them.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  was  certain  to  end  in  an 
appeal  to  force,  but  as  a  last  resort  the  whole  question  of 
validity  of  the  provisions  was  submitted  to  Louis  ix.  Louis'  upright- 
ness was  unquestionable,  but  he  was  hardly  likely  to  be  a  competent 
judge  in  such  a  case,  and  his  decision,  given  in  what  was  called  the 
'  Mise  of  Amiens,'  was  that  Henry  might  appoint  his  own  council  and 
employ  foreigners,  but  that  he  must  not  violate  any  'royal  charter, 
privilege,  statute,  or  praiseworthy  custom.'  This  gave  satisfaction  to 
nobody. 

Arbitration  having  failed,  war  followed.     It  is  not  easy  to  draw  a 
geographical  line  between  the  two  parties.    Generally  speaking,  the  north, 

Position  of    with  Devon  and  Cornwall  and  the  marches  of  Wales,  i.e. 

Parties.  ^j^g  poorer  districts,  were  for  Henry  ;  the  midlands  were 
divided  ;  the  south.  Cinque  Ports,  and  London,  i.e.  the  wealthy  parts 
of  the  country,  were  warmly  for  Simon  de  Montfort.  Almost  every- 
where it  was  noted  that  the  middle  classes  were  on  his  side.  Above  aU, 
Simon  had  the  hearty  support  of  the  friars. 

In  the  war,  the  chief  part  was  taken  by  '  the  Lord  Edward,'  eldest  son 
of  Henry,  now  a  young  man  of  twenty-four  years  of  age.     Edward  had 

♦  The  Lord   plenty  of  natural  ability,  and  had  already  enjoyed  a  con- 
Edward.'     siderable  experience  both  of  politics  and  fighting.     Shortly 
after  his  marriage  to  Eleanor  of  Castile  in  1254,  Henry  had  put  him  in 
possession  of  the  earldom  of  Chester,  henceforward  an  appanage  of  the 


1264  Henry  III,  197 

crown,  and  also  of  Ireland,  Gascony,  the  Channel  Islands,  and  the  king's 
lands  in  Wales — in  short,  of  all  the  most  troublesome  parts  of  the  royal 
territory.  As  earl  of  Chester,  the  lad  had  plenty  of  opportunities  of 
winning  his  spurs  in  fighting  with  Llewelyn,  prince  of  Wales,  in  his 
fastnesses  of  what  are  now  the  counties  of  Anglesea,  Carnarvon,  and 
Merionethshire ;  in  keeping  order  among  the  lords  marcher,  who  held  the 
rest  of  modern  Wales  pretty  much  as  independent  chiefs  ;  and  in 
endeavouring  to  keep  up  some  semblance  of  government  among  the 
Gascons.  Here  he  had  had  plenty  of  work  ;  but  as  it  had  kept  Lim  away 
from  the  court,  he  was  in  no  way  mixed  up  with  his  father's  errors,  and 
when  the  troubles  of  1258  broke  out  he  seems  to  have  approached  the 
questions  raised  without  prejudice.  His  aid  seems  to  have  been  expected 
by  those  who  wished  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  provisions,  and  for 
some  time  he  threw  his  influence  on  the  side  of  Simon  and  against  the 
elder  Gloucester,  and  by  so  doing  offended  the  king.  Several  things 
tended,  however,  to  change  his  views.  In  1263  the  young  earl  of 
Gloucester  refused  to  do  homage  to  him  as  heir.  The  same  year  the 
Londoners  offered  a  gross  insult  to  his  mother,  to  whom  Edward  was 
devotedly  attached.  And  finally,  Simon  agreed  to  give  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  Edward's  old  enemy  Llewelyn.  The  outbreak  of  war,  there- 
fore, found  him  on  the  king's  side,  along  with  his  uncle  Richard,  king 
of  the  Romans,  and  his  brother-in-law  the  Earl  Warrenne. 

The  decisive  battle  was  fought  at  Lewes  on  May  14,  1264.     Edward's 
men  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  castle  on  the  north  side  of  the  town, 
Richard  had  the  centre,  and  Henry  was  posted  in  front  of     Battle  of 
the  priory  on  the   south,   when  they  were  attacked  by     ^^wes. 
Simon  at  the  head  of  an  army  which  consisted  largely  of  Londoners. 
Simon's  sons  were  opposed  to  the  king,  Gloucester  to  Richard,  while  the 
Londoners  confronted  Edward.     Delighted  at  the  opportunity  of  taking 
vengeance  on  those  who  had  insulted  his  mother,  Edward  charged  the 
citizens  with  fury  and  put  them  to  the  rout ;  but  while  he  was  engaged 
in  a  murderous  pursuit,  Simon's  other  troops  had  routed  the  royalists, 
captured  the  king,  and  compelled  Richard  to  take  refuge  in  a  windmill. 
This   defeat  was  decisive  ;  and  the  next  day  Henry,  by  the  *  Mise  of 
Lewes,'  agreed  to  reconfirm  the  provisions,  to  employ  only     Mise  of 
English  councillors,  to  grant  an  amnesty  to  Leicester  and     Lewes. 
Gloucester,  and  to  give  up  his  son  Edward  and  his  nephew  Henry  as 
hostages  for  the  good  behaviour  of  the  lords  marcher.     Other  matters 
were  to  be  submitted  to  further  arbitration.     For  the  moment,  therefore, 
Simon  was  supreme,  and  he  used  his  power  to  sunomon  the  famous 
parliament  of  1265. 


198  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1264 

For  many  years  the  great  council  or  parliament  had  been  becoming 
more  and  more  a  representative  institution.  The  change  from  the 
Growth  of  witenagemot  to  the  great  council,  coupled  with  the  expansion 
Parliament.  q£  ^j^g  small  body  of  king's  thanes  into  the  large  class  of 
tenants-in-chief,  had  in  theory  at  any  rate  added  enormously  to  its 
numbers,  though  in  practice,  except  on  very  great  occasions,  the  number 
of  attending  members  remained  small.  The  right,  however,  to  come  was 
never  abandoned,  and  in  Magna  Carta  the  clauses  which  arranged  for 
the  calling  of  an  assembly  to  vote  scutages  and  extra  aids  had  provided 
that  while  a  special  writ  was  to  be  sent  to  each  of  the  archbishops, 
bishops,  earls,  and  greater  barons,  a  general  writ  addressed  to  the 
sheriff  was  to  summon  the  attendance  of  the  lesser  barons  and  tenants- 
in-chief.  Under  Henry  iii.  the  great  council,  in  consequence  of  the 
king's  repeated  demands  for  money,  became  more  and  more  a  taxing 
body,  and  the  necessity  of  carrying  with  it  the  approval  of  the  lesser 
tenants  became  very  important,  especially  as  there  is  evidence  that  the 
relative  consequence  of  the  general  body  of  the  landed  proprietors  as 
distinct  from  the  great  barons  was  on  the  increase.  Through  acting  as 
jurors,  and  on  various  elective  bodies  connected  with  taxation,  the  knights 
too  had  acquired  valuable  political  experience  and  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  needs  and  wealth  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  and  had  become 
accustomed  to  the  idea  of  elective  representation.  So  early  as  1213 
John  had  called  together  four  discreet  knights  of  each  shire  '  to  confer 
with  him  about  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom,'  but  the  precedent  was  not 
followed  till  1254,  when  Queen  Eleanor  and  Earl  Richard  of  Cornwall, 

Knights  of  during    the    king's   absence    in    Gascony,    caused    to   be 

the  Shire,  summoned  to  Westminster  two  knights  from  each  shire 
chosen  by  the  county,  '  for  the  purpose  of  saying  what  aid  they  were 
willing  to  pay.'  In  1261  three  knights  were  summoned,  and  in  1264 
four.  The  towns,  however,  were  still  left  without  direct  representation, 
for  John's  summons  of  the  reeve  and  four  men  from  each  township  or 
demesne  mentioned  in  1213  was  not  imitated  afterwards. 

The  parliament  summoned  to  meet  in  January  1265  was  not  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word  a  parliament  at  all.  It  was  a  representative 
assembly  of  the  supporters  of  the  baronial  party.  Of  some 
'  Parlia-  fifty  greater  barons  only  five  earls  and  eighteen  barons  were 

"^^"**  summoned.     The  clergy,  however,  were  well  represented, 

showing  how  completely  Simon's  policy  was  supported  by  the  church. 
Each  sheriff  was  also  directed  to  send  two  discreet  knights  from  his 
shire ;  and  writs  were  afterwards  sent  to  those  cities  and  boroughs 
on  which  Simon  could  rely  to  send  two  members  each.     Irregular, 


1265  Henry  III.  199 

however,  as  this  assembly  was,  it  marks  a  distinct  epoch  in  the  history 
of  parliament,  and  the  right  of  the  towns  and  cities  to  separate 
representation  once  acknowledged  was  never  wholly  forgotten. 

The  assembly  thus  constituted  met  in  January  1265,  and  concluded 
the  arrangements  made  by  the  Mise  of  Lewes.  Simon's  rule,  however, 
was  already  showing  signs  of  exhaustion.     Able  as  he  was, 

,  .  ,         ,  „  Divisions  in 

the  great  earl  was  not  a  man  with  whom  any  colleague  the  Baronial 
could  work  long.  He  never  was  able  wholly  to  free  himself  ^^  ^' 
from  a  charge  of  self-seeking,  and  the  violence  and  brutality  of  his  sons 
did  no  good  to  his  cause.  Besides,  he  had  now  to  contend  far  more 
against  young  Edward  than  against  his  father,  and  Edward  had  already 
begun  to  show  his  capacity,  not  only  for  forming  a  national  party,  but 
also  for  well-directed  intrigue.  The  first  unmistakable  sign  of  the 
break-up  of  the  baronial  party  was  a  quarrel  between  Simon  and  the 
young  earl  of  Gloucester,  in  which  Gloucester,  after  hinting  that  Simon 
was  himself  an  alien,  withdrew  to  the  marches  and  made  common  cause 
with  the  Mortimers  and  others  who  had  all  along  been  at  war  with 
Simon's  ally  Llewelyn. 

The  next  blow  was   the   escape  of  Edward,  by  the  connivance  of 
Thomas  of  Clare,  the  brother  of  Gloucester,  in  whose  custody  he  had 
been  placed.     Edward  at  once  made  terms  with  the  earl  of  Escape  of 
Gloucester,  astutely  separated  his  cause  from  that  of  Earl   ^^ward. 
Simon,  and,  defending  himself  against  a  charge  of  supporting  a  mere 
reactionary  policy,  swore  that,  if  victorious,  he  would  keep  good  law, 
abolish  evil  customs,  expel  all  aliens,  and  rule  England  through  the 
English,  a  policy  to  which  he  steadily  adhered.     The  news  of  Edward's 
alliance  with  Gloucester  completed  the  break-up  of  the  baronial  party. 
A  powerful  army  gathered  round  them,  while  Simon  was  deserted  except 
by  his   own   sons  and    his    immediate  followers.      Thus  reduced  in 
numbers,  Edward's  good  generalship  prevented  Simon  from  uniting  his 
forces  with  those  of  his  son,  and  the  Montforts  were  thus  defeated  in 
detail.     The  younger  Simon's  army  was  ruined  at  Kenilworth ;  the  earl 
himself  was  hemmed  in,  defeated,  and  killed  at  Evesham.    Battle  of 
The  battle,  though  one  sided,  reflected  credit  upon  Edward's    Evesham, 
skill,  and  showed  that  he  had  profited  by  the  mishap  at  Lewes. 

Forgetting  the  lesson  taught  by  the  great  William  Marshall  that  an 
armistice  is  the  best  way  of  restoring  tranquillity,  Edward  in  the  triumph 
of  victory  allowed  himself  to  forget  moderation,  and  in  a   rphe '  Dis- 
parliament  held   at  Westminster  the  victorious  royalists   inherited.' 
confiscated  all  the  lands  of  their  opponents.     The  natural  result  was  to 
prolong  the  struggle,  and  to  make  the  'disinherited'  fight  with  the 


200  Earlier  Angevin  Kings  1272 

resolution  of  despair  at  Kenilworth,  the  Isle  of  Axholme,  and  Ely. 
Eventually,  however,  wiser  counsels  prevailed,  and  by  the  Dictum  of 
Kenilworth  Edward  agreed  to  allow  the  rebels  to  retain  their  lands  on 
payment  of  a  fine  amounting  to  five  years  of  their  revenue.  Equally 
liberal  terms  were  granted  to  Llewelyn,  and  peace  was  fully  restored. 

Happily  Edward  was  a  very  difi'erent  man  from  his  father,  and  had 
learned  a  great  deal  from  the  crisis  through  which  he  had  just  passed.  It  is 
due  to  him  that  what  was  of  permanent  value  in  Earl  Simon's 
resuTts  o^the   policy  was  preserved.     From  that  time  forward  we  hear  no 
Barons'  more  of  a  swarm  of  foreign  favourites.   The  barons'  war,  too, 

marks  the  end  of  the  pope's  interference  as  overlord  ;  and, 
lastly,  a  parliament  representing  the  whole  nation  to  which  the  king's 
ministers  should  be  responsible  became  more  and  more  the  ideal  at 
which  the  statesmen  of  England  aimed.  The  new  policy  was  fully 
inaugurated  at  a  parliament  held  at  Marlborough  in  1267,  when  the 
provisions  of  1258  were  passed  as  a  statute,  and  thus  became  part  of  the 
law  of  the  land. 

Under  this  healing  policy  the  country  soon  settled  down,  and  indeed 

the   last  years   of  Henry   iii.   seem  to   have   been  years  of  unusual 

Edward's     prosperity.       So    quiet    were    the    times    that    in    1268 

Crusade.      Edward  took  the  Cross,  and  in  1270  ventured  to  leave  the 

country  for  an  expedition  to  the  East.     He  first  sailed  to  Tunis,  where 

he  arrived  shortly  after  the  death  of  Louis  ix.,  and  then  by  way  of 

Sicily  and  Cyprus  to  Acre,  which  was  still  unconquered  by  the  Moslems, 

and,  being  the  centre  of  the  trade  between  the  East  and  the  West,  was  a 

place  of  great  commercial  importance.     There  he  stayed  some  months, 

but  was  unable  to  effect  much  of  military  importance,  and  the  chief 

Death  of      event  of  his  visit  was  his  narrow  escape  from  death  by  a 

Henry.         poisoned  dagger  with  which  he  was  stabbed  by  an '  assassin.' 

From  Acre  he  returned  to  Sicily  in  1272,  and  was  there  when  the  news 

of  the  death  of  the  old  king  recalled  him  to  England. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Lincoln, 1216 

Knights  of  the  shire  first  summoned,  1254 

Parliament  of  Oxford,         ....  1258 

Battle  of  Lewes, 1264 

Leicester's    convention   includes    members 

for  cities  and  boroughs,  1265 

Battle  of  Evesham,  1265 


Book  IV 
THE  LATER  ANGEVIN  KINGS 

SOMETIMES  CALLED 

PLANTAGENETS 


201 


VIII.— THE  LATER  ANGEVIN  KINGS, 
SOMETIMES  CALLED  PLANTAGENETS,  1272-1399. 

Henry  m.,  1216-1272. 


Edward  I., 
1272-1307. 


(1)  Eleanor  of 
Castile ; 

(2)  Margaret 
of  France. 


Margaret, 

m.  Alexander  iii. 

of  Scotland. 


Edmund, 

Earl  of 

Lancaster. 


(1)  Edward  II. 
1307-1327. 


Isabella  of 
France. 


(2)  Edmund, 
Earl  of  Kent, 
executed  1330. 


Edward  III.,=Pliilippaof 


Thomas, 

Earl  of 

Lancaster, 

d.  1322. 


1327-1377. 


Hainault. 


Joan,  m. 

(1)  Sir  T.  Holland  ; 

(2)  The  Black  Prince. 


Henry, 

Earl  of 

Lancaster, 

d.  1345. 


Henry, 

Duke  of 

Lancaster, 

d.  1362. 


Blanche  =  John  of  Gaunt. 


Edward, : 
Black 
Prince, 

d.  1376. 


Joan  of 
Kent. 


Lionel, 
Duke  of 
Clarence. 


John  of  =    Blanche, 


Gaunt, 
d.  1399. 


heiress  of 
Lancaster. 


Edmund, 

Duke  of 

York. 


Thomas, 

Duke  of 

Gloucester, 

d.  1397. 


KiCHARD  IL,       Philippa=  Edmund  Mortimer, 
1377-1399.  I  d.  1380. 

Eoger,  Earl  of  March, 
declared  heir  of 
Kichard  II.  in  1385, 
but  killed  in  Ireland 
1398. 


Henry  iv., 
1399-1413. 


202 


IX.— THE  KINGS  OF  SCOTLAND  BETWEEN  1165  AND  1406. 


Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon, 
son  of  David  i. 


William  the  Lion,  1165-1214. 
Alexander  XL,  1214-1249. 
Alexander  III.,  1249-1286. 


Margaret 


Eric,  King  of 
Norway. 


David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon. 


Margaret,  Maid  of 
Norway,  1286-1290. 


Margaret. 
Devorguilla= John  Balliol. 


Margaret. 


John  Comyn, 
murdered. 


John  Balliol,  i 
1292-1296. 

Edward  Balliol. 


Isabella. 

Robert  Bruce  i 
d.  1295. 

Robert, 
d.  1305. 

Robert  I., 
1306-1329. 


David  Bruce,  m.  Joan, 

sister  of  Edward  ii., 

1329-1370. 


Margaret = Walter  the 
Steward  or 
Stuart. 

Robert  II.,  1370-1390. 

Robert  III..  1390-1406. 


X.— THE    KINGS    OF    FEANCE    BETWEEN   1270  AND    1422, 
AND  CLAIM  OF  EDWARD  III.  TO  THE  FRENCH  CROWN. 


Philip  III.,  1270-1285. 

I 


I^. 


Philip  IV.  (the  Fair),  1285-1314. 


Charles  of  Valois. 


Louis  X.,      Philip  V.,     Charles  IV.,       Isabella, 
1314-1316.       1316-1322.         1322-1328.       m.  Edward  n. 

Edward  m. 


Philip  VI., 

1328-1350. 

John  II., 
1350-1364. 


John  I.,  d.  1316.      Joan,  Queen  of  Navarre. 
Charles  the  Bad. 


Charles  V.,  1364-1380. 
Charles  VI.,  1380-1422. 


1  Competitors  for  the  crown  in  1292. 


CHAPTEK    I 
EDWARD  L:  1272-1307 
Born  1239  ;  married 


1254,  Eleanor  of  Castile— died  1290. 
1299,  Margaret  of  France. 


CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Scotland.  France.  Pope. 

Alexander  m.,  d.  1286.  Philip  iv.  Boniface  viil. 

Age  of  Legislative  Activity— Final  Conquest  of  Wales— A  Scottish  Dynastic  diffi- 
culty leads  to  its  Annexation— Complete  and  Model  Parliament— The 
Confirmation  of  the  Charters— Scottish  Revolt. 

Henry  hi.  died  on  November  16th,  1272,  and  on  the  20th  the  oath  of 
fealty  to  Edward  was  taken  by  the  great  men  under  the  direction  of  the 
archbishop  of  York  and  of  the  chancellor,  Walter  de  Merton,  the  founder 
of  Merton  College,  Oxford.  As  Edward  was  abroad,  his  coronation  did 
not  take  place  till  his  return  ;  but  his  reign  was  reckoned  Recognition 
by  the  lawyers  to  date  from  the  taking  of  the  oath  of  *^  King, 
fealty,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  fonner  kings,  from  the  coronation. 
This  change  helped  to  confirm  the  growing  idea  that  the  English  king- 
ship was  hereditary  and  not  elective,  which  is  tersely  embodied  in  the 
French  saying,  'ie  roi  est  mort^  vive  le  roi.'  The  change,  however,  was  not 
fully  accepted  till  the  time  of  Edward  iv.,  since  which  no  interval  has  been 
recognised  between  the  death  of  one  king  and  the  accession  of  his  successor. 
The  character  of  the  new  king  was  well  known  in  the  country.  Few 
kings  had  had  such  an  excellent  training  for  rule,  and  his  case  is  one 
which  tends  to  confirm  the  view  that  the  best  sovereigns  character  of 
are  usually  those  who  have  had  the  longest  experience  as  "^^^  ' 
subjects.  He  was  now  thirty-three  years  of  age  ;  had  outlived  the  violence 
of  his  youth,  and  had  acquired  the  remarkable  power  of  self-restraint, 
which  forms  such  a  striking  feature  during  his  later  years.  Wherever 
he  had  been  brought  into  contact  with  affairs,  in  Wales,  in  Gascony, 
during  the  barons'  war,  or  in  the  East,  he  had  added  to  his  capacity  for 
rule,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  policy  as  a  king  was  founded  upon 
ideas,  the  germs  of  which  may  be  traced  to  his  experiences  as  a  prince. 

205 


206  Later  Angevin  Kings  1278 

No  department  of  English  political  life  seems  to  have  been  uninteresting 
to  him ;  and  whether  he  is  found  dealing  with  the  development  of 
Parliamentary  institutions,  the  organisation  of  the  law  courts,  the  affairs 
of  Wales,  Scotland,  or  Gascony,  or  the  multifarious  aspects  in  which 
'  our  affairs  in  foreign  countries '  presented  themselves  in  his  time,  he 
always  exhibits  the  same  thoroughness  of  mind,  the  same  careful  atten- 
tion to  details,  and,  we  may  add,  the  same  whole-souled  determination 
to  secure  his  own  rights  and  those  of  his  country  to  the  utmost  extent 
sanctioned  by  the  strict  letter  of  the  law. 

A  suspicion  of  able  men  had  been  one  of  the  most  fatal  characteristics 
of  Henry  iii. ;  no  such  pettiness  appears  in  the  mind  of  his  son,  and  in 

Edward's     consequence  Edward  was  always  well  served, — at  any  rate 

Ministers,  -j^y  ^^  statesmen  with  whom  he  came  into  personal  contact. 
For  aid  in  general  politics  Edward  trusted  most  to  his  brother  Edmund 
of  Lancaster,  his  cousin  Edmund  of  Cornwall,  son  of  his  uncle  Kichard, 
and  his  sister's  son  John  of  Brittany.  His  best  generals  were  Henry  de 
Lacy,  earl  of  Lincoln,  and  the  Earl  Warrenne.  His  administrators  and 
lawyers  :  Kobert  Burnell,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  his  chancellor,  John 
Kirkby,  bishop  of  Ely,  his  treasurer,  Anthony  Bek,  bishop  of  Durham, 
and  Walter  Langton,  bishop  of  Lichfield,  the  adviser  of  his  later  years. 

By  leisurely  steps  the  new  king  retraced  his  steps  to  England,  and 
spent  some  time  in  Italy,  France,  and  Guienne,  before  he  crossed  the 

Edward  in   Channel.      In   Italy  he   paid  a  visit   to   his  friend,  pope 
ta  y.  Gregory  x.,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  in  Palestine, 

and  passed  through  Padua  and  Milan,  where  his  reputation  secured  him 
a  magnificent  reception.  He  then  crossed  the  Alps  by  the  Mont  Cenis 
Pass,  and  traversed  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  on  his  way  to  the  court  of 
Philip  III.  At  Chalon  he  and  his  followers  received  a  challenge  to 
joust  with  a  number  of  French  knights,  headed  by  the  count  of  Chalon  ; 
and  Edward,  nothing  loath  to  engage  in  a  martial  adventure,  accepted 
the  offer.     The  tournament,  however,  turned  out  to  be  a  serious  affair. 

Battle  of      The  French  knights  fought  not  to  disarm  or  to  unhorse  but 

Chalon.  ^.^  j^^j^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^  desperate  struggle  and  the  loss  of 
many  lives  did  Edward  come  off  victorious  in  what  was  long  remembered 
as  'the  Little  Battle  of  Chalon.' 

With  Philip  III.,  his  cousin,  Edward  had  much  diplomatic  work. 

The  capture  by  Philip  Augustus  of  John's  chief  French  possessions  had 

.    .        left  the  position  of  the  remainder  extremely  ambiguous, 
Negotiations         .    -^     ^  -.t-  i.j-i  j  jx 

about  and  Henry  iii.  and  Louis  ix.  had  vainly  endeavoured  to 

discover  a  permanent  solution  of  the  difficulties  involved. 

By  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1259,  Henry  iii.  renounced  all  right  over 


1274  Edward  L  207 

Normandy,  Anjou,  and  Poitou,  in  return  for  certain  territories  in  the 
south  of  France.  This  treaty,  however,  had  never  been  fully  carried  out, 
and  accordingly,  in  doing  homage  as  duke  of  Aquitaine,  Edward  distinctly 
said  that  he  did  so  '  for  all  the  lands  that  he  ought  to  hold,'  and  left  his 
lawyers  to  fight  out  the  question  what  this  really  meant.  The  matter 
was  not  finally  settled  till  1279,  when,  on  the  occasion  of  Edward  and 
his  wife  Eleanor  taking  over  Eleanor's  county  of  Ponthieu,  Philip  gave 
up  most  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  and  Edward  renounced  all  further 
claims.  So  long  as  Philip  continued  under  the  influence  of  his  mother 
Margaret,  Edward's  aunt,  the  two  kings  remained  on  friendly  terms  ; 
but  some  friction  arose  later,  when  Philip's  chief  adviser  was  Edward's 
enemy,  Charles  of  Anjou.  However,  in  1285  Charles  died,  and  for 
some  years  afterwards  peace  was  maintained.  During  these  years, 
Edward  added  much  to  his  European  reputation  by  the  considerable 
part  which  he  played  in  the  negotiations  between  the  king  of  France, 
the  kings  of  Aragon  and  Castile,  and  the  emperor,  matters,  however, 
which  had  not  much  direct  bearing  on  English  history. 

After  leaving  France,  Edward  visited  Guienne,  where  he  set  on  foot 
the  policy  he  followed  during  the  rest  of  his  reign.  He  saw  that  to 
balance  the  turbulence  of  the  great  lords  and  the  inde-  visit  to 
pendence  of  old  cities,  that  had  bid  defiance  to  Kichard  i.  Guienne. 
and  Simon  de  Montfort,  his  best  course  was  to  encourage  the  growth  of 
the  mercantile  interest,  the  prosperity  of  whose  trade  in  wine  was  bound 
up  with  the  English  connection.  For  this  purpose  he  gave  every 
encouragement  to  trade,  and  also,  as  a  check  on  the  barons  and  on 
the  old  towns,  founded  a  number  of  new  towns  or  'bastides,'  which 
attracted  a  middle-class  population,  and  served  as  rallying  points  for  the 
forces  of  law  and  order.  So  successful  was  his  policy  that,  whereas 
Guienne  had  formerly  been  one  of  the  most  turbulent  parts  of  his 
dominions,  for  the  future  its  internal  government  presented  less  difii- 
culty,  while  its  commerce  was  one  of  the  most  profitable  spheres  of 
English  activity. 

Before  crossing  the  Channel,  Edward  did  another  piece  of  good  work 
for  his  subjects.    Since  the  growth  of  the  wool  trade,  which  had  followed 
the  great  development  of  pasturage  by  the  Cistercian  and 
Gilbertine  orders,  the  relations  between  the  king  of  England   TrSity '*^** 
and  the  counts  of  Flanders  had  been  of  immense  importance.    pJem^nes 
From  the  thirteenth  century  and  onwards  till  the  revolt  of 
the  Netherlands  against  the  tyranny  of  Philip  ii.,  the  Flemish  towns 
were  almost  the  only  places  where  the  cloth  manufacture  was  carried 
on  upon  an  extensive  scale ;   and  the  prosperity  of  the  English  wool 


208  Later  Angevin  Kings  1274 

merchants  depended  on  having  free  intercourse  with  their  customers,  the 
manufacturers.  For  some  years  this  trade  had  been  interrupted  by  a 
difficulty  that  had  arisen  with  the  ruling  countess  ;  but  Edward  entered 
into  a  friendly  treaty  with  the  young  count,  and  the  alliance  so  made 
continued  to  be  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  English  foreign  politics  till 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  August  1274  Edward  landed  in  England,  and  the  thirty- three 

years  which  followed  will  compare  with  the  reign  of  any  other  English 

sovereign,  both  for  activity  and  permanence  of  result.     In 

compared     many  respects  Edward's  policy  recalls  that  of  Henry  11. 

Henry  II  ^^^^  Henry  had  begun  Edward  carried  on,  and  brought 
up  to  the  condition  suited  for  the  change  of  times.  Both 
had  the  same  personal  energy  and  regard  for  order;  but  between  the 
conditions  under  which  each  worked  there  was  much  interesting  con- 
trast. Whereas  Henry  was  constantly  diverted  from  English  affairs  by 
the  necessity  for  long  absences  on  the  Continent,  Edward  was,  on  the 
whole,  able  to  give  full  attention  to  home  affairs ;  and  whereas  Henry 
had  had  to  force  his  reforms  through  almost  single-handed  against  the 
resistance  of  the  old  nobility,  Edward  was  able  for  the  most  part  to 
carry  his  nobles  with  him.  These  things  were  in  Edward's  favour  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  was  more  troubled  than  Henry  about  money 
matters,  for  Edward  found  the  debts  of  his  father  yet  unpaid,  and  the 
crown  lands  diminished  and  impoverished ;  and  as  his  own  policy,  in  spite 
of  his  personal  frugality,  made  retrenchment  impossible,  he  was  through- 
out his  whole  reign  a  prey  to  constant  anxiety  on  this  score.  One 
result,  however,  of  his  financial  difficulties  was  to  impress  on  Edward 
the  lesson  he  had  early  learned  that  the  best  way  to  open  the  pockets  of 
his  subjects  was  to  take  them  into  his  confidence,  and  try  to  carry  them 
with  him  in  his  policy,  the  working  of  which  is  seen  in  his  frequent 
and  representative  parliaments  and  the  whole  relations  between  the 
court  and  the  country.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  while  his 
predecessors  had  looked  on  parliament  as  a  nuisance,  or  at  best  as  a 
way  of  raising  money,  Edward,  so  to  speak,  took  it  into  his  confidence, 
and  so  gained  its  cordial  co-operation  in  the  work  of  government. 
Edward's  internal  administration  is  marked  by  a  series  of  great  statutes, 
dealing  with  every  conceivable  subject  of  legislation  ;  his  external  policy 
was  actuated  by  a  desire  to  see  the  whole  of  the  British  Isles  united 
under  one  sceptre.  The  former  occupy  the  whole  reign  ;  the  latter  only 
developed  itself  as  opportunity  arose. 

The  thirteenth  century  was  great  in  law-making.     The  growth  of  the 
legal  school  of  Bologna  had  created  in  every  court  of  Europe  a  body  of 


1279  Edward  L  .209 

lawyers,  whose  minds,  trained  in  the  exact  definitions  of  the  Roman  law, 
looked  with  dislike  on  the  ill-defined  customs  of  feudalism  ;  and  in  try- 
ing to  reduce  English  law  to  more  of  a  system,  Edward  was  only  taking 
his  share  in  a  movement  which  was  carried  forward,  followed  by 
Frederick  the  emperor  and  Louis  ix.,  both  his  uncles  by  marriage,  and 
by  his  brother-in-law  Alfonso  of  Castile.  Kings,  however,  are  usually 
themselves  the  directors  rather  than  the  workers  in  legal  reform  ;  and 
the  chief  credit  of  the  work  by  our  '  English  Justinian,'  as  Edward  is 
sometimes  called,  must  probably  be  given  to  Robert  BurnelL     Among 

the  long  list  of  their  legislative   enactments,  selection  is  , 

Legislation, 
absolutely  necessary ;  but  the  following  are  the  most  re- 
markable for  permanent  results  : — statute  of  mortmain^  or  de  religiosis, 
the  statute  of  Winchester  ;    the   second  and  third  statutes  of  West- 
minster, better  known  as  those  of  de  donis  and  quia  emptores  respectively, 
and  the  articuli  super  cartas. 

First,  the  statute  of  mortmain.     Mortmain  means  dead  hand,  and 
was  a  metaphorical  phrase  of  Roman  law.     It  implied  that  land  so  held 
was  in  a  hand  that,  like  that  of  a  dead  man,  never  relaxed   statute  of 
its  'grasp  ;  and  was  applied  to  property  in  the  hands  of   Mortmain, 
corporations,  religious  or  otherwise,  which  never  died,  which  were  often 
incapable  of  performing  efficiently  the  duties  of  feudal  ownership,  and 
also  were  never  subject  to  reliefs,  or  to  the  profits  arising  from  wardship 
or  marriage.     Obviously,  when  land  passed  into  mortmain,  the  rights  of 
the  immediate  lord,  and  ultimately  of  the  king,  sufiered.     The  chief 
offender  was,  of  course,  the  church,  to  which  bequests  were  constantly 
made  as  the  price  of  masses  for  the  dead.    The  enonnous  growth  of  the 
Cistercians  and  of  the  military  orders  had  attracted  attention  to  a 
grievance  of  which  complaints  had  been  made  ever  since  the  time  of 
Bede  ;  and  of  late  years  landowners  had  adopted  an  ingenious  method 
of  defrauding  the  revenue  and  the  rights  of  the  lord  by  handing  over 
their  estates  to  some  religious  order,  and  receiving  them  back  again  to 
hold  on  easy  terms.     Consequently,  both  the  king  and  the  tenants-in- 
chief  were  interested  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  practice ;  and  when  in 
1279  a  church  council  under  Archbishop  Peckham  ventured  to  excom- 
municate all  persons  who  did  not  obey  Magna  Carta,  and  all  persons 
who  did  interfere  with  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  Edward  and  his  nobles 
made  common  cause  and  passed  the  statute  de  viris  religiosis,   com- 
monly known  as  the  statute  of  mortmain^  which  enacted  that  *  no  reli- 
gious or  other  person  whatsoever  shall  buy,  on  pain  of  forfeiture,  sell,  or 
under  cover  of  gift,  or  any  other  title,  or  by  any  device  or  ingenuity, 
dare  to  acquire  lands  or  tenements  for  himself,  by  which  they  may  in 

o 


210  Later  Angevin  Kings  1279 

any  way  come  to  be  in  mortmain^  In  case  this  were  done,  the  for- 
feiture was  to  be  in  the  first  instance  to  the  next  lord,  but  if  he  failed 
to  exercise  his  right,  it  passed  on  to  his  superior,  and,  finally,  to  the 
king.  Even  this  machinery  failed  to  fulfil  its  purpose  completely,  and 
subsequent  legislation  was  eventually  necessary, 

Not  very  dissimilar  to  the  statute  of  mortmain  was  the  statute   of 

Quia  "Westminster,   better  known   as   quia  emptores.      It  dealt 

emptores.  y^[^^  ^j^g  question  of  alienation  of  land  in  general,  as  that  of 
mortmain  had  done  with  the  alienation  to  religious  persons.  Its  need 
arose  thus  :  If  B,  a  holder  of  land  from  a  superior  lord,  A,  wanted  to  part 
with  a  portion  of  his  land,  and  sold  it  to  a  third  person,  C,  the  old 
practice  had  been  that  the  new  holder,  C,  became  the  subtenant  of  B. 
Consequently,  the  owner  of  a  holding  might  strip  himself  of  so  much  of 
his  property  as  to  be  unable  to  properly  perform  his  services  to  his 
superior  lord  and  pay  his  feudal  dues ;  and  consequently  in  this  case, 
too,  it  was  the  interest  not  only  of  the  king,  but  also  of  all  tenants-in- 
chief,  to  put  a  limit  to  the  practice.  Accordingly,  the  parliament  of 
1290  enacted  that,  '  Whereas,  by  this  practice,  tenants-in-chief  frequently 
lost  escheats,  marriages,  and  custody  of  land  and  tenements  created  out 
of  their  own  fiefs,'  in  the  case  of  such  alienation  the  holding  so  carved  out 
must  be  held  direct  from  the  superior  lord.  The  law,  therefore,  put  a 
stop  to  the  practice  of  sub-infeudation,  and  so  was  popular  with  the 
overlords  as  a  class.  Its  real  advantages,  however,  rested  with  the 
king,  for,  on  the  one  hand,  feudalism  was  deprived  of  the  vitality  that 
comes  from  the  constant  creation  of  fresh  holdings,  and  on  the  other,  by 
enormously  increasing  the  number  of  tenants-in- chief  the  social  distinc- 
tion conveyed  in  the  term  became  lost,  and  a  further  step  was  taken 
towards  destroying  the  significance  of  feudalism  as  anything  more  than  a 
method  of  land  tenure. 

Another  statute  affecting  land  was  the  second  statute  of  Westminster,  one 
.       clauseof  which  is  specially  famous,  that  generally  quoted  as  c^ 

condition  -  donis  couditionalibus.  This  statute  enabled  holders  of  land  to 
grant  estates  subject  to  certain  conditions,  and  if  these  were 
unfulfilled,  to  reclaim  the  property.  According  to  the  old  practice,  if  an 
estate  were  granted  to  a  man  and  his  heirs,  he  might,  as  soon  as  an  heir 
was  born,  part  with  it  again  as  if  his  was  the  sole  interest  in  it.  By  the 
new  act  he  had  only  a  life  tenancy,  and,  in  spite  of  anything  he  could  do, 
the  estate  must,  at  his  death,  pass  to  his  heir.  Even  if  he  committed 
treason,  the  life  interest  only  could  be  forfeited.  Estates  held  by  such  a 
tenure  were  said  to  be  entailed,  from  taille,  cut  off  from  the  whole ; 
and  the  practice,  as  enabling  a  man  to  perpetuate  the  retention  of  property 


1285  Edward  I.  211 

in  his  own  family,  became  so  popular  that  such  estates  became  the  rule 
rather  than  the  exception. 

In  carrying  these  statutes,  Edward  had  the  goodwill  of  the  nobles ; 
but  he  had  not  been  without  warning  that  wary  walking  was  needed  to 
avoid  touching  their  susceptibilities.     When  in  1275  he  sent 
round  a  commission  of  quo  warranto  to  inquire  by  what   warranto 
rights  the  lands  of  each  were  held,  the  Earl  Warrenne  bluntly   '"^"""y* 
told  his  visitors  that  his  ancestors  '  won  their  lands  by  the  sword,  and 
with  the  sword  he  was  ready  to  hold  them  against  all  usurpers.'    Warned 
by  this  outspoken  remonstrance,  Edward  wisely  dropped  further  inquiry, 
and  was  cautious  to  make  his  land  legislation  appear  as  favourable  to  the 
interests  of  men  like  the  Earl  Warrenne  as  to  himself. 

The  statute  of  Winchester  dealt  with  the  defence  of  the  country,  and 
was  founded  on  the  Assize  of  Arms,  issued  by  Henry  ii.  in  1181.  It  must 
be  considered,  also,  in  relation  to  various  writs  of  distraint  of  Distraint  of 
knighthood^  of  which  the  first  was  issued  in  1278.  The  Knighthood, 
object  of  these  writs  was  twofold  :  (1)  to  secure  money,  and  (2)  to  increase 
the  class  of  knights  or  gentry,  whom  Edward  appears  to  have  valued  as 
a  counterpoise  to  the  great  nobles,  and  whose  importance  is  noticed  on 
page  198.  In  1278  it  was  ordered  that  all  tenants  of  land  to  the  value  of 
£20  a  year,  '  whether  they  held  it  from  the  king  or  from  any  one  else,' 
who  '  ought  to  be  knights  and  are  not,'  were  either  to  be  knighted  or  to 
give  good  and  sufl&cient  security.  In  1282  all  persons  possessing  an 
estate  of  £30  a  year  were  ordered  to  provide  themselves  with  a  horse  and 
armour.  Such  writs  were  constantly  issued  by  Edward,  with  the 
double  effect  of  keeping  up  the  supply  of  cavalry  and  of  filling  his  purse. 

The  statute  of  Winchester  dealt  with  the  arms  of  those  who  had  less 
than  £20  of  land,  and  constituted  a  summary  of  the  existing  law  upon 
the  subject.  Like  many  of  the  legal  documents  of  the  time,  statute  of 
it  is  written  in  French,  and  was  issued  in  1285.  Every  Winchester, 
man  between  fifteen  and  sixty  was  to  have  arms  according  to  his  rank, 
'according  to  the  ancient  assize.'  If  he  have  £15  of  land  and  forty 
marks  of  goods,  a  hauberk,  a  helme  of  iron,  a  sword  and  a  knife  and  a 
horse  ;  if  £10  and  twenty  marks  of  goods,  a  hauberk,  a  helme  of  iron,  a 
sword,  and  a  knife ;  if  £5,  the  hauberk  changes  to  a  doublet ;  if  only 
£2,  a  sword,  a  bow  and  arrows,  and  a  knife,  and  so  on ;  and  these 
weapons  were  to  be  regularly  inspected  twice  every  year. 

Besides  the  above  statutes   dealing  with  land  and  the  defence  of 
the  country,  there  was  also  passed  a  large  mass  of  legislation   General 
relating  to  the  peace  of  the  country,  and   touching  such    Legislation, 
various  matters  as  the  keeping  of  watch  and  ward,  the  arrest  of  criminals. 


212  Later  Angevin  Kings  1285 

and  the  judicial  processes  of  the  law  courts.  By  the  statute  of  Win- 
chester it  was  enacted  that  if  those  who  committed  robberies  and  murders 
were  not  brought  to  justice,  the  hundred,  in  which  the  deed  was  done, 
should  be  answerable  for  compensation,  a  change  said  to  be  necessary, 
because  jurors  would  not  convict  the  men  of  their  own  neighbourhood. 
By  the  same  statute  it  was  ordered  that  the  gates  of  every  town  were  to 
be  closed  and  watched  from  sunrise  to  sunset ;  that  all  strangers  were 
to  be  arrested ;  and  that  all  hosts  were  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
conduct  of  their  guests.  To  make  the  highroads  safer,  a  clear  space 
was  to  be  made  for  two  hundred  feet  at  each  side.  Finally,  to  carry 
out  this  statute,  certain  new  officers  were  appointed  under  the  name  of 
conservators  of  the  peace,  but  known  later  under  the  familiar  title  of 
justices  of  the  peace.  By  the  second  statute  of  Westminster  an  improve- 
ment was  made  in  civil  legislation.  The  various  special  commissions 
granted  to  the  justices-in-eyre  were  consolidated,  and  this  enabled  them, 
Court  of  under  the  name  of  justices  in  nisi  priiiSj  to  try  nearly  all 
nisi  prius.  ^ivil  cases.^  In  1301  a  further  simplification  was  made  by 
enabling  the  justices  in  nisi  prius  to  hold  sessions  of  gaol  delivery, 
i.e.  to  try  all  criminals  whom  they  found  in  gaol,  an  arrangement 
which,  with  some  modifications,  is  practically  that  now  in  use. 

Edward  also  introduced  changes  into  the  working  of  the  central  courts. 
The  duties  of  the  courts  of  king's  bench,  common  pleas,  and  exchequer 
were  more  carefully  defined,  and  judges  permanently  as- 
tion^of  the    signed  to  each.     The  court  of  chancery  was  formally  con- 
Central        stituted,  and  in  1300,  by  the  articuli  super  cartas,  it  was 
arranged  that  the  courts  of  chancery  and  king's  bench  were 
still  to  follow  the  king's  person,  but  that  the  exchequer  court  was  to  re- 
main at  Westminster,  as  the  court  of  common  pleas  had  done  since  the 
granting  of  Magna  Carta.      These  extensive  dealings  with  judicial  and 
legislative  matters  mark  the  reign  of  Edward  i.  as  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  English  law,  and  it  is  a  maxim  that  all  statutes  or  decisions 
which  date   from  Edward  are  *  good  law '  at  the  present  day,  unless 
they  have  been  specially  set  aside. 

Another  event  of  this  reign  was  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from 
Expulsion  of  England.  This  was  due  partly  to  old  standing  causes  (see 
the  Jews.  -page  159),  partly  to  new.  The  necessities  of  Henry  iii. 
had  compelled  him  to  have  constant  recourse  to  Jewish  moneylenders, 
and  his  debts  had  descended  to  his  son.     The  part  thus  played  by  the 

1  The  name  nisi  prius  comes  from  the  form  of  the  document  institutmg  a 
civil  suit  which  ordered  it  to  be  tried  at  Westminster  nisi  prius,  etc.,  i.e. 
unless  the  judges  came  into  the  county  before,  which  they  always  did. 


1290 


Edward  I  213 


Jews  in  supplying  the  king  caused  them  to  be  specially  hated  by  the 
baronage,  who  saw  that  the  king's  power  of  borrowing  made  him  more 
independent,  and  who  constantly  found  themselves  taxed  to  pay  the 
king's  debts  to  the  Jews ;  moreover,  borrowing  had  begun  to  have  its 
usual  effect  in  an  agricultural  country.  Estates  were  heavily  mortgaged. 
The  task  of  paying  the  interest,  amounting  to  thirty  or  forty  per  cent., 
left  the  landholders  little  to  pay  their  taxes  or  keep  their  families,  and 
the  Jews  came  to  be  thoroughly  detested  by  all  classes  of  the  community. 
Forced  sales  and  evictions  of  course  followed.  Spurred  on  by  public 
opinion,  Edward  forbade  the  Jews  to  hold  real  property,  compelled 
them  to  obey  the  law  which  ordered  them  to  wear  a  special  dress,  and 
finally  prohibited  usury  altogether.  Deprived  of  their  ordinary  liveli- 
hood, the  Jews  then  took  to  clipping  the  coinage.  Hundreds  were 
hanged,  but  without  checking  the  evil.  Old  charges  were  then  trumped 
up ;  Archbishop  Peckham  ordered  all  synagogues  to  be  closed  ;  and 
finally,  in  1290,  Edward  delighted  his  subjects  by  ordering  all  the  Jews 
to  leave  the  country.  So  popular  was  this  action,  that  the  laity  readily 
granted  Edward  a  gift  of  one-fifteenth,  and  the  clergy  one-tenth,  of  all 
movable  property.  The  economical  importance  of  the  change  was, 
however,  more  apparent  than  real.  The  place  of  the  Jewish  capitalists 
was  largely  taken  by  foreigners,  especially  by  the  Lombards,  whose 
name  is  still  preserved  in  Lombard  Street ;  and  kings  still  found  the 
means  to  anticipate  their  revenue,  and  spendthifts  to  borrow  money  on 
their  lands.  Though  a  few  are  found  in  England  during  most  of  the 
intervening  periods,  it  was  not  till  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  that 
Jews  were  again  permitted  to  live  openly  in  England. 

We  now  pass  on  to  Edward's  dealings  with  Wales  and  Scotland. 
Since  the  days  of  William  Rufus  (see  page  105),  that  part  of  Great 
Britain  which  is  now  denominated  Wales  had  consisted  of  state  of 
two  parts,  an  ever-diminishing  district  ruled  by  the  Prince  Wales, 
of  Wales,  and  an  ever-increasing  district  ruled  by  Norman  lords,  generally 
termed  the  lords  marcher.  By  the  time  of  Henry  iii.,  the  former  had 
come  to  include  little  more  than  Anglesea  and  the  two  modern  counties 
of  Carnarvon  and  Merioneth,  with  some  rights  over  what  are  now  Car- 
marthen and  Cardigan ;  the  latter  was  divided  into  four  main  districts  : 
that  of  '  the  four  cantreds '  of  plain  country  between  the  Dee  and  the 
Conway,  which  were  ruled  by  the  earl  of  Chester ;  the  middle  march  of 
the  Upper  Severn  under  the  Mortimers  ;  the  lordship  of  Glamorgan, 
which  was  an  appendage  of  the  earldom  of  Gloucester ;  and  the  earldom 
of  Pembroke  ;  but  it  also  contained  a  vast  number  of  petty  holdings 
more  or  less  dependent  on  the  greater. 


214  Later  Angevin  Kings  1246 

During  the  long  struggle  which  had  led  to  this  state  of  affairs,  the 
necessities  of  self-defence  had  compelled  the  Welsh  to  sink  their 
differences  and  oppose  an  unbroken  front  to  their  foes,  and  the  conse- 
Llewelyn  ab  q^ence  was  a  sort  of  national  revival,  of  which  Llewelyn  ab 
lorwerth.  lorwerth,  lord  of  Gwynedd,  who  died  in  1240,  was  the  leader. 
The  next  prince  was  unimportant,  but  in  1246  there  succeeded  another 
Llewelyn — Llewelyn  ab  Gruffydd,  or  Griffith — who  adopted  the  policy  of 
his  grandfather,  and  took  advantage  of  the  barons'  wars  to  ally  himself 
with  Simon  de  Montfort,  and  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  struggles. 
He  earned  his  reward  in  1269,  when  Edward  found  it  advisable  to  buy 
off  the  Welsh  prince  by  the  surrender  of  the  '  four  cantreds '  at  the  treaty 
of  Shrewsbury.  Elated  by  his  success,  Llewelyn  dreamed  of  further  dis- 
tinction, and  had  the  temerity  to  hope  that  he  might  continue  to  make  a 
profit  out  of  English  disorder,  even  under  such  a  king  as  Edward  i. 
Here  he  was  mistaken,  and  when  in  1277  Edward  detected  him  intriguing 
with  the  sons  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  and  arranging  to  marry  Simon's 
daughter  Eleanor,  he  at  once  took  vigorous  measures.  Chance  threw  the 
young  lady  into  his  hands,  so  he  placed  her  in  charge  of  Queen  Eleanor, 
and  himself  led  an  army  against  Llewelyn,  assisted  by  that  prince's 
younger  brother  David.  The  Welshman's  plan  was  to  hold  out  in  the 
strong  country  of  Snowdon,  while  he  drew  his  supplies  from  Anglesea  ; 
but  Edward  defeated  this  by  closing  every  avenue  into  South  Wales, 
and  bringing  a  fleet  from  the  Cinque  Ports  to  guard  the  Menai  Straits. 
Starvation  soon  brought  Llewelyn  to  reason,  and  on  the  approach  of 
winter  he  emerged  from  his  fastnesses  and  made  a  full  submission,  gave 
up  all  his  lands  except  the  district  of  Snowdon,  even  agreeing  to  hold 
Anglesea  for  life,  and  did  homage  to  the  king,  Edward  treated  his 
fallen  foe  with  generosity  ;  excused  some  of  the  more  onerous  conditions 
of  peace,  and  in  1278  allowed  Llewelyn  to  marry  Eleanor  de  Montfort. 

The  power  of  Llewelyn  being  thus  destroyed,  Edward  proceeded  to 

carry  out  a  scheme  of  Welsh  reconstruction  that  had  been  suggested  to 

him  during  his  early  experiences  as  earl  of  Chester.     He 

tion  of  proposed,  in  short,  to  break  down  the  tribal  system  of  the 

^  ^^*  Welsh  by  dividing  the  principality  into  shires,  English 

fashion,  to  get  rid  of  such  barbarous  Welsh  laws  as  punished  murder  with 
a  mere  fine,  and  permitted  the  horrid  practice  of  wrecking,  and  generally 
speaking  to  anglicise  the  whole  country.  In  carrying  out  this  policy, 
however,  he  forgot  two  things — (1)  that  the  Welsh  were  so  attached 
to  their  old  customs  as  to  prefer  bad  Welsh  laws  to  English  good  ones  ; 
and  (2)  that  his  agents  were  not  so  high-minded  as  himself,  and  were 
always  liable  to  make  reform  more  hateful  than  necessary  by  their 


53  r 


WALES 

&  THE 

SEVERX  VALLEY, 

SHOV\flNG  THE  CHIEF  FORTRESSES^ 


English  Miles, 
o         lo        20        30 


216  Later  Angevin  Kings  1282 

personal  misdeeds.  Accordingly  his  projected  changes  roused  the 
utmost  hostility,  and  in  1282  a  new  rebellion  broke  out. 

The  leader  in  this  was  David,  Edward's  ally  in  1277,  who  had  been 
rewarded  by  a  rich  domain  in  the  Vale  of  Clwyd.  In  March  he  suddenly 
David's  attacked  Hawarden  Castle  and  massacred  the  garrison.  On 
Rebellion,  jjeaj-jng  Qf  jj^g  brother's  movements,  Llewelyn  crossed  the 
Conway  to  his  assistance,  and  ravaged  the  four  cantreds  to  the  walls  of 
Chester.  Determined  this  time  to  avoid  being  blockaded  in  the  Snowdon 
district,  Llewelyn  on  the  approach  of  winter  made  his  way  south  to  join 
another  rising  on  the  Wye  ;  but  on  December  11th  he  was  killed  in  a 
chance  encounter  with  a  single  knight.  His  brother  David  held  out  till 
the  summer,  but  was  then  reduced  to  capitulate.  Furious  at  his  double 
treachery,  first  to  Llewelyn  and  then  to  himself,  Edward  caused  him  to 
be  tried  by  the  barons  and  knights  of  the  shire  assembled  at  Shrewsbury, 
who  condemned  him  to  the  horrible  death  concealed  under  the  legal 
formula  of  '  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered.' 

Edward  was  now  free  to  carry  out  his  Welsh  policy.  Llewelyn's 
district  was  divided  into  the  three  shires  of  Anglesea,  Carnarvon,  and 
Merioneth.  The  southern  parts  of  the  principality  of  Llewelyn  became 
Final  Settle-  the  shires  of  Cardigan  and  Carmarthen.  Of  the  four  cantreds 
North°^  part  was  made  into  the  county  of  Flint,  part  annexed  to 

Wales.  Cheshire,  and  the  rest  carved  out  into  new  lordships  marcher, 

of  which  the  lordship  of  Denbigh,  assigned  to  the  earl  of  Lincoln,  was 
perhaps  the  most  important.  The  lands,  however,  of  the  marchers  were 
left  untouched,  and  the  distinction  between  the  principality  and  the 
marches  was  preserved  down  to  the  time  of  Henry  viii.  English  law 
took  the  place  of  Welsh,  and  the  new  county  courts  replaced  the  rude 
judicature  of  the  Welsh  princes.  More  than  all,  Edward  endeavoured  to 
introduce  the  elements  of  commercial  life  by  the  foundation  of  towns, 
which  he  filled  with  English  settlers,  who  contrived  even  to  the  time  of 
Elizabeth  to  preserve  their  English  speech  even  in  districts  which  were 
otherwise  exclusively  Welsh ;  while  he  bridled  the  mountaineers  by  a 
ring  of  castles,  of  which  Conway,  Khuddlan,  Harlech,  and  Aberystwith 
are  examples,  and  secured  the  command  of  the  Menai  Straits  by  the 
twin  fortresses  of  Carnarvon  and  Beaumaris. 

In  dealing  with  Scotland,  Edward  was  less  successful,  mainly  because 
his  resources,  adequate  enough  to  deal  with  such  a  small  territory  as 
Relations  Llewelyn's,  were  insufiicient  to  cope  with  national  resistance 
Efngiandand  ^^  ^  larger  scale.  Ever  since  Richard  i.  had  cancelled 
Scotland.  the  treaty  of  Falaise  the  relations  between  the  English 
kings  and  the  kings   of  Scots,  who,  be  it  remembered,   stood  in  the 


1290  Edward  I.  217 

fourfold  position  of  king  of  the  Scots  and  Picts,  lord  of  Strathclyde  or 
Galloway,  and  earl  of  Lothian,  had  been  vague  and  undefined  in 
theory,  but  in  practice  they  had  been  made  tolerable  by  the  excellent 
personal  relationships  between  them.  Alexander  ii.  (1214-1249)  had 
married  Joan,  the  sister,  and  his  successor  Alexander  iii.  (1249-1286) 
married  Margaret  the  daughter  of  Henry  iii. 

Alexander  iii.'s  children  were  all  delicate,  and  when  he  died  in  1286 
his  only  living  descendant  was  Margaret,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  daughter 
of  his  child  Margaret,  the  wife  of  Eric  of  Norway.  In  1284  Margaret  of 
she  had  been  declared  heir  to  the  Scottish  throne.  At  the  Norway, 
death  of  her  grandfather  Margaret  was  three  years  old,  and  as  the  death 
of  all  Edward's  elder  sons  had  left  his  younger  son  Edward  of  Carnarvon, 
born  in  1284,  as  his  heir-apparent,  a  marriage  between  the  two  seemed 
to  be  the  natural  way  of  solving  the  problem  of  the  relations  between  the 
kingdoms.  After  some  negotiation,  therefore,  a  treaty  was  made  at 
Brigham  in  1290,  by  which  it  was  arranged  that  Margaret  should  marry 
Edward,  but  that  the  integrity  and  independence  of  the  Scottish  king- 
dom should  be  fully  secured.  An  adverse  stroke  of  fortune,  however, 
prevented  this  hopeful  plan  from  being  carried  out.  An  autumn 
voyage  proved  too  severe  a  tax  on  the  delicate  constitution  of  the  frail 
Maid  of  Norway,  and  she  died  at  the  Orkneys.  Her  death  opened  up 
two  questions  of  great  difl&culty  :  (1)  was  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  to  be 

preserved  intact  1  (2),  if  so,  who  was  to  be  king  ]     No  less   ^ 
,  ,  .  .  .  ,   .  ^  ,  Competitors 

than  thirteen  competitors  put  in  a  claim  for  at  least  a  share   for  the 

of  the  spoil,  but  of  these  the  three  most  important  were  John      ^°^"- 

BaUiol,  grandson  of  the  eldest  daughter  of  David,  earl  of  Huntingdon, 

brother  of  WiUiam  the  Lion  ;  Robert  Bruce,  the  son  of  David's  second 

daughter  ;  and  John  Hastings,  lord  of  Abergavenny,  the  grandson  of  the 

third.     The  contention  of  each  had  a  certain  element  of  plausibility. 

Balliol  claimed  the  crown  on  the  ground  that  he  Wiis  the  direct  descendant 

in  the  eldest  line  ;  Bruce,  that  though  he  stood  in  the  second  line  he  was 

a  degree  nearer  to  David  than  Balliol ;  while  Hastings  contended  that 

the  daughters  of  David  ought  to  be  regarded  as  co-heiresses,  in  which  case 

a  third  part  of  the  kingdom  ought  to  be  allotted  to  each.     No  one  of  the 

three  could  be  regarded  as  particularly  Scottish  in  feeling  ;  all  had  taken 

their  place  in  English  politics,  and  Bruce  had  for  a  time  acted  as  chief 

justice  of  the  King's  Bench. 

To  amve  at  some  settlement  which  would  stave  off  the  impending 

calamity  of  a  civil  war,  the  Scots  submitted  the  case  to  the    Edward's 

decision  of  Edward,  who  had  established  a  European  reputa-    Arbitration. 

tion  for  the  fairness  of  his  decisions  in  several  other  complicated  cases  of 


218  Later  Angevin  Kings  1290 

arbitration.  Before  acting,  however,  Edward  claimed  to  be  recognised  as 
superior  lord  of  Scotland,  and  after  a  month's  investigation  of  the  historical 
basis  of  his  demand,  his  rights  were  fully  admitted  by  all  three  competitors. 
The  question  was  then  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  eighty  Scots,  half 
named  by  Balliol  and  half  by  Bruce,  and  of  twenty-four  Englishmen 
appointed  by  Edward  himself.  Their  investigations  were  most  elaborate, 
and  the  decision  was  not  pronounced  till  1292.  Then,  through  the  mouth 
of  Burnell,  Edward  made  his  award,  rejected  the  claims  of  both  Bruce 
and  Hastings,  and  gave  the  kingdom,  whole  and  undivided,  to  John 
Balliol — a  decision  whose  correctness  no  one  can  question,  and  whose 
disinterestedness  in  setting  aside  the  tempting  opportunity  of  weakening 
the  northern  kingdom  by  adopting  Hastings'  suggestion  places  it  above 
suspicion.  It  was  at  once  accepted  by  all  parties,  and  Balliol,  after  doing 
homage,  was  crowned. 

Had  matters  stood  here,  Edward  would  have  gained  a  great  success  in 
definitely  settling  the  relations  between  the  two  kingdoms,  and  have 
Question  of  added  to  his  reputation  for  upright  dealing ;  but  unluckily 
Appeals.  tjie  coronation  of  Balliol  proved  a  turning-point  for  the 
worse  in  the  history  of  the  two  kingdoms.  The  fault  was  not  altogether 
Edward's.  As  we  have  repeatedly  seen,  the  vassals  of  the  various  great 
feudatories  of  the  French  king  claimed  and  exercised  a  right  of  appeal  to 
the  king's  court  at  Paris,  and  the  lawyers  held  that  by  similar  analogy 
there  should  be  an  appeal  from  the  Scottish  courts  to  that  of  Edward  as 
overlord.  In  the  first  year  of  King  John's  reign  four  aggrieved  Scottish 
suitors,  of  whom  the  most  important  was  Macduff,  the  son  of  the  earl  of 
Fife,  appealed  to  Edward  to  reverse  the  decision  of  the  Scottish  law-courts. 
According  to  the  usual  French  form,  with  which  Edward  as  duke  of 
Aquitaine  was  only  too  well  acquainted,  Balliol  was  called  on  to  defend 
his  decision,  which  he  was  at  liberty  to  do  either  in  person  or  by  deputy. 
However,  in  Macduff's  case,  Balliol  appeared  in  person  and  denied 
Edward's  right  to  hear  the  appeal,  and  on  his  return  home  the  case  was 
taken  up  by  his  nobles,  who,  apparently  distrusting  Balliol's  intentions, 
appointed  a  committee  of  twelve  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom, 
prepared  for  armed  resistance,  and  entered  into  negotiations  with  the 
king  of  France. 

Meanwhile,  a  difficulty  had  arisen  in  France  in  which  the  parts  of 
Edward  and  Balliol  were  reversed.  It  chanced  that  a  Norman  sailor  had 
Trouble  ^^^^  ^\?c\Ja.  in  a  casual  dispute  with  an  Englishman.      In 

with  France,  revenge  the  Normans  seized  an  English  ship,  dragged  out 
of  it  a  passenger,  and  hanged  him  at  the  mast-head  with  a  dog  at  his 
feet.     As  the  passenger  happened  to  be  a  merchant  from  Bayonne,  this 


1295  Edward  I.  219 

brought  in  the  Gascons,  and  for  some  time  the  blood  feud  arrayed  against 
one  another  the  Normans  and  the  English  and  the  Gascons.  Eventually, 
in  1293,  after  much  promiscuous  fighting,  a  pitched  battle  was  fought  in 
the  harbour  of  St.  Mahe,  in  Brittany,  between  a  fleet  of  Normans, 
Flemings,  and  French,  and  of  English,  Gascons,  and  Irish,  The  result  was 
the  total  discomfiture  of  the  French,  the  capture  of  their  ships,  and  the 
loss,  it  was  said,  of  fifteen  thousand  lives.  Exasperated  at  this  disaster, 
Philip  IV.,  commonly  called  the  Fair,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  in 
1 285,  called  on  Edward,  as  duke  of  Aquitaine,  to  answer  in  the  French 
court  for  the  conduct  of  his  Gascon  subjects.  Edward  neglected  to 
appear,  on  which  the  French  king  declared  his  duchy  to  be  forfeited. 
Anxious  to  accommodate  matters  without  war,  which  in  the  then  state  of 
Scottish  affairs  would  be  specially  inconvenient,  Edward  sent  his  brother 
Edmund,  the  earl  of  Lancaster,  to  negotiate  ;  but  the  earl  allowed  himself 
to  be  gulled  by  Philip  into  handing  over  the  Gascon  castles  as  a  matter  of 
form,  and  when  after  six  weeks  Edward  demanded  repossession,  the  wily 
Frenchman  refused  to  budge,  cancelled  the  terms  of  agreement,  poured  an 
army  over  the  border,  and  entered  into  an  ofiFensive  and  defensive  alliance 
with  the  Scottish  nobility.  Edward's  hands  were  now  full.  For  four 
years  England  and  France  were  at  war  ;  Scotland  was  seething  with  dis- 
content ;  and  in  1295  no  less  than  three  revolts  broke  out  simultaneously 
in  south  and  north  Wales,  the  chief  of  which  was  headed  by  Madoc,  an 
illegitimate  son  of  the  last  Llewelyn. 

It  was  in  these  circumstances  that  Edward  took  the  wise  step  of  making 
a  formal  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  all  classes  of  his  English  subjects  by 
calling  a  complete  and  model  parliament.  In  this  assembly  Model  Parlia- 
were  represented  each  of  what  were  beginning  to  be  known  "^^"*  °^  ^^95- 
as  the  three  estates  of  the  realm,  the  clergy,  the  nobility,  and  the  com- 
monalty. For  the  clergy,  separate  writs  were  sent  to  the  archbishops,  the 
abbots,  to  the  masters  of  Sempringham  and  of  the  Temple,  and  to  the  prio 
of  the  Knights  Hospitallers ;  and  the  archbishops  and  bishops  were  also  pre- 
monished  and  each  directed  to  bring  with  him  the  prior  of  his  cathedral,  his 
archdeacons,  one  proctor  for  the  cathedral  chapter  and  two  for  the  parish 
clergy  of  each  diocese.  The  number  of  bishops  summoned  was  twenty, 
and  of  abbots  sixty-seven.  A  day  later  writs  were  sent  to  seven  earls 
and  forty-one  barons  ;  and  two  days  afterwards  the  sheriff"  of  each  county 
was  directed  to  send  two  knights,  elected  by  his  county,  and  two  citizens 
and  burgesses  from  each  city  or  borough  within  his  shire.  Thirty  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  citizens  and  burgesses  had  been  called  to  Simon  de 
Montfort's  convention  in  1265.  Since  then  it  had  been  no  uncommon 
thing  to  summon  knights  and  burgesses  to  parliament,  but  the  exact 


220  Later  Angevin  Kings  1295 

constitution  of  the  assembly  was  by  no  means  definitely  settled,  and  a  mere 

parliament  of  barons  was  thought  as  competent  as  a  regular  gathering  of 

representatives  of  the  people.     This  is,  therefore,  the  first  real  parliament 

in  which  they  had  ever  taken  part ;  but  since  1295  all  full  parliaments  have 

included  the  whole  of  the  lay  members  mentioned  above.     The  clergy, 

however,  preferred  to  make  their  money  grants  in  the  two  convocations  of 

the  provinces  of  York  and  Canterbury,  so  that  though  the  premunientes 

clause  was  long  retained  in  the  bishops'   writs,   the   archdeacons   and 

proctors  rarely  if  ever  came,  while  the  abbots  were  abolished  at  the 

Reformation.      The  meeting  of  the  Model  Parliament   of  1295   was  a 

memorable  day  for  England,  and  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of 

parliamentary  government. 

The  liberality  of  the  Model  Parliament  completely  justified  Edward's 

trust  in  the  generosity  of  his  people.     The  clergy  granted  one-tenth  of 

^.      „         their  goods,  the  earls,  barons,  and  knights  of  the  shire  voted 

First  Cam-  T  i  n      i         •  •  i    V 

paign  in       one-eleventh,  and  the  citizens  and  burgesses  one-seventh. 

With  the  money  so  raised,  Edward  was  able  to  act  vigorously. 
Already  the  least  serious  danger,  that  of  Wales,  had  been  removed,  for, 
as  before,  Edward's  tactics  of  blockading  the  insurgents  in  the  barren 
wilderness  of  Snowdon  had  been  successful  against  Madoc.  Edmund 
of  Lancaster  was  sent  out  to  Gascony  ;  Edward  in  person  took  the  field 
against  the  Scots.  Accompanied  by  Earl  Warrenne  and  the  bishop  of 
Durham,  and  taking  with  him  the  sacred  banner  of  St.  John  of  Beverley, 
that  had  already  waved  defiance  to  the  Scots  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard, 
and  after  receiving  at  Newcastle  a  message  from  Balliol  formally  renouncing 
his  allegiance,  the  English  king  crossed  the  border  and  captured  Berwick 
in  March.  In  April,  Earl  Warrenne  with  the  vanguard  inflicted  a  crush- 
Battle  of  i^g  defeat  on  the  Scots,  who  had  been  foolish  enough  to 
Dunbar.  abandon  a  strong  position  on  the  Lammermuir  hills  and 
descend  into  the  plain  near  Dunbar,  in  hopes  of  overwhelming  the  English. 
The  result  of  this  defeat  was  decisive.  Roxburgh,  Jedburgh,  Dunbar, 
Edinburgh,  and  Stirling  opened  their  gates.  Balliol  surrendered  ;  but  as 
he  had  already  renounced  his  allegiance  he  was  not  reinstated,  and  after 
a  short  sojourn  in  the  Tower  of  London  was  permitted  to  retire  to 
his  French  estates,  where  he  died  in  obscurity.  After  receiving  Balliol's 
submission,  Edward  marched  north  as  far  as  Elgin  to  show  Ms  power, 
and  then,  after  receiving  the  homage  of  the  leading  Scots,  and  appointing 
Earl  Warrenne  and  other  English  ofiicials  to  represent  him,  he  returned 
to  England,  well  contented  with  his  new  and  unexpected  conquest. 

Edward's  next  step  was  to  organise  a  great  alliance  against  France. 
Edmund  of  Lancaster  had  died  at  Bayonne,  but  his  place  had  been  filled  by 


1297  Edward  I.  221 

the  earl  of  Lincoln,  and  Edward  designed  a  double  attack  on  Philip — one 

from  Gascony,  led  by  Lincoln,  the  other  from  the  north-east,  led  by 

himself  and  the  count  of  Flanders.     Unexpected  difficulties,     .„. 

,  _  ,  ,     «  1      T     1  Alliance 

however,  arose.     Pressed,  as  usual,  for  money,  he  had  not     against 

been  scrupulous  in  his  means  of  getting  it,  but  had  seized       ^^^^^' 

the  wool  of  the  merchants,  tallaged  ^  the  towns  and  the  tenants  on  the 

royal  estates.     A  feeling  of  irritation  was  natural,  especially  as  much 

money  had  been  spent  on  subsidising  foreign  allies  who  had  done  very 

little  by  way  of  return. 

However,  if  the  expedition  were  to  start,  supplies  must  be  obtained, 
and  the  king  summoned  a  parliament,  exactly  modelled  on  that  of  1295, 
to  meet  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's,  in  November  1296.  When  clergy  refuse 
it  met,  the  barons  and  knights  granted  a  one-twelfth  and  the  *°  P*y  Taxes, 
citizens  and  burgesses  a  one-eighth.  The  clergy,  however,  under  Archbishop 
Winchelsea,  refused  to  contribute,  on  the  ground  that  since  the  last  parlia- 
ment a  bull,  clericis  laicos,  had  been  issued  by  Pope  Boniface  viii.,  in 
which  the  clergy  had  been  forbidden  to  pay  any  stiite  tax  whatsoever  out 
of  the  revenues  of  their  churches.  As  the  clergy  persisted  in  this  refusal, 
Edward  did  what  John  had  once  threatened  to  do,  and  what  Richard 
had  actually  done  in  1198,  viz.,  denied  the  clergy  the  right  to  sue  in  the 
king's  courts,  which,  in  effect,  amoimted  to  a  sentence  of  outlawry,  and 
enabled  them  to  be  robbed  and  plundered  with  impunity. 

While  waiting  the  effect  of  this  measure  Edward  sunmioned  a  meeting 
of  the  earls  and  barons  ;  and,  in  February  1297,  laid  before  them  his  plan 
for  the  expeditions  to  Flanders  and  Gascony.     But  here  a 
new  difficulty  met  him.     One  by  one  the  barons  began  to   stable  and 
excuse  themselves,  and  in  particular  Roger  Bigod,  earl  of  ghYii  refuse 
Norfolk,  the  constable,  and  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  earl  of  ^°  lead  a 
Hereford,  the  marshal,  who  were  asked  to  take  charge  of   Expedition 
the  Gascon  expedition,  raised  the  point  of  law  that  they 
were  bound  by  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  only  to  attend  the 
king's  person.      *By  God,  sir  earl,'  said  Edward,  addressing  Hereford, 
'  thou  shalt  either  go  or  hang.'     *  By  that  same  oath,  0  king,*  was  the 
marshal's  reply,  '  I  will  neither  go  nor  hang.'     It  was  soon  evident  that 
the  recalcitrant  earls  had  popular  feeling  on  their  side.     The  meeting  at 
once  broke  up  ;  the  two  earls  retired  to  their  estates  followed  by  no  less 
than  fifteen  hundred  picked  knights,  and  prepared,  if  necessary,  to  appeal 
to  arms.     Driven  to   extremity  by  this,   Edward  took  extraordinary 
measures  to  provide  himself  with  funds,  seized  the  wool  of  the  merchants 

1  A  tallage  is  a  feudal  tax  levied  on  towns  and  lands  in  demesne. 


222  Later  Angevin  Kings  1297 

and  requisitioned  provisions  from  the  counties,  giving  tallies  in  acknow- 
ledgment for  both. 

Meanwhile  the  clergy  were  in  despair.  Lent  was  fast  slipping  away, 
and  Edward  had  threatened  that  unless  they  gave  way  before  Easter  he 

„  ,     .    .       would  confiscate  the  whole  of  their  lands.     A  new  convoca- 

Submission 

of  the  tion  was  summoned  by  Winchelsea  for  the  26th  of  March, 

^^^^'  and  in  this  he  receded  from  his  former  position  and  advised 

his  fellow-clergy  to  make  the  best  terms  they  could.  Weary  of  the  long 
contest,  the  clergy  one  by  one  gave  way,  some  making  the  king  a  gift, 
others  leaving  money  where  the  royal  officers  could  find  it,  and  others 
paying  for  protection.  Winchelsea  himself  was  still  obstinate,  and  in 
consequence  Edward  seized  the  lands  of  his  see. 

In  spite,  however,  of  his  double  difficulty,  Edward  did  not  abandon 
his  intended  expeditions  ;  but  issued  orders  for  a  military  levy  who  held 
lands  over  ^20  a  year  to  meet  at  London  on  July  7th.  Again 
promises  to  ^^^  marshal  and  constable  refused  to  go  ;  but  Edward,  by 
confirm  the  promising  to  confirm  the  Great  Charter  and  the  Charter  of 
the  Forest,  contrived  to  induce  the  leading  men  of  the  levy 
to  agree  to  a  wholly  unconstitutional  grant  of  an  eighth  of  the  mov- 
ables of  the  barons  and  knights,  and  one-fifth  from  the  cities  and 
boroughs.  At  the  same  time  the  archbishop  made  his  peace,  and  agreed 
to  call  a  convocation  on  August  10th  to  see  about  making  a  regular 
grant. 

The  two  earls,  however,  and  their  followers  continued  firm,  and  sent 
Edward  a  petition  on  the  part,  not  only  of  themselves  and  the  barons, 
The  Earls'  re-  ^^^  ^1^^  ^^  *^^^  ^^  ^^^  clergy  and  of  '  the  whole  community 
monstrance,  ^f  the  land,'  in  which  they  boldly  declared  that  whether 
their  tenures  bound  them  or  not,  they  were  utterly  ruined  by  tallages 
and  other  forms  of  exaction,  particularly  by  a  new  customs  duty  (the 
maltote)  laid  on  wool,  which  amounted  to  the  fifth  part  of  their  income  ; 
demanded  that  the  Great  Charter  and  the  Charter  of  the  Forests 
should  be  confirmed ;  and  suggested  that  Edward  would  do  better  to 
stay  at  home  until  he  had  better  security  from  the  Flemings,  and  Scotland 
less  likely  to  break  into  insurrection. 

This  outspoken  document  reached  Edward  in  September,  when  he  was 
on  the  point  of  sailing  for  Flanders,  and  he  simply  answered  that  he 
could  not  consider  it  without  his  council,  and  that  some  members  were  in 
London  and  others  had  crossed  to  Flanders.  On  the  22nd  he  sailed 
away,  leaving  his  son  Edward,  then  a  lad  of  thirteen,  the  regent,  and  his 
counsellors  to  do  the  best  they  could.  No  sooner  was  the  king  gone, 
than  the  two  earls  appeared  in  London  and  peremptorily  forbade  the 


1297 


Edward  I.  223 


officers  of  the  exchequer  to  collect  the  aid  of  one-eighth.  The  counsellors 
were  at  their  wits'  end.  Resistance  was  out  of  the  question,  and  parlia- 
ment was  somewhat  irregularly  summoned  to  receive  the  confirmatio 
Confirmation  of  the  Charters.  These  documents,  however,  of  the 
from  which  all  reference  to  taxation  had  long  been  omitted, 
did  not  cover  the  case  in  point,  so  the  earls  insisted  on  the  addition  of 
several  new  clauses,  to  the  efi*ect,  (1)  that  the  king  would  not  take  as  a 
right  all  such  aids  and  tasks  as  have  been  given  him  heretofore  by  his 
people's  freewill,  and  '  would  not  take  such  manner  of  aids,  tasks,  or 
prizes  but  by  the  common  assent  of  the  realm,  and  for  the  common  profit 
thereof,  saving  the  ancient  aids  and  prizes  due  and  accustomed';  (2) 
that  the  maltote  on  wool  should  be  given  up,  and  that  neither  the  king 
nor  his  heirs  would  take  any  such  thing  or  any  other  without  the 
common  consent  and  goodwill  of  the  commonalty  of  the  realm  ;  saving  to 
us  and  to  our  heirs  the  custom  of  wool,  skins,  and  leather,  granted  before 
by  the  commonalty  aforesaid. 

The  custom  referred  to  in  the  last  clause  was  the  Ancient  or  Great 
Custom  agreed  to  in  the  parliament  of  Westminster,  1275,  as  a  commutii- 
tion  of  the  king's  immemorial  right  to  take  a  portion  of  all  ^he  Great 
goods  coming  into  or  going  out  of  the  kingdom.  In  this  Custom, 
form  the  Confirmation  of  the  Charters  was  sent  to  the  king,  and  received 
his  assent,  which  was  again  given  as  a  further  security  in  1298,  1299, 
and  1301.  At  the  time  of  the  first  Confinuation  of  the  Charters,  an 
unauthorised  abstract  was  published,  known  as  the  De  tallagio  non 
concedendOf  which  repeated  Edward's  grant  but  without  the  modifying 
word  '  such.'  In  after  times  this  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  statute,  and 
was  alluded  to  as  such  in  the  preamble   to  the  Petition  of    Right 

of  1628.      It  is  not  easy  to  overestimate  the   constitu- 

.    ,  .  ,  ,    .  /.  1    .  Importance 

tional  importance  of  this  struggle  and  its  successful  issue,    of  the  Con- 
Hitherto  the  right  of  the  people  to  a  voice  in  taxation  had     '""^^t'ons* 
been  little  more  than  a  usage  ;  even  the  concessions  made  to  the  tenants- 
in-chief  in  1215  had  been  dropped  in  the  following  year.    It  now  became 
a  matter  of  written  right,  from  which  followed  the  natural  development 
of  our  parliamentary  government.      It  was  not  creditable  to  Edward  that 
he  should  have  asked  and  obtained  from  the  pope  a  dispensation  from  his 
assent,  which,  fortunately,  he  did  not  ventiu-e  to  put  into  practice.    The 
Flemish  expedition,   for  which  Edward  had  provided  with  so  much 
difficulty,  produced  no  great  results.     His  Continental  allies    prench 
proved,  as  usual,  selfish  and  inefficient,  and  the  war  was    Quarrel 
soon  confined  to  Gascony,  where  the  earl  of  Lincoln  still 
held  Bayonne.    The  disputes  between  the  two  sovereigns  were  at  length 


224  Later  Angevin  Kings  1297 

healed  by  the  good  offices  of  Pope  Boniface  viii.,  who  had  conceived  the 
idea  of  saving  bloodshed  by  making  the  papal  court  into  a  court  of  arbitra- 
tion for  the  settlement  of  national  disputes.  Neither  Philip  nor  Edward, 
however,  would  admit  Boniface's  interference  in  his  official  capacity,  but 
they  accepted  his  good  offices  as  a  man,  and  eventually  the  whole  of  his 
Gascon  possessions  were  restored  to  the  English  king.  A  good  under- 
standing for  the  future  was  secured  by  a  double  marriage  :  Edward,  who 
had  been  a  widower  since  1290,  marrying  Margaret,  the  sister  of  Philip, 
and  his  son  Edward,  aged  fifteen,  being  betrothed  to  Philip's  five-year-old 
daughter  Isabella. 

In  Scotland,  meanwhile,  things  had  been  going  altogether  wrong.  Earl 
Warrenne,  the  guardian,  had  been  non-resident ;  and  Cressingham,  the 
Rebellion  of  treasurer,  and  Ormesby,  the  justiciar,  ruled  the  Scots  with  a 
Wallace.  rod  of  iron.  The  natural  result  was  an  insurrection,  analo- 
gous to  that  in  Wales  in  1282,  but  difiering  from  it  in  the  fact  that  it  was 
led  neither  by  a  member  of  the  reigning  house  nor  by  the  nobility,  but 
was  a  genuine  outbreak  of  general  discontent.  Various  leaders  appeared 
in  various  parts,  but  eventually  the  movement  concentrated  round  William 
Wallace  or  Waleys,  i.e.  the  Welshman,  and  Sir  Andrew  Murray.    In  the 

summer  of  1297,  Warrenne  returned  at  the  head  of  a  laro^e 
Battle  of  ^ 

Cambus-      army,  but  in  September  allowed  himself  to  be  defeated  at 

ennet  .  Cambuskenneth,  near  Stirling.  At  that  place  the  Forth 
was  crossed  by  a  long  bridge,  so  narrow  that  only  two  armed  men, 
presumably  horsemen,  are  said  to  have  been  able  to  pass  abreast,  and 
reaching  the  northern  bank  of  the  river  at  a  point  where  a  range  of  low 
hills  comes  close  to  the  water.  Behind  these  hills  Wallace  and  Mun'ay 
concealed  their  soldiers,  and  when  five  thousand  English  soldiers  under 
Cressingham  had  crossed  the  bridge,  they  were  suddenly  overwhelmed  by 
a  rush  of  Scots  from  the  high  ground.  Cressingham  himself  perished, 
and  few  if  any  of  his  men  made  their  escape.  The  news  of  the  victory 
caused  the  rebellion  to  spread  like  wild-fire.  The  English  had  to  fly  for 
their  lives,  and  a  provisional  government  was  set  up  under  William 
Wallace  and  Andrew  Murray,  '  the  generals  of  the  army  of  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland '  and  guardians  for  King  John. 

During  the  whole  of  this  year  Edward  himself  was  in  Flanders,  almost 

as  much  troubled  to  keep  the  peace  between  his  Flemish,  English,  and 

Welsh  soldiers  as  to  fight  the  French,  but  in  1298  an  oppor- 

Second  ^        ^w^^Q  truce  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  return  to  England, 

Campaign  ^nd  he  marched  north  to  crush  Wallace.  The  task  was  not 
in  Scotland. 

easy,  as  the  lowlands  had  been  so  ravaged  that  feeding  the 

army  was  all  but  impossible,  and  a  retreat  was  inevitable  when  Edward 


1303  Edward  I.  225 

learned  that  Wallace  lay  in  Falkirk  wood  ready  to  fall  on  his  rear.  The 
news  revived  the  drooping  energies  of  his  soldiers,  and  a  rapid  march 
brought  them  in  view  of  the  Scots  on  July  22nd,  1298.  Battle  of 
Being  deficient  in  cavalry,  then  the  offensive  part  of  an  Falkirk, 
ai-my,  Wallace  took  post  behind  a  morass,  drew  up  his  spearmen  in  four 
circles  defended  by  palisades,  linked  them  together  by  a  line  of  archers, 
and  placed  his  scanty  troop  of  cavalry  in  the  rear.  Edward,  however, 
showed  himself  equal  to  the  occasion.  Sending  his  cavalry  to  right  and 
left  of  the  morass,  he  put  the  Scottish  horsemen  to  flight,  and  drove  the 
archers  into  the  squares,  and  then  bringing  up  his  own  archers  and 
military  engines  he  plied  the  Scots  with  missiles  till  well-directed  charges 
of  cavalry  were  able  to  break  their  ranks.  The  defeat  of  Falkirk  was 
fatal  to  Wallace's  power,  and  after  less  than  a  yeai*'s  prominence  he  dis- 
appears from  the  scene,  and  seems  to  have  spent  the  next  few  years 
partly  in  hiding,  partly  in  France. 

Though  Wallace  left  the  field,  his  place  was  taken  by  others  ;  and 
between  1298  and  1303  the  chief  burden  fell  on  John  Comyn,  sister's 
son  to  Balliol,  and  the  bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and  by  their  comyn's 
efforts  the  independence  of  Scotland  north  of  the  Forth  was  Rebellion, 
maintained.  Their  chief  exploit  was  the  victory  of  Roslin  in  1302. 
During  those  years  French  aflairs  still  detiiined  Edward;  but  in  1302  the 
Flemings  defeated  Philip  in  the  famous  battle  of  Courtrai ;  Philip  himself 
was  further  absorbed  in  a  quarrel  with  Bonifiice ;  and  in  1303  Edward  was 
again  able  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  Scotland.  The  result  showed 
how  much  the  Scottish  resisUvnce  had  been  indebted  to  the  French  troubles. 
Almost  without  fighting,  he  marched  his  army  across  the  Forth,  and  made 
his  way  to  Aberdeen  and  Banff.  This  display  of  power  frightened  Comyn 
into  submission.  During  the  winter  he  negotiated  for  himself  and  his 
friends,  and  was  permitted  to  make  his  peace  :  the  same  indulgence  being 
offered  to  Wallace  '  if  he  thought  proper.'  Wallace,  however,  made  no 
sign,  and  Edward,  fearful  lest  his  continuance  at  large  might  lead  to 
further  troubles,  made  it  known  that  his  favour  might  be  won  by 
the  apprehension  of  the  outlaw.  The  hint  had  its  effect.  Wallace  was 
was  seized  by  the  sheriff  of  Dumbarton,  Sir  John  Menteith,  and  was 
carried  to  London.  There  he  is  said  to  have  pleaded  that  Execution 
what  he  had  done  was  not  treason,  as  he  had  never  sworn  °^  Wallace, 
allegiance  to  Edward.  He  was  condemned  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck  for 
the  robberies,  murders,  and  felonies  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  His 
head  was  placed  on  London  Bridge,  and  his  quarters  distributed  to 
Newcastle,  Berwick,  Stirling,  and  Perth.  Wallace  had  played  for  a  great 
stake  and  lost ;  but  his  death  made  him  the  hero  of  Scottish  independence ; 

P 


226  Later  Angevin  Kings  1303 

and  legend,  song  and  fiction  have  tended  to  exalt  his  reputation  somewhat 
unfairly  at  the  expense  of  other  Scottish  patriots. 

Resistance  being  now  apparently  at  an  end,  Edward  produced  his 
scheme  for  the  government  of  Scotland.  The  administration  of  Scottish 
Organisation  affairs  was  placed  under  his  nephew  John  of  Brittany  as 
of  Scotland,  lord-lieutenant  and  guardian.  Two  justices  each  were 
allotted  to  four  circuits  into  which  the  land  was  divided.  The  Scottish 
laws  were  to  be  revised  and  those  that  were  barbarous  or  contrary 
to  the  will  of  God  abolished.  Lastly,  some  representatives  for  Scot- 
land were  to  be  present  in  the  English  parliament.  This  scheme, 
if  fairly  carried  out,  was  not  bad ;  but  a  national  feeling  had  begun 
to  rise  among  the  Scots,  and  a  new  pretender  soon  appeared  to  take 
Robert  advantage  of  it.  This  was  Robert  Bruce,  gi-andson  of 
Bruce.  the  claimant.  Though  his  father  played  an  ambiguous 
part,  this  young  man,  now  about  twenty-five,  had  hitherto  been  on 
Edward's  side,  and  was  consulted  by  him  about  the  management 
of  the   kingdom ;   but  in  1306  he  determined  to  try  for  the   crown 

Murder  of    himself.       In   an   interview   held    at    Dumfries    in    1306 

Corny n.  Btuce,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  stabbed  Comyn,  and  whether  his 
determination  to  try  for  the  crown  dates  from  before  or  after  the  murder 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  At  any  rate  he  raised  his  standard  in  Galloway ; 
and,  being  soon  joined  by  a  small  following,  was  crowned  at  Scone  in 
March.  At  first  the  matter  did  not  seem  very  serious,  for  Bruce  could 
not  hold  his  own  in  the  open  field  ;  but  Scotland  differed  from  Wales  in 
this,  that  whereas  in  Wales  the  district  of  Snowdon  could  easily  be 
blockaded,  in  Scotland  the  lowlands  were  fringed  by  a  background  of 
inaccessible  moors,  mountains,  and  islands  to  which  retreat  was  always 
open,  and  in  which  pursuit  was  in  vain.  Consequently  an  outlaw^  could 
bide  his  time,  and  while  striking  sufficient  blows  to  keep  up  his  reputa- 
tion and  encourage  resistance  could  always  keep  himself  out  of  harm's 
way.  This  was  Bruce's  game,  and  circumstances  ultimately  enabled  him 
to  play  it  with  success. 

Chief  of  these  was  the  death  of  the  veteran  Edward.  Over  fifty 
years   of  active  life  and  anxiety  had  begun  to  break  down   the   iron 

Death  of      constitution  of  the  king.      In  the  autumn  of  1306,  when 

Edward.  j^g  fij-g^  heard  of  Bruce's  rising,  he  had  had  to  make  the 
journey  to  Carlisle  in  a  horse  litter  ;  and  though  in  1307  he  thought 
himself  so  far  better  that  he  was  able  to  mount  his  charger,  the  effort 
was  too  much  for  his  strength,  and  after  two  short  marches  he  died  at 
Burgh-on-the  Sands  on  July  7th,  1307. 

Edward  was  twice  married,  first  to  Eleanor  of  Castile,  who  died  in 


1307 


Edward  I. 


227 


1290.     By  her  he  had  four  sons  and  nine  daughters.     Of  the  sons  one 
only,  Edward,   the  youngest,  survived  his  father.     Of  the  daughters, 
one  married  Earl  Gilbert  of  Gloucester ;  another  married   Edward's 
Humphrey,  earl  of  Hereford.     By  his  second  wife  Margaret   family, 
he  left  two  sons,  Thomas,  earl  of  Norfolk,  and  Edmund,  earl  of  Kent. 
Most  of  his  other  dau":hters  married  abroad. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

Statute  of  Mortmain  (de  religiosis),  . 

Final  Conquest  of  Wales 

Second  Statute  of  Westminster  (de  donis), 

Statute  of  Winchester 

Third  Statute  of  Westminster  (quia  emptores) 

Scottish  award, 

First  complete  and  model  Parliament, 

Battle  of  Dunbar, 

Battle  of  Camhuskenneth,  .... 
Confirmation  of  the  Charters,     . 

Battle  of  Falkirk, 

Bruce's  rebellion  begins 


A.D. 
1279 
1282 
1286 
1286 
1290 
1292 
1296 
1296 
1297 
1297 
1298 
1306 


CHAPTEE   II 

EDWARD  II.:   1307-1327  ^ 

Born  1284 ;  married  Isabella  of  France,  1308  ;  died  1327. 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

ScotloMd.  France. 

Robert  i.,  1306-1829.  Philip  iv.,  1285-1309  (see  page  246). 

Piers  Gaveston— The  Lords  Ordainers— Gavestou's  Death— Bruce's  Scottish  suc- 
cesses—  Bannockburn — The  Despensers  —  Laucasters  Defeat  at  Borough- 
bridge,  and  Death— General  combination  against  the  Despensers,  headed  by 
the  Queen  and  Mortimer,  leads  to  Edward's  Dethronement. 

Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  who  succeeded  his  father  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  was  one  of  the  worst  of  the  English  kings.  His  father 
Character  of  Edward  and  his  grandfather  Henry  were  both  cast  in 
Edward  II.  ^  different  mould ;  but  the  younger  Edward  inherited 
neither  the  statesmanlike  ability  of  the  one  nor  the  piety  of  the  other. 
He  grew  up  utterly  frivolous  and  unprincipled ;  and  though  he  was 
handsome,  accomplished,  and  endowed  with  the  power  of  winning  the 
attachment  of  his  intimate  associates,  his  reign  was  a  complete  failure. 

The  most  obvious  cause  of  this  was  his  addiction  to  favourites.  The 
word  '  favourite '  is  one  which  needs  to  be  used  with  discrimination.  Its 
Meaning  of  most  obvious  signification  is  that  of  some  one  in  whom  the 
'  ^^^o"*"**^'  sovereign  delights,  and  on  whom  he  lavishes  gifts  and 
favours  ;  but  it  is  also  used  less  correctly  of  any  person  who  has  special 
influence  over  the  king's  policy,  though  such  influence  may  be  the  proper 
reward  of  distinguished  ability.  Favourites  of  the  first  class  were  hateful 
to  the  general  body  of  the  people,  because  the  wealth  lavished  on  them 
impoverished  the  crown,  and  consequently  had  to  be  made  good  by 
increased  taxation ;  those  of  the  second  were  specially  disliked  by  the 
nobility.  In  England,  it  was  the  claim  of  the  great  nobles  to  be  the 
hereditary  advisers  of  the  crown,  and  as  such  to  have  access  at  all  times 
to  the  king's  person,  and,  therefore,  they  regarded  with  jealousy  any  one, 
whether  he  were  an  upstart  or  one  of  themselves,  who  secui*ed  a  para- 
mount influence  in  the  king's  deliberations.     For  centuries  this  feeling 


1307  Edward  11.  229 

was  one  of  the  permanent  factors  of  English  polities,  and  somewhat 
curiously  it  seems  to  have  been  accepted  as  right  and  proper  even  by  the 
general  body  of  the  people.  If  the  king  were  strong  he  was  able  to  pro- 
tect his  servants ;  if  he  were  weak,  he  and  they  fell  together ;  but  the 
hatred  between  the  titled  nobility  and  the  untitled  ministers  of  the  king 
always  existed.  It  appears  in  the  cases  of  Flambard  and  Becket,  and 
such  a  man  as  Wolsey,  for  example,  knew  that  his  enemies  were  always 
on  the  watch  to  attack  him  the  instant  the  king's  favour  was  withdrawn. 
The  rallying-point  of  the  nobility  against  *  the  favourite  *  was  almost 
invariably  in  England  a  younger  member  of  the  royal  family.  Even 
Simon  de  Montfort,  being  brother-in-law  of  Henry  in.,  The  opposi- 
can  hardly  be  regarded  as  an  exception  to  the  rule.  The  **°"' 
cause  of  this  was  in  some  measure  the  difficulty  of  providing  for  the 
princes  of  the  blood.  Henry  ii.  had  endeavoured  without  much  success 
to  carve  portions  for  his  younger  sons  out  of  his  continental  possessions. 
Richard  was  childless.  John's  sons  were  children.  Henry  iii.  made  his 
only  brother,  Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall,  a  position  which  carried  with  it 
the  enormous  wealth  which  accrued  from  the  Cornish  tin  mines.  On  his 
second  son,  Edmund  Crouchback  or  Crossback,  Henry,  after  failing  to  make 
him  king  of  Sicily,  bestowed  the  earldoms  of  Lancaster,  Leicester,  and 
Derby,  the  two  latter  the  forfeited  holdings  of  Earl  Simon  and  Earl 
Ferrers.  Edmund  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Thomas,  who  married  the 
heiress  of  Edward's  faithful  friend  the  earl  of  Lincoln  and  Salisbury, 
and  so  expected  the  eventual  succession  to  two  more  earldoms,  Lincoln 
and  Salisbury.  Thomas,  generally  known  as  Thomas  of  Lancaster,  was  a 
man  of  great  force  of  character  and  violent  temper,  but  in  no  sense  a  real 
statesman.  Of  the  other  great  earldoms  of  the  country,  those  of  Norfolk 
and  Kent  had  been  given  to  Edward  i.'s  little  sons,  Thomas  and 
Edmund  ;  those  of  Cornwall  and  Chester  were  in  the  hands  of  the  king  ; 
Gloucester,  in  those  of  Gilbert,  the  king's  nephew  ;  Hereford,  in  those  of 
Edward's  brother-in-law,  Humphrey  de  Bohun ;  ^  and  Pembroke,  in  those 
of  Aymer  de  Valence,  the  king's  half-cousin.     Such  a  concentration  of 

1  THE  BOHUNS. 

Humphrey  de  Bohun,  friend  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  died  1275. 

Humphrey  de  Bohun,  of  the  Confirmatio  Chartarum,  died  1298. 

Humphrey  de  Bohun,  m.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Edward  i.; 
I       killed  at  Boroughbridge,  1822. 

Humphrey  de  Bohun. 


I  I 

Eleanor,  m.  Tliomas  Mary,  m.  Henry  of 

of  Gloucester.  Bolingbroke  (Henry  iv.). 


230  Later  Angevin  Kings  1307 

j)roperty  in  a  few  hands  was  totally  foreign  to  the  ideas  of  such  a  king  as 
William  the  Conqueror,  for  it  resulted  in  any  quarrel  between  the  king 
and  his  relatives  taking  the  form  of  civil  war. 

This  moment,  when  the  influence  represented  by  the  great  earldoms 
was  specially  concentrated  and  powerful,  Edward   chose  to  advance  a 
Piers  favourite,  whose  name  has  become  typical  of  such  characters 

Gaveston.  ^^^  ^jj  ^-j^^^  rpj^-^  ^^g  YiB^&  Gaveston,  a  Gascon,  who  had 
been  the  king's  playfellow  as  a  boy,  and  had  gained  such  an  influence 
over  him  that  Edward  seemed  incapable  of  existing  happily  without  him. 
His  character,  perhaps  unfairly,  has  been  assumed  to  be  more  than 
ordinarily  depraved  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  Edward  considered  him  a 
most  improper  companion  for  his  son,  banished  him  from  the  court, 
and  made  it  one  of  his  last  requests  to  his  son  that  he  would  free  himself 
from  his  influence.  On  the  contrary,  no  sooner  was  his  father  dead  than 
Edward  recalled  Piers,  made  him  earl  of  Cornwall,  a  proceeding  so 
unpopular  that  few  would  address  him  by  the  title  ;  married  him  to  his 
niece,  Margaret  of  Gloucester  ;  dismissed  at  his  bidding  Walter  Langton, 
the  trusted  treasurer  of  his  father  ;  presented  him  with  vast  sums  of  money, 
especially  with  £32,000,  reserved  by  his  father  for  a  crusade  ;  made  him 
regent  when  he  went  over  to  France  to  marry  the  beautiful  Isabella  ; 
permitted  him  to  carry  the  Crown  at  the  coronation,  and  to  take  pre- 
cedence of  the  ancient  nobles  of  the  realm.  Had  Gaveston  been  a  man 
distinguished  for  modesty  and  tact,  such  fiwours  would  have  ensured  his 
unpopularity ;  but,  in  fact,  he  was  utterly  devoid  of  any  capacity  for 
conciliation,  made  new  enemies  by  his  insolent  ostentation,  and  exas- 
perated the  jealous  nobles  by  inventing  for  them  ofiensive  nicknames, 
which  by  the  folly  of  his  royal  patron  became  public  property.  Thomas 
of  Lancaster  he  called  '  the  Hog '  ;  Warwick,  '  the  Black  Dog  of 
Arden ' ;  Pembroke  was  'Joseph  the  Jew ' ;  his  brother-in-law  Gloucester 
was  '  the  Cuckoo,'  and  so  on. 

The  natural  result  of  such  folly  was  that  at  the  very  first  great 
His  dismissal  council  held  by  Edward  in  April  1308,  the  prelates,  earls, 
demanded.  .^^^  barons  unanimously  demanded  his  banishment  ;  and 
Edward  had  to  give  way.  His  popularity — if  he  ever  had  any — was 
absolutely  gone.  He  had  shown  not  the  slightest  capacity  for  carrying 
on  the  ordinary  business  of  state,  and  what  time  he  could  spare  from 
the  most  frivolous  amusements  he  devoted  to  plotting  the  return  of  his 
favourite,  whom  he  had  made  governor  of  Ireland.  In  1309  a  Parlia- 
ment met,  and  the  list  of  complaints  presented  proves  conclusively  in 
how  short  a  time  the  course  of  such  a  monarch  could  affect  the  whole 
routine'of  government.      Edward  was  ready  to  promise  amendment, 


1312  Edward  II.  231 

especially  as  the  pope  had  at  his  request  released  Gaveston  from  his  oath 
to  remain  out  of  England  ;  and  his  one  wish  was  to  win  the  consent  of 
the  nobility  to  the  favourite's  return.  For  the  moment  he  succeeded ; 
but  Gaveston  made  fresh  enemies,  and  in  1310  a  great  council,  held  at 
Westminster,  fell  back  on  the  precedent  of  1258,  took  the  government 
out  of  Edward's  hands,  and  placed  it  in  those  of  a  body  of  The  Lords 
twenty -one  lords  ordainers,  including  archbishop  Win-  Ordainers. 
chelsea,  the  earls  of  Pembroke,  Lancaster,  Hereford,  Warwick,  and 
Gloucester,  with  directions  to  regulate  the  king's  household,  and  to 
reform  the  abuses  of  the  realm. 

To  escape  from  their  surveillance  Edward  hurried  to  the  Scottish 
border,  taking  Gaveston  with  him,  and  remained  there  for  a  year.     In 
his  absence  the  ordainers  had  a  free  hand,  of  which  they  took  full 
advantage  to  draw  up  a  lengthy  scheme  of  reform,  of  which  the  most 
important  items  were  the  perpetual  banishment  of  Gaveston, 
tlie  appointment  for  the  future  of  all  state  officers  by  the   again 
counsel  and  consent  of  the  baronage,  the  holding  of  a  par-      'S'"*^^^  • 
liament  at  least  once  a  year,  and  a  complete  reform  of  the  administration. 
To  this  Edward,  after  humbly  entreating  mercy  for  '  his  brother  Piers,' 
was  compelled  to  assent  in  1311  ;  but  in  1312  the  infatuated  king  again 
recalled  Gaveston,  and  restored  his  forfeited  estates.     On  this  Arch- 
bishop Winfchelsea  put  the  favourite   under  the  ban  of  the  Church  ; 
while  Lancaster,  Pembroke,  Warwick,  and  Hereford  raised  their  forces 
and  besieged  Gaveston  in  Scarborough  Castle,  where  Edward  had  placed 
him  for  safety.     Here  Gaveston  was  forced  to  capitulate,  and  was  then 
sent  to  WaUingford  under  the  safe-conduct  of  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  to 
await  the  assembling  of  parliament.     Warwick  and  Lancaster,  however, 
were  in  no  mood  to  wait,  and  when  Gaveston  had  reached  Deddington 
in  Oxfordshire,  he  was  seized  by  '  the  Black  Dog  of  Arden,'  and  hurried 
off  to  Warwick  Castle,  where  he  found  Lancaster,  Hereford,  and  Arundel 
awaiting  his  arrival.     A  discussion  took  place  as  to  his  fate ;  but  the 
words  of  the  proverb,  '  If  you  let  the  fox  go,  you  will  have    Gaveston 
to  hunt  him  again '  decided  his  destiny  ;  and  Lancaster  and    executed. 
Hereford  saw  his  head  struck  off  on  Blacklow  Hill,  on  the  road  to 
Kenilworth. 

Such  a  murder  of  a  political  opponent  had  hitherto  been  almost  un- 
known in  England,  and  it  marks  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  butcheries 
which  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  closed  till  the  accession  of 
Henry  VII.     Contrasted  with  the  thirteenth  century,  those   tionofthe 
of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  appear  to  indicate  a  distinct   ^°""*''y- 
deterioration  in  the  aims  and  ideals  of  the  great  men   of  the   time. 


232  Later  Angevin  Kings  1312 

Whether  it  was  due  to  the  hardening  influence  of  the  protracted  wars 
with  Scotland  and  France,  or  to  the  adoption  of  chivalry  with  its  thin 
veneer  of  courtesy  and  breeding,  ill  serving  to  conceal  licentiousness, 
class  feeling,  and  real  heartlessness,  or  to  the  decay  of  personal  religion, 
it  is  certain  that  such  a  degradation  was  at  work  among  the  upper 
classes  of  society.  The  change  seems  to  be  connected  with  and  pretty 
The  French  Hiuch  coincident  with  the  adoption  of  the  French  language, 
Language.  manners,  and  culture  by  the  English.  This  movement  gained 
strength  under  Henry  iii.,  from  whose  reign  dates  the  first  state  paper 
in  French  ;  under  Edward  i.,  that  language  was  adopted  in  the  Law 
Courts,  and  by  the  time  of  Edward  11.  it  is  generally  believed  to  have 
been  the  language  of  society.  Its  adoption  must  not  be  associated 
either  with  the  Norman  Conquest  or  with  the  French  possessions  of 
Henry  11.  It  is  more  analogous  to  the  adoption  of  French  as  the  usual 
language  of  the  upper  classes  in  Kussia  at  the  present  time.  The 
language  spoken,  too,  was  not  the  old  Norman  French  of  the  Conquest, 
but  the  dialect  of  Paris  and  the  Isle  of  France,  which  was  now  becoming 
the  standard  French  language.  Beneath  it,  however,  the  real  English, 
which  for  a  long  time  had  been  eclipsed  as  a  literary  language  by  Latin, 
was  beginning  to  assert  itself ;  and  the  very  period  when  French  was 
most  widely  spoken  in  this  country  was  also  that  which  saw  the  fore- 
runners of  Wyclif  and  Chaucer. 

Edward  was  powerless  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  friend,  so  again 
turned  his  attention  to  Scotland,  where  Bruce  had  been  making  rapid 
Successes  of  progress.  The  English  hold  on  Scotland  depended  on 
Bruce.  retaining  possession  of  the  great  castles  of  southern  Scot- 

land, of  which  the  chief  were  Roxburgh,  Linlithgow,  Perth,  Edinburgh, 
and  Stirling.  In  the  course  of  five  years — from  1307  to  1312 — Bruce 
had  overcome  all  opposition  in  the  field,  whether  from  the  English 
soldiers  or  discontented  Scots ;  and  by  1312  he  seems  to  have  had  the 
population  on  his  side  almost  to  a  man.  In  1311  his  progress  was 
interrupted  by  the  invasion  of  Edward  and  Gaveston ;  but  as  soon  as 
they  were  gone,  Bruce  encouraged  his  soldiers  by  an  invasion  of  Eng- 
land, in  which  the  northern  counties  were  ruthlessly  ravaged,  and  then 
began  a  systematic  attack  on  the  castles.  In  January  1312  he  took 
Perth  by  assault ;  on  March  7th  Roxburgh  surrendered  ;  on  the  14th 
his  sister's  son  Randolph  and  a  band  of  thirty  men  scaled  the  precipitous 
rock  which  is  crowned  by  Edinburgh  castle,  and  took  that  great  strong- 
hold by  surprise.  About  the  same  time  Linlithgow  castle  was  taken  by 
the  address  of  a  countryman  named  Binnock  or  Binnie,  who  concealed 
some  soldiers  in  a  load  of  hay,  and  then  stopped  his  waggon  in  the  gate- 


1314  Edward  11.  233 

way,  so  that  the  portcullis  could  not  be  lowered.  Other  successes  fol- 
lowed, and  at  length  Stirling  alone  held  out ;  and  so  beset  wei-e  the 
garrison  that  the  governor,  Sir  Philip  Mowbray,  agreed  to  surrender  on 
June  24th,  1314,  unless  before  that  date  he  were  relieved. 

Edward,  therefore,  had  ample  time  to  relieve  the  town,  and  indeed 
Bruce  was  highly  incensed  when  he  heard  what  favourable  Expedition 
terms  had  been  oflfered  to  the  garrison.  However,  he  *°  Scotland, 
foolishly  left  matters  till  the  last  moment,  and  only  fixed  the  11th  of 
June  as  the  day  for  a  general  rendezvous  at  Berwick.  On  that  day  a 
vast  array  of  horsemen,  many  clad  in  full  armour,  and  many  thousand 
archers,  the  value  of  whom  was  beginning  to  be  fully  recognised, 
assembled  ;  and  the  numbers  might  have  been  even  greater  had  not 
Lancaster  kept  sullenly  aloof.  The  gallant  force  made  its  way  un- 
opposed through  the  Lowlands ;  but  did  not  come  within  sight  of  Stir- 
ling till  the  very  day  before  the  promised  surrender.  Arrived  near 
Stirling,  the  English  found  that  Bruce  was  waiting  to  fight,  and  that  the 
ground  he  held  was  terribly  strong  ;  but  there  was  no  time  left  to 
wait  or  to  manoeuvre,  and  at  all  risks  a  battle  had  to  be  fought  there 
and  then. 

Bruce  had  drawn  up  his  men  on  some  rising  ground  behind  the  little 
stream  of  the  Bannockburn  in  such  a  way  as  to  command  all  the  roads 
which  approached  Stirling  from  the  south-west.  His  right  The  Scottish 
was  covered  by  a  marsh,  through  which  the  stream  passes,  and  Position, 
between  his  left  wing  and  the  Forth  lay  a  piece  of  low,  wet  land,  broken 
by  pools  of  water,  and  made  still  stronger  by  concealed  pits,  which 
Bruce  had  caused  to  be  dug  wherever  the  ground  was  finn.  The  strength 
of  the  position  was  shown  on  the  evening  the  English  arrived,  for  Ran- 
dolph, earl  of  Moray,  easily  defeated  an  attempt  to  throw  reinforcements 
into  Stirling ;  and  Bruce  roused  the  enthusiasm  of  his  followers  to  the 
highest  pitch  by  killing  an  English  knight,  Henry  de  Bohun,  in  single 
combat. 

For  the  fight  Bruce  drew  up  his  infiintry  in  four  divisions,  all  anned 
with  long  spears.  Each  division  was  circular  in  fonn,  and  the  spears  of 
the  men  of  the  front  ranks  stuck  out  in  front  like  the  spines 
of  a  hedgehog,  making  it  almost  impenetrable  for  cavalry,  of  Bannock- 
His  horsemen  Bruce  kept  in  reserve.  None  of  the  English 
leaders,  Edward  himself,  Humphrey  of  Hereford,  or  Gilbert  of  Gloucester, 
seem  to  have  had  any  experience  of  high  command ;  and,  compared  to 
the  efficiency  and  readiness  of  Bruce,  the  English  army  was  all  confusion. 
At  Falkirk,  Edward  i.  had  won  the  battle  by  first  dispersing  the  Scottish 
cavalry  and  then  bringing  up  his  archers  against  the  spearmen,  who 


234 


Later  Angevin  Kings 


1314 


could  offer  little  resistance  against  missile  weapons  ;  but  at  Bannockbum 
the  archers  were  allowed  to  advance  in  a  long  line  some  way  in  front  of 
the  men-at-arms,  while  the  Scottish  cavalry  was  still  unbroken.  Of  this 
mistake  Bruce  took  instant  advantage,  and,  bringing  his  horsemen 
round  the  marsh,  hurled  them  on  the  flank  of  the  English  bowmen. 
Taken  thus  at  a  disadvantage,  the  whole  line  of  archers  were  cut  to 
pieces,  and  the  Scottish  horse  had  time  to  regain  their  old  position  before 
the  English  men-at-arms  came  up.  This  success  decided  the  battle,  for 
Edward's  mail-clad  cavalry  could  do  nothing  against  the  forests  of  levelled 


BATTLE  OP 

r'  BANXOCKBURK 

Moment  of  the 
flank  attack. 


A.  Scottish  Spearmen, 

B.  Scottish  Cavalry. 

C.  English  Archers. 

D.  English  Men-at-arms. 


spears  that  met  its  attack,  and  its  headlong  valour  simply  served  to 
swell  the  slaughter.  Presently,  from  behind  the  Scottish  ranks,  what 
appeared  to  be  a  fresh  army  was  seen  to  be  advancing,  though  in  reality 
it  was  nothing  more  than  a  sham  army  of  camp-followers,  and  the  acci- 
Defeatof  the  ^ent  or  ruse  completed  the  confusion  of  the  English  lines. 
English.  Taking  advantage  of  their  disorder,  Bruce  ordered  a  general 
advance.  Gloucester  perished  on  the  field  ;  Hereford  and  Edward  both 
took  refuge  in  flight ;  and  a  terrible  slaughter  of  the  now  despairing 
fugitives,  and  the  surrender  of  Stirling,  closed  a  day  as  disgraceful  to 
the  English  leaders  as  it  was  creditable  to  all  ranks  of  the  Scots. 


1319 


Edimrd  11.  235 


This  victory  completed  the  work  of  the  Scottish  independence,  and  for  the 
remainder  of  the  war  the  Scots  were  the  aggressors.  Abeady,  Bruce  had 
found  time  for  the  conquest  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  In  1315  his  xhe  Scotch 
brother  David  crossed  the  sea  to  Ireland,  and  endeavoured  *"  Ireland, 
to  emulate  his  brother  by  winning  the  crown  of  that  island.  His  arrival 
was  the  signal  for  a  partial  rising  of  the  natives ;  but  the  chiefs  of 
Connaught  and  Munster  remained  true  to  the  English  crown.  Next 
year  he  was  joined  by  the  king  of  Scots  ;  but  an  attack  on  Dublin  failed. 
Kobert  soon  returned  ;  and  Edward  Bruce,  after  being  victorious  in  eigh- 
teen battles,  was  defeated  and  killed  at  Fagher,  near  Dundalk,  in  1318. 
Beyond  adding  another  to  the  list  of  sanguinary  wars  which  desolated 
.that  unfortunate  country,  the  expedition  had  no  permanent  eflfect  on  the 
condition  of  Ireland. 

While  Bruce  had  been  away,  Rmdolph,  Douglas,  and  Bishop  Sinclair 
had  well  filled  his  place,  and  on  his  return  he  proceeded  to  besiege  and 
take  Berwick  ;  and  the  eastern  road  into  England  being  thus    gj.jj^^jgj^ 
clear,  every  harvest  time  saw  the  Scots  over  the  border  and    invasions  of 
ravaging  far  and  wide.      On  one   occasion    Scarborough,      "^  ^" 
Northallerton,  Boroughbridge,  and  Skipton  were  all  bunit,  and  the  whole 
country  to  the  northwards  harried  with  fire  and  sword.    In  1319  they  were 
again  in  Yorkshire,  and  the  clergy,  wishing  to  emulate  the  achievements 
of  1338,  led  out  their  flocks  to  withstand  the  invaders.     Over  such  an 
army  Randolph  won  an  easy  victory.    Encountermg  them  at   Battle  of 
Myton-on-Swale,  he  fired  some  stacks  so  that  the  wind  blew    Myton. 
the  smoke  into  the  eyes  of  the  peasant  host,  and  then  charging  with  all  his 
power  he  put  them  to  the  rout  and  slew  so  many  of  the  white-surpliced 
clergy  that  the  fight  was  named  the  Chapter  of  Myton.     So  ten-ible  were 
the  ravages  of  the  Scots  that  no  less  than  eighty-four  villages  were 
excused  payment  of  taxes  on  the  ground  of  their  utter  ruin  ;    R^jn  of  the 
and  it  is  a  certain  fact  that  Northumberland  fanns,  which    No^h. 
had  been  in  a  flourishing  condition  down  to  1314,  were  so  devastated  by 
the  increasing  warfixre  of  the  border  that  they  never  recovered  their 
prosperity  till  after  the  accession  of  James  i.  of  England. 

To  add  to  this  misfortune  of  the  kingdom,  the  years  1315  and  1316 
were  years  of  famine.  In  England  famines  were  extremely  rare,  owing 
partly  to  the  great  diversity  of  the  soil  and  climate,  so  that  if  some 
districts  did  badly  others  were  better  ofi",  partly  to  the  high  standard  of 
living  to  which  the  agricultural  classes  adhered,  which  fhe  great 
gave  a  large  margin  between  their  ordinary  fare  and  starva-  famine, 
tion.  However,  in  these  years  incessant  rain  through  the  summer  pre- 
vented the  corn  from  ripening.      In  1315  south  Wales  and  Devonshire 


236  Later  Angevin  Kings  1319 

and  Cornwall  escaped,  but  in  1316  the  rain  was  universal.  Consequently 
the  mass  of  the  people  were  put  to  sore  straits  to  find  food,  many  died, 
and  even  the  royal  table  was  with  difficulty  supplied  with  bread.  Matters 
were  made  worse  by  the  action  of  the  great  lords,  who  were  driven  to 
dismiss  their  retainers  and  servants ;  and  these  poor  fellows,  unaccustomed 
to  work,  and  indeed  without  the  means  of  getting  a  livelihood,  betook 
themselves  to  robbery  and  pillage.  So  serious  was  the  mortality  that  a 
permanent  rise  of  wages  to  the  extent  of  twenty  per  cent,  was  caused  by 
the  scarcity  of  labour.  Cattle  disease  also  broke  out  and  caused  great 
losses  all  over  the  country. 

The  disgrace  of  Bannockburn,  the  inroads  of  the  Scots,  the  disasters  of 
famine  and  pestilence  completed  the  discredit  of  Edward's  administration ; 
Thomas  of  while  his  cousin,  Thomas  of  Lancaster,  saw  in  the  disasters 
Lancaster.  Qf  j^jg  country  nothing  but  an  excellent  opportunity  for  push- 
ing his  own  fortune.  Since  Gaveston's  death  his  importance  had  been 
steadily  growing.  In  1311  the  death  of  his  father-in-law,  the  earl  of 
Lincoln,  gave  him  the  two  earldoms  of  Lincoln  and  Salisbury.  Arch- 
bishop Winchelsea  died  in  1313,  and  was  replaced  by  the  feeble  Reynolds. 
Bannockburn  removed  the  brave  and  high-minded  earl  of  Gloucester,  the 
noblest  character  among  the  English  barons.  Warwick  died  in  1315. 
Lancaster's  chief  friends  were  Humphrey  of  Hereford  and  the  two  Roger 
Mortimers,  of  whom  the  elder,  the  lord  of  Chirk,  was  the  nephew  of  the 
younger,  Roger  Mortimer  of  Wigmore  ;  and  in  the  council  he  was  practi- 
cally supreme.  Against  Lancaster's  influence  Edward  tried  to  strengthen 
himself  by  the  friendship  of  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  who  had  never  forgiven 
Lancaster  for  his  share  in  taking  Gaveston  from  his  charge,  and  by  that 
Tj^g  of  the  Hugh  Despensers,  father  and  son.     Hugh  Despenser 

Despensers.  \)^q  q\^q.^  ^^s  the  SOU  of  another  Hugh,  the  friend  of  Simon 
de  Montfort.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  but  grasping  after 
wealth  and  tactless.  His  son  Hugh,  who  had  originally  been  placed 
near  the  king  by  Lancaster's  influence,  rapidly  took  the  place  in 
Edward's  affections  formerly  filled  by  Gaveston.  Edward  gratified 
his  new  favourite  by  marrying  him  to  his  niece,  one  of  the  co-heiresses 
of  the  earl  of  Gloucester,  which  brought  him  into  rivalry  with  Here- 
ford, as  lord  of  Brecon,  and  his  fellow-marcher,  Roger  of  Wigmore. 
Their  rapidly  accumulated  wealth  also  added  to  their  unpopularity. 
No  less  than  sixty-three  English  manors  were  in  their  hands;  and 
though  by  birth  they  ranked  with  the  ancient  families  of  the  realm, 
they  were  almost  as  much  hated  as  Gaveston,  or  as  the  foreigners  of  1258. 
For  some  time,  however,  neither  party  was  strong  enough  to  crush  the 
other ;  but  the  country  was  kept  in  constant  agitation  by  wars  on  the 


1321  '      Edward  IL  237 

Welsh  march,  by  tournaments  which  served  as  excuses  for  armed 
assemblies  of  barons,  by  struggles  for  supremacy  in  the  council,  and 
by  rumours  that  one  party  or  another  was  intriguing  with  the 
Scots. 

At  length  matters  came  to  a  head  in  a  full  parliament,  which  met  at 
Westminster  in  July  1321,  where  a  formal  attack  was  made  on  the 
Despensers.    The  earl  of  Hereford  appeared  as  chief  prose-         . 
cutor,  and  the  favourites  were  accused  of  having  prevented   dismissal 
the  magnates  of  the  realm  from  having  access  to  the  king 
and  of  having  removed  ministei-s  appointed  by  them,  of  having  stirred  up 
civil  war,  and  generally  of  perverting  and  hindering  justice.     On  this 
charge  the  barons  condemned  both  Despensers  to  forfeit  their  property 
or  to  go  into  exile,  and  not  return  without  the  permission  of  the  pre- 
lates, earls,  and  barons  duly  summoned  in  Parliament. 

Two  months  afterwards  a  reaction  took  place.    Lady  Badlesmere  re- 
fused to  admit  Queen  Isabella,  who  asked  for  a  night's  lodging  in  her 
castle  of  Leeds  in  Kent.     Badlesmere  was  himself  a  foe  of  ^^^  Queen 
Lancaster  ;  and  when  Edward  appealed  for  aid  to  punish  the   insulted, 
insult,  Lancaster  allowed  him  to  get  together  a  considerable  force,  of 
which  Edward  cleverly  took  advantage  to  attack  the  earl  of  Hereford. 
So  much  unexpected  energy  did  the  king  display,  that  Lancaster  was 
quite  taken  by  surprise,  and  allowed  the  king  to  force  the  passage  of 
the  Severn,  to  crush  the  Mortimei-s,  to  capture  the  towns  of  Hereford  and 
Gloucester,  and  to  recall  the  Despensers  in  triumph.       Hearing  of  these 
disasters,  Lancaster,  who  had  advanced  into  the  Midlands,  turned  and  fled 
north,  probably  hoping  to  join  the  Scots,  with  whom  he  had  been  engaged 
in  a  traitorous  correspondence,  and  on  his  road  was  joined  by  Hereford  and 
other  fugitives  from  the  west.     On  Mai'ch  16  he  reached    g^^^j^  ^j. 
Boroughbridge  on  the  Ure,  but  found  the  bridge  held  by  Sir   Borough - 
Andrew  Harclay,  governor  of  Carlisle.     A  desperate  attempt     ^^  ^^' 
was  made  to  force  the  passiige,  but  the  archers  on  the  northern  bank 
commanded  both  the  bridge  and  a  neighbouring  ford.      Hereford  was 
killed  by  a  Welshman,   who   concealed  himself  among  the   suppoi-ts 
of  the   bridge  and  stabbed  him  from  below  ;   and  Lancaster,  in  utter 
despair,   took  sanctuary   in   a   church.     Thence  he   was   dragged   by 
Edward's  men,  who  had  closed  upon  his  rear.     Mounted  on  a  wretched 
horse,  he  was  taken  in  triumph  to  Pontefract,  and  there  his  Execution  of 
head  was  struck  off  with  every  circumstance  of  contumely  Lancaster, 
and  insult.      Lord  Badlesmere  and  twenty-eight  others  were  hanged ; 
the  Mortimers  and  a  number  of  others  were  imprisoned  ;  and  it  seemed 
for  the  moment  ay  though  a  clean  sweep  had  been  made  of  the  baronial 


238  Later 'Angevin  Kings  1321 

party.  Strangely  enough,  in  spite  of  the  known  bad  character  of 
Lancaster,  his  evil  life,  his  cruelty,  selfishness,  and  contempt  for  human 
life,  his  showy  popular  qualities  and  his  opposition  to  the  still  more 
detested  Edward  ultimately  gained  him  the  reputation  of  a  saint — a  fact 
which  impressively  shows  the  degradation  through  which  the  country  was 
being  dragged. 

The  fall  of  the  Lancastrian  party,  however,  was  not  in  itself  a  blow  to 
political  progress  such  as  a  triumph  of  John  over  the  barons  of  the 
Charter  would  have  been.  It  is  clear  that  Lancaster's 
tionaUm-  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  was  not  that  of  the  king  and  nation  working 
Lancaster *^  together,  as  had  been  the  wish  of  Edward  i.,  but  rather 
of  a  baronial  oligarchy  controlling  the  king's  policy  by 
electing  his  council  and  officers,  but  not  taking  the  people  into  their 
confidence.  Even  the  Despensers  had  more  conception  of  a  national  policy 
than  their  opponents  ;  and  the  acts  of  the  parliament  of  York,  called  in 
May  1322,  two  months  after  the  battle  of  Boroughbridge,  are  of  distinct 
constitutional  importance.  In  it  the  Ordinances  were  formally  repealed, 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  drawn  up  and  published  by  men  chosen 
only  by  the  lords  ;  and  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  English  constitu- 
tion was  fonnulated,  that  '  matters  which  are  to  be  established  for  the 
estate  of  our  lord  the  king  and  of  his  heirs,  and  for  the  estate  of  the  realm 
and  of  the  people,  shall  be  treated,  accorded,  and  established  in  parlia- 
ments by  our  lord  the  king,  and  by  the  consent  of  the  prelates,  earls,  and 
barons,  and  the  commonality  of  the  realm,  according  as  hath  been  hereto- 
fore accustomed.'  At  the  same  time,  as  at  Marlborough  in  1267,  the 
most  valuable  parts  of  the  Ordinances  were  carefully  re-enacted.  When 
parliament  was  dissolved,  Edward  made  a  futile  attempt  to  regain  popular- 
ity by  an  invasion  of  Scotland  ;  but  the  expedition  was  a  complete  failure. 
The  Scots  were  too  wary  to  fight ;  the  country  had  sufi'ered  too  much  to 
Escape  at  maintain  an  army  ;  and  when  Edward  recrossed  the  border 
Byland.  the  Scots  entered  England  at  his  heels,  all  but  took  him 
prisoner  at  Byland  Abbey,  and  routed  him  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Hambletons  in  October.  Lancaster's  treachery  proved  infectious  ;  even 
Harclay,  the  victor  of  Boroughbridge,  who  had  been  made  earl  of  Carlisle, 
was  seduced  from  his  allegiance,  and,  his  crime  being  detected,  he  was 
degraded  fi-om  his  earldom  and  knighthood  and  ignominiously  hanged 
within  a  year  of  his  victoiy.  With  such  a  king,  and  with  such  leadei-s, 
the  continuance  of  the  war  was  impossible,  and  in  1323  a  truce  for 
thirteen  years  was  made  with  the  Scots. 

Unwarned  by  their  previous  disaster,   the  Despensers,  "vnth  almost 
inconceivable  folly,  again  excited  disgust,  the  elder  by  his  greediness,  the 


1327  Edward  II.  ^39 

younger  by  the  arrogance  of  his  behaviour.     The  whole  framework"  of 
government  seemed  about  to  dissolve :  the  law  was  unexecuted ;  the  taxes 
were  unpaid;  the  royal  officials  were  detested;  the  clergy    Folly  of  the 
were  neutral  or  disaffected :  everything  denoted  a  further    Despensers. 
revolution.     Only  a  leader  was  wanting,  and  this  was  supplied  in  1324 
by  the  escape  from  the  Tower  of  Roger  Mortimer  of  Wigmore.    Next 
year  Edward  found  it  necessary  to  send  his  queen  to  France  to  negotiate 
with  her  brother  about  the  homage  due  from  Gascony  and   ^he  Queen 
Ponthieu.    While  there  she  was  joined  by  Roger  Mortimer,    ^"  France, 
who  soon  alienated  all  her  affection  from  her  husband,  and  engaged  her  in 
a  plot  against  the  Despensers,  of  which  the  leading  spirit  was  Mortimei-'s 
friend,  Adam  Orleton,  bishop  of  Hereford.    Of  this  plot  Paris  became  the 
headquarters.     Edward,  duke  of  Aquitaine,  now  a  lad  of  fourteen,  who 
was  sent  over  to  do  homage  on  behalf  of  his  father,  became  a  mere  tool  in 
his  mother's  hands.     Compelled  by  her  brother  to  leave  Paris  on  the 
ground  of  her  scandalous  connection  with  Mortimer,  Isabella 
removed  to  Hainault,  where  she  secured  a  refuge  and  an   of°t!fe^Queen 
army  by  negotiating  a  marriage  between  young  Edward  and   ^."^  Wot- 
Philippa,  the  daughter  of  the  reigning  count.     At  length, 
in  September  1325,  all  was  ready,  and  the  conspirators  landed  at  Orwell 
in  Suffolk. 

Meanwhile,  Edward  had  found  himself  incapable  of  securing  the  means 
of  defence,  and  his  fleets  and  his  armies  alike  dispersed  for  want  of  jwy. 
The  Despensers  brought  nothing  but  additional  unpopularity ;  incapacity 
and  when  the  queen  landed,  earls,  bishops,  barons,  and  °^  Edward, 
townsmen  crowded  to  join  her,  while  her  husband  was  all  but  deserted. 
Such  rapid  success  naturally  increased  the  ambition  of  the  conspirators, 
and  an  expedition  originally  directed  against  the  Despensers  developed 
into  one  for  the  deposition  of  Edward  himself.  Not  knowing  where  to 
take  refuge  in  England,  the  king  played  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies 
by  an  abortive  attempt  to  escape  to  Ireland.  He  then  wandered  aim- 
lessly about  in  Wales  and  the  marches,  accompanied  by  the  younger 
Despenser,  and  ultimately  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  in 
November. 

On  Edward's  flight  to  Ireland  becoming  known,  young  Edward  was 
proclaimed  guardian  of  the  realm,  and  a  parliament  was  summoned  to 
meet  in  January  1327.  Before  it  assembled,  however,  sum- 
mary revenge  was  taken  on  the  most  unpopular  of  the  king's  of  the 
immediate  followers.  On  October  15,  Bishop  Stapleton,  the  ^^^pensers. 
treasurer,  was  murdered  by  the  Londoners ;  on  October  16,  the  elder 
Despenser  was  captured  and  hanged  at  Bristol ;  on  November  17,  the 


240  Later  Angevin  Kings  1327 

earl  of  Arundel  was  beheaded  at  Hereford  by  order  of  Mortimer ;  and  on 
Kovember  24,  at  the  same  place,  the  younger  Despenser  was  hanged  on 
a  gallows  fifty  feet  high. 

The  king's  fate,  however,  required  some  deliberation ;  but  when 
parliament  met.  Bishop  Orleton's  terse  question,  '  whether  they  would 
have  father  or  son  for  king,'  disclosed  an  almost  unanimous  feeling 
Deposition  against  the  elder  Edward.  Articles  were  drawn  up  in  which 
of  the  King,  ^he  king's  incompetence,  his  addiction  to  evil  counsellors,  his 
loss  of  Scotland,  his  violation  of  his  coronation  oath  to  do  justice  to  all, 
and  the  utter  hopelessness  of  expecting  his  amendment,  were  stated  as 
obvious  causes  for  his  deposition.  A  request,  however,  was  sent  to 
Edward  demanding  his  assent  to  his  son's  election.  To  this  Edward  was 
forced  to  consent.  The  homage  and  fealties  sworn  to  him  were  then 
formally  withdrawn,  the  high  steward  broke  his  staff,  and  the  reign 
was  thus  declared  to  be  at  an  end. 

The  ex-king  was  then  handed  over  to  the  custody  of  Sir  John 
Maltravers,  his  bitter  enemy.  By  him  he  was  carried  successively  to 
Murder  of  *he  castles  of  Corfe,  Bristol,  and  Berkeley,  and  subjected  to 
Edward  II.  ^^^  grossest  indignities.  So  long,  however,  as  he  lived  none 
of  the  conspirators  could  feel  safe,  and  he  was  put  to  death  on  September 
21,  1327.  His  corpse  was  then  exposed  to  view,  and  was  then 
quietly  buried  in  the  abbey  church  at  Gloucester.  The  plea  that  he 
died  a  natural  death  deceived  no  one  ;  but  for  some  time  reports  were 
current  that  the  corpse  exposed  was  not  that  of  the  king's,  and  that  he 
was  really  living  in  concealment.  Edward  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
especially  bad  or  incompetent — not  so  bad,  for  instance,  as  John,  or  so 
incompetent  as  Henry  iii. ;  but  he  did  not  realise  that  the  first  duty  of  a 
mediaeval  king  was  '  to  scorn  delights  and  live  laborious  days,'  and  his 
disasters  are  to  be  traced  chiefly  to  this  radical  defect. 

The  reign  of  Edward  11.  was  remarkable  for  the  fall  of  the  Knights 
Templars.  This  order  was  founded  in  1118,  and  was  an  attempt  to 
«  J       1-1.      combine  the  duties  of  a  Christian  soldier  with  the  vows 

Order  of  the  ...  i      i     t  -r^      •  i 

Templars  of  monastic  chastity,  poverty,  and  obedience.  During  the 
fighting  in  Palestine  it  had,  with  their  fellow-order  the 
Knights  Hospitallers,  done  yeoman  service  ;  but  after  the  fall  of  Acre  in 
1291  its  original  mission  might  be  regarded  as  ended.  Offers  of  territory 
had  been  made  to  both  orders.  Eichard  i.  had  offered  Cyprus  to  the 
Templars,  Rhodes  had  been  occupied  by  the  Hospitallers  ;  but  while 
the  latter  turned  Rhodes  into  a  fortress  and  made  it,  for  two  centuries, 
the  bulwark  of  the  Grecian  archipelago  against  the  inroads  of  the 
MahommedanSj  the  Templars  gave  up  all  connection  with  the  east,  and 


1327  Edward  11.  241 

so  abandoned  all  pretence  of  fulfilling  the  object  of  their  existence. 
Naturally,  such  conduct  drew  upon  them  the  condemnation  of  public 
opinion,  and  a  body  which  was  at  once  rich,  landed  and  idle,  and  had 
at  command  a  body  of  40,000  picked  cavalry,  could  not  expect  to  be 
viewed  with  indiflFerence.  In  addition  to  this,  rumours  were  in  circulation 
that  life  in  the  East,  and  their  long  contact  with  the  Mohammedan 
world,  had  impaired  both  the  orthodoxy  and  the  manners  of  the  knights. 
These  accusations  obUiined  the  widest  credence  in  France,  where  the 
order  was  particularly  strong,  and  were  taken  up  by  Philip  the  Fair, 
As  Pope  Clement  v.  was  a  mere  creature  of  Philip,  the  hostility  of  the 
French  king  was  fiital  to  the  order.  After  an  investigation,  the  value  of 
which  is  much  decreased  by  the  use  of  torture  to  extort  confessions,  a 
council  held  at  Vienne  in  1311  suppressed  the  order,  and  the  bulk  of 
its  property  was  assigned  to  the  Hospitallers,  whose  operations  at 
Rhodes  had  recently  gained  them  considerable  popularity. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

The  Lords  Ordainers, 1310 

Gaveston's  death, 1312 

Battle  of  Bannockbum, 1314 

Battle  of  Boroughbridge, 1322 

Execution  of  Lancaster, 1322 


CHAPTEK    III 

EDWARD  III.:  1327-1377 
Bom  1312 ;  married,  1328,  Philippa  of  Hainault. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY  SOVEREIGNS 
Scotland.  France.  Castile. 

Robert  I.,  d.  1329.  Charles  iv.,  d.  1328.         Pedro  the  Cruel,  1350,  d.  1368. 

David  II.,  d.  1370.  Philip  vi.,  d.  1350. 

Robert  n.,  d.  1390.        John,  d.  1364. 

Charles  v.,  d.  1380. 
Emjperor. 
Louis  IV.,  1313-1347. 

Fall  of  Mortimer — Scottish  Affairs  bring  on  War  with  France,  which  led  to 
important  Constitutional  Developments — Battles  of  Sluys  and  Crecy — 
Siege  of  Calais— The  Black  Death,  and  its  efifects  on  the  Manorial  System 
—Battle  of  Poitiers  and  Treaty  of  Bretigny— Spanish  Expedition  leads  to 
a  disastrous  renewal  of  the  War — Growth  of  a  strong  feeling  against  the  Pope 
and  the  Clergy — John  of  Gaunt  and  Wyclif — The  Reforms  of  the  Good 
Parliament. 

The  deposition  of  Edward  ii.  had  been  effected  by  the  coalition  of 
three  parties  :  a  court  party,  represented  by  Isabella  and  the  king's 
Condition  half-brothers,  the  earls  of  Norfolk  and  Kent ;  the  Lords 
of  Parties.  Marcher,  headed  by  Mortimer;  and  the  Lancastrians  or 
Northerners,  led  by  Earl  Thomas's  younger  brother  Henry ;  and  in 
nominating  a  standing  council  of  fourteen  to  manage  the  State  during 
the  new  king's  minority,  the  claims  of  each  were  fully  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Henry  of  Lancaster,  who,  on  the  reversal  of  his  brother's 
attainder  became  earl  of  Lancaster,  Leicester,  Lincoln,  and  Derby,  was 
its  president ;  and  other  leading  members  were  the  earls  of  Norfolk  and 
Kent,  Bishop  Orleton,  the  treasurer  and  confidant  of  Mortimer  and 
the  queen,  and  John  Stratford,  the  rising  administrator  and  friend  of 
Lancaster,  who  had  drafted  the  articles  of  accusation  against  the  late 
king.  Mortimer  contented  himself  with  the  reality  of  influence,  and 
devoted  hhnself  to  amassing  enormous  wealth. 

242 


1328  Edward  IIL  243 

The  immediate  attention  of  the  new  government  had  to  be  given  to 
Scotland.     In  1323,  a  truce  for  tliirteen  years  had  been  signed  ;  but  the 
confusion  into  which  English  affairs  had  fallen  suggested  to     Scottish 
Bruce  the  opportuneness  of  the  moment  for  securing  a     ^^^irs. 
complete  recognition  of  his  independence  ;   and  in  1327  he  broke  the 
truce,  and  sent  an  army  under  Douglas  into  the  northern  counties.     The 
tactics  of  the  Scots  made  them  the  most  formidable  of  raiders.     Their 
soldiers  were  all  mounted.     Each  carried  on  his  saddle  a  bag  of  oatmeal, 
and  an  iron  plate  on  which  he  cooked  it,  mixed  with  water  from  the 
nearest  stream.    For  meat  they  trusted  to  plunder,  and   invasion  of 
having  flayed  the  captured  beasts,  they  fastened  their  skins    England, 
by  the  Jegs  to  four  posts,  filled  them  with  water,  and,  having  lighted  a 
fire  beneath,  boiled  the  flesh.     Such  an  army  was  too  rapid  in  its  motions 
to  be  easily  followed ;   but  after  a  long  chase  Edward  found  them 
encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Wear,  near  Stanhope.     Their  position  was 
too  strong  to  be  assaulted  with  success :   a  proposal  that  the  English 
should  be  allowed  to  cross  without  opposition  and  fight  on  fair  ground 
was  scornfully  rejected  by  Douglas ;  and,  after  some  manoeuvring,  the 
Scots  broke  up  their  camp  and  recrossed  the  Border.    Such  an  inglorious 
campaign  gave  little  encouragement  to  either  party  to  continue  the  war. 
Bruce  was  now  an  old  man,  and  was  anxious  to  secure  a  peaceful  reign 
for  his  little  son  David  ;  the  northern  barons  were  tired  of  having  their 
estates  subjected  to  continual  pillage  ;  and,  accordingly,  in 
1328,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Northampton,  by  which  in    Northamp- 
return  for  £20,000  the  English  king  renounced  the  claim  to 
overlordship  made  by  his  grandfather,  and  gave  his  sister  Jane  to  be 
brought  up  as  David's  afl&anced  wife.     The  next  year  Robert  Bruce  died, 
and  was  succeeded  by  David,  who,  at  his  coronation,  was  anointed  with 
oil,  thus  asserting  that  he  reigned  as  an  independent  monarch,  and  not 
merely  as  the  vassal  of  England. 

Prudent  as  the  peace  of  Northampton  undoubtedly  was,  it  proved 
exceedingly  unpopular  in  the  south  of  England,  where  the  ravages  of 
war  had  not  been  felt.  One  of  the  chief  accusations  against  the  late 
king  had  been  the  loss  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  appropriation  by  Mortimer 
and  Isabella  of  the  £20,000  seemed  to  be  the  culmination  of  the  dis- 
grace. For  some  time  the  council  had  been  anything  but  harmonious  ; 
and  in  1328,  Lancaster,  disgusted  with  a  position  which  gave  him  the 
appearance  of  responsibility  without  any  of  the  reality  of  power,  formed 
a  plan  to  get  rid  of  Mortimer,  who  had  recently  been  piots  against 
created  earl  of  March.  The  scheme,  however,  was  pre-  Mortimer, 
mature  :   the   earls   of  Norfolk  and  Kent,  who  for  a  moment  joined 


244  Later  Angevin  Kings  1328 

Lancaster,  deserted  him,  and  the  earl  was  compelled  to  make  terms. 
Mortimer  then  turned  on  the  unfortunate  earl  of  Kent,  accused  him 
of  plotting  to  restore  Edward  ii.,  of  whose  continued  existence  he 
had  been  persuaded  by  Mortimer's  agents,  and  in  March  1330  hurried 
him  to  execution.  This  wicked  act  roused  the  horror  of  the  whole 
country :  Lancaster  felt  that  he  would  be  himself  the  next  victim,  and 
he  at  once  took  effective  measures  to  secure  the  assistance  of  Edward 
for  the  overthrow  of  his  mother's  paramour.  The  young  king  had 
been  married  in  1328,  and  was  already  the  father  of  a  son,  after- 
wards the  Black  Prince,  when  in  1330  Lancaster  opened  his  eyes  to  the 
extraordinary  insolence  of  Mortimer.  Then  measures  were  promptly 
taken.     In  spite  of  all  Mortimer's  precautions  he  was  arrested  in  Not- 

Mortimer     tingham  Gastle,  and,  having  been  taken  to  London,  was 

hanged.  hanged  on  the  elms  at  Tyburn.  Isabella  herself  was 
stripped  of  her  ill-gotten  wealth,  restricted  to  a  pension  of  £Z00O  a  year, 
and  condemned  to  perpetual  residence  at  the  manor  of  Rising,  where  she 
lived  till  1358. 

With  the  fall  of  Mortimer,  the  real  reign  of  Edward  iii.  may  be  said 
to  begin.  The  young  king  was,  and  continued  to  be  all  his  life,  primarily 
Character  of  ^  soldier.  His  morality  was  founded  on  the  code  of  honour 
Edward  III.  enjoined  by  the  laws  of  chivalry,  and  he  represented  in  his 
own  person  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of  that  institution.  Honour- 
able in  dealing  with  all  who  came  within  the  social  pale  of  the  knightly 
order,  he  had  little  sympathy  for  the  trader  or  the  peasant.  Scrupulously 
courteous,  he  was  little  affected  by  the  laws  of  Christian  morality.  A 
mirror  of  knightly  accomplishments,  he  was  vain,  selfish,  and  pitiless. 
He  regarded  England  chiefly  as  the  source  of  his  supplies  of  men  and 
money,  and  persisted  in  pursuing  his  warlike  schemes  long  after  his 
subjects  had  become  tired  of  them.  At  the  same  time  his  reign, 
though  mainly  associated  with  his  wars,  was  very  important  from  a  con- 
stitutional point  of  view,  as  his  constant  demands  for  money  compelled 
negotiations  with  parliament,  and  the  consequence  was  a  steady  progress 
towards  constitutional  government. 

In  the  early  years  of  his  reign,  Edward  gave  his  chief  confidence  to 

John  Stratford,   who  became   archbishop  of  Canterbury  in   1333,  and 

,    ,      who,  with  his  brother  Robert,  engrossed  the  chief  adminis- 

Stratfords.  .'       ,       .  ^    ,  '       ^  t^     ,  „ 

trative  busmess  of  the  next  ten  years.     Isotn  were  men  oi 

industry,  honesty,  and  considerable  ability  ;  but  none  of  the  of&cials  of 

Edward's  reign  were  marked  by  any  pre-eminence  in  statesmanship,  a 

circumstance  which  makes  Edward's  personal  power  more  conspicuous 

than  it  would  otherwise  have  been. 


1341  Edward  III.  245 

In  1332  a  new  difl&culty  arose  in  Scotland.  A  number  of  English 
barons,  who  held  lands  at  both  sides  of  the  border,  had  lost  their  Scottish 
estates  by  the  separation  of  the  two  kingdoms.  These  Edward 
made  common  cause  with  Edward  Balliol,  son  of  John,  the  s*ii»ol. 
late  king,  and,  the  border  being  closed  against  them  by  the  orders  of  the 
government,  took  ship  at  Ravenspur,  on  the  Humber,  and  landed  an 
army  on  the  coast  of  Fife.  There,  by  a  wonderful  stroke  of  fortune,  they 
defeated  a  Scottish  army  with  enormous  loss  in  the  night  battle  of 
Dupplin  Moor  ;  and  Balliol  was  crowned  at  Scone  within  a  few  weeks  of 
his  landing.  His  fall  was  equally  rapid.  Five  weeks  later  he  was 
badly  defeated,  and  returned  to  England  a  helpless  and  solitary  fugitive. 
Edward  had  discountenanced  this  expedition  ;  but  as  its  events  seemed 
to  show  the  weakness  of  Scotland,  he  imitated  the  bad  example  of  Bruce 
in  similar  circumstances,  and  determined  to  take  advantage  of  David's 
minority  to  renew  his  claim  to  homage.  Accordingly  he  recognised 
Edward  Balliol's  pretensions,  and  sent  him  with  an  army  to  undertake 
the  siege  of  Berwick,  where  he  himself  anived  in  1333.  To  save  the 
town,  a  relieving  force  of  Scots  under  Archibald  Douglas  attacked 
Edward  on  Halidon  Hill,  a  piece  of  rising  ground  two  miles  Battle  of 
north  of  the  town.  Standing  on  the  defensive,  the  English  "a"don  Hill, 
archers  repelled  every  eflfort  of  the  Scottish  horsemen  to  make  their  way 
up  the  slope.  The  obstinacy  of  the  Scots  only  added  to  the  slaughter  ; 
and  eventually  Douglas  himself  fell,  and  with  hira  perished  the  flower  of 
the  Scottish  nobility  and  a  vast  number  of  less  distinguished  combatants. 
Berwick  instantly  surrendered.  Young  David  and  his  queen  were 
hurried  ofi'  to  France,  and  Balliol  was  again  placed  on  the  throne.  His 
second  reign,  however,  was  little  longer  than  his  first.  Disgusted  to  find 
him  a  mere  English  puppet,  who  was  willing  not  only  to  hold  his  crown 
as  a  vassal  of  England,  but  even  to  hand  over  to  the  English  king  that 
part  of  the  lowlands  which  lies  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  Linlithgow 
to  Dumfries,  i.e.  roughly  speaking,  the  old  earldom  of  Lothian  (see 
p.  65),  the  Scots  again  rose,  and,  though  Balliol  maintained  Failure  of 
his  ground  while  English  support  was  forthcoming,  the  balliol. 
English  were  no  sooner  engaged  in  the  French  war  than  he  began  to 
lose  ground.  In  1339  he  was  forced  to  evacuate  the  country  by  David's 
brother-in-law,  Robert  the  Steward ;  and,  in  1341,  David  ventured  to 
return  to  Scotland.  The  only  permanent  result  of  Balliol's  temporary 
success  was  the  acquisition  of  Berwick  by  England. 

The  French  war  grew  out  of  Edward's  attack  on  Scotland.  An 
alliance  with  France  against  England  had  been  from  the  fkst  the  policy 
of  the  Scottish  patriots  ;  and  this  policy,  which  brought  untold  misery 


246 


Later  Angevin  Kings 


1314 


on  all  three  countries,  now  showed  its  baleful  effects.  The  Scots  called 
on  Philip  VI.  for  aid,  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  pope, 
Causes  of  the  h©  took  advantage  of  the  situation  to  attack  Gascony. 
French  War.  Edward  was  naturally  furious ;  and,  unluckily,  circumstances 
gave  him  an  opportunity  of  raising  a  claim  to  the  French  crown,  which 
was  the  cause  of  almost  interminable  hostilities,  and  an  utterly  un- 
natural feeling  of  hereditary  hatred  between  the  two  countries.  In  1316 
died  John  i.,  the  infant  son  of  Louis  x.,  who  had  succeeded  his  father, 
Philip  the  Fair,  in  1314,  and  himself  died  in  the  following  year. 
Anxious  to  avoid  giving  the  crown  to  Louis'  daughter  Joan,  then  a 
mere  child,  the  French  nobles  took  advantage  of  a  law  of  the  Salian 
Franks,  which  disqualified  a  woman  from  reigning,  and  gave  the  throne 
to  Louis'  next  brother,  Philip  v.  In  1322  he  too  died,  leaving  only 
daughters,  and  the  precedent  having  been  established,  the  crown  passed 
to  his  brother  Charles ;  and  at  his  death  without  a  son  in  1328,  to  his 
cousin,  Philip  of  Valois,  the  son  of  Charles  of  Valois,  brother  of  PhiHp 
the  Fair.^  In  1328  Edward,  as  the  son  of  Isabella,  had  made  some 
demur  to  the  accession  of  Philip  vi. ;  but  as  he  had  done  him  homage 
for  Gascony  and  Ponthieu  in  1329  and  1331,  his  objection  might  be 
regarded  as  withdrawn. 

Edward,  however,  not  only  professed  to  believe  that  his  claim  was 
just,  but  it  is  indisputable  that,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  he  per- 
Causes  of  the  suaded  the  English  parliament  that  if  he  succeeded  it  would 
renc  ar.  ^^  ^^  advantage  for  the  country.  Many  causes  probably 
contributed  to  this  end.  There  was  something  in  the  idea  that  the  cost 
of  a  court  might  be  more  easily  borne  by  two  countries  than  by  one  ;  the 
memory  of  the  prosperity  of  English  commerce  when  both  sides  of  the 
Channel  were  in  the  same  hands,  and  annoyance  at  the  ravages  com- 
mitted by  French  pirates  would  dispose  the  merchants  in  its  favour ; 

1  Philip  hi.  d.  1285. 

I 


Philip  iv., 
d.  1314. 

I 


Charles  of 
Valois. 


Louis  X.,     Philip  v.,    Charles  i v.,      Isabella,      Philip  op  Valois, 
d.  1316.         d.  1322.         d.  1328.         m.  Edward  ii.       succeeded  1328. 

daughters.       daughters. 


John, 
d.  1316. 


I 
Joan, 
Queen  of  Navarre. 


Edward  hi. 


Charles  the  Bad. 


1338  Edward  IIL  247 

and  an  alliance  with  the  Flemish  wool  merchants,  always  at  variance  with 
their  coimt  and  with  their  overlord  the  king  of  France,  would  seem  a 
valuable  security  for  the  wool  trade.  The  country,  too,  was  prosperous  ; 
the  spirit  of  chivalry  was  in  the  air;  and  since  the  cessation  of  the 
Crusades  in  the  East,  foreign  war  had  become  almost  the  only  opening 
for  gratifying  the  love  of  adventure  inherent  in  the  English  race.  At 
any  rate,  Edward  secured  the  hearty  sympathy  of  his  subjects,  which 
Parliament  showed  by  voting  for  each  year  from  1336  to  Money 
1340  a  fifteenth  from  the  knights  and  barons,  a  tenth  from  Grants, 
the  towns,  and  a  tenth  from  the  clergy  for  five  years  in  succession ;  by 
raising  the  wool  tax  in  1336  to  forty  shillings  per  sack  ;  and  in  1338 
giving  him  no  less  than  half  the  wool  of  the  realm,  amounting  to  20,000 
sacks. 

Encouraged  by  finding  parliament  so  ready  to  aid  him,  Edward  took 
the  title  of  King  of  France  in  1337  ;  and  in  1338,  *  by  the  assent  of  the 
Lords  and  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Commons,'  he  prepared  to 
enforce  his  claim  by  arms.  For  an  army,  Edward  relied  The  English 
neither  on  the  feudal  array  nor  on  the  militia.  He  filled  ^^^V' 
the  ranks  of  his  anny  by  hiring  soldiers,  so  that  the  English  force  which 
fought  the  battles  of  the  French  war  was  in  reality  a  volunteer  army, 
like  that  which  exists  at  present,  except  that  the  men  were  hired  not  for 
a  regular  term  of  service,  irrespective  of  peace  and  war,  but  for  the  war 
only.  Such  an  army  was  far  more  efficient  than  any  feudal  levy  or 
army  of  soldiers  furnished  by  requisition  from  the  counties,  of  which 
such  a  diverting  description  is  given  in  Shakespeare's  Henry  IV.^  Part  ii. 
The  men  were  picked  men,  kept  in  order  by  the  fear  of  being  turned 
adrift  in  a  foreign  country,  accustomed  to  act  together,  and  sufficiently 
practised  in  the  rude  drill  required  for  efl&ciency  as  footmen.  Above 
all,  they  were  thoroughly  versed  in  the  use  of  their  weapons,  and  steady 
practice  on  Sunday  afternoons  had  made  every  English  yeoman  a  well- 
trained  archer.  The  six-foot  yew  bow  and  three-foot  arrow,  the  head  of 
which  was  drawn  level  with  the  ear,  was  an  effective  weapon  up  to  250 
yards,  while  the  use  of  sword  and  buckler  was  the  ordinary  accomplishment 
of  all  who  valued  a  reputation  for  manly  vigour.  Soldiers  took  service 
under  some  great  leader,  like  Sir  Walter  Manny,  and  looked  to  him  for 
the  pay  and  orders  which  he  received  from  the  king,  so  that  the  whole 
force  was  a  disciplined  and  well-organised  body.  Moreover,  in  England 
there  was  comparatively  little  of  the  class  feeling  which  was  so  fatal  to 
the  harmony  of  feudal  armies.  Halidon  Hill  and  Bannockbum  had 
conclusively  proved  that  the  real  strength  of  an  English  army  lay  in  its 
archers  ;  and  that  cavalry,  however  chivalrous,  could  do  little  or  nothing 


248  Later  Angevin  Kings  1338 

without  their  support.  Nothing  did  more  than  the  recognition  of  this 
fact  to  cement  all  classes  together.  In  an  English  force,  noble  and 
yeoman  fought  on  foot  and  side  by  side.  Efficiency  was,  as  a  rule,  made 
the  qualification  for  command  ;  and  miserable  as  were  many  of  the 
results  of  the  French  wars,  they  gave  us  the  memory  of  some  splendid 
victories,  which  are  the  heritage  not  of  the  nobility  or  of  the  gentry,  but 
of  Englishmen  of  every  class. 

For  allies,  Edward  followed  the  obvious  policy  of  confederating  the 
smaller  states  on  the  French  borders.     The  emperor,  Louis  of  Bavaria, 

Edward's     and  William  of  Hainault  were  his  brothers-in-law  ;  the  Flem- 

Aihes.  jjjgg^  under  the  great  brewer,  James  van  Artevelde,  were  to 
him  what  the  Scots  were  to  Philip  of  France  ;  and  he  hoped  by  a  free 
distribution  of  money  to  attack  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  France  with 
an  overwhelming  force  ;  while  Henry,  earl  of  Derby,  son  of  Henry  of 
Lancaster,  undertook  the  task  of  defending  Gascony. 

In  1338  Edward  sailed  to  Flanders,  and  called  on  his  allies  to  fulfil 
their  promises.  The  response,  however,  was  extremely  tardy.  Some 
refused  to  invade  France  ;  others  to  advance  far  across  the  frontier  ;  and 
Edward,  having  in  vain  challenged  Philip  to  a  fair  battle,  and  waited  his 
onset  for  a  whole  day  at  the  village  of  Flamengrie,  was  forced  to  retrace 
his  steps,  after  incurring  the  enormous  debt  of  ^300,000. 

Such  a  deficit  compelled  Edward  to  make  a  further  appeal  to  the 
patriotism  of  his  subjects.      Nor  did  he  ask  in  vain,  for  in  1339  the 

^     ^         barons  offered  him  the  tenth  lamb,  the  tenth  fleece,  and  the 

Further  ' 

Money  tenth  sheaf ;  and  the  commons  no  less  than  30,000  sacks 
of  wool.  These  grants,  however,  were  not  made  without 
equivalent  concessions  on  the  king's  side.  The  taxpayers  were  perfectly 
aware  of  the  strength  they  derived  from  the  king's  necessities,  and 
steadily  adhered  to  the  iDarliamentary  maxim,  that  redress  of  gi'ievances 
must  always  precede  supply.  The  grants,  therefore,  were  made  con- 
ditional upon  the  king's  acceptance  of  a  series  of  articles  of  reform. 
These  were  most  important.     By  one,  the  king  promised  that  he  would 

^,       ^,      collect  no  more  unauthorised  tallages — a  concession  which 

Edward's  ° 

Conces-        completed  the  restrictions  on  arbitrary  taxation  contained 

in  the  Confirmatio  Chartarum.  By  a  second,  redress 
was  promised  of  the  grievances  of  purveyance.  A  third  did  away 
with  the  ancient  impost  of  'presentment  of  Englisbry,'  which  prac- 
tically amounted  to  a  fine  on  the  hundred  of  about  £40  for  every  un- 
punished murder. 

Other  causes  besides  the  war  helped  to  increase  the  power  of  parlia- 
ment.    By  the  statute  of  York  in  1322,  the  commons  had  obtained  full 


1340  Edward  III  249 

recognition  of  their  right  to  a  share  in  the  deliberations  of  Parliament. 
In  1331  and  1332  the  knights  of  the  shire  had  deliberated  by  themselves 
on  the  question  of  Edward's  quarrel  with  France,  and  a  pro-    jj^j.j.gggj„ 
posed  crusade.     From  this  time  the  separation  between  the    Power  of 
knights  and  the  barons  seems  to  have  been  usual,  and  in 

1341  the  knights  are  recorded  to  have  sat  in  one  body  with  the  repre- 
sentatives of  cities  and  boroughs.     This  change  was  most    „ 

^  /.    1  Separation 

important.  By  birth  the  knights  of  the  shire  were  of  the  same  into  two 
class  as  the  lords  ;  often  they  were  younger  sons  of  baronial 
families.  As  landholders,  though  their  properties  were  smaller,  they 
tended  to  look  at  things  from  the  same  point  of  view  as  the  barons  ; 
while  by  sitting  with  the  townsmen  they  learned  to  appreciiite  their 
standpoint,  and  to  act  in  common  with  the  trading  classes.  A  hundred 
years  later  the  towns  had  even  begun  to  elect  country  gentlemen  as 
representatives,  so  that  the  distinction  between  town  and  country  became 
almost  obliterated.  This  an-angement,  which  was  almost  peculiar  to 
England,  marked  the  great  difference  between  the  English  parliament 
and  the  estates,  diets,  and  cortes  of  the  continent.  In  these,  the  three 
divisions  between  nobles,  clergy,  and  commonalty  gave  the  sovereigns  a 
welcome  opportunity  of  playing  oflf  two  classes  against  the  third  to  the 
ruin  of  all ;  whereas  in  England,  the  union  of  the  bishops,  earls,  and 
barons  in  one  house,  the  union  of  the  knights  of  the  shire,  citizens,  and 
burgesses  in  another,  and  the  absence  of  the  inferior  clergy,  though  it 
spoilt  the  symmetry  and  even  the  completeness  of  the  representation, 
eflfectually  deprived  English  sovereigns  of  this  method  of  attack.  The 
presence  of  the  bishops  and  abbots  in  the  Upper  House  also 
made  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  distinctly  the  house  of  of  the 
the  laity,  and  consequently  the  representative  of  a  feeling  of 
resentment  against  the  engrossing  of  oflBces  by  the  clergy,  which  had 
already  begun  to  show  itself.  The  community  of  feeling  between  the 
barons  and  the  knights  of  the  shire,  and  the  disadvantage  under  which 
the  barons  found  themselves  in  being  outvoted  in  their  own  house  by 
the  solid  phalanx  of  clerical  members,  soon  led  to  the  lords  pushing  the 
commons  forward  into  the  forefront  of  the  constitutional  battle,  and  to 
their  finding  their  best  advantage  in  bringing  forwai-d  their  stewards  for 
election  as  knights  of  the  shire,  and  using  all  their  territorial  influence 
to  secure  a  majority  in  the  popular  chamber. 

The  consideration  of  the  terms  demanded  in  1339  took  some  time,  and 
the  grants  were  not  made  till  April  1340,  when,  in  consequence  of  the 
king's  concessions,  both  barons  and  commons  made  an  even  more 
liberal  contribution  than  they  had  originally  oflfered.     Philip  had  by  this 


250  Later  Angevin  Kings  1340 

time  altered  his  tactics  ;  and  instead  of  playing  a  waiting  game  within  his 
own  frontier,  had  taken  measures  to  prevent  Edward  from  again  landing 

Battle  of    ill  the  Netherlands.     With  this  view  he  had  sent  to  the 

^^^y^-  harbour  of  Sluys,  on  the  coast  of  Flanders,  a  fleet  of  over 
two  hundred  vessels.  Edward  had  wisely  expended  part  of  his  money 
on  restoring  the  navy.  He  was,  therefore,  able  to  collect  a  strong  force 
from  the  southern  ports ;  and  without  waiting  for  the  northern  con- 
tingent, sailed  in  June  to  attack  Philip's  fleet.  He  found  it  drawn 
up  in  four  lines,  the  ships  of  which  were  chained  together,  bow  and 
stern,  so  as  to  make  a  floating  rampart,  on  which  the  men-at-arms  could 
fight  as  on  land.  Against  this  Edward  devised  an  ingenious  method  of 
attack.  He  arranged  his  ships  in  groups  of  three  ;  that  in  the  centre 
carrying  men-at-arms,  those  to  right  and  left  of  it,  archers.  Then  wait- 
ing till  the  afternoon  sun  was  at  his  back,  he  bore  down  on  the  French 
lines.  His  ingenuity  was  rewarded  with  a  great  success.  The  archers 
soon  cleared  the  decks  of  the  French  vessels  ;  the  men-at-arms  completed 
the  victory  by  boarding,  and  soon  every  ship  in  the  front  line  was  in 
English  hands.  At  this  moment  the  contingent  from  the  northern  ports 
came  up,  and  a  fresh  advance  was  prepared  for.  Terrified  at  the  pros- 
pect, the  Frenchmen  in  the  second  and  third  lines  leapt  overboard ; 
but  the  sixty  ships  of  the  fourth  line  fought  well,  and  a  few  made 
good  their  escape  under  cover  of  the  night.  The  immediate  effects  of 
the  victory  were  most  important.  Every  French  port  was  opened  to 
Edward,  and  though,  in  1350,  he  had  a  severe  struggle  with  a  fleet  of 
Spanish  privateers,  the  dominion  of  the  seas  was  secured  for  England  for 
nearly  thirty  years. 

Flushed  with  his  success,  Edward  then  formed  the  siege  of  Toumay, 
But  again  Philip's  tactics  foiled  him.  Tournay  was  held  by  a  powerful 
garrison.  Philip  Avith  a  large  anny  hovered  near,  ready  to  take  advan- 
tage of  any  mistake  but  resolutely  determined  not  to  fight  on  equal 
terms.  The  long  delay  exhausted  Edward's  supplies,  and  when  winter 
came  on  he  was  obliged  to  raise  the  siege. 

Furious  at  his  disappointment,  Edward  foolishly  allowed  himself  to  be 
hurried  into  a  quarrel  with  the  Stratfords,  who  had  been  his  faithful 
servants  for  ten  years.  Like  every  other  minister  who  was 
with  the  not  a  baron,  the  Stratfords  had  enemies  among  the  nobility, 
and  the  archbishop  had  probably  aggravated  their  hostility 
by  courageously  setting  his  face  against  the  growing  immorality.  There 
was  also  rising  a  feeling  against  the  monopoly  of  office  enjoyed  by  the 
clergy.  As  the  official  representative  of  the  old  Lancastrian  party,  Strat- 
ford was  also  opposed  by  Orleton  and  by  Burghersh,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  a 


1341  Edward  III,  251 

nephew  of  Lord  Badlesmere  ;  and  Edward,  angry  at  the  slowness  with 
which  supplies  had  been  sent,  allowed  himself  to  lend  a  ready  ear  to 
the  accusations  of  Stratford's  enemies.  Accordingly,  in  November,  he 
arrived  without  warning  in  London,  and  the  very  next  day  turned 
Kobert  Stratford  out  of  the  chancellorship,  dismissed  a  number  of  other 
officials,  and  even  imprisoned  some  merchants,  among  whom  was  William 
de  la  Pole.  He  then  made  one  layman,  Robert  Bourchier,  chancellor,  and 
another,  Sir  Robert  Parning,  treasurer. 

Meanwhile  the  archbishop,  flying  before  the  storm,  had  taken  refuge 
at  Canterbury,  and  when  Edward  summoned  him  to  court,  he  declined  to 
place  himself  in  the  king's  power.  In  some  respects  the  quarrel  recalls 
that  between  Stephen  and  Roger  of  Salisbury  ;  but  the  conditions  were 
really  very  different.  If  Stratford  had  trusted  to  his  position  as  a 
churchman  he  would  have  leant  on  a  broken  reed  ;  but  in  trusting  to 
the  support,  not  of  garrisoned  castles,  but  of  the  goodwill  of  the  English 
people,  he  stood  on  far  stronger  ground  than  either  Thomas  of  Canterbury 
or  Roger  of  Salisbury.  Stratford  maintained  that  the  recent  arrests  were 
illegal,  and  declined  to  meet  the  king  except  in  full  parliament.  Edward, 
on  his  side,  accused  Stratford  of  wasting  his  money,  and  so  of  being  the 
real  cause  of  the  recent  failure.  In  April  1341  parliament  met.  When 
the  archbishop  appeared  he  received  orders  to  present  himself  before  the 
court  of  exchequer.  His  answer  was  a  demand  to  be  tried  by  his  peers. 
The  case  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  twelve  lords,  who  The  Rights 
reported  that  to  try  a  peer  except  in  full  parliament  and  °^  Peers, 
before  his  peers  was  illegal.  This  decision  showed  that  Stratford  had 
the  parliament  at  his  back,  and  Edward  wisely  gave  way. 

Not  contented  with  this  victory,  for  which  they  were  mainly  indebted 
to  Stratford's  courage  and  character,  the  lords  and  commons  proceeded 
to  extract  further  concessions  as  the  price  of  the  additional 
grant.     Again  Edward  was  forced  to  yield,   and  his  con-    Concessions 
stitutional  concessions  embodied  three  rules  of  very  great   °       ^^^  ' 
importance.     Fii-st,  that  the  accounts  of  the  kingdom  should  be  audited 
by  auditors  elected  in  parliament ;  second,  that  the  chancellor  .... 
and  other  great  ministers  should  be  appointed  by  consulta-  Accounts, 
tion  between  the  king  and  his  lords,  and  should  be  sworn  Appointment 
before  parliament  to  keep  the  law  ;  third,  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each  parliament  ministers  were  to  resign  their  offices  into  the 
king's  hands,  and  be  compelled  to  answer  complaints  brought  . 

against  them.    The  first  of  these  gave  parliament  increased    Responsi- 
control  over  the  purse,  for  it  enabled  it  not  only  to  vote     ^  *  ^* 
taxes  but  also  to  inquire  how  they  had  been  spent :   the  second  and 


252  Later  Angevin  Kings  1341 

third  contained  the  principles  that  parliament  ought  to  have  a  voice  in 
the  appointment  of  ministers,  and  also  that  ministers,  when  appointed,  are 
responsible  to  parliament  for  their  management  of  aflfairs.  These  contain 
in  the  rough  the  framework  of  the  constitution  as  we  see  it  working 
at  present.  Could  they  have  been  maintained  in  practice,  the  parliament 
of  the  fourteenth  century  would  have  anticipated,  by  more  than  three 
centuries,  the  actual  growth  of  parliamentary  government.  The  ground, 
however,  so  gained  was  too  advanced  to  be  held.  In  October,  when  the 
king  had  obtained  his  supplies,  he  ventured  to  revoke  his  concessions, 
and  the  next  parliament  raised  no  opposition  to  his  action ;  but,  short- 
lived as  they  were,  they  serve  to  show  how  uniform  have  been  the  objects 
aimed  at  by  English  statesmen,  and  how  strong  parliament  had  become. 

For  some  years  after  the  abortive  expedition  of  1340  the  French  war 
languished.     To  the  credit  of  successive  popes,  great  efforts  were  made  by 

the  church  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  Edward  and 
Abortive  .  . 

Negotia-      Philip  on  the  basis  of  Edward  receiving  Gascony  in  full 

sovereignty  in  exchange  for  a  renunciation  of  his  claim  to  the 

crown ;   but  though  they  were  able  to  negotiate  prolonged  truces,  the 

suspicions  of  both  sides  prevented  the  conclusion  of  a  definite  peace. 

However,  a  disputed  succession  in  the  duchy  of  Brittany  between  John 

de  Montfort,  the  brother,  and  Jane,  the  daughter  of  the  late  duke,  opened 

up  a  new  field  of  warfare.     Edward,  with  curious  inconsistency,  supported 

the  claims  of  John  ;    Philip,  more  logical,  as  correctly  distinguishing 

between  the  succession  to  a  crown  and  that  to  a  duchy,  espoused  that  of 

Jane,  and  soon  a  civil  war  was  being  fought  in  Brittany  with  the  aid  of 

soldiers  from  both  England  and  France.    Meanwhile  Edward  had  become 

disgusted  with  his  northern  allies.     Louis  of  Bavaria  had  deserted  him  ; 

James  van  Artevelde  had  been  murdered  in  1345  by  the  men  of  Ghent 

as  their  answer  to  a  suggestion  that  they  should  take   Edward's   son 

Edward  as  their  lord ;  nothing  more  could  be  hoped  from  Hainault,  so 

Edward  determined  to  attack  France  from  a  new  quarter. 

Since  the  cessation  of  the  war  on  the  Flemish  frontier,  Philip  had  been 

able  to  concentrate  his  forces  in  the  south,  and  had  pressed  hardly  on  the 

English  garrison  of  Gascony.,    The  earl  of  Derby,  however,  had  defended 

himself  with  great  skill,  and  at  Auberoche  had  won  a  brilliant  victory 

Over  a  superior  French  force.     Accordingly,  in  1346,  Philip  determined 

Invasion  of    to  crush  him  with  an  overwhelming  army  of  100,000  men  ; 

Normandy.  ^^^^  ^  ^  diversion,  Edward  crossed  the  Channel  and  landed 
in  Normandy.  After  reaching  Caen  he  proceeded  to  Kouen,  intending 
to  crosB  the  Seine  and  make  a  junction  with  a  body  of  Flemings  who  were 
ravaging  in  the  north-east.     He  found,  however,  that  the  bridge  was 


1346  Edward  III.  253 

strongly  held,  and  that  Philip  with  a  numerous  force  was  guarding  the 
northern  bank.  Foiled  at  Rouen,  Edward  marched  up  the  river,  sacking 
and  burning  Mantes  and  Vernon  as  he  went ;  but  failed  to  find  a  bridge 
or  ford  unguarded.  His  movements  were  followed  by  Philip  on  the  north 
bank  ;  and  it  seemed  as  though  retreat  either  to  Gascony  or  to  his  ships 
was  inevitable,  when  a  clever  feint  on  Paris  caused  Philip  to  hurry  on, 
and  Edward  rapidly  retracing  his  steps,  seized  the  bridge  of  Poissy  a  few 
miles  below  Paris,  and  flung  his  army  across  the  river  before  his  design 
was  discovered.    (See  p.  317.) 

From  Poissy  Edward  made  all  haste  towards  the  Flemish  frontier,  hotly 
pursued  by  the  French ;  but  his  road  was  barred  by  the  river  Somme, 
which  flows  slow  and  deep  through  a  marshy  soil,  and  could 
only  be  crossed  at  a  few  points.  These  were  all  held,  and  through 
Edward  found  himself  enclosed  in  the  angle  between  the  ""^^ce. 
river  and  the  coast.  Escape  seemed  impossible,  when  a  peasant  wa.s 
induced  by  promises  and  threats  to  disclose  the  existence  of  a  bar  of 
white  shingle,  still  called  Blanche  Taque,  where  the  Somme  could  be 
crossed  at  low- water  just  above  its  junction  with  the  sea.  On  arriving 
there  the  ford  was  found  to  be  defended  by  a  powerful  force  of  cavalry  ; 
but  the  English,  impelled  by  the  courage  of  despair,  fought  their  way 
across,  and  Philip  only  arrived  in  time  to  see  the  incoming  tide  efiectually 
prevent  the  continuance  of  the  pursuit.  Chagrined  at  his  disappointment 
he  retraced  his  steps  to  Abbeville,  while  Edward,  who  was  now  deter- 
mined to  risk  a  fight,  turned  to  bay  at  Crecy,  a  little  village  situated  in 
his  hereditary  county  of  Ponthieu. 

The  ground  chosen  may  well  have  reminded  Edward  of  Halidon  Hill, 
where  he  had  seen  archers  defeat  a  force  of  cavalry  similar  to  that  by 
which  he  now  expected  to  be  attacked.  Behind  the  village 
of  Crecy  a  piece  of  high  ground  slopes  away  on  three  sides 
for  a  distance  of  six  hundred  yards  from  a  windmill  which  still  marks  the 
spot.  Such  sloping  ground  was  exactly  what  was  wanted  for  archers,  in 
order  that  the  rear  ranks  might  have  a  good  view  of  their  opponents,  and 
it  also  gave  the  cavalry  the  additional  disadvantage  of  having  to  charge 
uphill.  Accordingly,  Edward  halted  there  on  the  evening  of  August  25, 
and  prepared  to  fight  Philip  on  the  following  day. 

The  rest  was  a  great  help  to  the  English,  and  they  made  good  use  of  it 
to  prepare  for  the  coming  fight.  Edward  drew  up  his  men  on  the  hill- 
side with  their  backs  to  the  light,  in  three  bodies  each  com-  Position  of 
posed  of  men-at-arms  and  archers.  All  were  on  foot.  The  ^^  English, 
archers  of  each  body  were  arranged  in  lines  behind  one  another,  like 
the  teeth  of  a  harrow,  or  the  pieces  on  a  draught-board  so  that  those 


254 


Later  Angevin  Kings 


1346 


in  the  rear  could  shoot  over  the  heads  of  their  fellows.  Behind  the 
archers  stood  the  men-at-arms,  armed  with  spear,  sword  and  buckler,  and 
provided  with  coats  of  mail.  The  first  division,  led  by  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  now  a  lad  of  fifteen,  assisted  by  the  earls  of  Warwick  and  Oxford, 
was  on  the  right.  Behind  him  were  a  body  of  Welsh  and  Irish  footmen, 
armed  with  long  knives.  To  the  left  of  the  prince's  men,  and  a  little  in 
their  rear,  was  the  second  division  under  the  earl  of  Northampton.  The 
third,  under  Edward  himself,  was  in  reserve.  Edward  is  said  to  have 
had  in  these  divisions  only  four  thousand  men-at-arms  and  twelve 
thousand  archers  ;  but  besides  these  he  had  the  Welsh  and  Irish,  and  a 
body  of  archers  had  been  told  off  to  guard  the  baggage  and  the  horses. 


•jVadicourt 

about 3^  fniUs 
/ro7n  La  Broye. 


^..^nglish  Foot. 
——•       t^      ytrchers. 
■■■ French . 

+  Cross  erected  to  memory 
of  the  Kitig  o/Bohttnia. 


'La  Broye  4^2  miles. 
Abbeville  lO  miles. 


Against  this  small  but  highly  efficient  force,  in  which  nobility,  gentry, 
and  yeomanry  stood  side  by  side,  presenting  on  the  battlefield  the  unity 
Position  of  ^^  sentiment  which  was  the  true  cause  of  the  national 
the  French,  strength,  Philip  brought  an  army,  vast  indeed,  but  singularly 
typical  of  the  distracted  condition  of  the  country.  The  vast  majority  of 
the  fighting-men  were  feudal  vassals,  arrayed  in  full  armour  and  on 
horseback.  The  middle  classes  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  A 
few  serfs,  dragged  unwillingly  to  the  field,  made  up  the  native  infantry, 
to  which^^was  added  a  body  of  fifteen  thousand  Genoese  crossbowmen  by 


1S46  Edward  III.  255 

way  of  supplementing  the  most  obvious  of  their  deficiencies.  Philip,  who 
liked  not  pitched  battles,  wished  to  postpone  the  fight  till  the  next  day  ; 
but  the  impetuosity  of  his  men,  who  looked  on  victory  as  certain,  flung 
prudence  to  the  winds. 

The  first  to  attack  were  the  Genoese  ;  but  a  heavy  thunder-shower  had 
wetted  their  crossbow-strings,  and  their  bolts  flew  feeble  and  inefficient. 
The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  to  whom  rain  was  no  stranger, 
had  kept  their  strings  under  their  coats  till  the  last  moment, 
and  their  arrows  flew  true  and  strong  to  the  mark.  Before  such  a 
deadly  hail  the  Genoese  drew  back,  and  the  French  knights,  furious  at 
their  defeat,  cut  down  the  poor  fellows  as  they  ran.  Then  the  serious 
fighting  began.  As  at  Halidon,  the  cavalry  struggled  to  mount  the  hill, 
but  the  English  shafts  soon  strewed  the  ground  with  struggling  horses 
and  fallen  men,  among  whom  the  Welsh  and  Irish  did  terrible  slaughter 
with  their  long  knives.  At  length  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers  the  French 
closed  on  the  English  ranks,  but  so  well  did  the  first  and  second  divisions 
stand  their  ground,  that  the  king,  who  from  the  windmill  commanded  a 
perfect  view  of  the  field,  never  found  it  necessary  to  engage  his  reserve 
at  all.  In  vain  the  count  of  Alengon,  the  brother  of  the  French  king, 
sacrificed  his  life ;  in  vain  the  blind  old  king  of  Bohemia,  who  was 
fighting  as  an  ally  of  Philip,  caused  his  horse  to  be  led  into  the  fight  so 
that  he  might  have  one  stroke  at  the  English.  When  night  fell  the 
English  ranks  were  still  unbroken,  while  the  French,  wearied  and  leader- 
less,  were  in  hopeless  confusion.  Philip,  wounded,  fled  from  the  field  to 
La  Broye,  and  thence  to  Amiens.  The  next  day  a  dense  mist  prevented 
the  French  from  rallying  or  seeing  their  enemies,  and  the  slaughter  of 
stragglers  was  said  to  have  exceeded  that  of  the  battle  itself.  Altogether, 
eleven  princes  and  twelve  hundred  knights  met  their  death,  and  of  those 
of  less  note  a  number  estimated  at  thirty  thousand.  The  glory  of  the 
day  was  given  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  adopted  as  his  own  the  motto 
Ich  dieuy '  I  serve,'  said  to  have  been  that  of  the  king  of  Bohemia ;  but  the 
chief  merit  of  the  victory  was  really  due  to  the  archers. 

From  Crecy,  Edward  marched  to  Calais  and  laid  siege  to  it.  For 
several  reasons  Calais  was  a  valuable  prize.  Its  possession  siege  of 
would  place  in  English  hands  a  convenient  landing-place  for  Calais, 
troops,  contiguous  alike  to  France  and  Flanders.  It  would  also  be  an 
excellent  emporium  for  trade ;  and,  moreover,  would  destroy  a  nest  of 
pirates  which  had  long  been  a  bugbear  to  the  merchants  of  the  Channel. 
The  works  of  Calais,  however,  were  strong ;  the  marshes  by  which  it  was 
surrounded  were  passable  at  few  places.  Winter  was  coming  on,  so 
Edward  decided  not  to  hazard  the  risk  and  loss  of  English  life  that  must 


256  Later  Angevin  Kings  1346 

attend  a  regular  siege,  but  to  house  his  men  comfortably,  exclude  all 
provisions  from  the  beleaguered  town,  and  wait  for  famine  to  do  its 
awful  work.  Such  a  course,  the  hardships  of  which  fell  not  so  much  on 
the  fighting-men  of  the  garrison  as  on  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  added  a  new  and  terrible  horror  to  war. 

Philip's  first  hope  was  that  a  Scottish  invasion  of  England  might 
compel  Edward  to  return.     At  his  request  David  had  crossed  the  border 

Scottish       "^^^^^  ^  \?iVgQ  force  of  light  horsemen,  and  made  his  way  by 

Invasion.     Hexham  into  the  bishopric  of  Durham.     To  meet  them,  a 

second  army  was  collected  by  the  orders  of  Queen  Philippa,  under  the 

archbishop  of  York  and  the  lords  Henry  Percy  and  Kalph  Neville,  and 

compelled  the  Scots  to  fight  at  Neville's  Cross  on  October 

Neville's      17.    Hedges  and  enclosures  encumbered  the  Scottish  attack. 

Cross.  Checked  by  these,  their  horsemen  presented  an  easy  mark  to 

the  English  archers.  As  the  Scottish  ranks  wavered,  the  English  in  their 
turn  charged,  and  so  vigorous  was  their  onset  that  both  wings  of  the 
Scottish  army  were  quickly  broken.  In  the  centre,  however,  David 
fought  with  unflinching  courage,  but  an  arrow- wound  in  the  face  brought 
him  to  the  ground.  Coupland,  a  Northumberland  gentleman,  effected 
his  capture  ;  and  the  discomfited  Scots  fled  in  utter  disorder. 

The  victory  of  Neville's  Cross  and  the  capture  of  the  Scottish  king 
effectually  secured  Edward  from  Scottish  interruption ;  and  his  sailors  beat 
off  a  relieving  fleet  which  Philip  dispatched  to  succour  the  garrison.  AH 
through  the  winter  the  terrible  blockade  went  on,  and  when  spring  came 
Philip  summoned  another  army  and  advanced  to  raise  the  siege.  His 
efforts,  however,  were  abortive.  He  found  the  English  lines  too  skilfully 
planned  and  too  well  defended  to  offer  the  least  prospect  of  a  successful 
assault ;  and  though  Edward,  somewhat  rashly,  advanced  into  the  open 
country  and  challenged  him  to  an  equal  fight,  Philip  preferred  an 
ignominious  retreat  to  another  experience  of  English  archery.  Thus, 
deserted  by  their  sovereign,  and  having  finished  their  provisions,  the 
garrison  had  no  course  but  unconditional  surrender ;  and  on  August  4, 

Surrender    1347,  Calais  capitulated.  Edward  made  some  show  of  punish- 

of  Calais,  jng  the  townspeople  for  their  piracy ;  but  graciously  yielded 
to  the  milder  counsels  of  his  queen,  Philippa.  Determined  to  hold  the 
town  at  all  costs,  Edward  removed  all  the  inhabitants  who  declined  to 
take  an  oath  of  allegiance,  and  filled  up  their  places  with  colonists  from 
England.  To  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  town,  a  market  was  established 
for  the  staple  commodities  of  tin,  lead,  and  cloth,  and  as  the  chief  channel 
for  trade  between  England  and  the  continent  it  enjoyed,  under  its 
English  rulers,  many  years  of  great  prosperity.      The  defences  were  put 


1349  Edward  III.  257 

in  such  good  order  as  to  be  deemed  impregnable,  and  a  strong  garrison 
maintained. 

While  Edward  had  been  successful  in  the  north,  a  less  conspicuous  but 
even  more  honourable  war  had  been  maintained  in  Gascony.    -^^r  in 
Philip  had  sent  his  best  troops  to  the  south,  and  the  summer    Gascony. 
of  1346.  saw  John,  duke  of  Normandy,  his  eldest  son,  enter  the  province 
with  an  excellent  force  of  six  thousand  horse  and  fifty  thousand  foot,  and 
a  full  complement  of  besieging  engines.    Before  them  the  Giiscon  fortresses 
fell  fast,  till  at  length  the  castle  of  AiguiUon,  defended  by  Sir  Walter 
Manny,  checked  their  progress.      From  May  till  the  end  of  August,  this 
brave  man  and  his  heroic  followers  repelled  every  assault.     Famine,  how- 
ever, was  imminent,  when  the  news  of  Crecy  recalled  Duke  John  to  the 
assistance  of  his  father ;  and  the  earl  of  Derby,  vigorously  taking  the 
offensive,  was  able  not  only  to  clear  Gascony  of  the  French,  but  to  storm 
and  plunder  the  rich  town  of  Poitiers.     In  recognition  of  his     ^itle  of 
services,  Derby,  who  in  1345  had  become  earl  of  Lancaster,     Duke. 
was  in  1351  honoured  with  the  title  of  duke,  a  rank  first  created  in 
England  for  Edward's  eldest  son,  who  had  been  made  duke  of  Cornwall 
in  1337. 

The  capture  of  Calais  brings  to  a  close  the  first  period  of  the  war. 
Towards  securing  the  crown  of  France,  Edward  had  made  little  or  no 
progress,  but  he  had  taken  Calais,  brought  home  quantities  of   p„ 
spoil,  and  permanently  enriched  the  annals  of  England  with    the  French 
the  memory  of  the  victory  of  Crecy.     On  the  other  hand,  war 
and  plunder  had  begun  to  have  a  demoralising  effect  on  the  country. 
The  standard  of  luxury  is  thought  to  have  been  permanently  raised  by 
the  lavish  squandering  of  the  spoils  of  France ;  the  profession  of  arms 
had  been  exalted  to  an  undue  eminence,  to  the  disadvantage  of  more  use- 
ful though  less  showy  avocations  ;  and  habits  of  plunder  and  rapine, 
learned  in  foreign  war,  were  not  readily  abandoned,  and  tended  to  harden 
the  national  character. 

For  a  time,  however,  the  attention  of  men  was  diverted  from  the  war 
by  the  arrival  of  a  new  and  horrible  calamity.  This  was  the  ^he  Black 
Black  Death,  the  best-known  of  a  series  of  plagues  which  Death, 
devastated  England  during  the  years  1349,  1361,  and  1369.  It  was 
believed  to  have  broken  out  in  China  in  1333,  and  gradually  made  its 
way  to  Europe,  devastating  each  country  through  which  it  passed  with 
all  the  rapidity  and  destructiveness  of  a  new  disease.  Carried  by  infec- 
tion along  the  usual  trade-routes,  it  reached  Constantinople  and  Cyprus 
in  1347.  It  appeared  at  Avignon  in  January  1348  ;  in  April  it  reached 
Florence ;  and  the  first  cases  were  noticed  in  Dorsetshire  in  August. 

R 


258  Later  Angevin  Kings  1349 

From  the  Dorsetshire  ports  it  spread  to  Bristol,  and  thence  to  Oxford, 
and  from  Oxford  it  made  its  way  to  London,  and  from  there  to  Norwich. 
It  then  spread  over  the  northern  counties.  For  some  time,  however,  it 
was  checked  by  the  devastated  line  of  the  border,  and  the  exultant  Scots 
began  to  swear  '  By  the  foul  death  of  the  English ' ;  but  presuming  on 
their  fancied  impunity,  a  raiding  party  ventured  across  the  line,  and  the 
disease  soon  showed  itself  no  respecter  of  persons.  From  England  it 
travelled  to  Norway,  and  finally  reached  Russia  in  1351.  Everywhere 
it  went  its  ravages  were  terrible  ;  the  strongest  died  even  more  suddenly 
than  the  weak.  Neither  palace  nor  cottage  was  spared.  The  spread  of 
infection  was  aided  by  the  filthy  habits  of  the  people,  and  the  neglect  of 
all  sanitary  precautions. 

It  is  hard  to  know  how  many  persons  died.     There  were  then  no 

registers  of  deaths  and  burials,  and  in  time  of  panic  such  matters  are  apt 

,     to  be  exceedingly  exaggerated.    The  best  modern  calculations, 

Extent  of 

the  Mor-      however,  put  the  number  at  one  in  three  of  the  whole  popu- 
^  *  ^'  lation.       The   disease   spared  no    class.      A  daughter    of 

Edward,  and  two  archbishops  of  Canterbury,  were  victims  of  the  first 
year  ;  in  the  East  and  West  Ridings  of  Yorkshire,  one  half  of  the  parish 
priests  are  said  to  have  perished.  On  some  manors  whole  families  seem 
to  have  been  cleared  ojff.  The  Oxford  students  were  decimated.  In 
many  monasteries  the  numerous  vacancies  had  to  be  filled  as  best  they 
could,  and  a  permanent  deterioration  in  the  character  of  the  monks  seems 
to  have  been  the  consequence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  monks  of  Christ 
Church,  Canterbury,  suffered  little — an  escape  probably  due  to  the  good 
supply  of  pure  water,  which,  a  century  before,  they  had  prudently  laid  on 
from  the  hiUs. 

This  great  disaster  was  sufficient  to  cause  an  economical  revolution. 
At  that  date  England  was  almost  wholly  an  agricultural  country.  Some 
The  Manorial  ^^th.  was  made,  indeed,  but  mostly  for  domestic  use  and 
System.  ^q^  fQj.  g^ie ;   the  greater  part  of  the  English  wool  being 

despatched  to  the  looms  of  Flanders.  The  whole  of  rural  England,  outside 
the  forests,  was  divided  into  manors,^  which  pretty  nearly  corresponded 
in  area  to  the  ancient  township,  and  the  manor  was  organised  on  a  system 
which  appears  to  have  been  in  course  of  gradual  development  since  the 
pre-Norman  period  (see  page  40).  Usually  half  the  arable  land  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  and  called  the  '  demesne ' — a  name 

1  Our  knowledge  of  the  internal  condition  of  the  manor  is  derived  from  the 
Manorial  Accounts,  which  began  to  be  kept  and  enrolled  on  parchment  about 
the  year  of  Earl  Simon's  rebellion,  and  these  play  in  the  history  of  rural  England 
the  same  part  which  the  great  Pipe  Koll  does  in  that  of  the  kingdom  as  a  whole. 


1349  Edward  III.  259 

which,  under  the  fomi  *  mains,'  or  even  *  remains,'  may  often  be  traced  in 
English  farms  at  the  present  day.  A  second  portion  was  usually  in  the 
hands  of  a  body  of  freeholders,  who  might  be  military  tenants  holding 
the  whole  or  part  of  a  knight's  fee,  or  socage  tenants,  who  paid  such  a 
sum  to  the  lord  as  had  been  fixed  from  time  immemorial.  Sometimes 
these  freeholders  made  a  payment  in  kind,  such  as  a  pound  of  pepper,  a 
hawk  or  hound,  or  perfonned  some  duty,  such  as  keeping  two  lamps 
lighted  in  the  church. 

The  rest  was  in  the  hands  of  villeins,  and  was  held  on  more  onerous 
terms,  discharged  partly  by  doing  so  much  manual  work  on  the  lord's 
demesne,  partly  by  money  payments,  partly  by  payments  in  kind.  The 
villein  was  also  restricted  from  leaving  the  manor  without  his  lord's 
licence,  from  marrying  his  son  or  daughter  without  the  same,  or  selling 
his  stock,  or  cutting  down  timber,  without  the  lord's  consent.  In  return 
for  these  his  holding,  in  some  cases,  was  as  much  as  twelve  acres,  at  an 
estimated  rent  of  about  sixpence  an  acre,  though  sometimes  the  conditions 
were  much  harder.  In  every  case,  however,  the  villein  had  fixity  of 
tenure  so  long  as  his  dues  were  paid  ;  the  rules  show  him  to  have  been 
often  the  possessor  of  cattle  and  horses  ;  he  had  the  run  of  the  common 
for  his  stock,  and  could  cut  wood  and  get  turf  on  the  wastes  ;  the  lord's 
licence  could  always  be  obtained  for  a  money  payment,  and  even  if  he 
chose  to  take  French  leave  to  the  neighbouring  town,  the  chances  of  his 
being  reclaimed  were  not  great.  Two  opportunities  of  rising  presented 
themselves — the  church  and  the  anny — and  the  examples  of  Robert 
Grosset^te,  who  became  a  bishop,  and  of  Robert  Sale,  who  became  a  trusted 
knight  and  officer  of  Edward  in.,  prove  that  servile  birth  was  no  check 
on  the  ambition  of  the  intelligent  and  the  brave.  Beside  the  lord,  the 
free  tenants,  and  the  villeins,  all  of  whom  were  engaged  in  the  actual 
cultivation  of  the  soil,  there  were  also  certain  artificers  and  craftsmen  who 
held  merely  their  houses,  and  perhaps  a  right  to  a  run  on  the  common  for 
their  cattle  or  poultry.  Such  were  the  miller,  who  rented  the  mill,  the 
smith,  and,  in  a  large  village,  perhaps  a  regular  weaver.  There  was  also 
the  parson,  and  perhaps  a  clerk  of  some  kind,  who  undertook  the  prepara- 
tion of  accounts,  drew  leases,  and  the  like.  Conspicuous  among  the 
inhabitants  of  every  manor  was  the  reeve,  generally  himself  a  villein, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  see  to  the  lord's  interests,  to  exact  the  money  pay- 
ments due  to  him,  to  require  the  fulfilment  of  labour  duties,  and  to  keep 
an  exact  account  of  the  earnings  and  outgoings  of  the  manor.  In 
Chaucer's  Prologue  we  have  contemporary  accounts  of  the  miller,  the 
reeve,  and  the  ploughman,  which  should  be  read  in  this  connection. 

If  the  lord  was  the  owner  of  two  or  more  manors,  he  visited  each  in 


260  Later  Angevin  Kings  1349 

turn  to  eat  the  produce  of  his  estates  ;  and  the  arrival  of  himself  and  his 
servants  must  have  been  the  event  of  the  year.  At  other  times  the 
manor-house  was  the  residence  of  the  lord's  bailiff.  News  from  the 
outer  world  came  from  the  lord's  household,  or  the  visit  of  a  preaching 
friar  or  pardoner  from  Eome,  or  in  times  when  land  needed  little  atten- 
tion, lord,  villein,  freeholder  and  artisan  might  be  found  on  pilgrimage. 
Such  was  the  ordinary  life  of  an  English  village  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
Life  was  hard,  especially  in  winter,  and  comforts  were  few,  but  there 
always  seems  to  have  been  plenty  to  eat.  A  man  out  of  work,  who 
wanted  it,  was  unknown.  The  great  curse  of  modern  labour — uncertainty 
of  employment — was  absent ;  and  though  the  conditions  of  indoor  life 
were  inexpressibly  dirty,  fresh  air  and  clean  water  were  abundant,  and 
the  plentiful  leisure  of  Sunday  and  holiday  gave  every  one  a  fair  chance 
of  enjoying  such  sports  and  pleasures  as  lay  within  his  reach.  The  chief 
business  of  the  country  was  done  at  the  great  fairs,  where  the  bailiffs 
brought  their  wool-packs,  and  the  miners  their  pigs  of  lead  or  iron  to  sell 
to  the  foreigner  or  to  the  merchant  of  the  town.  The  chief  of  these  was 
that  held  at  Stourbridge,  near  Cambridge,  where  the  wares  of  different 
nations  were  arranged  in  sections  and  streets,  as  in  a  modern  exhibition, 
and  where  it  was  the  custom  of  the  people  of  the  eastern  counties  to  lay 
in  their  stock  of  goods  for  the  winter.  Others  were  St.  Bartholomew's 
fair  in  London,  St.  Giles'  at  Oxford,  and  St.  Giles'  at  Winchester. 

At  the  period  when  the  preservation  of  the  manor  rolls  gives  an 
accurate  view  of  the  condition  of  an  English  manor,  two  changes  were 
Changes  in  taking  place.  First,  just  as  the  king  had  commuted  mili- 
Progress.  ^^ry  service  for  the  payment  of  scutage,  so  the  lord  of  the 
manor  was  gradually  commuting  labour  services  for  money  payments. 
When  such  a  change  was  made,  a  memorandum  of  it  was  entered  on  the 
back  of  the  manor  roll,  a  copy  of  this  was  given  to  the  villein,  who  then 
became  what  was  called  a  copyholder,  and  his  land  a  copyhold.  All 
copyhold  land  at  the  present  day  must  at  some  time  or  another  have  been 
in  the  hands  of  villeins.  The  second  tendency  was  for  the  lord  of  the 
manor  to  give  up  farming  himself,  and  to  let  his  demesne  to  a  farmer  for 
a  term  of  years  at  a  fixed  rent.  This  was  certainly  done  so  early  as  1280. 
Such  an  arrangement  generally  involved  the  letting  of  the  demesne  as  '  a 
going  concern,'  including  the  farm-buildings,  implements  of  husbandry, 
and  the  stock.  At  the  close  of  the  term,  the  implements  and  stock,  or 
their  equivalents,  had  to  be  restored  ;  but  it  was  the  business  of  the  lord 
to  repair  the  buildings,  and  it  is  from  this  that  the  exceptional  rule  in 
English  law  that  the  landlord,  and  not  the  tenant,  should  do  the  repairs, 
takes  its  rise. 


1855  Edward  III.  261 

This  was  the  condition  of  rural  England  when  some  third  of  the 
population  perished  by  the  Black  Death.  The  immediate  result  was 
a  rapid  rise  in  wages,  and  in  the  price  of  all  articles  in  which    ^„ 

-1  rrii    •  1  /.    11        Effects  of 

the  cost  of  labour  was  the  prmcipal  item.  This  change  fell  the  Black 
most  severely  on  those  estates  where  the  lord  had  gone 
furthest  in  the  direction  of  commuting  the  services  of  his  villeins,  and 
on  those  fanners  of  demesne  land  who  trusted  to  hiring  labour.  All 
landholders,  in  fact,  except  those  who  were  themselves  labourers,  were 
very  hard  hit ;  and  ruin  seemed  imminent  unless  the  price  of  labour 
could  be  kept  down.  Two  plans  presented  themselves  :  the  most  obvious 
was  the  passing  of  a  law  to  forbid  any  one  to  piy  or  to  take  wages  higher 
than  those  paid  in  1347  ;  the  second  was  to  exact  to  the  uttermost  the 
labour  services  of  those  who  had  not  entered  into  a  composition.  The 
first  of  these  was  done  by  a  series  of  royal  ordinances  and  statutes,  known 
as  the  'Statutes  of  Labourers,'  which  were  passed  in  1351,  statutes  of 
and  again  in  1362  and  1368,  after  renewed  outbreaks  of  Labourers, 
plague.  The  second  became  the  regular  business  of  every  reeve  in  the 
country.  The  effect,  however,  of  the  first  remedy  was  exceedingly  smaU. 
It  is  pretty  certain  that  the  statutes  were  evaded  even  by  the  reeves 
themselves,  who  found  it  needful  at  all  costs  to  get  their  com  sown 
and  their  crops  gathered ;  and  the  average  rate  of  wages  increased 
by  about  one-hall  The  second  merely  caused  a  widespread  exaspera- 
tion, which  only  waited  for  a  favourable  opportunity  to  produce  a  serious 
outbreak. 

For  some  years  after  the  siege  of  Calais  the  French  war  languished, 
partly  due  to  the  plague,  partly  to  the  praiseworthy  efforts  of  successive 
popes  to  arrange  truces  and  to  facilitate  negotiations.  In 
1350  Philip  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John,  a 
better  soldier  than  his  father,  who  had  usually  commanded  the  French 
troops  in  Gascony ;  but  Edward's  teniis — Gascony  in  full  sovereignty, 
in  exchange  for  the  renunciation  of  his  claim  to  the  crown — were  still 
indignantly  rejected  both  by  the  king  and  his  subjects  ;  and  at  last  in 
1355  the  war  was  renewed  in  full  violence.  That  year  the  Black  Prince 
— a  name  given  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  possibly  from  the  armour  worn 
by  him  in  some  now-forgotten  tournament — with  sixty  thousand  men 
marched  up  the  fertile  and  prosperous  valley  of  the  upper  Garonne, 
devastated  the  whole  country  with  fire  and  sword,  and  returned  to  Bor- 
deaux laden  with  spoil.  Next  year  the  prince  ventured  into  the  heart  of 
France  with  no  more  than  twelve  thousand  men,  and,  sweeping  north- 
ward from  the  scene  of  his  last  year's  raid,  harried  the  country  from  the 
frontier  of  Guienne  to  Poitiers.     Near  that  city,  however,  he  was  forced 


262 


Later  Angevin  Kings 


1346 


to  stand  at  bay  at  Maupertuis  by  an  army  which,  unknown  to  him,  had 
been  collected  by  the  king  of  France.  Escape  seemed  utterly  impossible. 
The  French  outnumbered  the  English  by  at  least  four  to  one ;  and  so 
desperate  was  the  case,  that  the  prince,  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of 
Cardinal  Talleyrand,  who,  as  representing  the  pope,  was  doing  all  he 
could  to  avert  hostilities,  offered  to  surrender  his  spoil  and  his  prisoners. 


and  to  give  a  promise  not  to  fight  again  for  seven  years  as  the  price  of 
a  free  retreat.     Puffed  with  pride,  however,  John  refused  anything  short 
of  unconditional  surrender,  and  the  prince  and  his  little  band  prepared 
to  seU  their  lives  dearly. 
The  scene  of  the  battle  of  Poitiers  lies  about  four  miles  south-east  of 


1356  Edward  III.  263 

the  town  of  Poitiers,  near  the  present  farm  of  Maupertuis.  The 
ground  occupied  by  the  English  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle  consisted 
of  a  broad  plateau  on  the  left,  a  hill  on  the  right,  and  a  Battle  of 
ravine  with  a  marshy  bottom  in  the  centre.  All  the  slopes  Poitiers, 
were  covered  with  brushwood  and  vineyards,  and  in  front  of  the  left  and 
left  centre  ran  a  hedge,  in  which,  opposite  the  left,  was  a  gap,  doubtless 
for  carts.  The  hedge  and  gap  were  defended  by  the  earl  of  Salisbury, 
the  ravine  and  marsh  by  the  earl  of  Warwick,  and  the  Prince  with  the 
earl  of  Oxford  was  on  the  hill.  The  reliance  of  the  English  was,  as 
usual,  on  the  archers,  who  occupied  the  hedge  and  every  available  piece 
of  cover,  while  men-at-arms  on  foot  were  placed  on  the  wings  to  guard 
against  a  flank  attack.  The  French  army  was  posted  on  the  plateau  in 
three  great  divisions,  led  respectively  by  the  king,  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
and  the  Dauphin.  Mindful  of  Crecy,  where  the  French  wiongly  be- 
lieved themselves  to  have  been  beaten  by  the  dismounted  men-at-arms, 
all  the  French  were  on  foot,  with  the  exception  of  two  bodies  of  horse, 
who  were  to  act  as  a  forlorn  hope  and  begin  the  action  by  charging,  one 
at  the  gap,  the  other  along  the  upper  edge  of  the  ravine.  This  attack 
completely  failed  ;  for  the  French  at  the  gap  were  utterly  foiled  by  the 
showers  of  arrows  that  came  through  and  over  the  fence,  while  their 
fellows  suffered  not  only  from  these,  but  from  the  men  in  the  ravine  and 
even  from  the  Prince's  men  across  the  ravine.  A  grand  attack  on  foot 
by  the  Dauphin's  division  fared  no  better.  Then  followed  a  pause  ;  and 
Orleans,  despairing  of  success,  withdrew  his  men  from  the  field.  Seeing 
this,  the  Black  Prince  decided  to  tiike  the  offensive  against  the  king's 
division.  For  this  purpose  he  brought  back  his  men  from  the  hill,  and 
formed  most  of  them  up  with  those  of  Salisbury  and  Warwick  for  a  front 
attack,  and  also  sent  a  body  of  men-at-arms  and  mounted  archers  to  pass 
round  the  hill,  keeping  out  of  sight,  and  come  out  on  the  plateau  in  rear 
of  the  king.  This  combined  attack  proved  completely  successful.  In 
spite  of  desperate  bravery,  John  and  his  son  Philip  were  both  taken,  and 
the  French  army  was  completely  routed.  Taking  his  prisoners  with 
him,  they  returned  in  safety  to  Bordeaux. 

The  capture  of  John  was  a  terrible  blow  to  France.  That  country  had 
suffered  infinitely  more  than  England.  Picardy,  Normandy,  Brittany, 
Poitou,  and  Auvergne,  had  all  sufi'ered  the  worst  horrors  of  Effects  on 
war.  The  finances  were  in  utter  confusion.  The  nobles,  ^r^"<^^- 
the  peasantry,  and  the  burghers  were  divided  against  one  another,  and 
the  king's  captivity  soon  brought  the  whole  country  to  the  verge  of 
anarchy.  Its  desolation  was  its  only  defence  against  the  English,  but 
that  was  adequate  enough.      Every  march  through  such  a  desert  meant 


264  Later  Angevin  Kings  1356 

the  loss  of  hundreds  of  lives.  An  advance  of  Edward  in  person  to  Paris, 
in  1359,  was  thought  to  have  surpassed  in  hardship  all  previous  experi- 
ences of  war  ;  and  in  1360  the  utter  exliaustion  of  the  French,  and  the 
obvious  hopelessness  of  further  success  for  the  English,  compelled  both 
sides  to  come  to  terms. 

The  result  was  the  Great  Peace,  made  at  Bretigny  in  1360.  By  it 
Edward  gave  up  his  claim  to  the  French  crown,  and,  with  the  exception 
Peace  of  ^^  *^®  Channel  Islands,  to  Normandy,  Anjou  and  Maine — 
Bretigny.  ^hat  is,  to  the  continental  possessions  derived  from  Henry  ii. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  was  to  keep  in  full  sovereignty  the  whole  of  the 
duchy  of  Aquitaine  as  the  descendant  of  Eleanor  of  Guienne,  the  county 
of  Ponthieu  as  the  grandson  of  Eleanor  of  Castile,  and  his  recent  con- 
quest, Calais.  By  this  arrangement,  Edward  gave  up  the  empty  dream 
of  uniting,  the  two  crowns,  a  task  even  more  beyond  his  resources  than 
the  conquest  of  Scotland,  and  secured  for  his  people  the  rich  valley  of  the 
Garonne,  with  its  trade  in  wine  and  salt ;  Calais,  with  the  command  of 
the  narrow  seas  and  an  easy  road  into  the  continent  for  either  our  wool 
or  our  soldiers  ;  and  for  himself,  the  reputation  of  the  greatest  soldier  of 
his  time.  In  addition,  the  impoverished  French  were  compelled  to  pay 
a  large  ransom  for  the  release  of  their  king.  This  sum,  however,  proved 
far  beyond  their  resources,  and  Jolm  died  in  London,  unransomed,  in 
1364.  The  districts  thus  ceded  were  made  into  a  principality  for 
Edward's  eldest  son,  on  the  analogy  of  Wales,  and  of  the  district 
of  Dauphine,  which  had  been  handed  over  by  the  Dauphin  or  Dolphin, 
its  hereditary  ruler,  to  the  French  crown.  The  transaction,  however, 
was  incomplete  until  certain  formal  renimciations  of  homage  and  fealty 
had  been  performed.  These  ceremonies,  however,  were  delayed  by  the 
procrastination  of  the  lawyers,  and  eventually  were  not  finished  when  a 
fresh  outbreak  of  hostilities  put  a  stop  to  the  negotiations. 

In  1357  a  permanent  peace  was  made  with  Scotland.  Ever  since  1333 
Edward  had  been  in  name  the  ally  of  Edward  Balhol ;  but  in  1356  Balliol, 
Peace  with  ^Id  and  childless,  surrendered  his  hereditary  rights  and  the 
Scotland,  estates  of  his  family  for  a  sum  of  money.  Edward,  how- 
ever, was  now  prepared  to  acknowledge  David's  position  without  reserve, 
on  payment  of  a  ransom  for  the  king  and  a  further  sum  for  the  renun- 
ciation of  his  claim.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  the  money,  though  a 
great  strain  upon  the  Scots,  was  most  punctually  paid.  David's 
death  occurred  in  1371.  By  his  wife,  Joan  of  England,  he  left 
no  children,  and  the  throne  went  to  Eobert  the  Steward  or  Stuart, 
the  son  of  his  sister  Margaret  and  his  father's  old  general,  Walter  the 
Steward. 


Spain. 


1367  Edward  III  265 

While  England  and  France  had  been  at  war,  Spam  had  been  convulsed 
by  the  crimes  of  Pedro  the  Cruel,  king  of  Castile.  Unlike  France  or 
Germany,  Spain  had  never  made  any  pretence  of  being 
a  united  kingdom.  The  inroads  of  the  Moors,  which 
reached  their  greatest  extent  in  the  tenth  century,  had  left  the  Chris- 
tian inhabitants  huddled  up  on  the  slopes  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  of  the 
Asturias,  in  the  districts  of  Arragon,  Navarre,  and  Leon.  When  the  tide 
turned,  two  new  kingdoms — Castile,  or  the  Castle  land,  and  Portugal, 
the  name  of  a  colony  of  mixed  settlers  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic — 
had  also  been  formed  of  lands  retaken  from  the  Moors.  Of  these 
Arragon  was  chiefly  important  from  its  connection  with  Italian  politics 
and  with  Toulouse  ;  Navarre  from  its  proximity  to  Gascony  ;  and  Castile 
from  its  ever-increasing  size.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  the  crowns  of 
Castile  and  Leon  had  been  united  by  marriage,  and  this  had  given  Castile 
a  decided  pre-eminence. 

A  revolt  had  just  broken  out  against  Pedro  the  Cruel,  one  of  the  most 
sanguinary  tyrants  who  ever  disgraced  a  throne.  It  was  headed  by  his 
illegitimate  brother,  Henry  of  Trastamare,  who,  with  the  aid  Pedro  the 
of  the  *  companies '  of  professional  soldiers  who,  during  the  ^"**** 
later  years  of  the  war,  had  fought  both  on  the  sides  of  the  French  and 
the  English,  and  had  lost  their  occupation  by  the  Peace  of  Bretigny,  had 
already  pressed  his  brother  hard.  Pedro  visited  the  Black  Prince  at 
Bayonne  and  besought  his  aid  ;  and  nothing  speaks  worse  for  the  tone  of 
mind  produced  by  the  rules  of  chivalry  than  that  the  Black  Prince  should 
have  felt  himself  under  any  obligation  to  assist  so  undeserving  a  fugitive. 
Such,  however,  was  the  case;  and  in  1367,  Edwiird,  by  leave  of  Battle  of 
the  king  of  Navarre,  led  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men  Navarette. 
through  the  passes  of  the  Pyrenees  and  advanced  into  the  plain  of  the  Ebro. 
There,  between  Navarette  and  Najara,  not  far  from  Vittoria,  he  encountered 
and  routed  Henry,  and  restored  Pedro  to  the  position  he  had  disgraced. 
The  success,  however,  brought  in  its  train  a  series  of  disasters.  Pedro  re- 
fused to  repay  the  money  raised  by  the  prince  for  the  expenses  of  his  expedi- 
tion ;  the  suumier  heats  of  Valladolid  proved  fatal  to  the  EngUsh  soldiers  ; 
and,  eventually,  the  Black  Prince  retraced  his  steps,  hopelessly  loaded  with 
debt,  and  with  his  constitution  ruined  by  an  insidious  disease.  His 
assistance  did  little  good  to  Pedro.  So  soon  as  his  back  was  turned, 
Henry  of  Trastamare  again  invaded  the  country,  and  Pedro  was 
defeated.  In  an  interview  with  his  brother  he  made  an  attempt  to 
despatch  Henry.  A  struggle  followed.  The  tyrant  was  stabbed  to 
the  heart,  and  Henry  ascended  the  throne  as  the  persistent  enemy  of 
the  EngUsh. 


266  Later  Angevin  Kings  1867 

Meanwhile  the  Black  Prince,  driven  to  his  wits'  end  by  the  impor- 
tunity of  his  creditors,  was  compelled  to  levy  a  hearth  tax  on  his  French 
French  War  principality.  By  some  it  was  readily  paid ;  but  in  the 
renewed.  recently-annexed  districts  it  was  bitterly  resented,  and  an 
appeal  against  it  was  lodged  at  the  French  court.  As  the  renun- 
ciation of  suzerainty  had  never  been  made  by  the  French  king,  Charles 
agreed  to  hear  it,  and  summoned  the  Black  Prince  to  appear  before 
him.  Edward  replied  that  he  would  willingly  do  so,  but  '  with  60,000 
men  at  his  back.'  The  boast,  however,  was  a  vain  one  ;  and  in  1369 
the  war  was  resumed  under  very  unfavourable  circumstances  for  the 
English.  In  any  long  war  the  balance  always  turns  in  favour  of  the 
country  attacked.  The  invaders  have  against  them  the  difficulty  of 
keeping  up  their  supplies  of  men  and  money,  of  getting  adequate 
and  trustworthy  information  from  a  hostile  peasantry,  and  of  having 
all  the  country  against  them,  except  that  which  is  in  the  imme- 
diate occupation  of  their  armies.  All  these  began  to  be  felt  in  full  force 
by  the  English.  Besides  these,  there  were  special  causes.  The  battles 
of  Crecy  and  Poitiers  had  been  won  by  trained  soldiers  over  hastily- 
gathered  feudal  levies.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  the  French  armies 
were  chiefly  composed  of  professional  soldiers  commanded  by  such  chiefs 
as  the  celebrated  Bertrand  du  Guesclin,  who  thoroughly  understood  their 
business.  Again,  the  most  disastrous  thing  for  a  defending  army  is  a 
defeat ;  for  invaders  not  to  be  able  to  fight  at  all  is  almost  as  ruinous. 
The  truth  of  this  had  been  as  much  demonstrated  by  the  campaigns  in 
which  the  French  had  avoided  battle  as  those  in  which  fighting  had  been 
attended  by  defeat ;  and  the  new  king,  Charles  v.,  was  fully  determined 
that  come  what  might  he  would  never  allow  himself  to  follow  his  father's 
imprudence  at  Poitiers,  or  that  of  his  grandfather  at  Crecy.  He  was  also 
extremely  economical,  and  contrived  to  get  the  uttermost  value  out  of 
his  limited  resources. 

In  such  circumstances,  and  against   such  an  antagonist,  the  Black 

Prince  would  have  been  sore  bestead,  even  if  he  had  been  in  his  full 

vigour.     Weakened  by  disease,  and  embarrassed  at  every 

the  Black  turn  by  want  of  money,  it  was  out  of  the  question  for  him 
to  bring  the  struggle  to  a  successful  issue.  In  1370,  the 
French  invaded  Aquitaine  in  force  ;  but,  avoiding  a  pitched  battle,  they 
contented  themselves  with  throwing  garrisons  into  all  the  disaffected 
towns,  among  others  into  the  cite  or  episcopal  town  of  Limoges.  Roused 
by  the  danger,  the  prince  gathered  his  forces,  and  caused  himself  to  be 
carried  in  a  litter  to  besiege  it.  The  inhabitants  and  garrison  defended 
themselves  bravely  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  a  breach  was  made, 


1374  Edward  III.  267 

and  an  assault  was  on  the  point  of  being  delivered,  when  an  offer  of 
capitulation  was  made.  So  furious,  however,  was  the  Prince  at  what  he 
regarded  as  the  insolent  treachery  of  the  citizens,  that  he  refused  all 
terms,  and  actually  ordered  that  every  soul  in  the  cite  of  Massacre  of 
Limoges  should  be  put  to  the  sword.  This  atrocious  order  L»"^oges. 
seems  to  have  been  literally  carried  out.  Man,  woman,  and  child  perished, 
with  the  exception  of  a  body  of  knights,  who  had  placed  their  backs  to  the 
wall,  and  were  preparing  to  sell  their  lives  dearly,  when  their  bravery 
won  the  compassion  of  Edward.  Such  a  horrid  deed  as  the  massacre  of 
Limoges  admits  of  no  palhation.  Indeed,  the  sparing  of  the  knights 
makes  the  slaughter  of  the  unoffending  women  and  children  even  worse  ; 
for  it  shows  the  class  feeling  which  was  one  of  the  worst  products  of 
the  debased  chivalry  of  the  time.  In  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries 
the  Black  Prince  might,  indeed,  be  the  mirror  of  chivalrous  virtue  ; 
but,  judged  by  any  other  standard  of  morality,  the  massacre  of  Limoges 
has  left  a  foul  stain  on  his  character.  Soon  afterwards  the  Black  Prince 
returned  to  England. 

Two  years  later,  a  disaster  befell  the  English  cause  which  made  their 
position  even  more  serious.    An  English  fleet,  under  the  earl  of  Pembroke, 
was  defeated  off  La  Rochelle  by  the  Spaniards ;  and  the    Battle  of 
dominion  of  the  sea,  which  we  had  held  since  Sluys,  passed    Rochelle. 
out  of  our  hands.    The  result  was  to  make  the  sea-route  so  precarious  that 
next  year  an  attempt  was  made  to  send  succour  to  Gascony  by  marching 
an  army  from  Calais.     This  was  entrusted  to  the  charge  of  John  of 
Gaunt,  Edward's  second  surviving  son.     The  Ciimpaign,  however,  was  a 
complete  vindication  of  Charles'  tactics.    In  July  the  great  expedition 
left  Calais.     The  French  carefully  avoided  a  battle  ;  but,  hanging  on  the 
rear  of  the  troops,  they  cut  off  every  straggler  who  left  the 
ranks,  harassed  the  baggage,  destroyed  the  crops  along  the    Losses  in 
line  of  march  ;  and  though  the  army  eventually  made  its 
way  to  Gascony  in  December,  it  arrived  in  sorry  plight,  decimated  in 
numbers,  ruined  in  morale^  incapable  of  adding  any  real  strength  to  the 
defenders.     After  such  a  disastrous  campaign,  the  French  were  able  to 
advance  with  rapidity,  and  in  1374  the  English  had  lost  not  only  all  the 
recent  acquisitions   of  the   treaty  of  Bretigny,  except  Calais,  but  all 
Ponthieu  and  all  Gascony,  except  the  towns  of  Bordeaux  and  Bayonne. 
Next  year,  by  the  intervention  of  the  pope,  a  truce  was  negotiated,  and 
was  fairly  observed  till  the  end  of  the  reign. 

It  is  now  time  to  return  to  English  aftairs.  The  activity  of  parHa- 
ment,  which  was  noted  as  one  result  of  the  French  war,  showed  no 
diminution  during  its  continuance,  and  a  nimiber  of  notable  statutes  had 


268  Later  Angevin  Kin^s  1852 

been  passed.  Earliest  among  these  is  the  Statute  of  Provisors,  passed 
in  1351.  By  Provisors  is  meant  the  system  by  which  the  popes  provided 
Statute  of  for  their  officials  by  giving  them  English  preferments. 
Provisors.  gj^ce  John  had  granted  free  election  to  the  clergy,  and 
had  confirmed  it  by  the  Great  Charter,  the  actual  method  of  appointing 
bishops  had  been  the  subject  of  much  contention,  which,  on  the  whole, 
had  been  decided  in  favour  of  the  popes.  Left  to  themselves,  chapters 
rarely  came  to  a  unanimous  decision.  When  they  could  not  agree  they 
appealed  to  the  pope  ;  and  so  frequently  was  he  called  upon  to  arbitrate 
that  at  length  he  almost  succeeded  in  making  it  a  rule,  that  in  case 
of  dispute  the  election  should  be  set  aside,  and  that  he  himself  should 
appoint  the  new  bishop.  Besides  this,  the  popes  also  invented  a  system 
by  which,  before  the  death  of  a  bishop,  letters  were  written  to  the 
chapter  reserving  the  next  appointment  to  the  pope ;  and,  moreover,  it 
became  an  accepted  rule  that  if  a  vacancy  were  created  by  the  removal 
of  a  bishop  to  another  see,  the  new  vacancy  so  caused  should  also  be 
filled  up  by  the  papacy.  These  encroachments,  however,  met  with  less 
resistance  than  might  have  been  expected,  because  the  pope  was  generally 
willing  to  appoint  the  king's  nominee,  such  as  Archbishop  Stratford. 
The  provisions,  however,  were  extremely  unpopular  in  the  country, 
especially  after  the  popes  had  removed  their  residence  to  Avignon,  and 
became  the  dependants  of  the  French  king.  Accordingly,  in  1351,  the 
statute  of  provisors  enacted  '  that  all  persons  receiving  papal  provisions 
should  be  liable  to  imprisonment,  and  that  all  preferments  to  which  the 
pope  nominated  should  be  forfeit  for  that  turn  to  the  king.'  Ulti- 
mately a  compromise  was  efi'ected  wholly  in  the  king's  favour.  When  a 
see  became  vacant  the  king  sent  a  conge  d'elire,  or  licence  to  elect, 
accompanied  by  a  '  letter  missive,'  in  which  he  named  a  person  whom,  if 
elected,  he  would  accept.  At  the  same  time  the  king  requested  the  j^ope 
to  name  the  same  person  by  a  '  provision.'  In  this  way  the  dignity  of 
all  concerned  was  saved ;  and,  so  long  as  it  lasted,  the  king  practically 
nominated  his  own  friends  to  any  vacant  sees.  By  John's  Charter  free- 
dom of  election  had  also  been  given  in  the  appointment  of  abbots.  In 
this  neither  pope  nor  king  interfered  ;  the  former  probably  because  he 
trusted  the  monks,  the  latter  because  the  elected  abbots,  chiefly  absorbed 
in  the  internal  afiairs  of  their  respective  monasteries,  took  little  active 
share  in  the  afiairs  of  state. 

In  1353  was  passed  the  first  Statute  of  Praemunire.    These  acts  were  an 

Statute  of      elaboration  of  the   principle   enunciated   by  Wilham  the 

Praemunire.  Conqueror,  that  no  letters  from  the  pope  should  be  received 

if  they  had  not  been  first  shown  to  the  king,  and  were  specially  directed 


1368 


Edward  III  269 


against  the  growing  practice  of  appeal  from  the  English  ecclesiastical 
courts  to  that  of  Rome.  These  appeals  were  regarded  with  great  dis- 
like, partly  because  they  tended  to  undermine  the  royal  authority,  and, 
much  more,  because  they  withdrew  money  from  the  kingdom  and 
poured  it  into  the  laps  of  the  lawyers  and  officials  of  the  papal  court, 
thus  reducing  the  tax-paying  capacity  of  the  English  clergy,  and  adding 
indirectly  to  the  resources  of  the  king  of  France.  A  statute  was  there- 
fore passed  to  prevent  persons  prosecuting  suits  in  foreign  courts  with- 
out the  king's  leave.  Its  name  was  taken  from  the  first  words  in  the  writ 
of  2JTCBmunire  (a  corruption  of  jn-oemoneri  facias,  cause  A.B.  to  be  fore- 
warned). The  act  of  1353  was  very  carefully  drawn,  and  the  pipal 
court  was  not  mentioned  by  name ;  but  in  a  subsequent  act,  passed  in 

1365,  suitors  in  the  papal  courts  are  distinctly  mentioned  by  name  ; 
and  later  still,  in  1393,  when  the  country  was  exasperated  by  the  pope's 
resumption  of  provisions  and  reservations,  it  wae  enacted  that  *all 
persons  procuring  in  the  court  of  Rome  or  elsewhere  such  transla- 
tions, processes,  sentences  of  exconmiunication,  bulls,  instruments,  or  other 
things  which  touch  the  king,  his  crown,  regaUty  or  realm,  should  suffer 
the  penalties  of  praemunire.'  These  penalties  consisted  of  forfeiture  of 
goods  and  imprisonment  during  the  king's  pleasure ;  and  though  the 
statute  was  often  evaded,  the  fact  that  such  penalties  hung  over  delin- 
quents was  a  very  serious  check  on  papal  interference  with  the  affairs  of 
the  EngUsh  Church. 

Coupled  with  the  statutes  of  provisors  and  przemunire,  must  be  taken 
a  decision  made  in  1368,  by  which  the  payment  of  the  one  thousand 
marks  promised  by  John  was  finally  repudiated.  The  money  had  been 
paid  under  Henry  iii.,  discontinued  by  Edward  i.  ;  again  paid  by  his 
unworthy  son,  and  again  discontinued  by  Edward  iii.     At  length,  in 

1366,  the  pope  sent  a  formal  demand  for  the  payment  of  thirty-three 
years  of  arrears.  The  demand  was  submitted  to  parliament.  Though 
the  precise  form  of  their  answer  is  unknown,  it  is  certain  the  payment 
has  never  again  been  made,  nor  did  the  pope  again  venture  to  ask  for  it. 

In  1352  a  very  important  statute  defined  the  meaning  of  treason.  The 
person  of  the  king  had  from  the  earliest  times  been  hedged  about  with 
safeguards  which  did  not  exist  in  the  case  of  ordinary  men  ;  statute  of 
and  since  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  especially  since  the  Treason, 
rise  of  the  great  lawyers,  the  relations  between  the  king  and  the  people 
had  been  the  subject  of  much  definition.  According  to  the  view  held  in 
the  foiurteenth  century,  the  relation  between  the  king  and  his  landed 
subject  involved  the  ideas  of  fealty,  homage,  and  allegiance  ;  with  non- 
landed  subjects,  of  fealty  and  allegiance  only.     Of  these,  fealty  was  a 


270  Later  Angevin  Kings  1368 

personal  undertaking  to  be  faithful  as  between  man  and  man,  homage 

was  the  oath  by  which  the  vassal  swears  fidelity  to  the  lord  whose 

land  he  holds,  allegiance  was  the  duty  which  every  subject — landed  or 

landless — owes  to  the  head  of  the  nation  to  which  he  belongs.     Every 

man  of  fourteen,  on  being  admitted  to  his  frank-pledge,  swore  to  be 

'  foial  et  loial,' — faithful  and  loyal  to  the  king  ;  and  if  a  landowner  he  did 

homage  as  well  on  coming  into  his  estates.     Treason  and  treachery  were 

the  violation  of  these   undertakings.     Under  the  Norman  and  earlier 

Angevin  kings  forfeiture  had  usually  been  the  punishment  for  treason  ; 

but  in  the  time  of  Edward  i.  the  less  common  punishment  of  death 

had  been  inflicted,  and  the  adoption  of  this  penalty,  while  it  brought 

home   to  men's   minds   the  heinousness   of  the   offence,  also  made   it 

imperative  to  have  an  exact  definition  of  what  constituted  the  ofience 

of  treason.     This  was  given  in  the  Statute  of  Treasons  of  1352,  which 

defined  the  crime  as ' '  compassing  the  death  of  the  king  or  of  his  eldest 

son ;  the  violation  of  the  queen,  or  of  the  king's  eldest  unmarried  daughter, 

or  of  his  son's  wife  ;  the  levying  of  war  against  the  king  in  his  realm, 

adhering  to  the   king's  enemies,  counterfeiting  the   king's   seal  or  his 

money,  importing  false  money,  or  slaying  the  chancellor,  or  treasurer,  or 

judges  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty.' 

In  1362  a  most  important  statute  was  passed  on  the  subject  of  taxation. 

By  Magna  Carta  the  feudal  vassals  had  secured  themselves,  as  a  class, 

against  the  imposition  of  extra  feudal  aids  or  scutages  ;  by 
Private  »  i  o      >     j 

Grants         the  Confirmatio  Chartarum  the  freedom  of  the  nation  as  a 

°^  ^  ^"'  whole  from  arbitrary  taxation  was  secured.  Neverthe- 
less, tallages  on  the  royal  demesne,  and  the  cities  and  towns  in  it,  were 
occasionally  levied  till  1332,  but  were  finally  forbidden  by  a  statute 
passed  in  1340,  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  the  nation  should  'no  more 
be  charged  or  grieved  to  make  any  common  aid  or  sustain  charge,  except 
by  the  common  assent  of  the  prelates,  earls,  barons,  and  other  magnates 
and  commons  of  the  realm,  and  that  in  parliament.'  It  still  remained 
open  for  the  king  to  enter  into  special  bargains  with  particular  bodies, 
such,  for  example,  as  the  wool  merchants.  Of  this  opening  Edward  iii. 
had  constantly  availed  himself;  but  the  parliament  of  1362  deprived 
him  of  this  mode  of  evasion  by  enacting  that  no  further  subsidy  should 
be  set  on  wool  without  the  consent  of  parliament. 

The  long  series  of  financial  measures  necessitated  by  the  war  resulted 

in  several  important  changes  in  the  system  of  taxation.     In  the  twelfth 

„  and  earlier  centuries  aU  taxation  had  fallen  on  land,  and  had 

New  Taxes. 

taken  the  shape  of  scutages,  carrucates,  and  aids,  all  calculated 

on  so  much  per  given  area  of  land.     In  the  thirteenth  century,  however. 


1374  Edward  III.  271 

the  rise  of  the  great  wool  industry  and  the  increased  prosperity  of  the 
merchant  class  led  to  the  introduction  of  taxes  calculated,  not  on  land, 
but  on  movable  property — such  as  tenths,  twelfths,  fifteenths,  of  its 
value.  Moreover,  at  the  close  of  the  century,  the  growth  of  foreign 
commerce  attracted  attention  to  the  customs  as  an  important  source  of 
revenue  ;  and  duties  on  various  articles  of  export  and  import  began  to 
fonn  a  large  item  in  the  national  accounts.  Accordingly,  the  ancient 
impost  of  scutage  became  exceedingly  exceptional  after  the  reign  of 
Edward  i.  On  the  other  hand,  the  customs  duty  on  wool  was  first 
formally  granted  in  1275,  and  a  general  customs  duty,  under  the  title  of 
tonnage  and  poundage,  calculated  at  2s.  on  the  tun  of  wine,  and  6d.  on 
the  pound  of  merchandise,  was  first  formally  granted  for  two  years  in 
1373,  as  a  commutation  of  the  king's  ancient  right  to  a  *  prise '  or  share  of 
all  goods  passing  out  of  the  country.  From  this  time  forward  the 
customs  duty  on  wool  and  tonnage  and  poundage  became  one  of  the 
most  important  items  of  the  parliamentary  grants.  The  three  feudal  aids, 
or  rather  two,  'pur  fille  marrier,'  and  for  the  knighting  of  the  king's  eldest 
son,  continued  to  be  collected  as  before. 

Besides  these  important  statutes,  parliament  gave  a  great  deal  of 
attention  to  the  regulation  of  trade,  particularly  the  staples  of  wool,  lead, 
and  tin  ;  frequently  altering  the  regulations  under  which  the  General 
sales  of  these  articles  were  to  be  permitted.  Their  chief  legislation, 
objects  were  to  render  taxation  easy  by  concentrating  trade  in  a  few 
places,  and  also  to  prevent  gold  and  silver  from  leaving  the  country,  a 
feeling  which  appears  in  the  anti-papal  legislation  of  the  time,  and  which 
was  based  on  the  idea  long  held  that  the  amount  of  coin  in  a  country  is 
the  true  test  of  its  wealth. 

During  the  middle  ages  ecclesiastical  afiairs  had  always  two  aspects — 

(1)  the  connection  between  the  church  of  England  and  the  papacy  ;  (2) 

the  internal  condition  of  the  English  church.     During  the     „    .    , 

°  ^  Ecclesi- 

reign  of  Edward  in.  both  require  attention.     For  some  time     astical 

a  very  serious  feeling  of  discontent  with  the  clergy  had  been         **^^* 
growing  up  in  the  country  and  shown  itself  in  various  ways.     One 
cause  of  the  unpopularity  of  the  ecclesiastics  was  the  way  in  which, 
since  the  Norman  Conquest,  they  had  engrossed  the  offices  of  state. 
With  the   exception  of  the  lay  chancellor  and  treasurer, 
named  by  Edward  in.  in  1341,  these  ofl&ces  had  invariably 
been  held  by  ecclesiastics  ;  and  the  minor  offices  of  what  we  should  now 
call  the  civil  services  were  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  ecclesiastics. 
For  many  years  this  had  been  almost  an  unavoidable  necessity,  in  con- 
sequence of   the  almost  exclusive  possession  by  ecclesiastics  of   the 


272  Later  Angevin  Kings  1374 

knowledge  of  business,  account-keeping,  and  of  the  civil  law ;  but  of 
recent  years  the  universities  had  been  turning  out  students  weU  skilled 
in  such  matters,  and  in  particular  the  practice  of  the  law  was  falling  into 
the  hands  of  laymen.  To  these,  and  to  the  baronage,  the  position  of  the 
official  clergy  seemed  an  injustice,  and  those  who  held  this  feeling  were 
naturally  ready  to  make  common  cause  for  the  moment  with  the  baronial 
party,  which  always  (see  page  228)  regarded  with  hostility  the  official 
advisers  of  the  sovereign. 

Against  the  parish  priests  the  chief  grievance  was  their  non-residence, 
which  arose  partly  from  one  clergyman  holding  several  livings,  and  only 

Parish        residing  at  most  in  one ;  and  partly  from  the  practice  of 

Priests.  beneficed  clergymen  deserting  their  cures  and  residing  in 
London  or  other  towns,  where  they  gained  an  easy  livelihood  as  chantry- 
priests,  while  their  livings  were  served  by  ill-paid  curates. 

The  'regulars'  were  beginning  to  be  unpopular  on  account  of  their 
wealth,  which  had  turned  even  the  Cistercians  into  little  better  than 
The  Regular  communities  of  rich  sheep-farmers,  while  the  Friars,  though 
Orders.  ^]^q  most  recently  created  of  the   orders,   had  found  the 

temptations  of  their  vagabond  existence  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  when 
the  first  ardour  of  their  enthusiasm  had  passed  away. 

More  unpopular,  however,  than  any  one  order  were  the  officials  of  the 

ecclesiastical  courts,  who  had  long  converted  what  was  intended  to  be  an 

.       engine  for  the  suppression  of  vice  into  a  machine  for  coUect- 

astical  ing  blackmail  from  sinners,  and  whose  perpetual  meddling  and 
^^^  ^  pi'yiiig  made  them  universally  detested.  Two  contemporary 
and  easily  accessible  pictures  of  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  day  should 
be  examined  in  this  connection  :  the  Prologue  to  Chaucer's  Canterbury 
Tales,  in  which  he  gives  a  kindly  and  not  exaggerated  sketch  of  the  various 
ecclesiastics  of  his  day,  and  the  Vision  of  Piers  Ploughman,  in  which 
the  vices  and  avarice  of  the  clergy  are  denounced  in  a  sterner  tone.  To 
reform  these  abuses  one  party  appeared  who  wished  to  drive  the  clergy 
from  all  secular  offices,  and  another  who  wished  to  purge  the  church  of 
abuses  and  restore  it  to  the  purity  of  primitive  times.  Of  these  sections 
the  leaders  were  John  of  Gaunt  and  John  Wyclif. 

John  of  Gaunt  was  only  the  third  son  of  Edward,  who  had  grown  to 
manhood ;  but  the  death  of  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  in  1368,  and  the 
John  of  lo^g  absence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  Gascony,  made  him 
Gaunt.  the  most  prominent  man  about  the  court.  He  had  been 
born  at  Ghent  in  1340,  and  was  created  earl  of  Eichmond.  In  1359  he 
married  Blanche,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Duke  Henry  of  Lancaster, 
on  whose  death,  in  1362,  he  had  become  duke  of  Lancaster,  earl  of 


1374  Edward  III.  273 

Leicester,  Lincoln,  and  Derby,  and  as  such  the  natural  leader  of  the  old 
Lancastrian  party.  By  his  first  wife,  Blanche,  he  had  one  son,  afterwards 
Henry  iv.,  and  two  daughters.  After  her  death  he  married  Constance  of 
Castile,  eldest  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Pedro  the  Cruel,  and  when  she 
died  in  1394  he  married  Katharine  Swynford,  the  governess  of  his  children, 
and  sister-in-law  of  Chaucer  the  poet,  by  whom  he  already  had  several 
illegitimate  children,  afterwards  well  known  as  the  Beauforts.  His 
abilities  were  fair,  but  his  personal  character  was  bad,  and  he  appears  to 
have  had  little  skill  in  winning  popularity.  In  consequence,  he  never 
acquired  any  real  hold  over  the  people  at  large,  and  his  chief  influence 
was  exerted  as  the  leader  of  the  nobility. 

If  the  court  was  the  headquarters  of  the  hostility  to  the  clergy, 
represented  by  the  duke  of  Lancaster,  Oxford  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  hostility  to  clerical  abuses,  represented  by  John  Wyclif.  university 
Since  Robert  PuUein  lectured  on  the  Scriptures  in  1133,  and  °^  Oxford. 
Vacarius  on  Roman  law  in  1149,  the  schools  of  Oxford  had  steadily 
increased  in  importance  ;  and  at  some  date  unknown  the  body  of  teachers 
and  scholars  had  come  to  be  recognised  as  a  university  or  corporation, 
presided  over  by  a  chancellor,  named  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  as  head 
of  the  diocese,  and  capable  of  conferring  the  degrees  of  doctor  and  master. 
So  important  were  these  schools,  that  in  1186,  when  Gerald  the  Welshman 
wished  to  make  known  his  work  on  the  Topography  of  WaleSy  he  could 
devise  no  better  way  than  to  go  to  Oxford  and  read  it  on  three  successive 
days  to  the  students.  Another  proof  of  their  importance  is  shown  by  the 
efforts  made  by  the  various  religious  orders  to  get  a  hold  over  the 
teaching.  In  1221  the  Dominicans,  on  first  landing,  made  their  way  to 
Oxford,  and  in  1224  were  followed  by  the  Franciscans,  and  afterwards 
by  the  Camielites  and  Augustinians.  Many  of  the  older  monastic  orders, 
especially  the  Benedictines,  sent  scholars  from  their  convent  schools  to 
reside  at  the  university,  and  established  for  them  special  haUs  of  residence. 
So  successful  were  their  efforts  that  the  mendicant  orders  soon  became 
a  very  important  and  almost  a  dominant  element  in  the  life  of  the 
place  ;  and  Roger  Bacon,  himself  a  Franciscan,  complains  that  they  with- 
stood the  progress  of  true  learning  no  less  than  the  clergy.  Against 
this  predominance  of  the  orders  a  stand  was  made  by  Walter  de  Merton, 
chancellor  of  Henry  iii.  Hitherto  with  the  exception  of  those  who 
lived  in  one  of  the  hostels  of  the  orders,  or  had  united  for  economy 
to  hire  a  house  under  the  leadership  of  a  *  principal,'  the 
students  had  lived  in  lodgings  about  the  town.  Walter's  of  Merton 
plan  was  to  incorporate  his  students  as  an  independent  °  ^^^' 
society,  enjoying  the  advantage  of  the  lectures  of  the  '  schools,'  but  living 

8 


274  Later  Angevin  Kings  1374 

together  under  proper  discipline.  Such  corporate  life  was  calculated  to 
promote  in  his  scholars  a  feeling  of  esprit  de  corps,  and  in  his  statutes 
Walter  de  Merton  set  before  them  an  ideal  different  from  that  preached 
by  the  orders.  No  '  religious  person' — that  is,  no  monk  or  friar — was  to  be 
a  member  of  the  body,  and  the  scholars  were  to  set  before  themselves  as 
their  aim,  not  the  narrow  vision  of  obedience  to  the  petty  interests  of 
an  '  order,'  but  to  go  out  and  to  do  good  service  in  the  great  world.  It 
was  in  1264  that  Walter  de  Merton  obtained  his  charter,  and  in  1274 
he  settled  his  small  body  of  Fellows  and  Scholars  at  Oxford.  The 
foundation  of  Merton  forms  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Oxford,  for  the 
example  of  Walter  was  soon  copied  by  others.  The  first  ordinance  of 
Balliol  dates  from  1282.  Exeter  College  was  founded  in  1314,  Oriel 
CoUege  in  1326,  Queen's  CoUege  in  1340.  A  similar  change  occurred  in 
the  life  of  the  younger  university  of  Cambridge,  and  in  1280  the  statutes 
of  Peterhouse,  the  first  Cambridge  college,  were  copied  from  those  of 
Merton.  The  '  orders,'  however,  were  not  willing  to  lose  their  hold  on 
the  universities  without  a  struggle,  and  it  was  as  a  leader  in  this  rivalry 
between  the  '  secidars '  and  the  '  regulars '  that  WycHf  appears  to  have 
first  established  a  reputation. 

John  Wyclif  is  believed  to  have  been  born  in  1324  at  the  village  of 
Hipswell,  near  Kichmond  in  Yorkshire,  some  ten  miles  from  Wycliffe- 
on- Tees,  the  home  of  his  family.  Of  his  boyhood  nothing  is 
known,  but  that  he  found  his  way  to  Oxford  ;  and  the  first 
definite  fact  known  of  his  later  career  is  that  in  1361  he  became  master  of 
Balliol  College.  As  a  head  of  a  coUege  Wyclif  was  by  position  a  leader 
among  the  '  seculars,'  and  his  character  well  fitted  him  for  controversy. 
To  a  temperament  naturally  witty,  humorous,  and  acute,  he  had  added 
an  admirable  training  in  the  methods  of  scholastic  philosophy  which 
turned  upon  acute  definitions  and  distinctions.  His  personal  character 
was  so  good  that  his  opponents  could  never  find  in  it  the  slightest  handle 
for  personal  attack  ;  while  his  genial  temperament  appears  to  have  won 
him  the  love  and  co-operation  of  others.  Such  a  man  made  an  admirable 
leader  of  the  movement  against  the  '  regulars.'  In  1366  Wyclif  brought 
himself  into  further  prominence  by  defending,  before  the  university  of 
Oxford,  the  decision  to  withhold  from  the  pope  the  tribute  of  1000  marks  ; 
and  in  1375  he  was  selected  as  one  of  a  deputation  who  were  to  meet  the 
pope's  representatives  at  Bruges,  and  argue  the  whole  question  of  the 
relations  between  England  and  the  papacy. 

Meanwhile,  in  1372,  the  court  party  had  taken  vigorous  action  against 
the  ecclesiastical  ofiicials.  Taking  up  the  policy  of  1341,  they  had 
demanded  and  secured  their  dismissal,  and  a  heavy  tax  had  been  levied 


1376  Edward  III.  275 

on  lands  taken  into  mortmain  since  1282  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a 
fleet.  A  parable  of  the  time  illustrates  the  attitude  of  the  courtiers.  The 
owl  (the  church)  had  borrowed  its  feathers  (endowments)  Hostility  to 
from  the  other  birds  (the  laity) ;  but  when  the  birds  were  ^^'^  Clergy, 
in  danger  from  the  hawk  (the  French),  then  the  birds  rightly  demanded 
to  have  their  feathers  restored  for  their  own  defence.  Ill  luck,  however, 
attended  the  application  of  the  story,  for  the  fleet  so  provided  perished 
off"  La  Kochelle  (see  p.  267);  the  expedition  of  John  of  Gaunt  was  a 
fiiilure,  and  the  new  lay  officials  showed  themselves  less  competent  to 
manage  affiiirs  than  the  more  experienced  ecclesiastics. 

Of  these  ecclesiastics  the  most  conspicuous  was  William  of  Wykeham. 
This  celebrated  man  was  born  in  1324.  He  had  long  served  the  court  in 
the  capacity  of  surveyor  of  works,  had  built  for  Edward  the  william  of 
castles  of  Windsor  and  Queenborough  and  many  other  Wykeham. 
buildings  ;  and  in  reward  had  been  made  president  of  the  king's  council, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  and  chancellor.  In  1386  he  founded  New  College 
at  Oxford,  and  the  college  of  Winchester,  to  which  he  gave  for  a  motto 
the  maxim  *  Manners  makyth  man.'  To  John  of  Gaunt  Wykeham 
appears  to  have  been  personally  distasteful,  and  as  Wykeham's  cause 
was  taken  up  by  the  clergy  as  a  body,  the  controversy  between  the  two 
assumed  a  national  importance. 

Meanwhile,  the  general  condition  of  the  country  had  become  most 
unsatisfiictory.     Queen  Philippa  died   in   1369 ;    and  after  her  death 
Edward  iii.  allowed  himself  to  be  completely  fascinated  by 
the    channs  of  one   of  her  attendants,  Alice   Ferrers  or   tionofthe 
Pierce,  whom  he  publicly  exhibited  in  the  streets  of  London 
as  '  the  Queen  of  Beauty.'    Under  her  influence  his  character  sufi'ered  a 
rapid  deterioration.     Alice  acquired  a  greater  influence  than  any  king's 
mistress  before  or  since  ;  wheedled  the  king  into  granting  her  the  late 
queen's  jewels,  made  an  open  sale  of  her  influence,  and  actually  ventured 
to  dictate  the  decisions  of  the  courts  of  law.     Under  her  influence,  the 
extragavance   of  the   court  knew  no   bounds  ;     the    king    was    over- 
whelmed with  debts ;    and   courtiers,  such  as  lord  Latimer  and  lord 
Neville  and  Richard  Lyons,  made  money  by  buying  up  the  claims  of  the 
king's  creditors  and  getting  payment  for  themselves  at  the  expense  of 
others. 

Such  a  state  of  affairs  at  court  caused  widespread  dissatisfaction ;  and  in 
1376  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  who,  since  his  return  to  England,  had 
been  living  the  retired  life  of  an  invalid,  roused  himself  to   The  Good 
exertion ;  and,  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  malcontents,    Parl»anient. 
demanded  a  change  of  ministers  and  the  purification  of  the  court.     The 


276  Latex  Angevin  Kings  1376 

famous  parliament  of  1376,  honourably  distinguished  a&  Hhe  Good 
Parliament,'  met  in  April,  and,  probably  under  the  direct  guidance  of 
the  Black  Prince  and  William  of  Wykeham,  made  a  vigorous  attack  on 
the  court.  As  their  speaker  they  chose  Peter  de  la  Mare,  steward  of  the 
earl  of  March,  who  had  married  the  daughter  of  Lionel,  duke  of 
Clarence,  and  was  friendly  to  a  policy  of  reform ;  and  then  proceeded  to 
attack  Latimer,  Neville,  Lyons,  and  Alice  Perrers.  Their  method  of 
attack  was  almost  as  important  as  the  attack  itself,  for  the  commons 
proceeded  by  impeaching  the  accused  before  the  House  of  Lords.  In 
this  method  of  procedure,  the  House  of  Commons,  as  a  body,  appears  as 
prosecutor.  The  Lords  act  as  judges ;  hear  the  evidence  brought  by  the 
managers  for  the  commons,  their  speeches  on  it,  and  the  answers  of  the 
accused,  and  finally  pronounce  by  a  majority  the  verdict  and  sentence. 
Latimer  and  Lyons  were  found  guilty  of  having  lent  the  king  20,000 
marks  and  receiving  ^20,000  in  return  ;  Neville  of  buying  up  the  king's 
debts  ;  and  Alice  Perrers  of  breaking  an  ordinance  which  forbade  women 
to  practise  in  the  courts  of  law. 

In  June  the  Black  Prince  died,  leaving  behind  him  a  name  for  military 
courage  and  chivalry,  and  perhaps  a  sounder  reputation  for  the  reforming 

John  of       zeal  he  had  shown  in  his  later  years.     As  in  the  eyes  of  the 

Gaunt.  reforming  party  John  of  Gaunt  was  capable  of  any  crime, 
the  commons  proceeded  to  take  trenchant  measures  to  exclude  him  from 
power,  and  to  secure  the  succession  of  the  little  Richard,  the  sole  surviv- 
ing child  of  the  Black  Prince.  They  had  Richard  brought  before  them 
as  heir ;  induced  the  king  to  accept  the  addition  to  his  council  of  ten 
additional  members  of  the  popular  party  ;  and  they  presented  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  forty  petitions,  demanding  the  redress  of  griev- 
ances of  all  sorts  and  kinds  dealing  with  the  administration  of  justice, 
the  claims  of  the  pope  and  foreign  clergy,  into  whose  pockets  no  less  than 
£20,000  of  English  money  was  said  to  go  yearly,  interference  with  the 
right  of  free  parliamentary  elections,  and  the  non-enforcement  of  the 
statutes  of  labour. 

So  long  as  parliament  was  sitting,  favourable  answers  were  given  to 
their  requests ;  but  when  it  was  dissolved  in  July,  after  the  longest 
session  then  recorded,  John  of  Gaunt  resumed  his  influence. 
Alice  Perrers  was  recalled.  Peter  de  la  Mare  was  thrown 
into  prison,  and  an  elaborate  list  of  charges  of  peculation,  similar  to  those 
advanced  against  Hubert  de  Burgh  and  Becket,  was  brought  against 
William  of  Wykeham.  The  new  members  of  council  were  not  allowed 
to  sit,  and  not  one  of  the  petitions  received  the  formal  consent  of  the 
crown.      Readily  snatching  at  any  weapon  with  which  to  attack  the 


1377  Edward  IIL  277 

clergy,  John  of  Gaunt  had  endeavoured  to  pose  as  a  sincere  friend  of 
Wyclif ;  and  the  Oxford  doctor,  perhaps  too  sanguine,  perhaps  too  easily 
carried  away  by  the  blandishments  of  the  court,  had  allowed  himself  to 
appear  as  a  friend  of  the  duke.  Confident  in  the  strength  of  his  position 
and  his  power  to  pack  a  parliament,  Lancaster  summoned  that  body  in 
January  1376,  and  was  so  successful  that  a  majority  of  the  members 
petitioned  for  the  restoration  of  Latimer,  Neville,  and  Alice  Ferrers,  and 
voted  a  poll-tax  of  one  groat  per  head. 

Exasperated  by  the  attack  on  Wykeham,  convocation  then  determined 
to  strike  at  the  duke  through  Wyclif,  who  was  sunnnoned  to  appear 
before  a  committee  of  bishops  at  St.  Paul's.  He  appeared  Trial  of 
under  the  protection  of  John  of  Gaunt  and  his  friend  Henry  Wyclif. 
Percy,  who,  having  been  fonnerly  a  reformer,  had  been  won  over  by  the 
office  of  lord  marshal.  The  natural  result  was  an  altercation  between 
Lancaster  and  the  committee.  The  chainnan,  Courtenay,  bishop  of 
London,  was  insulted ;  and  so  angry  were  the  Londoners  at  the  insult 
offered  to  their  bishop  that  a  riot  foUowed,  in  which  John  of  Gaunt 
and  Percy  with  difficulty  escaped  with  their  lives ;  but  no  violence 
seems  to  have  been  offered  to  Wyclif,  in  spite  of  his  association  with  the 
unpopular  noblemen.  As  yet,  however,  Wyclif  had  not  published  the 
views  which  afterwards  gained  him  the  reputation  of  a  heretic  ;  but  his 
short  experience  of  political  life  seems  to  have  decided  him  in  favour  of 
more  effective  and  pennanent  ways  of  increasing  his  influence. 

For  the  moment  John  of  Gaunt  seemed  supreme,  and  nothing  short  of 
an  armed  insurrection  seemed  able  to  displace  him,  when    Death  of 
the  death  of  the  king  in  June  1377  opened  a  new  page  in    Edward  ill. 
the  contest. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Halidon  HUl, 1338 

Battle  of  Crecy,   .        .        .        .        .        .        .  1346 

Black  Death 1349 

Statute  of  Treasons, 1352 

Statute  of  Prsemunire, 1353 

Battle  of  Poitiers, 1356 

Peace  of  Bretigny ;        .  1360 

The  Good  Parliament, 1376 


CHAPTEE  IV 

RICHARD  II.:    1377-1399 

T>        io/?rj  •    1    r  1381,  Anne  of  Bohemia. 

Born  1366 ;  married  |  jgg^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^ 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Scotland,  France.  Emperor. 

Robert  ii.,  d.  1390.         Charles  v.,  d.  1380.         Wenceslas,  deposed  1400. 
Robert  ill. ,  d.  1406.        Charles  vi. ,  1422. 

The  Minority — Peasant  Revolt — The  Lollards —Opposition  Nobles  displace  the 
King's  Ministers — Richard's  personal  rule— His  revenge  on  the  Nobles,  and 
final  fall. 

On  Edward's  death,  Ms  grandson  Richard,  the  son  of  the  Black  Prince, 
was  made  king.  He  was  only  eleven  years  of  age,  and  his  accession  is  a 
Accession  of  strong  proof  both  of  the  popularity  of  his  father  and  of  the 
Richard  II.  strong  hold  gained  by  the  idea  of  hereditary  right ;  for 
as  yet,  with  the  exception  of  Edward  iii.,  no  minor  had  been  allowed 
to  reign  in  England  who  had  an  uncle  of  full  age  ready  to  take  the 
throne. 

The  experiment,  however,  was  fraught  with  many  dangers,  one  of  which 
was   the  accumulation  of  immense  territorial  influence  in  the  hands  of 
.  .  the   royal  family.       The  problem  of  providing  for   their 

for  younger  younger  SOUS  has  always  been  one  of  difficulty  for  mon- 
^°"^*  archs.     Before  the  Norman  Conquest,  the  temptation  to  find 

such  provision  in  the  revival  of  under-kingdoms  frequently  proved  a 
menace  to  the  integrity  of  the  realm.  It  is  a  strong  proof  of  the 
prudence  of  William  the  Conqueror,  that  he  created  none  of  his  sons  an 
English  earl ;  and  Henry  ii.,  in  dividing  his  wide  dominions,  had  wisely 
kept  England  intact.  The  first  to  depart  from  this  wholesome  policy  was 
Henry  iii. '  who  created  the  earldom  of  Cornwall  for  his  brother  Richard, 


1377  Richard  11.  279 

made  his  eldest  son,  Edward,  earl  of  Chester,  and  his  second,  Edmund, 
earl  of  Lancaster,  Derby,  and  Leicester.  Edward  i.  was  responsible  for 
the  marriage  of  Edmund's  son  Thomas  with  the  heiress  of  Lincoln  and 
Salisbury  ;  and  Edward  ii.  gave  the  earldoms  of  Norfolk  and  Kent  to  his 
half-brothers. 

On  the  accession  of  Edward  iii.,  therefore,  he  found  the  earldoms  of 
Chester,  Lancaster,  Derby,  Lincoln,  Leicester,  Cornwall,  Kent,  and  Nor- 
folk in  the  hands  of  the  royal  family,  and  when  his  sons  The  great 
grew  up,  he  carried  on  and  extended  the  system.  His  eldest  Earldoms, 
son,  the  Black  Prince,  was  created  duke  of  Cornwall  in  1337,  and  married 
his  cousin  Joan,  the  heiress  of  the  earl  of  Kent.  His  second  son  Lionel, 
duke  of  Clarence,  married  the  heiress  of  William  de  Burgh,  earl  of 
Ulster,  and  heiress  of  a  third  of  the  estates  of  the  earls  of  Gloucester  and 
Hereford.  In  1368  Lionel  died,  leaving  a  daughter,  Philippa,  who 
united  her  great  possessions  to  those  of  Roger  Mortimer,  earl  of  March, 
the  great-grandson  of  the  traitor,  and  himself  one  the  leaders  of  the 
refonning  party  in  the  Good  Parliament.  Edward's  third  son,  John  of 
Gaunt,  earl  of  Richmond,  married  the  heiress  of  Henry,  duke  of 
Lancaster,  who  brought  her  husband,  besides  Lancaster,  the  earldoms  of 
Derby  and  Leicester ;  and  their  eldest  son  Henry  married  the  heiress 
of  half  the  lands  of  the  Bohuns  of  Hereford  ;  while  her  sister  gave  her 
hand  to  Edward's  fifth  son,  Thomas  of  Woodstock.  The  accumulation 
of  territory  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  family  was  therefore  enormous  ; 
and  as  the  possession  of  certain  territories  appeared  inevitably  to  force  on 
the  owner  a  certain  unifonn  line  of  policy,  it  may  be  said,  roughly  speak- 
ing, that  John  of  Gaunt  was  at  the  head  of  the  ancient  combination  of 
north-country  barons,  that  the  line  of  Clarence  was  identified  with  the 
lords  marcher  of  Wales,  while  the  king  as  earl  palatine  of  Chester  and 
earl  of  Cornwall  had  special  powers,  which  gave  him  a  strong  claim  over 
the  loyalty  of  the  men  of  Cheshire,  and  a  certain  revenue  from  the  valu- 
able mines  of  Cornwall.  The  most  important  earldoms  unconnected  with 
the  royal  family  were  those  of  Northumberland,  created  at  the  close 
of  the  last  reign  for  Lancaster's  friend,  Henry  Percy  ;  Warwick,  held  by 
the  Beauchamps  ;  Salisbury,  by  the  family  of  Montacute  or  Montagu ; 
Oxford,  by  the  family  of  Vere,  and  Arundel.  A  knowledge  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  these  earldoms  is  essential  for  understanding  the  events  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

Following  the  precedent  set  during  the  minorities  of  Henry  iii.  and 
Edward  in.,  a  council  of  government  was  appointed,  re-   i^he  Royal 
presentative  of  both  parties,  including,  for  example,  the  earl   Council, 
of  Arundel  as  the  friend  of  Lancaster,  and  also  the  earl  of  March.     To 


280  Later  Angevin  Kings  1377 

avoid  jealousy  the  king's  uncles  were  all  excluded,  and  the  guardianship 
of  the  king's  person  and  the  general  superintendence  of  aflfairs  were  left 
to  his  mother,  Joan  of  Kent,  who  enjoyed  unbounded  popularity. 
When  parliament  met,  the  same  conciliatory  policy  was  carried  on.  The 
commons  were  deferential  to  the  duke  of  Lancaster,  and  he  on  his  part 
made  no  complaint  when  Peter  de  la  Mare  was  re-elected  speaker.  It 
was  agreed  that  during  the  king's  minority  the  chancellor,  treasurer,  and 
other  great  officers  of  state  should  be  chosen  by  parliament,  and  also  that 
two  London  merchants,  William  Walworth  and  John  Philipot,  under  the 
name  of  treasurers,  should  superintend  the  expenditure  of  a  liberal  grant 
made  for  the  war.  This  excellent  beginning,  however,  proved  too  good 
to  last.  John  of  Gaunt  was  too  ambitious  to  be  content  with  a  secondary 
position,  too  incompetent  to  govern  well  when  he  got  power  into  his 
hands,  and  his  combination  of  arrogance  and  inefficiency  soon  made  him 
as  impopular  as  ever. 

The  greatest  event  of  the  early  years  of  Richard  ii.  was  the  peasant 
revolt  of  1381.  It  was  the  result  of  a  variety  of  causes,  the  most  obvious 
Peasant  ^^  which,  if  not  the  most  important,  was  the  poll-tax  of 
Revolt.  1381.  Driven  to  their  wits'  end  to  provide  money,  and 
very  imperfectly  informed  as  to  the  taxable  capacity  of  the  country, 
the  commons  in  13V9  had  followed  the  precedent  set  in  1377,  and  levied 
a  poll-tax.  This  tax  was  graduated.  A  duke  paid  ^6,  13s.  4d., 
earls  paid  ^4,  and  so  on  to  the  humblest  villein,  who  contributed  one 
groat ;  and  the  clergy  paid  on  a  similar  scale.  This  tax  was  collected 
with  great  exactitude  ;  and  in  those  counties  where  the  rate-books  have 
been  preserved,  and  especially  where  they  have  been  printed,  they  afibrd 
a  complete  and  accessible  census  of  the  population.  The  amount  raised, 
however,  fell  short  of  what  was  needed,  and  in  1380  a  second  poll- 
tax  was  imposed.  The  graduation  of  this,  however,  was  by  no  means  so 
fair.  The  j)oorest  were  to  jDay  one  shilling  ;  the  richest  only  one  pound. 
Such  an  arrangement,  which  brought  home  to  every  one's  door  the 
consequences  of  ill  government  and  extravagance,  produced  widespread 
discontent ;  and  in  June  1381  the  Kentishmen  rose  in  arms,  headed  by 
Wat  Tyler,  who  is  said  to  have  been  driven  to  fury  by  an  insult  oflfered  to 
his  daughter,  and  rescued  from  Maidstone  gaol  a  priest  of  revolutionary 
views  named  John  Ball,  the  author  of  the  distich 

'  When  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span, 
Who  was  then  the  gentleman  ? ' 

who  had  been  imprisoned  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Simultaneous  with  the  Kentish  rising,  but  excited  by  various    causes, 


1381  Pdchard  II.  281 

insurrections  broke  out  in  Essex,  Hertfordshire,  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  and 

Cambridge,  and  even  in  such  an  isolated  shire  as  Somersetshire.     The 

mainspring  of  these  outbreaks  was  hatred  of  villeinage.     In 

.,1   ■  ,  11,  Discontent 

Kent  villemage  was  unknown,  and  there  the  movement  was   of  the 

distinctly  political ;  but  elsewhere  the  villeins  were  deeply  *  ^'"^' 
incensed  at  the  attempted  enforcement  of  the  statutes  of  labourers,  and 
at  the  stop  which  had  been  put  in  practice  to  the  commutation  of  villein 
services  for  money.  The  times  were  exceedingly  prosperous  ;  wages  were 
naturally  high,  and  in  consequence,  not  only  was  restriction  on  a  fiirther 
rise  resented,  but  those  who  still  continued  in  villeinage  saw  that  the  real 
money  value  of  their  service  rents  was  steadily  rising,  while  no  lord  would 
willingly  exchange  them  for  a  money  commutation.  In  addition  to  this, 
it  seems  certain  that  considerable  excitement  had  been  caused  by  the  less 
temperate  of  Wyclif s  simple  priests  and  other  enthusiasts ;  and  the 
materials  for  insurrection  had  of  late  years  been  much  augmented  by  dis- 
banded soldiery,  who  had  returned  from  the  wars. 

Accordingly,  all  these  causes  worked  together  to  produce  the  most 
serious  popular  outbreak  that  England  has  probably  seen.  The  actual 
insurrection  only  occupied  a  fortnight ;  but  while  it  lasted,  Tyler's 
all  the  south-eastern  counties  were  in  flame.  Everywhere  Revolt, 
the  manor-houses  were  fired  and  the  manor-rolls  burnt,  precisely  as  was 
done  by  the  French  peasantry  in  1789 ;  and  every  lawyer  on  whom  the 
peasantry  could  lay  hands  was  promptly  put  to  death.  Converging  on 
London,  the  Kentishmen,  under  Wat  Tyler,  crossed  the  Thames  at 
London  Bridge,  murdered  Simon  of  Sudbury,  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  chancellor,  who  is  said  to  have  called  them  '  shoeless  ribalds,'  and  his 
colleague,  Sir  Robert  Hales,  the  treasurer,  and  roundly  declared  that  they 
would  never  have  a  King  John  to  rule  over  them.  The  villeins  were  less 
outrageous  and  more  reasonable.  Richard  met  the  Essex  men  at  Mile-end, 
and  having  gained  their  goodwill  by  promising  the  abolition  of  villein  tenure, 
prevailed  on  them  to  go  home.  Next  day  he  met  Wat  Tyler  at  Smith- 
field  ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  interview  an  altercation  broke  out,  in 
which  Tyler  was  stabbed  by  William  Walworth,  the  lord  mayor. 
Richard,  however,  showed  great  presence  of  mind.  Lad  as  he  was,  he 
rode  boldly  forward  and  won  the  hearts  of  Tyler's  men  by  exclaiming : 
'  I  will  be  your  leader ! '  Meanwhile,  Henry  Despenser,  bishop  of  Norwich, 
had  put  down  the  Norfolk  insurgents  at  North  Walsham,  and  burnt  the 
church  in  which  they  took  refuge ;  and  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
the  news  of  the  king's  promises  was  followed  by  the  dispersal  of  the 
villeins. 

Difficulties,  however,  presented  themselves  in  the  way  of  giving  these 


282  Later  Angevin  Kings  1881 

promises  the  sanction  of  law.  The  villeins'  demands  were  that  the 
customary  services  should  be  abolished  in  favour  of  a  fixed  rental  of  four- 
pence  an  acre,  and  that  all  should  have  liberty  to  buy  and  sell  in  fairs 
and  markets.  To  promise  on  his  own  responsibility  that  these  should  be 
granted,  was  clearly  in  excess  of  the  king^s  prerogative.  It  was  giving 
away  what  did  not  belong  to  him  ;  and  when  parliament  met,  the  members, 
while  showing  themselves  willing  enough  to  take  up  the  political  cries  of 
the  Kentish  rebels,  took  up  the  unimpeachable  legal  ground  that  the  king 
had  no  right  to  promise  an  arbitrary  and  wholesale  commutation  of 
customary  services. 

Apparently  the  villeins  had  lost  their  case  ;  but  in  practice  they  gained 
from  individual  landlords  what  parliament  refused  to  sanction  in  the 

Results  of    mass.     Terrified  by  the  prospect  of  a  second  outbreak,  land- 

the  Revolt.  \q^^^  willingly  commuted  services  so  difficult  of  exaction, 
and  found  their  advantage  in  letting  their  lands  to  leasehold  tenants  who 
cultivated  them  with  hired  labour.  From  the  villein  tenants  of  the 
fourteenth  century  sprang  the  yeomen  of  a  later  period,  holding  their 
copyhold  lands  practically  as  freeholds  ;  while  the  landless  wage-earning 
labourers  enjoyed  after  1381  a  period  of  prosperity  which  lasted  more 
than  a  century,  until  the  wholesale  introduction  of  sheep-farming  pro- 
duced a  new  economical  crisis. 

The  hostility  shown  by  the  Kentish  rebels  to  John  of  Gaunt  convinced 

that  nobleman  that  he  had  little  chance  of  playing  a  great  political  game 

,  ^      ,         in  England.    Nevertheless,  he  retained  considerable  influence 
John  of  „  1        T      1  ,  ■         f. 

Gaunt  goes  till   1385,  when  he   began  to    make  preparations   for  an 

expedition  to  Spain,  where  he  had  some  hopes  of  winning 

the  crown  of  Castile,  as  husband  of  the  elder  daughter  of  Pedro  the 

Cruel.    In  1386  he  left  England,  and  did  not  return  till  the  close  of  1389. 

Meanwhile,  the  ideas  of  Wyclif  had  been  rapidly  spreading.     Shortly 

after  the  death  of  Edward,  a  buU  directing  his  trial  for  holding  opinions 

subversive  of  church   and   state  had  been  received  from 
Wyclif. 

Eome  ;  but  when  Wyclif  appeared  to  answer  the  charges, 

he  was  backed  by  the  presence  of  a  large  body  of  Londoners  ;  and  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  who  knew  Wyclif 's  worth,  and  seems  to  have  generally 
consulted  him  about  papal  business,  peremptorily  stopped  the  proceed- 
ings. Upon  this,  Wyclif  retired  to  his  living  of  Lutterworth,  which  had 
been  presented  to  him  by  the  crown,  seemingly  for  his  services  at  Bruges 
in  1375,  and  devoted  himself  to  popularising  his  ideas.  In  this  work  he 
showed  a  capacity  with  which  his  Oxford  friends  could  hardly  have 
credited  him.  Abandoning  his  scholastic  style,  he  poured  forth  a  series 
of  tracts  in  homely  English,  which  are  generally  considered  to  be  the  first 


1384  Richard  11.  283 

specimens  of  literary  English  prose  written  since  the  cessation  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  and  which,  even  had 
they  no  historical  importance,  would  have  given  Wyclif  a  high  place  in 
the  history  of  English  literature.  Besides  this,  he  organised  a  body  of 
poor  priests,  not  by  any  means  dissimilar  to  Wesley's  preachers,  who 
were  to  go  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  teaching,  when 
permitted,  in  the  churches,  when  not,  on  the  village  green  or  common,  and 
who  were  to  show  in  their  own  persons  an  example  of  real  poverty 
and  asceticism.  But  what  did  more  than  anything  else  to  secure  per- 
manence for  his  reputation  was  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  de- 
signed by  himself,  and  carried  out  partly  by  his  own  hand  and  partly  under 
his  supervision.  This  translation  was  made,  not  from  the  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  but  from  the  Vulgate  or  Latin  version ;  so  good,  however, 
was  the  Latin  text,  that  Wyclif  s  English  version  has  been  made  the  basis 
of  our  own  translation,  and  many  passages  of  the  latter  repeat  almost 
verbatim  the  words  of  Wyclif. 

Though  Wyclif  s  name  is  not  directly  connected  with  the  rising  of 
1381,  for  John  Ball's  ideas  were  quite  independent  of  Wyclif  s  teaching, 

there  is  little  doubt  that  the  doctrine  of  equality  preached 

,,..  .  .,  i,ti  Renewed 

by  his  priests,  and  their  invectives  against  wealth  and  luxury,    attack  on 

had  not  been  without  influence  in  producing  the  feelings  which       ^^  *  * 

gave  rise  to  it ;  and  it  is  certain  that  its  suppression  was  followed  by  a 

formidable  attack  upon  the  refonner.     Simon  of  Sudbury  was  succeeded 

by  Courtenay,  bishop  of  London,  and,  in  1382,  he  called  a  provisional 

synod  to  consider  Wyclif s  views.     In  the  fonner  trials  it  was  Wyclifs 

political  tenets  which  had  been  called  in  question  ;  now  he  was  accused 

of  heresy,  and  twenty-four  conclusions  extracted  from  his  writings  were 

branded  as  heretical.    Among  these  was  one  which  questioned  the  literal 

truth  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  a  second  that  ecclesiastics 

should  not  hold  temporal  possessions ;  a  third  was  that  '  he  who  gives 

alms  to  a  mendicant  is  excommunicate.'     Having  obtained  this  decision, 

Courtenay's  next  step  was  to  attack  Oxford,  the  stronghold  of  Wyclifs 

views,  and  drive  his  adherents  out  of  the  university.     Peter  Kigge,  the 

chancellor,  Wyclifs  friend,  was  expelled ;  some  were  compelled  to  recant ; 

others  fled.     At  a  parliament  held  in  Oxford,  Wyclif  was  summoned  to 

appear  before  convocation  and  explain  his  views.     The  result  was  a 

further  condemnation,  upon  which  Wyclif  for  the  last  time  retired  to 

Lutterworth.     But  in  England  Courtenay  coidd  do  no  more.     No  law 

existed  for  the  burning  of  heretics ;  and  Wyclif  was  too     Wyciifs 

infirm  and  too  prudent  to  obey  a  summons  to  Rome,  and  died     J^^ath. 

in  peace  at  Lutterworth  in  1384.      So  successful  had  he  been  that  in 


284  Later  Angevin  Kings  1384 

spite  of  the  suppression  of  his  '  simple  priests,'  his  tenets  spread  rapidly, 
not  only  among  the  poorer  classes,  but  even  at  court.  Kichard's  queen, 
Anne  of  Bohemia,  whom  he  married  in  1382,  was  a  convert ;  and  so 
numerous  were  his  followers  that  it  was  said  by  an  exasperated  monk 
that  '  if  you  saw  five  men  talking  together,  three  were  Wyclifites.'  The 
general  name  given  to  them  was  Lollard.  Its  origin  is  unknown.  Some 
derive  it  from  lullen,  '  to  sing ' ;  but  in  1396,  Pope  Boniface  ix.,  writing  to 
Kichard  ii.,  mentions  them  as  those  who  call  themselves  'the  poor  men  of 
Christ's  treasure-house,'  but  whom  '  the  common  people  in  more  correct 
language  have  called  "  loUards,"  as  being  "  dry  tares,"  lollium  aridum,^ 
which  may  or  may  not  be  a  pun. 

As  there  were  no  children  of  Richard's  marriage,  it  was  needful  to 
provide  for  the  succession,  and  in  1385  the  young  Roger,  earl  of  March, 
Richard's  grandson  of  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence,  was  definitely 
Favourites,  recognised  as  successor  in  case  the  king  died  without 
children.  The  same  year  the  Princess  of  Wales  died ;  and  as  she 
was  a  woman  of  ability  and  tact,  her  loss  as  a  moderating  and  reconciling 
power  was  much  felt.  Richard  was  now  nineteen  ;  but  in  spite  of  the 
promise  given  by  his  resolute  conduct  in  1381,  it  was  a  long  time  before 
he  showed  any  real  inclination  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  government, 
and  at  an  age  when  his  father  and  grandfather  were  immersed  in  affairs, 
he  was  still  given  over  to  pleasure.  In  these  circumstances,  his  immediate 
friends  had  much  influence  ;  and,  as  a  rule,  their  influence  was  bad.  His 
half-brothers,  Thomas  and  John  Holland,  earls  respectively  of  Kent  and 
Huntingdon,  were  violent  and  lawless  men ;  Robert  de  Vere,  earl  of 
Oxford,  the  king's  bosom  friend,  was  in  everything,  except  that  he 
belonged  to  an  ancient  English  family,  very  much  a  second  Gaveston  ; 
Sir  Simon  Burley,  his  tutor,  inculcated  notions  of  high  prerogative 
which  were  sure  in  their  application  to  lead  to  trouble ;  and  though 
Michael  de  la  Pole,  earl  of  Suffolk,  the  chancellor,  was  a  painstaking 
financier  and  honest  soldier,  he  never  won  the  confidence  of  the  country. 
Against  these  men,  who  might  be  regarded  as  a  court  party,  a  powerful 
opposition  was  being  organised  by  Thomas  of  Gloucester,  the  king's  uncle. 
The  Opposi-  ^^d  by  his  cousin,  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  earl  of  Derby,  son 
tion.  Qf  John   of  Gaunt.     Much  more  astute  than  Lancaster, 

Thomas  and  Henry  made  every  effort  to  conciliate  not  only  the  clergy  but 
the  commons.  Lancaster  had  offended  the  former  by  his  attacks  on 
Wykeham  and  his  patronage  of  Wyclif ;  Bolingbroke  won  their  favour 
by  deference  to  Courtenay  and  by  discountenancing  any  approach  to 
Lollardism.  On  his  part,  Gloucester  cultivated  popularity,  made  himself 
a  rival  of  Richard  for  popular  favour,  aided  Bolingbroke  to  win  the 


1387  Richard  IL  285 

alienated  aflfection  of  the  Londoners.  The  result  was  the  growth  of  an 
opposition  of  no  ordinary  power,  including  Thomas  Beauchanip,  earl  of 
Warwick ;  Thomas  Mowbray,  earl  of  Nottingham ;  Thomas,  bishop  of  Ely, 
and  his  brother,  Kichard  Fitzalan,  earl  of  Arundel,  and  even  William  of 
Wykeham,  now  a  very  old  man. 

The  attack,  which  was  more  personal  than  political,  opened  in  the 
parliament  of  1386,  when  a  demand  was  made  for  a  heavy  tax  to  enable 
Richard  to  carry  on  the  war  in  person.  Tliis  naturally  led  Suffolk's 
to  discussion  ;  and  Richard  was  ill-advised  enough  to  take  dismissal, 
this  opportunity  to  make  his  friend,  Vere,  duke  of  Ireland.  The  result 
was  a  storm.  Parliament  demanded  the  dismissal  of  Michael  de  la  Pole  ; 
Richard  declared  that  at  their  request  not  a  scullion  in  his  kitchen  should 
be  dismissed.  On  this  the  act  of  deposition  of  Edward  ii.  was  moved  for 
in  the  commons,  and  Richard,  having  convinced  himself  that  parliament 
was  in  earnest,  dismissed  Suflblk,  and  made  bishop  Arundel  chancellor. 
The  fallen  minister  was  then  impeached  on  the  usual  charge  of  malversii- 
tion,  found  guilty,  stripped  of  his  property,  and  ordered  to  be 
imprisoned. 

The  next  step  of  the  opposition  was  to  demand  the  appointment  of  a 

commission  to  regulate  the  royal  household  and  the  realm  after  the 

manner  of  the  Lords  Ordainers.     This  was  agreed  to  ;  but    „ 

°  Royal 

though  he  had  yielded  to  pressure,  Richard  was  none  the    Household 

less  furious  at  what  he  considered  an  insult  to  his  prerogative.   b^^Co^mmis- 

Taking  with  him  Sir  Simon  Burley,  the  duke  of  Ireland,   **°"* 

archbishop  Neville,  Tressilian,  the  cliief  justice.  Sir  Nicholas  Brember,  a 

Londoner,  and  releasing  Suffolk,  he  retired  into  the  country,  and  elicited 

from  the  judges  an  opinion  that  the   commission  was  contrary  to  the 

prerogative  of  the  crown.     In  return,  Gloucester  charged  Neville,  Vere, 

Suffolk,  Tressilian,  and  Brember  with  treason,  and  both  parties  prepared 

for  war.     The  collapse  of  the  king's  friends  was,  however, 

complete.     Bolingbroke   defeated  Vere  at  Radcot  Bridge    Radcot 

in  Oxfordshire,  and  Vere  at   once  fled   to  the  continent.      "  ^^' 

Suffolk  and  Neville  did  the  like.     Tressilian  and  Brember  alone  were 

taken. 

A  new  parliament  met  in  January  1387,  and  in  it  the  five  named  by 

Gloucester  were  formally  charged  by  Gloucester,  Derby,  Nottingham, 

Warwick,    and    Arundel,    who    were    named    the    Lords   The  Lords 

Appellant.      The    charges    were    various :    ranging    from    Appellant. 

attempting  to   make   Vere   king    of    Ireland,   to   causing    Richard  to 

mipoverish  the  crown  by  lavish  gifts  of  lands  and  money.     The  judges 

declared  an  accusation  brouglit  in  this  form  illegal ;  but  parliament  over- 


Later  Angevin  Kings  1387 

rode  their  decision,  found  the  accused  guilty  of  treason,  and,  by  what 
amounted  to  an  act  of  attainder,  condemned  all  except  Neville  to  be  put 
to  death.  This  was  immediately  done  in  the  case  of  Tressilian  and 
Brember,  and  Neville  was  disposed  of  by  the  ingenious  device  of  getting 
Pope  Urban  vi.  to  promote  him  to  the  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrews  in 
Scotland,  a  country  which  acknowledged  a  rival  pope.  Besides  Tressilian 
and  Brember,  Sir  Simon  Burley  and  three  other  laymen  were  put  to 
death  ;  and  these  wholesale  executions  of  rival  politicians  mark  a  further 
development  of  the  barbarous  practices  which  had  been  begun  by  the 
murder  of  Gaveston,  and  were  to  cuhninate  in  the  wholesale  attainders  of 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  the  judicial  murders  of  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts. 
By  such  acts  the  parliament  of  1387  well  earned  its  infamous  title  of  the 
Merciless.  For  about  a  year  Gloucester  and  his  friends  retained  their 
power ;  but  in  1389,  Richard,  who  was  now  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
suddenly  declared  his  intention  of  managing  his  own  affairs,  dismissed 
Arundel  from  the  chancery  and  the  lords  appellant  from  the  council,  and 
apparently  with  great  satisfaction  to  his  subjects  inaugurated  a  new 
regime. 

The  character  of  the  young  king  has  always  been  regarded  as  one  of 
the  puzzles  of  history.  Good-looking,  clever,  cultivated,  inheriting  the 
Character  of  popularity  of  his  father  and  mother,  he  nevertheless  proved 
Richard  II.  ^  complete  failure  ;  and  ended  by  having  his  crown  taken 
from  him  by  a  decision  almost  as  unanimous  as  that  which  dethroned 
Edward  ii.  One  cause  of  this  was  undoubtedly  his  habitual  idleness. 
Whether  this  was  due  to  constitution,  or  was  the  result  of  an  evil  bringing- 
up,  cannot  now  be  determined,  but  it  certainly  was  the  dominant  trait  of 
his  political  character  ;  and  the  occasional  flashes  of  fitful  energy  which 
he  displayed  only  served  to  make  his  ordinary  conduct  more  exasperating. 
Nevertheless,  for  eight  years,  from  1389  to  1397,  in  spite  of  his  high 
views  on  prerogative,  he  reigned  with  considerable  success,  acting  con- 
stitutionally through  his  ministers  and  by  the  advice  of  parliament ;  and 
the  contrast  between  this  period  and  the  two  years  which  followed  is  so 
marked  that  it  has  been  suggested,  with  some  plausibility,  that  a  mental 
change  amounting  to  insanity  is  the  true  explanation  of  his  later  conduct. 

Several  events  made  government  work  more  smoothly  after  1388.  In 
1389  John  of  Gaunt  returned  from  Spain,  and,  instead  of  resuming  his 
Quieter  former  intrigiTes,  showed  himself  an  honest  subject  and  a 
Times.  faithfiil  adviser  of  his  nephew  ;  and  as  he  had  great  influence 
over  both  his  brothers,  Gloucester  and  York,  this  change  in  his  conduct 
was  of  the  first  importance.  In  1390  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  left  England 
to  fight  against  the  Lithuanians,  in  the  ranks  of  the  German  knights, 


1396  Richard  11.  287 

and  with  the  exception  of  one  short  visit  to  England,  stayed  with  them 
till  1392.  Then  he  went  by  way  of  Prague,  Vienna,  Venice  and  Rhodes 
to  Jerusalem,  and  returned  home  in  1393  by  way  of  Italy  and  France. 
Suffolk  died  abroad ;  and,  as  Vere  never  returned  to  England,  a  com- 
plete break  was  made  between  Richard  and  his  old  advisers.  The 
energies  of  Henry  Percy  were  for  the  most  part  occupied  in  border 
warfare,  during  which,  in  1388,  was  fought  the  famous  battle  of  Otter- 
bum,  near  Wooler,  the  true  facts  of  which  have  been  almost  lost  in  the 
ballad  of  '  Chevy  Chace.'  The  earl  of  March  was  in  Ireland ;  and 
Warwick,  Mowbray,  and  Arundel  were  not  strong  enough  of  themselves 
to  give  trouble.     All  these  things  made  for  peace. 

The  chancellorship  was  first  given  by  Richard  to  the  aged  William  of 
Wykeham ;  and  on  his  death  in  1391,  to  bishop  Arundel,  who  held  it 

till  1396,  when  he  became  archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  and  ^ 

.11  -/.111  Constitu- 

the  treasury  was  occupied  by  a  series  of  able  but  not  re-  tional 

markable  bishops,  whose  policy  was  confined  to  the  routine     °^*™™^**  • 
of  office.     The  period  covered  by  their  rule  is  marked  by  all  the  signs  of 
good  government.     Ministers  were  trusted  by  parhament,  which,  on  one 
occasion,  expressly  declared  that  it  had  no  fault  to  find  with  their  rule. 
Taxation  was  moderate  and  regular.     Prices  were  low  and  wages  good. 
The  irritation  of  the  villeins  was  fast  passing  away  through  the  reason- 
able concessions  of  the  lords.     A  series  of  truces  were  concluded  with 
France.     The  eight  years  of  constitutional  government,  moreover,  were 
marked  by  a  large  amount  of  useful  legislation,   in  which  the  com- 
mons had  their  full  share.     The  statutes  of  provisors  and    statutes  of 
praemunire  were  re-enacted  with  additional  safeguards.    The   Provisors 
statute  of  mortmain  was  enlarged  so  as  to  forbid  the  practice    Praemunire 
of  granting  estates  to  laymen  in  trust  for  religious  houses,    ^^"^^^  • 
and  guilds  or  fraternities  were  also  forbidden  to  acquire  land.     On  the 
other    hand,    Richard,   to  his  great  honour,  refused  his  consent  to  a 
monstrous  proposal  that  villeins  should  not  be  allowed  to  acquire  lands, 
or  to  send  their  children  to  school. 

Another  statute,  that  of  maintenance,  dealt  with  an  evil  which  was  to 
be  the  curse  of  England  for  the  next  hundred  years. 

In  the  days  before  the  statute  of  quia  emptores,  the  military  strength 
of  the  great  nobles  had  lain  in  their  sub-tenants  bound  to  do  them  mili- 
tary service ;  but  since  the  practice  of  subinfeudation  had  statute  of 
been  abolished,  they  had  begun  to  replace  their  vassals  by  Maintenance, 
bands  of  hired  retainers,  men  clothed  and  fed  at  their  expense,  who 
wore  the  badge  of  their  lords,  and  who  were  ready  at  any  time  to  fight 
in  their  battles.     This  practice  appears  to  have  been  much  stimulated  by 


288  Later  Angevin  Kings  1396 

the  habits  of  command  acquired  by  the  nobles  in  the  French  wars,  and 
their  capacity  for  indulging  in  it  had  been  increased  by  the  recent  prac- 
tice of  letting  land  for  a  money  rent,  which  added  to  their  command 
of  ready  money.  The  men  thus  hired  constituted  practically  a  small  but 
efficient  standing  army  at  the  beck  and  call  of  each  nobleman,  and  their 
existence  was  at  once  an  incentive  to  and  a  means  of  carrying  on  the 
civil  warfare,  which,  from  the  battle  of  Radcot  Bridge  to  the  battle  of 
Stoke  in  1487,  was  such  a  terrible  characteristic  of  English  life.  In 
1390,  this  practice  was  forbidden  by  the  statute  of  maintenance,  under 
the  name  of  '  livery  of  company ' ;  but  this  law,  though  often  renewed, 
was  a  dead  letter  for  want  of  an  adequate  force  to  compel  its  observance, 
and  remained  so  till  the  time  of  Henry  vii. 

The  time  which  we  are  now  dealing  with  was  also  remarkable  as  the 
culminating  point  in  one  of  the  great  epochs  of  English  literature.     The 

fourteenth  century  was  remarkable  throughout  Europe  for 
Literature.      ^  ;      .  .  ,       ,.       °       ^      .       ^^    , 

the   progress   made  m   ousting  the   literary  Latin  of  the 

Middle  Ages  in  favour  of  the  vernacular  tongue  of  each  country.     In 

Italy  was  written  by  Dante  the  great  poem  of  the  Divina  Commedia ; 

France  produced  the  prose  Chronicle  of  Froissart ;  Spain  produced  the 

Cid.     In  England  the  revolt  was  a  double  one.     Not  only  had  we  to 

displace  Latin  but  also  French,  which  the  spread  of  French  fashions 

among  the  upper  classes  had  made  the  usual  speech  of  court  and  castle, 

from  which  it  had  spread  to  such  an  extent  that  Robert  of  Gloucester 

tells  us  that  no  man  who  valued  himself  neglected  to  learn  it ;  and 

William  Langiand  represents   his   poorest   peasants  as  singing  French 

songs  on  their  way  to  work.     When  the  great  French  war  opened,  a 

reaction  set  in.    French  began  to  be  less  used  in  documents  of  state  ;  and 

in  1362  it  was  forbidden  in  the  courts  of  law.     It  held  its  own,  however, 

with  great  tenacity.     The  rolls  of  parliament  under  Richard  ii.  were 

always  in  French ;  and,  indeed,  the  phrase,   '  0  yes  !  0  yes  ! '  {Oyez ! 

Oyez  !)  of  the  town-crier ;  and  the  royal  phrase,  la  reine  s'avisera  or  la 

reine  le  veult  survive  to  the  present  day.     Fortunately  the  revival  of 

English  was  contemporary  with  the  appearance  of  three  great  writers — 

Wyclif,  Chaucer,  and  Langiand — who  did  more  than  any  three  other 

men  to  make  English  the  literary  language,  both  of  verse  and  prose,  and 

to  secure  its  acceptance  by  all  classes  of  the  community.     Of  Wyclif  s 

life,  his  tracts,  and  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  we  have  already  spoken  ; 

it  remains  to  notice  Chaucer  and  Langiand. 

Geoffrey  Chaucer  was  the  son  of  a  London  vintner,  and  was  probably 

bom  in  the  year  1340.     His  father's  interest  sufficed  to  get  him  the  post 

of  page  in  the  service  of  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence ;  and  he  saw  service 


1396  Richard  II.  289 

in  France  in  1359.  About  1366,  Chaucer  married  a  sister  of  the  Katha^ 
rine  Swynford,  afterwards  wife  of  John  of  Gaunt.  He  then  served  in 
a  variety  of  missions  abroad,  visiting  among  other  places 
Genoa  and  Florence  ;  and  was  rewarded  with  the  post  of 
comptroller  of  the  customs  and  subsidy  of  wools,  skins,  and  leather  at 
the  port  of  London  ;  and  in  1382,  comptroller  of  the  petty  customs,  or 
tonnage  and  poundage.  In  1386  he  sat  in  parliament,  but  soon  after- 
wards was  dismissed  from  his  post,  and  for  some  years  was  in  money 
difficulties.  He  apparently  recovered  his  good  fortune  by  the  aid  of  the 
Lancasters,  and  died  in  1400.  Chaucer  was  a  voliuninous  writer  ;  but 
his  best-known  work  is  the  Canterbury  TaleSy  in  which  he  gives  a 
picture  of  most  of  the  familiar  characters  of  his  own  day.  Though 
a  courtier  and  a  linguist,  Chaucer  chose  to  write  in  English,  and  the 
popularity  of  his  tales  and  poems  did  much  to  secure  the  position  of  our 
native  tongue.  Of  Langland,  much  less  is  known.  He  was 
bom  about  1332,  near  the  Malvern  Hills ;  became  a  clerk, 
and  lived  in  London,  dying  about  1400.  His  chief  work  is  the  Vision 
of  Fieri  Ploughman^  in  which  the  ploughman  is  depicted  as  living 
the  only  true  Christian  life,  with  which  the  lives  of  the  barons,  the 
clergy,  and  the  gentry  are  forcibly  contmsted.  His  works  show  much 
better  than  those  of  Chaucer  the  real  gi-ievances  of  the  peasants,  and  the 
feelings  which  led  both  to  the  revolts  of  1381  and  the  revolution  of  1399. 

The  period  of  peace  and  good  government  terminated  in  1397,  and  the 
change  was  led  up  to  by  several  noticeable  events.  In  1394  died  the 
good  queen,  Anne  of  Bohemia,  whose  influence,  like  that  of  Death  of 
Kichard's  mother,  had  always  made  for  peace,  and  whose  Q"«*="  Anne, 
funeral  witnessed  an  unseemly  scuffle  between  Richard  and  the  earl  of 
ArundeL  The  same  year  died  John  of  Gaunt's  wife,  Constance  of  Castile, 
and  he  at  once  married  Katharine  Swynford,  governess  to  the  children 
of  his  first  wife,  and  sister-in-law  of  Chaucer,  by  whom  he  already  had  a 
niunerous  family.  To  oblige  his  uncle,  Richard  promoted  the  passing  of 
an  act  of  parliament,  by  which  the  Beauforts — as  these  children  were 
surnamed — were  made  legitimate,  an  act  thought  to  have  annoyed  the 
dukes  of  Gloucester  and  York.  In  1396,  Richard,  having  concluded  a 
truce  of  twenty-five  years  with  France,  went  over  to  Paris  and  married 
Isabella,  daughter  of  Charles  vi.,  then  a  child  of  eight  years. 

From  this  moment  Richard's  character  seems  to  have  changed,  whether 
from  physical  causes,  or  whether  his  head  was  turned  by  the  splendour 
of  the  French  king,  or  by  an  illusory  suggestion  that  he  Deterioration 
should  be  elected  emperor,  it  is  impossible  to  say  ;  but  from  °^  Richard, 
that  time  he  gave  free  scope  to  his  extravagant  tastes  ;  is  reported  to 

T 


290  Later  Angevin  Kings  1896 

have  given  ^£1 0,000  for  a  coat ;  and  to  have  filled  the  court  with  bishops 
and  ladies,  a  change  from  which  his  subjects  augured  no  good  to  the 
realm. 

Accordingly,   the  parliament  of  1397  took  up  the  old  question  of 
grievances  ;  and  in  particular,  a  complaint  about  the  extravagance  of  the 
Haxey's       royal  household  was  brought  forward  by  Sir  Thomas  Haxey, 
Case.  ^  prebendary  of  the  collegiate  church  of  Southwell,  who  is 

believed  to  have  been  sitting  as  a  proctor  for  the  clergy.  In  the  first 
instance  Haxey's  motion  was  accepted  by  the  commons  and  passed  on  to 
the  lords  ;  but  Richard,  hearing  of  it,  made  a  violent  protest,  and  declared 
it  to  be  a  most  ofi'ensive  interference  with  his  rights.  Before  his  wrath 
both  lords  and  commons  gave  way,  apologised  for  their  mistake,  and 
actually  adjudged  Haxey  to  die  as  a  traitor.  Archbishop  Arundel,  how- 
ever, saved  him  as  a  clerk,  and  soon  afterwards  he  obtained  pardon. 
The  incident  is  most  remarkable,  and  shows  how  little  influence  the 
commons  had  unless  they  were  supported  by  the  military  power  of  the 
great  barons. 

Fearful,  however,  lest  the  discontent  of  the  commons  should  be  taken 
advantage  of  by  the  old  baronial  party,  who  were  exasperated  by  the 
Richard's  loiig  truce  with  France,  to  fetter  his  independence,  Richard 
Coupd'Etat.  determined  to  strike  first.  In  July  1397,  with  the  help 
of  the  Hollands,  Rutland,  son  of  the  duke  of  York,  and  Nottingham, 
he  carried  out  a  coup  d'etat  by  suddenly  arresting  Gloucester,  Arundel, 
and  Warwick ;  and  provided  against  a  new  battle  of  Radcot  Bridge  by 
levying  in  his  county  palatine  of  Chester  a  formidable  body  of  archers. 
He  then  called  a  parliament  to  meet  at  Westminster  in  September.  The 
commons  met  in  a  temporary  building,  erected  in  Palace  Yard,  and  were 
completely  overawed  by  the  presence  of  a  body  of  4000  Cheshire  archers, 
ready  to  let  fly  their  arrows  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  king  also  took 
careful  steps  to  form  a  royalist  party  in  the  commons,  headed  by  Sir 
John  Bussy  or  Bushy,  the  Speaker,  Sir  Thomas  Green,  and  Sir  William 
Bagot ;  and  in  the  lords  induced  Nottingham,  Rutland,  John  Beaufort, 
earl  of  Somerset,  the  earl  of  Salisbury,  and  three  others,  to  accuse 
Gloucester,  Warwick,  and  Arundel  of  treason  for  the  acts  done  in  1387 
and  1388.  Arundel  was  tried  first,  convicted,  sentenced  by  Lancaster  as 
high  steward,  and  beheaded  the  same  day.  Gloucester's  turn  came  next ; 
but  it  was  announced  that,  having  been  sent  to  Calais  for  safe  keeping,  he 
had  died  in  prison.  Whether  Gloucester  died  a  natural  death  is 
uncertain  ;  if  he  was  murdered  the  blame  must  fall,  as  it  did  in  current 
rumour,  on  Richard  and  on  Nottingham,  who,  as  governor  of  Calais,  was 
responsible  for  his  safe  custody.    Warwick  was  then  sentenced  on  his 


1398  Bichard  II.  291 

own  confession  to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  was  removed  to  the  Isle 
of  Man  ;  and  a  little  later,  Arundel's  brother,  the  archbishop,  was  trans- 
lated by  Boniface  ix.  to  St.  Andrews,  a  change  equivalent  to  banish- 
ment and  deprivation.  In  reward  for  their  services,  the  earl  of  Derby, 
who,  though  not  an  appellant,  was  seemingly  a  consenting  party, 
was  made  duke  of  Hereford  ;  Rutland,  duke  of  Albemarle  ;  the  two 
Hollands,  earls  of  Surrey  and  Exeter ;  Nottingham,  duke  of  Norfolk ; 
and  Sir  William  Scrope,  earl  of  Wiltshire. 

As  soon  as  the  trials  were  over,  the  parliament  was  adjourned  till 
January  1398,  when  it  again  assembled  at  Shrewsbury.  There  it  held 
a  session  of  three  days,  again  overawed  by  the  Cheshire  Shrewsbury 
archers,  and  passed  three  measures  which  practically  cancelled  Parliament, 
all  the  constitutional  progress  made  during  the  last  century.  By  the  first, 
the  whole  of  the  acts  of  1388  were  annulled,  and  an  amnesty  granted. 
By  the  second,  the  great  subsidy  on  wools,  wool  fells,  and  leathers,  and  an 
annual  tax  of  one-fifteenth  on  the  counties,  and  one-tenth  on  the  towns, 
was  granted  to  the  king  for  life.  By  the  third,  the  full  powers  of  parlia- 
ment were  delegated  to  a  body  of  eighteen  members  :  ten  lords  temporal, 
two  earls  as  proctors  for  the  clergy,  and  six  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  eighteen,  it  is  needless  to  add,  were  devoted  followers  of 
the  king.  Richard's  victory  was  now  complete.  He  had  secured  a  good 
income  for  life  :  he  held  parliament  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand ;  he 
had  terrified  the  opposition  by  executions,  and  possibly  by  murder ;  he 
even  obtained  a  confirmation  of  his  acts  by  the  pope.  His  position  in 
1398  is  not  unlike  that  of  Charles  ir.  in  1685  ;  but  Richard  lived  to  face 
the  reaction  ;  Charles,  more  fortunate,  left  the  task  to  his  brother. 
Whether,  after  all,  Richard  exhibited  the  cunning  of  a  madman,  or 
whether,  like  many  another  ingenious  schemer,  he  just  overshot  his 
mark,  is  a  problem  which  in  all  probability  will  never,  in  the  insufficiency 
of  the  evidence,  be  satisfactorily  decided. 

The  actual  opportunity  for  the  reaction  arose  out  of  a  personal  matter. 
In  December  1397,  the  new  dukes  of  Hereford  and  Norfolk  were  riding 
between  Brentford  and  London,  when,  according  to  Here- 
ford's account,  Norfolk  informed  him  that  Richard  intended   between 
to  kill  both  Hereford  and  Lancaster ;  and  in  answer  to  Here-   JJfd  Norfolk 
ford's  objection  that  he  had  the  king's  pardon,  added  that 
the  king  was  not  to  be  believed  on  his  oath.     By  Richard's  orders 
Hereford  repeated  the  words  before  the  Shrewsbury  parliament  as  a 
slander  on  the  king,  and,  after  a  personal  altercation  in  Richard's  presence 
at  Oswestry  in  February,  in  which  Norfolk  gave  Hereford  the  lie, 
the  committee  referred  the  matter  to  a  court  of  chivalry,  which  ordered 


292  Later  Angevin  Kings  1397 

the  disputants  to  decide  the  question  by  a  judicial  combat  at  Coventry, 
on  the  16th  of  September.  However,  when  the  combatants  entered  the 
lists,  Eichard  stopped  the  fight,  and,  by  his  own  award,  without  further 
trial,  ordered  Norfolk  to  quit  the  kingdom  for  life,  and  Hereford  for  ten 
years,  which  he  afterwards  reduced  to  seven.  The  unfairness  as  well  as 
the  injustice  of  this  was  obvious ;  but  Richard  may  have  thought  him- 
self clever  in  ridding  himself  by  one  blow  of  two  such  barons.  In 
banishing  them,  Richard  made  them  swear  that  they  would  not  communi- 
cate with  the  exiled  archbishop  Arundel ;  and  promised  Hereford  that  he 
should  not  be  deprived  of  any  lands  or  goods  which  might  come  to 
him  by  inheritance  during  his  exile. 

News,  however,  had  arrived  that  on  July  20  1398,  Roger  Mortimer, 
earl  of  March,  had  been  killed  in  Ireland,  in  a  skirmish  between  the 
*  Expedition  ^'^I'iens  and  the  O'Tooles ;  and  Richard,  whose  extrava- 
to  Ireland,  gance  always  kept  him  poor,  took  advantage  of  the  death  of 
John  of  Gaunt,  which  occurred  in  January  1399,  to  seize  the  Lancaster 
estates ;  used  them  in  fitting  out  an  expedition  to  that  country,  and  in 
May  1399  he  sailed  to  Ireland,  leaving  his  uncle  York  as  regent.  On 
Landing  of  the  4th  of  July,  Henry  landed  in  Yorkshire,  demanded  the 
Bolingbroke.  restoration  of  his  family  estates,  and  was  immediately  joined 
by  Percy,  earl  of  Northumberland,  who  had  his  own  quarrel  with  Richard, 
and  by  other  north-country  barons.  His  arrival  was  the  signal  for  a 
rising  as  unanimous  as  that  which  had  dethroned  Edward  ii.  All  the 
friends  of  Gloucester,  all  who  were  aggrieved  by  Richard's  arbitrary 
government,  all  who  had  lands  to  leave  to  their  heirs,  and  feared  to  see 
them  share  the  fate  of  the  Lancaster  estates,  rallied  round  the  duke  as  the 
natural  leader  of  a  constitutional  party.  The  adhesion  of  archbishop 
Arundel  carried  with  it  the  support  of  the  church,  and  without  striking  a 
blow,  Lancaster  found  himself  master  of  the  country.  On  July  27  he 
was  joined  by  the  regent.  On  the  29th,  Scrope,  earl  of  "Wiltshire, 
Bussy,  and  Green,  who  had  been  captured  at  Bristol,  were  put  to 
death. 

Meanwhile,  contrary  winds  had  detained  Richard  in  Ireland ;  and  when 
he  landed  in  Wales  on  July  25,  he  found  that  a  body  of  Welshmen, 
Deposition  w^om  the  earl  of  Salisbury  had  collected  to  support  him, 
of  Richard,  j^^d  just  dispersed.  Recognising  the  futility  of  further 
resistance,  he  made  an  offer  of  resignation  to  archbishop  Arundel  and  the 
earl  of  Northumberland.  At  Flint  he  met  Lancaster,  and  went  with  hhn 
to  London,  where  a  full  parliament  was  to  meet  on  September  30.  On 
the  29th  Richard  affixed  his  signature  to  a  written  document  in  which  he 
iibsolved  his  subjects  from  fealty,  homage,   and   allegiance ;  renounced 


1399  tlichard  tt.  293 

every  claim  to  royalty  ;  declared  himself  insufficient  and  useless,  and  not 
unworthy  to  be  deposed  ;  and  verbally  expressed  a  wish  that  Lancaster 
might  be  his  successor.  This  document  was  read  to  parliament,  and  in  its 
turn  parliament  prepared  a  statement  of  thirty-three  reasons  why  Richard 
ought  to  be  deposed.  None  of  these  were  trivial ;  but,  from  a  constitu- 
tional point  of  view,  the  most  notable  were  the  sixteenth,  in  which  he 
was  accused  of  asserting  that  his  laws  were  in  his  own  mouth  and  in 
his  own  breast,  and  that  he  alone  could  change  and  frame  the  law  of 
the  land  ;  and  the  twenty-sixth,  which  charged  him  with  saying  that  the 
life  of  every  liegeman,  his  lands,  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  lay  at 
his  royal  will  without  sentence  of  forfeiture.  Richard  was  then  formally 
deposed. 

Then  Henry  of  Lancaster  spoke  in  English,  and  claimed  the  crown  as 
of  the  right  royal  blood  of  Henry  in.,  and,  more  important,  as  sent  by 
God  to  recover  his  right  when  '  the  realm  was  on  the  point 
to  be  undone  for  default  of  governance  and  undoing  of  the   claimed  bv 
good  laws.'    His  plea  was  at  once  accepted  unanimously,  and     °  *"^ 
he  was  led  to  the  throne  by  archbishop  Arundel  of  Canterbury,  and  arch- 
bishop Scrope  of  York.    With  the  exception  of  the  deaths  at  Bristol,  no 
blood  was  shed  in  the  carrying  out  of  this  great  revolution.    Richard  had 
friends,  but  with  the  doubtful  exception  of  bishop  Merke  of  Carlisle,  no 
one  spoke  on  his  behalf.     At  the  moment  the  list  of  charges  must  have 
seemed  overwhelming,  and  it  was  impossible  for  any  Englishman  to  defend 
the  position  taken  up  by  Richard  in  the  clauses  cited  above. 
Outwardly  there  was  much  resemblance  between  the  cases   and 
of  Edward  ii.  and  Richard  ii.     In  reality  they  had  little  in   ^^^'^^''^  "• 
common  except  their  melancholy  fate.     Edward  fell  because  he  never 
even  attempted  to  play  the  part  of  a  king  :  Richard  because  he  held  too 
exalted  an  idea  of  such  a  part,  without  possessing  the  tact  to  secure  a 
party  and  make  his  power  a  reality.    Edward  had  the  advantage  of  an 
admirable  example  in  his  predecessor,   and  of  succeeding  to  a  well- 
organised  kingdom.     Richard's  difficulties  were  very  largely  inherited  ; 
and  it  is  to  this  and  to  the  inculcation  of  altogether  wrong  principles  of 
rule  that  his  failure  is  to  be  attributed,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  Edward, 
to  personal  worthlessness  of  character.    As  it  was,  he  had  played  the 
game  of  high  prerogative  and  lost,  and  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  nation 
transferred  the  throne  to  a  popular  leader,  who,  they  believed,  would 
restore  government  on  constitutional  principles,  and  this  distinction  was 
made  perfectly  clear  by  Henry  himself.      For,  whereas  Richard  had 
declared  that  the  law  was  in  the  heart  and  mouth  of  the  king,  and  that 
the  goods  of  his  subjects  were  his  own,  archbishop  Arundel  officially 


294  Later  Angevin  Kings 

informed  Henry's  first  parliament  that  the  new  king  would  act  *by 
common  advice,  counsel,  and  consent,*  and  *do  right  to  all  people  in 
mercy  and  truth  according  to  his  oath.' 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.l>. 

Tbe  Feasant  revolt, 1881 

Death  of  Wyclif, 1384 

Battle  of  Radcot  Bridge, 1386 

The  Merciless  Parliament 1387 

Battle  of  Otterbum 1388 

'  Maintenance '  and  •  Livery '  forbidden  by  Statute,  1390 

Parliament  at  Shrewsbury,        ....  1398 

Roger  Mortimer  killed, 1398 


Book  V 
THE   LANCASTRIAN   AND   YORKIST   KINGS 


XL— THE  HOUSES  OF  YORK  AND  LANCASTER. 

Edward  III.,  1327-1377. 


Lionel, 
Duke  of  Clarence 
(2nd  son),  d.  1368. 


Edmund, 
Duke  of  York 
(4th  son),  d.  1401. 


John  of  Gaunt  ^^  Blanche  of  Lancaster. 
(3rd  son), 


d.  1399. 


Philippa, 
d.  1381. 


:  Edmund  Morti- 
mer, Earl  of 
March  (great- 
grandson  of 
Roger  Mortimer, 

who  was 
executed  1330). 


Elizabeth,  Roger, 

m.  Henry     Earl  of  March, 
Hotspur.        killed  1398. 


Henry  IV., 
1399-1413. 


Henry  V. , 
1413-1422. 


Thomas,          John,  Humphrey, 

Duke  of  Duke  of  Duke  of 

Clarence,  Bedford,  Gloucester, 

killed  1421.  d.  1435.  d.  1446. 


Henry  VI., 
1422-1461. 


Edmund, 

Earl  of  March, 

d.  1424. 


Anne 


Richard, 

Earl  of  Cambridge, 

executed  1415. 


Richard,  Duke  of  York, 
killed  at  Wakefield,  1460. 


Edward, 

Duke  of  York 

(elder  son), 

killed  at  Agincourt,  1415. 


Edward  IV., 
1461-1483. 


George,  Duke  of  Clarence, 
executed  1478. 


Richard  III., 

1483-1485. 


Edward  V.,  Richard,  Duke  of  York, 

1483.  supposed  to  have  been  murdered 

in  the  Tower,  1483. 


Elizabeth = Henry  vii. 


290 


XIL— SCOTTISH  KINGS,  1306-1488. 
Robert  Bruce,  1306-1329. 


David  II.,        Margaret  =  Walter  the  Steward, 
1329-1370.  I  generally  spelt  Stuart. 

Robert  II.,  1370-1390. 


Robert  III.,  1390-1406. 


Robert,  Duke  of  Albany, 
d.  1420. 


James  I.,  =>  Jane  Beaufort. 
1406-1437.  ■ 


James  II.,  1437-1460. 
James  III.,  1460-1488. 


Murdoch 

captured  at  Homildon, 

d.  1425. 


XIII.— THE  KINGS  OF  FRANCE,  1350-1515. 

John  II.,  1350-1364. 

I __^ 


Charles  VI., 
1380-1422. 

Charles  VII., 
1422-1461. 

Louis  XI., 
1461-1483. 

Charles  VIII., 
1483-1498. 


Charles  V.,  1364-1380. 


Louis  of  Orleans, 
murdered  1407. 

Charles,  Duke  of  Orleans, 

captured  at  Agincourt, 

grandfather  of 

Louis  XII., 
1498-1515. 


Philip,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
d.  1404. 

John,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
murdered  1419, 
at  Montereau. 

Philip,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
d.  1467. 

Charles  (the  Bold), 

Duke  of  Burgundy, 

d.  1477, 

m.  Margaret, 

sister  of  Edward  IV. 


207 


CHAPTER  I 
HENRY  IV.:    1399-1413 

B        1^66  •  •  d  /^^^^'  ^^^^y  ^®  Bohun. 

*  \1403,  Joan  of  Navarre,  Duchess  of  Brittany. 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY  SOVEREIGNS 

Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

Robert  III.,  d.  1406.  Charles  vi.,  d.  1422.  Sigismund,  1410-1437. 

James  I.,  d.  1437. 

Rebellions  in  Richard's  Favour — The  Lollards — Owen  Glendower^The  Risings 
of  the  Percies  and  of  Scrope — Foreign,  Affairs— Henry's  Constitutional 
Government. 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  find  two  men  whose  characters  presented  a  greater 
contrast  than  those  of  Henry  iv.  and  his  predecessor.  Few  of  the  graces 
that  marked  Richard  ii.  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  his  cousin,  character  of 
His  person,  though  sturdy  and  active,  appears  to  have  been  Henry  iv. 
neither  handsome  nor  graceful ;  and  his  square  face  and  thick  beard  had 
little  of  the  charm  and  refinement  which  had  distinguished  the  son  of  the 
Fair  Maid  of  Kent.  But  whereas  Richard  had  been  a  mere  carpet-knight, 
untried  in  the  field,  and  dependent  on  others  both  for  counsel  and  execu- 
tion, Henry  was  pre-eminently  a  man  of  action,  who  had  seen  much  hard 
fighting  in  many  lands,  had  been  accustomed  always  to  think  and  act  on  his 
own  responsibility,  and  was  capable  of  inspiring  confidence  in  others  by 
showing  that  he  believed  in  himself.  Nor  was  the  difierence  between 
their  conceptions  of  kingship  less  marked  than  that  between  their 
personal  characters.  Richard,  as  Shakespeare  has  rightly  delineated  him, 
was  the  holder  of  a  theoretical  view  of  the  dignity  of  royalty  of  the  most 
exalted  kind,  to  which  his  personal  insufficiency  acted  as  a  perpetual  foil. 
Henry,  on  the  other  hand,  put  forward  no  such  theoretical  claim  to 
respect ;  but  his  personal  force  of  character  and  self-restraint  secured  him 
a  deference  to  which  Richard  was  a  complete  stranger. 

29U 


300  House  of  Lancaster  I3d9 

The  new  government  had  to  provide  for  the  safe  custody  of  the  ex- 

kmg.    By  the  advice  of  the  lords,  it  was  ordered  that  he  should  be 

„.  ,     ,.      removed  to  some  safe  place  and  there  kept  in  custody  ;  that 

Richard's  ,  5,  .     •■  i    , -.     i       ,  i  i 

Imprison-    no  former  members  of  his  household  should  have  access  to 

"^^"  him  ;  and  that  he  should  neither  send  nor  receive  letters  of 

any  kind.  Accordingly,  he  was  removed  from  the  Tower  at  dead  of  night 
and  taken  to  Leeds  Castle,  in  Kent,  and  thence  to  the  Lancastrian  strong- 
hold of  Pontefract,  in  Yorkshire.  He  had  still  a  good  many  personal 
friends,  of  whom  the  chief  were  the  eldest  son  of  the  duke  of  York,  com- 
monly known  as  the  earl  of  Rutland  ;  the  Hollands,  Richard's  half-brother 
and  nephew,  earls  respectively  of  Huntingdon  and  Kent ;  John  Beaufort, 
earl  of  Somerset ;  and  John  Montague,  earl  of  Salisbury.  By  request  of 
the  commons,  the  cases  of  these  noblemen  were  examined  by  the  lords, 
and  after  much  consideration  it  was  decided  that  they  should  forfeit  all 
lands  acquired  since  1397,  and  they  were  expressly  warned  that  any 
further  support  of  Richard  would  be  dealt  with  as  treason.  At  the 
same  time,  a  sweeping  Act  against  retainers  was  passed,  in  hope  of 
doing  something  to  curtail  the  power  for  mischief  possessed  by  the 
malcontents. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  warning  against  treason,  the  lords  were  no 
sooner  at  liberty  than  some  of  them  began  to  plot.  The  chief  conspirators 
Rebellion  in  "were  the  earls  of  Huntingdon,  Kent,  Rutland,  and  Salis- 
his  favour,  -^my  .  Roger  Walden,  ex-archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  Thomas 
Merke,  bishop  of  Carlisle ;  two  abbots,  and  a  priest  named  Maudelyn,  who 
happened  to  be  in  appearance  a  double  of  Richard  himself.  Their  scheme 
was  to  assemble  at  Kingston  in  January  1400,  and  to  cut  off  Henry,  who 
was  expected  to  be  at  Windsor,  from  his  supporters  the  Londoners. 
Henry  was  then  to  be  seized,  Richard  proclaimed,  and  Maudelyn  was  to 
play  his  part  until  his  place  of  imprisonment  had  been  discovered.  At  the 
critical  moment,  however,  the  marplot,  Rutland,  revealed  the  plan  to  his 
father,  and  York  lost  not  a  moment  in  warning  the  king.  Without  hesita- 
tion, Henry  rode  through  the  night  to  the  capital,  appealed  to  the  Londoners, 
and  within  twenty-four  hours  had  20,000  men-at-arms,  archers,  and  bill- 
men  in  the  field.  The  king's  midnight  ride  completely  disconcerted  the 
rebels ;  a  sharp  fight  took  place  at  Maidenhead  Bridge,  and  then  they 
fled  westward  to  Cirencester.  There  a  new  danger  confronted  them. 
The  country  people,  flocking  into  the  town,  attacked  the  house  occupied 
by  the  leaders,  compelled  them  to  surrender,  and,  without  waiting  the 
formalities  of  a  trial,  cut  off  the  heads  of  Kent  and  Salisbury  in  the  open 
street.  Huntingdon  was  captured  by  the  Essex  men  at  Chelmsford,  and 
beheaded  at  Pleshy  ;  Lord  Des23enser,  another  conspu'ator,  was  put  to 


1400  Henry  IF,  301 

death  at  Bristol ;  Maudelyn  was  hanged  at  Tyburn  ;  and  the  ex-bishops 
placed  in  safe  custody.  The  most  striking  feature  of  this  insurrection  is 
the  proof  it  gives  both  of  the  popularity  of  Henry  and  of  the  detestation 
in  which  the  personal  friends  of  Eichard  were  held  by  the  populace.  To 
Richard  himself  it  was  fatal.  Hitherto,  the  king  himself  had  probably 
stood  in  the  way  of  any  violence  to  Richard's  person,  for  on  the  first  news 
of  his  capture,  the  Londoners  had  written  to  Henry  asking  that  he  should 
be  beheaded  at  once  ;  and  about  Chinstmas,  the  duke  of  York,  and  the 
earls  of  Northumberland,  Westmorland,  Arundel,  and  Warwick,  had 
presented  a  2)etition  to  the  same  eft'ect.  Both  these  suggestions,  however, 
Henry  had  put  aside,  though  he  told  his  uncle  and  the  other  lords  that  if 
a  rising  took  place,  Richard  should  be  the  first  to  die.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  he  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  that  while  the  rebels  were 
out  in  the  Thames  valley,  Richard  was  put  to  death  at  Richard's 
Pontefract.  At  any  rate,  by  the  end  of  January  1400,  it  Death, 
was  generally  accepted  that  he  was  dead;  a  body  said  to  be  his  was 
exhibited  and  buried,  and  for  some  time  the  fact  remained  unquestioned. 
The  exact  date  and  manner  of  his  death  are,  however,  unknown ;  and 
about  two  years  afterwards  rumours  that  he  had  escaped  and  was  still 
living  began  to  be  current,  which  added  so  much  to  Henry's  difficulties 
that  his  enemies  gave  them  every  encouragement. 

Hardly  had  rebellion  at  home  been  put  down,  than  Henry's  attention 
was  called  to  the  affairs  of  Scotland.  Since  the  release  of  David  in  1357, 
the  courts  of  England  and  Scotland  had  been,  on  the  whole,  Scottish 
on  fair  tenns,  though  the  unceasing  raids  of  the  border  lords  Affairs, 
kept  the  marches  in  constant  disorder,  and  resulted  from  time  to  time  in  such 
a  serious  battle  as  that  of  Otterburn  in  1388.  In  1400  the  nominal  king  of 
Scotland  was  Robert  iii. ;  but  as  he  was  a  cripple,  the  real  sovereignty 
was  in  the  hands  of  his  brother,  the  duke  of  Albany.  A  truce  made  by 
Richard  expired  at  Michaelmas  1399,  and  it  was  extremely  important  to 
have  this  renewed  to  prevent  the  Scots  giving  their  usual  aid  to  the 
French,  in  case  Richard's  father-in-law,  Charles  vi.,  chose  to  make  his 
deposition  a  pretext  for  renewing  the  war.  Finding  the  Scots  hesitate, 
Henry  determined  to  force  from  them  an  acknowledgment  of  his  accession 
and  a  renewal  of  the  truce,  and  in  the  summer  of  1400  he  invaded  Scot- 
land, accompanied  by  George  of  Dunbar,  earl  of  the  march  of  Scotland, 
who  had  taken  ofience  at  the  Scottish  king.  Warned,  however,  by  much 
experience,  the  Scots  declined  to  be  drawn  into  battle,  while  Henry  was 
too  wary  to  attack  them  at  a  disadvantage ;  so  after  burning  Leith,  he 
was  compelled  by  famine  to  retire,  leaving  the  exasperated  Scots  to 
revenge  themselves  on  the  next  opportunity. 


302  House  of  Lancaster  1400 

With  Fmnce  dissatisfied  and  Scotland  burning  for  revenge,  Henry's 
hands  were  full  enough,  when  a  further  trouble  on  the  Welsh  border  was 
Owen  Glen-  added  to  his  other  difficulties.  A  Welsh  landowner,  Owen 
dower.  Glendower — or,    as   he   spelt  himself   in  full,   Owain   ap 

Gruffydd,  lord  of  Glyn-dyfrdwy,  i.e.  the  Valley  of  the  Black  Water  or 
Dee — had  quarrelled  with  his  neighbour,  Lord  Grey  of  Kuthin,  and  the 
squabble  developed  into  a  national  rising.  Owen  had  been  a  law-student  at 
Westminster,  and  an  esquire  of  Henry  himself  before  he  came  to  the  throne. 
He  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  hospitality,  of  popular  manners  and  address, 
and,  as  his  subsequent  career  showed,  possessed  a  genius  for  irregular 
warfare.  While  Henry  was  in  the  north,  Owen's  men  not  only  harried 
the  lands  of  Lord  Grey,  but  attacked  the  English  settlers  in  the  towns, 
and  even  carried  their  depredations  into  the  English  county  of  Shropshire 
Hurrying  west,  Henry  invaded  Wales  in  September  ;  but  his  attempt  met 
with  as  little  success  as  his  invasion  of  Scotland,  for  Owen  retired  into  the 
mountains,  and  there,  secure  amidst  inaccessible  fastnesses,  he  bade 
defiance  to  the  English  till  the  November  frosts  compelled  Henry  to  beat 
a  retreat.  He  left  his  eldest  son  Henry,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  to  guard  the 
borders  as  earl  of  Chester,  under  the  guidance  of  Henry  Percy,  eldest  son 
of  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  an  able  and  brave  man,  whose  border 
raids  had  gained  him  the  nickname  of  Hotspur. 

In  January  1401  Henry  assembled  his  second  parliament  at  West- 
minster. The  session  was  chiefly  notable  for  the  passing  of  the  statute 
De  Haeretico  ^^  Bceretico  Comhurenclo.  John  Wyclif  had  died  in  1384  ; 
Comburendo.  y^^^^  j^jg  doctrines  had  been  spreading  since  his  death,  and, 
though  the  Lollards  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  defined  and  coherent 
religious  sect,  the  number  of  malcontents  both  among  the  laity  and  the 
clergy  was  undoubtedly  very  large.  The  chief  points  attacked  by  them 
were  pluralities,  the  wealth  of  the  clergy,  the  mendicant  orders,  image 
worship,  the  sale  of  pardons,  pilgrimages,  and  habitual  confession  ;  but 
some  had  followed  Wychf  in  an  attack  on  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation.  This  state  of  affairs  was  carefully  considered  in  1401  by  the 
convocation  of  the  province  of  Canterbury. 

The  Convocation  of  Canterbury  consisted  of  two  houses  :  the  upper  of 
which  contained  eighteen  bishops,  with  the  abbots  of  Gloucester  and  Glas- 
tonbury, and  the  prior  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury;  the  lower,  of  the  other 
priors  and  abbots,  and  the  proctors  of  the  cathedral  and  parochial  clergy  of 
the  province.  This  body  specially  considered  the  views  of  four  Lollards, 
of  whom  the  most  notable  was  a  beneficed  clergyman,  William  Chatrys — 
pronounced  Sawtery  or  Sawtr^ — who  had  been  vicar  of  a  church  at  Lynn, 
but  had  afterwards  removed  to  London.     Eventually,  this  examination 


1402  Henry  IV.  303 

turned  upon  his  sacramental  views.  *  Bread,'  he  said,  *  it  remains  ;  but 
bread  plus  the  body  of  Christ.'  This,  however,  was  not  considered 
sufficient,  and  he  was  pronounced  heretical,  and  degraded  Burning  of 
from  the  ministry.  The  same  day  Henry  addressed  an  order  Sawtr6. 
to  the  mayor  and  sheriffs  of  London  directing  them  to  burn  Chatrys  alive. 
Such  executions  had  been  common  enough  on  the  continent,  but  it  was 
the  first  of  the  kind  in  England ;  and,  to  provide  for  other  cases,  convoca- 
tion petitioned  the  king  to  enact  that  heretics  condemned,  or  relapsing 
after  recantation,  should  be  handed  over  to  the  king's  officers,  and  that 
'  further  action  should  be  taken.'  In  accordance,  therefore,  with  this  re- 
quest, a  statute  was  drawn  up,  by  which  all  heretical  writings  were  ordered 
to  be  given  up  within  forty  days ;  and  obstinate  and  relapsing  heretics 
were  ordered  to  be  publicly  burnt.  This  statute  was  passed  by  the  advice 
of  the  lords  and  at  the  request  of  convocation ;  but,  as  the  commons 
thanked  God  for  the  king's  destruction  of  evil  doctrine  and  of  the 
sect  who  preached  it,  the  famous  statute  of  de  Hceretico  Comhurendo 
must  be  regarded  as  an  expression  of  the  views  of  the  time  with  regard 
to  the  proper  way  of  dealing  with  heresy.  From  this  time  forward 
executions  for  heresy  were  not  infrequent.  One  notable  case  is  that  of 
Badby,  a  tailor,  burnt  in  London  in  1410.  As  a  rule,  however,  such 
events  did  not  attract  the  attention  of  the  chroniclers,  but  the  expenses 
of  burning  a  heretic  occur  from  time  to  time  in  the  accounts  of  cities  and 
boroughs.  The  act,  it  must  be  noticed,  dealt  distinctly  with  doctrinal 
heresy,  under  which  head  many  of  the  Lollard  opinions  did  not  come  ; 
and  the  discontent  of  the  people  with  the  general  condition  of  the  church 
does  not  seem  to  have  suflFered  any  diminution  in  consequence  of  the  new 
statute. 

After  Henry's  return  to  England  in  1400,  the  conduct  of  the  Scottish 
war  was  left  to  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  the  exiled  earl  of  March. 
Little,  however,  was  effected  in  1401,  which  was  chiefly 
occupied  with  negotiations  ;  but  in  1402  the  earl  of  March,    Nesbit 
at  the  head  of  a  body  of  English,  defeated  the  Scots  at  the       °**'' 
battle  of  Nesbit  Moor,  near  Berwick  ;  and  when  Hotspur  returned  from 
Wales,  a  body  of  10,000  Scots,  under  the  earl  of  Douglas  and  Murdoch 
Stewart,  earl  of  Fife,  eldest  son  of  the  duke  of  Albany,    Homildon 
which  had  penetrated  into  Northumberland,  was  cut  off  at   "^"• 
Humbledon  or  Homildon  Hill,  by  the  river  Glen,  utterly  discomfited  by 
the  English  archery,  and  both  leaders  were  taken. 

Unluckily,  the  brilliant  success  of  the  Percies  contrasted  ill  with 
Henry's  personal  achievements.  Owen  was  stiU  at  large.  All  the  efforts 
of  Hotspur  and  the  prince  had  failed  to  stop  him  raiding  the  open  country, 


304  House  of  Lancaster  1402 

and  the  castles  even  were  with  difficulty  defended.  In  the  spring  of 
1402  he  captured  Lord  Grey  de  Kuthin  ;  and  when  Sir  Edmund  Morti- 
Disasters  ^^^  ^^^  defending  the  Mortimer  lands  in  the  valley  of  the 
in  ^Vales.  Teme,  he  failed  in  an  attack  on  Glendower  at  Brynglas,  near 
Knighton,  many  of  his  followers  perished,  and  he  himself  only  saved  his 
life  by  surrender.  Then  Henry  himself  attempted  an  elaborate  invasion ; 
but  the  ingenuity  of  Owen  again  avoided  battle,  and  Henry's  followers, 
drenched  with  rain  and  half-starved  among  the  barren  crags  of  Merioneth- 
shire, were  forced,  after  three  weeks,  to  make  an  ignominious  retreat. 
Against  such  an  enemy  the  ordinary  resources  of  civilised  warfare  were 
expended  in  vain.  Short  campaigns  were  useless  ;  and  Henry's  want  of 
money  eflfectually  prevented  him  from  garrisoning  his  numerous  castles 
with  men  sufficient  to  make  them  a  terror  to  the  surrounding  country. 

Other  causes  also  had  by  this  time  begun  to  undermine  his  unpopu- 
larity.    The  revolution  of  1399  was  soon  followed  by  the  inevitable 

reaction  which  waits  upon  all  popular  movements.     Ham- 
Reaction  ,,•■„. 
against        pered  as  he  was  both  by  foreign  war  and  domestic  revolu- 

^"^^*         tion,  it  was  out  of  Henry's  power  to  conciliate  popular 

feeling  by  reducing  taxation.     His  poverty  deprived  him  of  the  means  of 

conciliating  opposition ;  while  his  inability  to  pay  his  debts  kept  him  a  prey 

to  the  importunity  of  a  band  of  discontented  creditors.    For  some  reason, 

in  spite  of  his  religious  zeal,  the  mendicant  friars  were  against  him,  and  their 

preachers  were  doing  all  they  could  to  promote  discontent.     Rumours  of 

impending  wars  and  conspiracies  were  in  the  air,  and  stories  of  Richard's 

escape  were  being  industriously  spread.     It  might  well  seem  that  Henry 

was  a  failure  ;  and,  though  Richard  was  dead,  the  existence  of  the  little 

earl  of  March,  eldest  son  of  Roger  Mortimer,  and  his  brother  and  sister, 

afforded  a  rallying  point  for  any  insurrectionary  movement.      Of  this 

state  of  affairs  the  Percies  determined  to  take  advantage  to  raise  a  most 

formidable  rebellion. 

Though  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  in  a  fit  of  pique,  had  aided  Henry 

to  overthrow  Richard  ii.,  a  long-standing  feud  existed  between  the 

^.       ^    ^  Percies  and  the  house  of  Lancaster.     Since  Henry's  acces- 

Discontent     .  .  .  "^ 

of  the  sion,  a  variety  of  causes  had  tended  to  bring  about  a  renewal 

of  the  strife.   Foremost  among  these  were  money  difficulties. 

The  Percies,  father  and  son,  had  for  two  years  borne  the  brunt  of  the 

struggle,   both  in   Scotland  and  Wales.      Their    expenses    had    been 

enormous ;    and   of  ^60,000   which  they  had  provided,    .£20,000  yet 

remained  unpaid,  while  the  condition  of  the  royal  finances  made  the 

raising  of  this  sum  almost  out  of  the  question.    The  brilliant  part  played 

by  the  Percies  in  the  north  contrasted  with  Henry's  useless  invasion  of 


1403  Henry  IV.  305 

Scotland  and  his  inglorious  campaigns  in  Wales  ;  while  Hotspur's  tenure 
of  ofl&ce  in  North  Wales  had  not  been  unproductive  of  jealousy  and 
distrust.  Matters  first  assumed  a  threatening  aspect  over  the  surrender 
of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Homildon  Hill,  whom  the  Percies  retained  as  a 
security  for  their  money.  A  further  difficulty  presented  itself  in  the  case 
of  Sir  Edmund  Mortuner,  uncle  of  the  young  earl  of  Mortimer.  Actuated 
partly  by  an  idea  that  Sir  Edmund  had  been  a  traitor  all  along,  partly,  no 
doubt,  by  a  feeling  that  the  uncle  of  the  young  earl  was  better  out  of  the 
way,  Henry  refused  to  raise  money  for  his  ransom,  saying  that  he  woiUd 
not  pay  money  to  help  the  Welsh.  Mortimer's  sister,  Elizabeth,  was 
Hotspur's  wife,  and  the  refusal  led  to  an  open  quan*el,  in  which  Henry  is 
said  to  have  actually  struck  Percy. 

The  result  of  Henry's  refusal  was  the  marriage  of  Mortimer  to 
Owen's  daughter,  and  the  creation  of  a  grand  alliance  between  his 
enemies — of  which  the  heads  were  Owen  and  Mortimer,  Percy's 
Henry  Percy,  the  earl  of  Northiunberland  ;  his  brother.  Conspiracy. 
Thomas  Percy,  earl  of  Worcester ;  Hotspur,  and  the  earl  of  Douglas. 
Short  of  paying  them  their  money,  Henry  had  done  all  he  could  do  to 
secure  the  goodwill  of  the  Percies,  even  making  them  a  grant  of  a  large 
slice  of  southern  Scotland  which  he  had  declared  annexed  to  England 
after  the  battle  of  Homildon.  He  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been  unpre- 
pared for  their  treachery,  when,  in  the  summer  of  1403,  he  suddenly  heard 
that  Thomas  Percy  had  escaped  from  Shrewsbury,  taking  with  him  all 
the  treasure  in  his  possession,  and  that  Hotspur  himself  was  in  full  march 
towards  Cheshire  with  the  evident  intention  of  using  his  influence  there 
to  raise  a  force  with  which  he  could  co-operate  with  Owen  against  the 
Prince  of  Wales. 

In  Cheshire  Kichard  ii.  had  always  been  popular ;  and  Hotspur  him- 
self had  acquired  much  influence  there  during  his  residence  in  the 
marches ;  consequently  the  Cheshire  men  flocked  eagerly  Battle  of 
to  his  standard,  and  he  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  at  Shrewsbury, 
least  14,000  men.  He  then  issued  a  manifesto  accusing  Henry  of  having 
murdered  Richard,  of  collecting  taxes  contrary  to  his  word,  and  of 
tampering  with  free  election  to  parliament,  and  declaring  his  intention 
of  redeeming  his  own  error  in  supporting  him  by  placing  on  the 
throne  the  earl  of  March,  the  rightful  heir  of  Richard.  After  moving 
from  Chester  to  Lichfield,  Hotspur  invested  Shrewsbury,  where  the 
Prince  of  Wales  was  stationed,  and  waited  the  arrival  of  Owen's  con- 
tingent ;  but  when  he  heard  that  Henry  was  marching  from  Burton  to 
attack  him,  he  concentrated  his  troops  on  a  line  of  country,  some  thi'ee 
miles  north  of  Shrewsbury,  where  a  slight  rise  in  the  ground  would 

U 


306  Bouse  of  Lancaster  1403 

give  his  archers  a  decided  advantage,  and  awaited  tlie  king's  coming. 
On  his  side,  Henry,  though  he  had  an  army  at  least  as  large  as  Hotspur's, 
was  by  no  means  eager  to  fight,  but  made  every  efi'ort  to  induce  the 
rebels  to  agree  to  an  accommodation.  His  efforts,  however,  were  fruit- 
less ;  and  on  July  21  he  gave  the  order  for  attack.  A  most  obstinate 
battle  was  the  result.  The  struggle  began  at  noon  :  it  did  not  close  till 
nightfall.  Seven  thousand  men  are  said  to  have  fallen,  and  the  struggle 
was  probably  more  severe  than  any  battle  on  English  soil  since  North- 
allerton and  Hastings.  The  result,  however,  was  a  complete  victory  for 
Henry.  Hotspur  fell  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  and  the  earls  of  Worcester 
and  Douglas  were  taken  prisoners.  Two  days  after  the  battle,  the  earl 
of  Worcester  and  two  Cheshire  gentlemen  were  executed  for  treason,  and, 
as  a  proof  of  Hotspur's  death,  his  head  was  exposed  for  a  month  on 
London  Bridge. 

Henry  seems  to  have  been  really  grieved  by  Hotspur's  fate,  and  did 
all  he  could  to  avoid  the  slaughter  of  another  battle.    Fortunately,  the 

„  ,  .  .  aged  earl  of  Northumberland  had  been  completely  cowed  by 
Submission       *=  .  ^  "^  ^^     , 

of  North-        his   son's  death.     On   August  11  he  met  Henry  at  York, 

m  er  an  .  surrgjujered  his  person,  and  agreed  to  all  the  stipulations 
made  by  the  king  for  the  security  of  peace.  Henry  then  marched  to 
Worcester,  to  see  what  could  be  done  against  Owen.  The  depredations 
of  that  chieftain  were  at  least  as  audacious  as  ever  ;  but  he  had  no  force 
in  the  field  that  could  be  regarded  as  a  regular  army,  and  Henry  experi- 
enced exactly  the  same  trouble  in  dealing  with  his  guerilla  troops  as  had 
twice  before  defeated  his  efi'orts.  In  these  circumstances  nothing  could 
be  done  but  to  keep  up  as  far  as  possible  the  garrisons  of  the  border 
castles,  and  to  wait  till  the  insurrection  died  out.  The  process,  however, 
was  excessively  slow ;  and  Owen's  power  was  a  thorn  in  Henry's  side 
till  the  day  of  his  death.  After  1407,  however,  the  actual  business  of 
dealing  with  him  was  left  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  a^jquired  on  the 
Welsh  borders  the  military  experience  which  afterwards  served  him  in 
such  good  stead.  Within  six  months  of  his  surrender,  the  earl  of 
Northumberland  was  restored  to  liberty  and  his  estates ;  but  Henry's  kindly 
attempt  to  give  his  old  friend  a  chance  of.  making  a  fresh  start  met  with 
little  gratitude.  Nothing  could  stop  the  earl  from  intriguing  ;  and  in 
1405  another  conspiracy  was  formed  between  him  and 
of  Mowbray  Thomas  Mowbray,  earl  of  Nottingham,  son  of  the  late  duke 
and  scrope.  ^^  ;^orfolk,  and  Eichard  le  Scrope,  archbishop  of  York, 
brother  of  Lord  Scrope  of  Masham,  and  a  kinsman  of  the  earl  of  Wilt- 
shire (see  page  291).  The  rebels,  with  8000. men,  were  met  on  Shipton 
Moor,  near  York,  by  the  king's  third  son  John,  afterwards  the  great 


1407  •  •    Henry  IV,  307 

duke   of  Bedford,  and  by  Northumberland's   old  rival,  Kalph  Neville, 

earl   of  Westmorland.      In  some   negotiations   which   passed  between 

the  leaders,  Scrope  stated  their  case   against  the  king,   accusing  hmi 

of  getting  the  crown  by  treachery  and  false  promises,  of  conniving  at 

Richard's  murder,  of  illegally  putting  both  clergy  and  laity  to  death, 

and  generally  of  causing  the  destruction  and  misery  of  the  country.     He 

demanded  a  free  parliament,  a  reduction  of  taxation,  and  the  vigorous 

prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  Welsh.    Reform,  not  revolution,  seems 

to  have  been  Scrope's  desire,  and  no  suggestion  of  March's  claim  seems 

to  have  been  made.     Though  Mowbray  had  certainly  been  privy  to  an 

abortive   attempt  just  made   to  releiise  the   Mortimei-s,  Westmorland 

promised  to  lay  their  demands  before  the  king,  and  on  this  assurance 

the  rebel  soldiers  dispersed.    Of  this  advantage  was  immediately  taken  to 

arrest  Mowbray  and  Scro^je.     This  time  Henry  showed  no  mercy  ;  and, 

after  the  bare  semblance  of  a  trial,  both  prisoners  were  beheaded.     No 

such  public  execution  of  a  bishop  had  ever  yet  taken  place  in  England. 

The  audacity  of  the  act  seems  to  have  stnick  univei-sal  horror ;  miracles 

were  soon  reported  to  be  worked  at  the  tomb,  and  an  illness  with  which 

Henry  was  subsequently  afiected  was  generally  believed  to  be  a  judgment 

for  his  crmie. 

Meanwhile,  Northumberland  and  Lord  Bardolph  had  made  their  way 

north  and  escaped  across  the  border  ;  while  Henry  seized  Alnwick,  Prud- 

hoe,  and  Cockermouth,  and  other  Percy  strongholds.    There  they  vainly 

attempted  to  gain  Albany's  assistance,  and,  failing,  made  their  way  to 

Owen  in  Wales,  and  thence  visited  France  and  Flandei-s.     At  length,  in 

1407,  they  again  returned  to  Scotland,  and  having  crossed  the  border 

with  some  Scottish  troops,  were  joined  by  a  few  of  Northumberland's 

former  tenants.      Yorkshire,    however,   was    against    them ;    and    Sir 

Thomas  Rokeby,  the  sherift',  at  the  head  of  the  j^osse-comitatus,  put  them 

to  rout  at  Bramhani  Moor,  near  Tadcaster.    Northumberland 

Battle  of 
perished   on  the  field ;  Bardolph  was  mortally  wounded  ;    Bramham 

and  the  long  struggle  between  Henry  and  the  barons  was 

virtually  at  an  end.     About  the  same  time,  though  Owen  was  still  at 

large,  he  ceased  to  be  formidable.     A  French  force,  which  landed  at 

Millbrd  Haven  in  1406,  found  almost  as  poor  entertainment  on  the 

Welsh  mountains  as  Henry  himself,  and  returned  home  in  disgust ;  and 

after  this  effort  the  war  gradually  died  out,  though  the  fidelity  of  his 

countrymen   enabled   Owen  himself  to  preserve   his    freedom  till  his 

death,  which  occun-ed  several  years  after  that  of  Henry  himself. 

The  prolonged  struggle  with  Owen  and  the  Scots,  the  rebellion  of  the 

Percies,  coupled  with  the  constant  anxiety  about  money  matters,  made 


308  House  of  Lancaster  1407 

Henry's  throne  no  enviable  seat  during  the   first  eight  years   of  his 

reign  ;  and  no  one  but  a  man  of  first-rate  ability  and  of  iron  resolution 

-,.^    ,  .       could  have  battled  through  his  difficulties.     As  it  was,  the 

Difficulties        .  ^  ' 

of  Henry's    victory  of  Bramham  found  Henry,  though  only  forty-one  years 

of  age,  a  worn-out  and  enfeebled  man  ;  and  the  last  six 
years  of  his  reign,  though  a  period  of  comparative  peace  as  far  as 
external  affairs  were  concerned,  were  passed  by  him  in  a  constant  struggle 
against  a  debilitating  and  wearisome  disease. 

In  other  respects,  however,  fortune  was  kind,  and  two  strokes  of  luck 
relieved  him  from  anxiety  on  the  score  of  Scotland  and  France.  For 
yeai^  Robert  in.  had  been  only  in  name  a  king — wandering  from  one 
abbey  to  another,  a  mere  looker-on  at  the  proceedings  of  his  strong  and 
energetic  brother,  the  duke  of  Albany.  At  length  Albany  seized  Robert's 
eldest  son,  the  duke  of  Rothesay,  and  starved  him  to  death  in  Falkland 
Castle.  In  1406  the  poor  king  despatched  his  second  son  James,  then 
about  twelve  years  old,  to  France.  On  his  voyage,  while  becalmed  off 
Flamborough  Head,  his  ship  was  boarded  by  some  English  seamen,  and 

James  was  taken  to  Henry's  court.     Delighted  to  possess  a 
Tames  of      further  hostage  for  the  good  behaviour  of  the   Scots,  for 

Murdoch,  Albany's  eldest  son,  was  already  in  his  hands, 
Henry  caused  the  boy  to  be  carefully  guarded  at  Windsor ;  but  gave 
him  an  excellent  education,  and  the  nineteen  yeai-s  passed  by  James  in 
England  were  probably  the  happiest,  and  certainly  the  most  peaceful, 
of  his  life. 

In  France  a  stmggle  was  taking  place,  not  unlike  the  English  Wars  of 
the  Roses,  where  the  government  of  the  country  during  the  incapacity  of 

the  imbecile  king  Charles  vi.,  was  the  prize  contended  for  by 
gundians  John,  duke  of  Burgundy,  the  king's  cousin,  and  Louis,  duke 
Armagnacs.    ^^  Orleans,  his  brother.    This  civil  contest  made  foreign  war 

impossible,  and  Henry  had  merely  to  watch  his  opportunity, 
and  prevent  the  weaker  side  from  being  overwhelmed  by  the  other.  In 
1407  the  duke  of  Orleans  was  murdered  in  the  streets  of  Paris  ;  but 
the  quarrel  was  kept  up  by  his  son  Louis,  whose  father-in-law,  the  count 
of  Armagnac,  was  so  powerful  that  the  name  of  Armagnacs  was  fre- 
quently given  to  the  whole  Orleanist  or  southern  party.  The  first  duke 
of  Orleans  had  made  himself  a  personal  enemy  of  Henry  iv.,  so  the  English 
influence  generally  inclined  to  support  the  Burgundians,  even  after  the 
murder  of  Orleans.  In  1411  a  considerable  force  was  sent  to  their 
aid ;  but  in  1412,  finding  the  cause  of  the  Armagnacs  failing,  Henry 
transferred  his  assistance  to  them,  and  in  this  way  peace  was  secured  at 
the  price  of  consistency. 


1412  '  Henry  IV.  309 

The  real  interest,  however,  of  the  reign  of  Henry  iv.  lies  not  in  the 

national  aspirations  of  the  Welsh,  or  the  rebellions  of  the  Percies,  or  the 

fightincr  in  Scotland,  or  the  intrigues  in  France,  but  in  the  _ 

o         o  '  o  ...  Constitu« 

fact  that  Henry  iv.,  as  representative  of  the  constitutional  tionai 

ideas  of  the  Lancastrian  party,  was  honestly  trying  to  govern 
as  a  parliamentary  sovereign.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  others,  a 
profitable  comparison  might  be  instituted  between  him  and  William  in. 
Both  were  compelled  to  engage  in  long  and  not  very  successful  wars ; 
both  were  confronted  by  a  rival  supported  by  a  powerful  party ;  both 
were  extremely  badly  off ;  and  both  had  to  deal  with  parliaments  deter- 
mined to  use  the  king's  necessities  for  the  advancement  of  their  own 
rights. 

Throughout  the  whole  reign,  finance  was  Henry's  great  difficulty. 
His  normal  income  amounted  to  rather  over  ;£  100, 000  a  year ;  made  up 
of  £50,000  yielded  by  the  '  great  custom '  on  wool  and  the  Financial 
*  small  customs '  on  other  articles,  and  the  remainder  from  Difficulties, 
the  crown  lands,  feudal  dues,  fines,  forfeitures,  annual  payments  for 
charters,  and  a  practically  annual  grant  of  fifteenths  and  tenths.  During 
the  first  year  of  his  reign,  which  included  the  putting  down  of  the  rising 
of  the  earls  and  the  expedition  to  Scotland,  his  income  was  £109,249,  his 
expenses  £109,006,  leaving  a  balance  in  hand  of  £243.  As  time  went 
on,  however,  things  grew  worse.  The  expenses  of  the  Welsh  war  alone 
were  enormous  ;  a  large  force  had  constantly  to  be  kept  on  foot ;  castles 
to  be  garrisoned  and  kept  in  repair.  Even  in  time  of  peace  Calais  cost 
£18,000  ;  while  the  six  great  castles  of  North  Wales :  Conway,  Car- 
narvon, Criccieth,  Harlech,  Denbigh,  and  Beaumaris,  consumed  over 
£5000,  to  say  nothing  of  some  fifty  smaller  strongholds,  each  of  which 
required  its  garrison.  The  expenses  connected  with  the  restoration  of 
Kichard's  widow,  Isabella,  accounted  for  £8000.  Money  was  also  needed 
for  Guienne,  for  Ireland,  for  the  Scottish  border ;  and,  year  after  year, 
Henry  had  to  tell  his  officers  and  his  parliament  that  the  exchequer  was 
empty,  and  that  he  had  no  idea  where  money  was  to  be  got. 

In  these  circumstances,  any  attempt  to  govern  without  reference  to 

the  wishes  of  parliament  would  obviously  have  been  futile  ;  but  Henry 

was  on  principle  a  constitutional  ruler,  and  had  no  desire 

1  1  .  .  '       ,  .  ,  Parlia- 

to  revert  to   the   arbitrary    practice    of   his    predecessor,    mentary 

Accordingly,  we  find  him  carrying  into  practice  the  prin-     "  "ence. 

ciple  so  often  enunciated,  that  the  king's  ministers  should  be  a  body 

possessing  the  confidence  of  parliament.    For  example,  in  1404  the  king, 

at  the  request  of  the  conmions,  named  twenty-two  members  of  parliament 

to  be  his  great  and  continuous  council ;  and  changes  in  its  composition 


310  House  of  Lancaster  1412 

were  made  at  the  request  of  the  commons  in  1408  and  1410,  throwing  upon 
the  council  the  responsibility  of  government,  just  as  a  constitutional  sove- 
reign would  now  do  ;  and  in  1406,  when  complaints  were  made  of  the  in- 
efficiency of  government,  Henry's  reply  was  that  he  would  ask  the  council  to 
do  its  best.  Equally  complete  was  the  control  of  pailiament  over  finance. 
The  expenses  of  the  royal  household  were  regulated  again  and  again,  and 
various  sums,  ranging  from  about  ^£7000  to  ^12,000  a  year,  were  assigned 
for  its  maintenance,  an  arrangement  which  anticipates  the  modern  Civil 
List.  In  spite  of  some  reluctance  on  Henry's  part,  the  commons 
were  permitted  to  name  auditors  to  inspect  the  national  accounts,  and 
taxation  without  consent  of  parliament  was  not  even  imagined.  Little 
less  striking  was  the  advance  made  by  the  House  of  Commons.  Eegular 
sessions,  one  even  extending  over  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  days,  con- 
solidated the  corporate  feeling  of  the  members  and  accustomed  them  to 
act  together.  The  paramount  importance  of  finance  increased  the  power 
of  the  commons.  Being  the  poorer  house,  its  votes  were  a  fair  test 
of  the  taxation  which  the  nation  was  able  to  bear,  and  in  1407 
the  constitutional  practice  was  made  definite  by  a  declaration  of  the 
king.  For  the  future  no  report  about  money  grants  was  to  be  made  by 
either  house  till  both  were  agreed,  and  then  the  report  was  invariably 
to  be  made  through  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
adoption  of  such  constitutional  principles  and  practice  make  the  relations 
between  Henry  iv.  and  his  parliaments  quite  unique  in  the  liistory  of  the 
middle  ages. 

One  cause  which  decidedly  aided  Henry  to  maintain  his  position  was 
the  unvarying  support  he  received  from  the  church,  as  a  body,  under  the 
Support  of  leadership  of  archbishop  Arundel.  The  church,  indeed,  had 
the  Church,  jjggjj  ^q  walk  warily.  The  Lollard  movement — particularly 
the  non-doctrinal  part  of  it,  directed  against  the  position  and  wealth  of 
the  clergy — had,  for  almost  a  generation,  been  undermining  their  position ; 
while  the  papal  schism,  which  had  followed  the  return  of  the  popes  from 
Avignon,  had  deprived  them  of  any  effective  support  from  the  holy  see. 
Consequently,  they  were  compelled  to  rely  on  the  king,  and  a  sovereign 
at  once  so  orthodox  and  so  constitutional  as  Henry  became  their  natural 
ally.  We,  therefore,  find  the  great  ecclesiastics,  such  as  Arundel  and 
Beaufort',  ready  to  advance  money  for  the  royal  necessities,  and  the 
general  body  of  the  clergy  making  no  objection  to  the  severe  taxation 
which  Henry's  difficulties  entailed.  From  time  to  time,  indeed,  the 
grumbling  of  the  commons  reminded  the  clergy  of  the  insecurity  of 
their  tenure.  On  several  occasions  it  was  suggested  that  the  whole 
revenue  of  the  clergy  might  be  impounded  for  a  year  ;   and  in  1410  the 


1412  Henry  IV,  311 

commons  actually  brought  forward  a  definite  proposal  to  confiscate 
the  whole  property  of  the  bishops  and  religious  corporations,  and  to 
employ  it  to  endow  fifteen  earls,  fifteen  hundred  knights,  six  thousand 
esquires,  and  a  hundred  hospitals,  an  arrangement  which  would  still 
leave  ^20,000  a  year  for  the  relief  of  the  revenue.  The  plan,  however, 
broke  down,  not  apparently  from  any  regard  for  the  church,  but  because 
it  was  obviously  dangerous  to  add  to  the  number  of  an  already  too 
powerful  baronage,  Both  Henry  and  his  eldest  son  were  against  it,  and 
the  suggestion  was  not  renewed,  Arundel,  however,  was  by  no  means 
satisfied  with  a  mere  passive  resistance,  In  his  office  of  archbishop,  he 
carried  the  war  vigorously  into  the  enemy's  country ;  and  in  1409,  by 
the  authority  of  a  church  council,  published  a  series  of  constitutions  for 
the  church,  by  one  of  which  the  Bible  was  forbidden  to  be  translated  into 
;  English  until  such  a  translation  had  been  approved  by  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  or  a  provincial  synod ;  while  another  forbade  all  disputes  on 
points  determined  by  the  church. 

After  the  year  1405,  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  king's  health, 
Opinions  differ  as  to  his  malady  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  became  a  hope- 
less invalid,  and  apparently  he  suftered  some  dimmution  in    p^jj^^^  ^^ 
his  mental  as  well  as  his  physical  capacity.    At  such  times   the  King'* 
the  chief  direction  of  affairs  fell  into  the  bands  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  whose  life  was  divided  between  active  service  in  the  Welsh  or 
Scottish  marches,  and  official  business  as  chainnan   of  the   council  in 
London,     Next  to  the  Prince,  archbishop  Arundel  was  decidedly  the 
most  important  man  in  the  country,  and  a  steady  friend  to  Henry  ;  but 
his  power  was  subject  to  the  rivalry  of  the  Beauforts. 

John  Beaufort,  earl  of  Somerset,  son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  died  in 
1410,  leaving  two  sons,  young  John  and  Edmund,  and  a  daughter 
Joan.  He  was  not  a  man  of  much  mark,  but  his  younger  -pj^g 
brothers,  Henry  and  Thomas,  possessed  more  ability  and  Beaufort*, 
ambition.  Henry  had  been  made  bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1398,  and  in  1404 
he  succeeded  William  of  Wykeham  as  bishop  of  Winchester.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  tutor  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  he  was  through  life  his 
intunate  friend,  Thomas  distinguished  himself  both  as  an  admiral  and 
a  soldier,  especially  at  Agincourt,  and  was  ultimately  created  duke  of 
Exeter.  By  the  act  of  legitimation  passed  under  Richard  ii.,  the  right 
of  the  Beauforts  to  count  as  legitimate  children  of  John  of  Gaunt  was  not 
limited  by  exclusion  from  the  crown  ;  but  when  it  was  confirmed  by 
Henry  in  1407,  he  interpolated  the  words  excepta  dignitate  regale^ 
which,  however,  could  not  be  regarded  as  having  the  force  of  law. 
Owing  probably  to  the  circumstances  of  their  birth,  the  Beauforts  always 


312  House  of  Lancaster  1413 

hung  closely  together,  and,  although  friendly  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  it 
was  always  possible  that  they  might  take  a  line  of  their  own.  Arundel, 
also,  seems  to  have  been  less  of  a  constitutional  minister  and  more  closely 
allied  to  the  ideas  of  the  old  nobility  than  were  the  Beauforts,  and  to 
have  been,  far  more  than  even  Henry  Beaufort,  a  representative  of  the 
separate  interests  of  the  church.  We  therefore  find  the  chancellorship 
sometimes  in  the  hands  of  Arundel,  sometimes  in  that  of  a  Beaufort, 
according  to  the  policy  in  favour  at  the  time,  and  also  according  as  Henry 
or  his  son  had  the  greater  influence  in  the  council.  In  1407  Arundel 
became  chancellor,  and  held  the  post  till  1409.  In  that  year,  however,  his 
promulgation  of  '  the  constitutions,'  and  a  quarrel  which  followed  with 
Prince  Oxford  university,  in  which  the  Prince  of  Wales,  himself 
Henry,  ^n  Oxford  man,  took  the  opposite  side,  made  him  unpopular, 
and  the  ofi&ce  was  given  to  Thomas  Beaufort.  He  held  the  place  till 
1412,  during  which  time  it  is  probable  that  the  prince  really  governed  in 
his  father's  name  ;  but  in  that  year  a  crisis  occurred,  brought  on,  accord- 
ing to  one  account,  by  a  formal  suggestion  by  the  prince  and  the  Beauforts 
that  Henry  should  definitely  resign  the  crown.  What  happened,  however, 
is  obscure,  but  Arundel  came  back  to  power  ;  the  Prince  of  Wales  gave 
up  the  presidency  of  the  council,  and  his  place  was  taken  by  his  second 
brother,  Thomas,  duke  of  Clarence,  who  appears  to  have  always  been 
against  the  Beauforts.  Moreover,  the  expedition  to  France,  which  was 
sent  to  aid  the  Orleanists,  was  entrusted  to  the  second  brother.  The 
change,  however,  was  only  temporary.  Henry  grew  rapidly  worse,  and 
in  March  1413  he  died,  leaving  a  name  which  ought  to  stand  very  high 
among  English  sovereigns,  but  has  been  much  overclouded  by  pity  for 
the  misfortunes  of  his  predecessor,  and  by  the  admiration  excited  by  the 
showy  exploits  of  his  brilliant  son. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Statute  'de  hseretico  comburendo,'    .        .        .        1401 


Battle  of  Homildon  Hill,     . 

Battle  of  Shrewsbury, 

Scrope's  rebellion, 

James  of  Scotland  captured, 

Compions  secure  the  final  vote  on  taxation, 


1402 
1403 
1405 
1406 
1407 


CHAPTER   II 

HENRY  V.  :    1413-1422 
Bom  1388;  married  1420,  Katharine  of  France. 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS 
Scotland.  France.  Emperor. 

James  i.,  d.  1437.  Charles  vi.,  d.  1422.  Sigismund,  1410-1437. 

Popes, 
Martin  v.,  1417-1429 ;  Eugenius  iv.,  1431-1438. 

^The  French  Wars — Agincourt — Siege  of  Rouen— Treaty  of  Troyes. 

Tradition  records  that  at  some  period  of  his  life  Henry  the  Fifth  led 
a  wild  and  riotous  life.  If  this  is  true,  it  probably  refers  to  the  last 
year  of  his  father's  reign,  when  the  Prince's  enforced  idleness  Traditions  of 
put  him  into  the  way  of  temptation.  At  all  other  times  Early  Life, 
authentic  records  show  that  he  was  far  too  busy  with  serious  work  to 
have  time  for  dissipation.  Whether  the  story,  however,  is  anything  more 
than  a  myth  is  immaterial ;  at  most,  the  riotous  living  was  an  interlude 
of  idleness  between  two  periods  of  hard  work,  and  never  after  his  accession 
did  Henry  show  the  slightest  wavering  in  his  determination  to  be,  accord- 
ing to  the  ideas  of  his  age,  a  thoroughly  good  king. 

In  accordance  with  his  preference  for  the  Beauforts,  the  first  act  of  the 
new  king  was  to  give  the  chancellorship  to  his  uncle,  Henry  Beaufort, 

bishop  of  Winchester,  a  change  which  left  Arundel  free  to 

,       ,  .         ,  .     .  ,  -,     .  T.  .      ,  ,  Concilia- 

attend  to  his  archiepiscopal  duties.      Detennined,  however,   tory 

not  to  quarrel  with  the  Arundels,  he  made  his  friend,  the 

earl  of  Arundel,  treasurer.    In  the  same  spirit  of  conciliation,  he  had  the 

remains  of  Richard  ii.  honourably  re-iuterred  at  Westminster.    A  little 

later,  he  restored  their  lands  to  the  sons  of  Hotspur  and  the  earl  of 

Huntingdon  ;  made  a  confidential  friend  of  the  young  earl  of  March  ;  and 

arranged  that  the  loyalty  of  the  duke  of  York — formerly  earl  of  Rutland 

— should  be  formally  recognised  by  parliament.      In  short,  he  did  all  he 

could  to  show  that,   in  his  eyes,  bygones  were  bygones,  and  that  he 

meant  to  act  as  king  of  a  united  nation, 

313 


314  House  of  Lancaster  1413 

For  playing  this  part,  Henry  had  qualifications  which  had  been  denied 
to  his  father.  He  was  perfectly  satisfied  of  his  own  right  to  the  crown, 
Personal  "^^^  haunted  by  no  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  former 
Character,  actions,  and  he  brought  with  him  no  blood-feuds,  the  relics 
of  ancient  entanglements  in  political  intrigue.  His  personal  qualities  were 
excellent — tall,  strong,  stately,  and  of  winning  manners,  he  looked  as  he 
felt,  every  inch  a  king.  His  moral  character  was  good ;  his  orthodoxy  unim- 
peachable. He  had  received  an  admirable  training  in  the  business  both  of 
peace  and  war,  and  he  had  the  invaluable  capacity  for  taking  infinite 
pains.  Such  a  man  would  at  all  times  have  made  his  mark  as  a  sovereign ; 
but,  fortunately  for  Henry,  the  national  bent  for  foreign  war  gave  him 
exactly  the  opportunity  he  needed,  and  though  we,  with  our  later  know- 
ledge, are  tempted  to  impute  to  him  the  responsibility  for  the  disastrous 
termination  of  his  French  enterprise,  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  warlike 
policy  was  in  perfect  accord  with  the  ideas  of  the  time,  which  regarded 
him  as  the  mirror  of  chivalry.  War,  however,  did  not  break  out  at  once  ; 
for  mediaeval  kings,  who  fought  not  for  mere  accessions  of  territory  or  for 
ideas,  but  for  rights,  were  deliberate  in  their  proceedings,  and  did  not 
proceed  to  open  hostilities  before  they  had  made  their  demands  in  a  diplo- 
matic shape.  The  first  two  years  of  the  reign,  therefore,  were  occupied 
with  prej)arations  and  the  routine  of  ordinary  business. 

The  most  striking  exception  to  this  was  the  aflair  of  Sir  John  Oldcastle. 
Though  few  martyrs  had  braved  the  terrors  of  the  stake,  the  Lollard 
Sir  John  views  were  by  no  means  extinct ;  and  the  first  use  Arundel 
Oldcastle.  n^ade  of  his  freedom  from  the  cares  of  the  chancellorship 
was  to  attempt  to  make  an  example  by  striking  at  their  most  noticeable 
supporter  at  court.  The  victim  he  chose  was  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  genemlly 
known  by  right  of  his  wife  as  Lord  Cobham,  who  had  sat  in  the  House  of 
Commons  as  member  for  Herefordshire  in  1404,  and  had  been  called  to 
the  House  of  Lords  since  140.9.  Oldcastle  was  a  brave  and  intelligent 
man,  who  had  been  one  of  Henry's  best  lieutenants  in  the  Welsh  war ; 
he  was  also  a  sincere  adherent  of  Lollardism,  and  had  aided  to  spread  it 
by  giving  countenance  to  Lollard  preachers,  both  in  Kent  and  Hereford- 
shire. Acting  under  Arundel's  direction,  convocation  presented  an  indict- 
ment against  him,  and  he  was  summoned  to  appear  before  three  bishops. 
Failing  to  appear,  he  was  then  arrested  by  the  king-'s  order,  and,  after  along 
examination  before  the  archbishop,  was  pronounced  to  be  heretical,  and 
ordered  to  be  burnt.  Forty  days,  however,  were  allowed  him  to  recant, 
and  he  used  the  opportunity  to  escape.  A  plot  then  seems  to  have  been 
formed  to  seize  the  king  at  Eltham  on  Henry's  removing  to  London 
for  a  meeting  in  St.  Giles'  Fields,     The  king,  however,  was  fully  on  the 


1415  Henry  V.  315 

alert,  and  when  the  night  came  he  closed  the  gates  of  London,  scoured 
the  country  in  person  with  a  body  of  horse,  captured  some  sixty  of  the 
conspirators,  and  so  effectually  put  a  stop  to  the  design  that  . 

it  has  been  doubted  whether  there  was  any  reality  in  the  St.  Giles' 
movement.  All  attempts  to  aiTest  Oldcastle  failed  for  the 
time;  and  he  was  not  captured  till  1417,  when,  at  the  request  of  the 
commons  and  by  sentence  of  the  lords,  he  was  put  to  death  as  an  heretical 
traitor  by  being  drawn,  hanged,  and  burnt.  Arundel  died  in  1414,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Henry  Chichele,  who,  however,  did  not  play  so 
prominent  a  part  as  his  predecessor.  Lollardism  still  survived;  and,  forty 
years  later,  Bishop  Pecocke  of  Chichester  thought  it  worth  while  to  attack 
it  in  a  book  called  The  Rejyressoi'  of  over-much  Blaming  the  Clergy^  in 
which  he  defended  pilgrimages,  confession,  the  decoration  of  churches 
with  pictures,  and  other  practices  attacked  by  the  Lollards.  This  fact 
shows  the  tenacity  of  Wyclif  s  teaching,  and  it  is  one  of  the  problems  of 
history  how  far  the  Lollardism  of  the  Lancastrian  era  is  connected  with  the 
refonning  movement  of  the  Tudors. 

The  year  1414  was  also  notable  for  the  grant  of  a  parliamentary  privi- 
lege which  had  long  been  a  great  object  with  the  commons.  The  right 
of  the  commons  to  a  share  in  legislation  had  been  fully   „    .  . 

.      ,      .  1,1  i.    11  1  Petitions  of 

recognised  smce  1322,  but  the  actual  text  of  all  laws  was  a  the  Com- 
matter  for  the  royal  officials  ;  and  consequently,  although  the  "^°"®* 
commons  found  their  petitions  granted  in  name,  the  actual  statute  fre- 
quently differed  most  materially  from  what  they  had  suggested.  Accord- 
ingly, in  granting  tonnage  and  poundage  for  three  years,  the  commons 
asked  '  that  there  never  be  no  law  made '  on  their  petition,  '  and  engrossed 
as  statute  and  law,  neither  by  addition  or  by  diminution,  by  no  manner  of 
term  or  terms  the  which  should  change  the  meaning  and  the  intent  asked.' 
To  which  the  king  replied,  that  '  henceforth  nothing  be  enacted  to  the 
petitions  of  his  commons  that  be  contrary  to  their  asking,  whereby  they 
should  be  bound  without  their  assent.'  At  the  same  time  the  king's  right 
tt)  gxant  or  refuse  his  consent  to  a  petition  was  fully  confinned. 

In  1415  Henry  was  ready  to  declare  war  against  France.  His  plan 
was  discussed  in  parliament ;  received  the  consent  of  the  three  estates ;  and 

supplies  were  voted  and  paid  with  a  readiness  which  tends   ^ 

,  .11  1     /.  1  •  1      Causes  of 

to  show  with  what  a  wonderlul  recuperative  power  such   the  French 

an  agricultural  country  as  England  then  was  could  take 
advantage  of  a  very  few  years  of  peace.     The  same  causes  which  contri- 
buted to  the  warlike  enthusiasm  of  the  early  years  of  Edward  iii.  were 
doubtless  again  at  work ;  but  in  addition  to  these,  the  king,  probably 
acting  on  the  advice  of  his  father,  was  glad  to  find  an  outlet  for  the 


316  House  of  Lancaster  1415 

warlike  energy  of  his  nobles,  while,  according  to  one  account,  the  clergy 

were  not  sorry  to  see  the  attention  of  the  nation  diverted  from  the  abuses 

of  the  church.    Henry  himself  believed  thoroughly  in  the  propriety  of 

his  demand,  though  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he  reconciled  his  claims  with 

law,  for  by  inheritance  the  rights  of  Edward  iii.  had  passed  through 

Richard  ii.  to  the  earl  of  March.     The  moment,  however,  was  favourable, 

for  the  Burgundians  and  Armagnacs  were  quarrelling  as  usual,  and  he 

hoped  to  gain  the  support  of  one  or  the  other.     Accordingly,  in  1414  he 

sent  a  demand  for  the  restoration  of  Normandy,  Anjou,   Maine,  and 

such  parts  of  Gascony  as  were  not  already  in  English  hands  ;  and  as  his 

demand  was  rejected,  he  took  the  advice  of  parliament  and  set  about 

Parliament-    ^^  invasion  of  France.    Parliament  granted  two-tenths  and 

ary  Grants,     two-fifteenths,  and  also  made  over  to  Henry  the  lands  held 

in  England  by  foreign  monasteries,   technically  called   *  alien  priories.' 

An  army  was  hired  in  the  usual  way  :  a  duke  receiving  13s.  4d.  a  day  for 

his  services ;  an  earl  6s.  8d. ;  a  baron  or  a  knight-banneret,  i.e. 
Army  Pay.  ,  .  o  » 

a  knight  with  other  knights  in  his  train,  4s. ;  a  knight  2s. ; 

an  esquire  Is. ;  an  archer  6d.  As  the  ordinary  pay  of  a  labourer  was 
about  4d.,  Henry's  liberal  offer  drew  to  his  banners  the  pick  of  the 
country,  and  a  further  inducement  of  two-thirds  of  all  booty  for  the  rank 
and  file  was  also  offered.  When  all  was  ready,  a  '  Great  Council,'  i.e.  a 
meeting  of  the  magnates  without  the  inferior  clergy  and  the  commons, 
determined  that  war  should  begin.  Then  in  April  1415  a  formal  demand 
was  made  for  the  French  crown,  and  this  having  been  rejected,  Henry  led 
his  forces  to  the  coast,  and,  in  the  course  of  an  inspection  of  the  London 
contingents,  remarked  that  his  policy  would  'redound  to  the  manifest 
advantage  of  the  whole  realm.' 

The  troops  assembled  at  Southampton,  and  were  on  the  point  of  start- 
ing when  a  plot  in  favour  of  the  earl  of  March  was  unexpectedly  brought 
Cambridge's  to  light.  The  principal  in  this  was  Richard,  earl  of  Cam- 
Plot,  bridge,  younger  brother  of  the  duke  of  York,  who  had  been 
permitted  by  Henry  iv.  to  marry  Anne  Mortimer,  sister  of  Edmund,  earl 
of  March,  whose  claim  to  the  throne  stood  next  after  that  of  her  brother. 
His  colleagues  were  Henry,  Lord  le  Scrope,  a  relative  of  the  late  archbishop 
of  York  and  of  the  earl  of  Wiltshire,  executed  in  1399,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Grey  of  Heton.  Their  plan  was  to  take  advantage  of  Henry's  absence 
to  carry  off  March  to  Wales  and  proclaim  him  king ;  but  the  design  is 
believed  to  have  been  imparted  to  Henry  by  March  himself.  The  con- 
spirators were  instantly  arrested.  Cambridge  and  Grey  confessed  their 
guilt ;  Scrope  was  convicted  by  his  peers  ;  and  all  three  were  beheaded. 
Henry  showed  his  magnanimity  by  making  no  change  in  his  friendship 


1415 


Henry  V, 


317 


with  March,  or  in  his  relations  to  the  duke  of  York.  The  little  son  of 
Cambridge  was  brought  up  in  his  court,  and  lived  to  be  the  celebrated 
duke  of  York,  the  antagonist  of  Henry  vi. 

From  Southampton,  Henry,  with  a  force  estimated  at  21,000  archers 
and  6000  men-at-arms,  and  well  supplied  with  siege  cannon,  sailed  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Seine,  and,  landing  at  Havre,  laid  siege  to    invasion  of 
the  fortress  of  Hai-fleur.     Henry  placed  his  chief  reliance  on    ^*"^"*=^- 
his  cannons, '  the  London,' '  the  Messagere,'  and '  the  King's  Daughter,'  with 


Dunkirk 


Calais 


English  Miles. 

^       '?       '^     ^ 


BouloErm 


IStOnrer 


lontreuil 


'""(/, 


^/'^ 


BIcOTchetaque^ 


lAbbeville 


NOBTH  OF  I;'RA>'CE,   TO  ILLUSTRATE  THE  CAMPAIGNS  OF  CRECY  AND  AGINCOURT. 

which  he  kept  up  a  continual  bombardment — and  on  mines,  in  the  use  of 
which,  however,  the  English  seem  to  have  been  inferior  to  the  French. 
The  siege  lasted  thirty  days  ;  and  it  was  not  till  their  outer  works 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire  that  the  besieged  found  the  shot  from  *  the 
gunners  intolerable,'  and  agreed  to  capitulate.  Dysentery,  capture  of 
however,  broke  out  in  the  camp,  owing  to  exposure,  eating  Ha™*^"""- 
unripe  fruit,  and  the  stench  ;  and  when  a  garrison  had  been  told  off  to 
guard  the  town,  under  the  command  of  the  earl  of  Dorset,  only  nine 


318  Housa  of  Lancaster  1415 

hundred  men-at-arms  and  five  thousand  archers  remained  for  active 
service — a  number,  however,  which  is  so  small  that  it  throws  much  doubt 
on  the  correctness  of  the  original  estimate. 

With  these  Henry  determined  to  march  along  the  coast  to  Calais — a 
perilous  undertaking — for  the  expedition  was  unaccompanied  by  ships, 

March  to     and  a  powerful  French  army  lay  at  Eouen.     On  their  road 

Calais.  ^YiQ  little  band  suffered  terrible  privations,  having  for  some 
days  only  '  walnuts  for  bread.'  Henry's  design  was  to  cross  the  Somme 
at  Blanche  Taque  ;  but  he  found  the  ford  strongly  guarded  and  staked, 
and,  the  bridges  being  held,  had  to  march  up  the  river  to  Peronne  before 
he  found  a  place  to  cross.  He  then  made  straight  to  Calais.  Meanwhile, 
the  French  army,  under  the  dukes  of  Bourbon,  Orleans,  Alengon,  the 
constable,  and  the  Marshal  Boucicault,  had  crossed  the  river  at  Abbe- 
ville, and  had  placed  itseK  across  his  line  of  march  at  Agincourt,  near 
Hesdin.  As  he  had  no  provisions,  Henry  had  no  choice  but  to  fight 
or  surrender,  so  he  and  his  little  army  faced  the  French,  and  prepared  to 
make  a  brave  resistance. 

Although  the  French  had  chosen  the  field  of  battle,  it  was  not  at  all 
suited  to  their  army  ;  which,  although  authorities  differ  as  to  the  actual 

Field  of       numbers,  certainly  greatly  outnumbered  the  English,  pos- 

Agincourt.  ^\\y\j  ^yj  ^s  much  as  seven  to  one.  It  was  a  defile  between 
two  woods,  and  so  narrow  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  that  the 
French  had  to  be  drawn  up  in  three  bodies,  each  some  distance  behind 
the  other.  Even  as  it  was,  the  five  thousand  men  of  the  front  line  were 
so  packed  together  that  they  could  hardly  use  their  swords.  Moreover, 
the  field  in  which  they  stood  was  new -harrowed  and  very  wet,  so  that 
the  men-at-arms  in  their  heavy  armour  sank  knee-deep  in  the  mud. 
The  French  had  no  archers,  but  relied  chiefly  on  the  dense  masses  of 
their  men-at-anns,  who,  as  at  Poitiers,  fought  on  foot ;  j)artly  in  a  body 
of  picked  horsemen  on  each  wing,  who  were  to  charge  the  archers,  not 
in  front  as  at  Poitiers,  but  in  flank. 

Henry  fully  expected  that  the  French  would  make  the  attack,  and 

his  aiTangements  were  all  made  for  defence.     Early  in  the  march,  by  the 

„  .        advice  of  the  duke  of  York,  he   had  ordered  the  archers 

Preparations  ■  i       ,  .         . 

of  the  to  provide  themselves  with  six-foot  stakes,  sharpened  at  each 

"^  *^  '         end,  as  a  j)rotection  against  cavalry ;  and  now  these  were 

ordered  to  be  set  up  slantwise  in  the  ground,  so  that  the  point  was  on 

a  level  with  a  horse's  chest.     To  get  a  firmer  grip  of  the  ground,  each 

archer  bared  his  left  foot ;  and  the  men  cut  off  or  turned  up  the  sleeves 

of  their  jackets  so  as  to  have  free  play  for  their  arms.     Thus  arrayed,  the 

archers  took  their  places  in  open  order  in  the  front  line  ;  behind  them 


1415 


Henry  V» 


319 


on  foot  were  the  men-at-arms  ;  and  on  the  wings  were  mixed  bodies  of 
cavalry  and  archers,  designed  either  to  repel  the  attack  of  the  French 
cavalry,  or  to  make  their  way  through  the  woods  and  take  the  French  in 
flank. 

For  some  hours  Henry  awaited  the  French  attack  ;  but  finding  them 
immovable  he  gave  the  word  to  advance,  and  the  archei-s,  taking  their 
stakes  with  them,  moved  forward.     Then  from  each  wing    Battle  of 
five  thousand  French  horsemen  in  full   armour  swooped   Agmcourt. 
down  on  the  English  bowmen,  but   the  stakes  did  yeoman's  service ; 
the  arrows  fell  like  rain,  and  the  discomfited  horsemen  galloped  back 


. French 

I—. English  ArtJurs 

*     tten  at  Arms 


FIELD  OP  AGINCOURT,  25th  OCTOBER  1415.    (Adapted  from  Spruner.) 

into  the  second  line.  Thus  free  from  attack,  the  archers  were  able 
to  send  their  shafts  without  interruption  on  the  crowded  masses  of 
French  iniimtry  ;  and  when  the  supplies  of  arrows  were  exhausted,  the 
whole  ai-my  bore  down  on  the  French  line.  Then  the  fighting  became 
terrible  ;  the  ranks  swayed  now  this  way,  now  that ;  and  the  chaplains, 
who  were  watching  the  battle  from  the  rear,  expected  every  moment  to  see 
their  countrymen  overthrown;  but  at  length  the  English,  aided  by  a  flank 
attack  of  their  cavalry,  carried  the  day,  and  the  first  division  was  routed. 
A  similar  manoeuvre  destroyed  the  second ;  and  then  the  EngHsh,  con- 
fident of  victory,  marched  to  attack  the  third.     At  that  moment  a  cry  was 


320  House  of  Lancaster  1415 

raised  that  they  were  being  attacked  in  the  rear.  Nothing  could  be 
more  likely,  and  as  only  ten  horsemen  and  twenty  archers  had  been  left 
to  guard  the  sick  and  the  baggage,  the  danger  was  most  serious.  The 
alarm,  however,  proved  false ;  but  the  mistake  was  not  discovered  till 
orders  had  been  given  to  kill  the  prisoners,  lest  they  should  take  advan- 
tage of  the  danger  to  turn  upon  their  captors.  Then  the  third  line  was 
attacked,  and  a  charge  in  flank  completed  its  destruction.  The  loss  on 
both  sides  was  heavy.  The  constable  of  France,  four  other  dukes,  and 
a  vast  number  of  officers  and  men  lay  dead.  On  our  side,  the  duke  of 
York  had  atoned  by  a  soldier's  death  the  many  treacheries  of  his  early 
life,  and  the  earl  of  Suffolk  had  met  the  same  fate.  The  number  of 
French  prisoners  of  note  was  immense,  and  the  list  was  headed  by  two 
princes  of  the  blood — the  dukes  of  Orleans  and  Bourbon.  Henry  himself 
had  fought  in  the  thickest  of  the  struggle ;  and  his  declaration  that, 
come  what  might,  England  should  never  be  put  to  expense  for  his  mnsom, 
made  him  more  than  ever  the  idol  of  his  soldiery. 

Meanwhile,  the  anxiety  in  England  had  been  terrible.  Since  Henry 
set  out  from  Harfleur  on  the  8th  of  October,  no  news  whatever  had  been 
heard  of  his  fortunes,  and  the  reaction  was  proportionate  when  the  tale 
of  such  a  splendid  victory  was  reported.  Overjoyed  at  their  success,  but 
conscious  of  the  insecurity  of  their  position,  the  English  lost  no  time  in 

Henry's       marching  to  Calais  and  returning  to  England.    So  eager  was 

Return.  Henry  to  get  home,  that  he  crossed  in  a  storm  so  terrible 
that  the  French  prisoners  said  they  would  rather  fight  another  battle 
than  make  such  another  passage.  Even  before  his  arrival,  parliament,  in 
the  first  transports  of  enthusiasm,  had  granted  the  great  customs  on  wool 
and  the  tonnage  and  poundage  on  other  goods  for  life,  and  given  him 
another  tenth  and  fifteenth  ;  and,  when  he  landed  in  triumph  with  his 
prisoners,  he  was  received  by  the  whole  nation  with  tumultuous 
rejoicings. 

Even  outside  his  own  country  the  victory  of  Agincourt  made  Henry 

the  most  renowned  of  European  sovereigns,  and  in  1416  his  assistance  was 

personally  invoked  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  brother  of 

Reputation  Anne  of  Bohemia,  with  a  view  to  the  closing  of  the  never- 

o  enry.  ^^^j- j^g  conflict  between  the  rival  popes,  which  had  distracted 
Western  Christendom  since  1378.  To  this  Henry  agreed,  and  in  the 
council  of  Constance,  which  terminated  the  schism  by  the  election  of 
Martin  v.,  a  distinguished  part  was  taken  by  Henry  Beaufort,  and  by 
Robert  Hallam,  bishop  of  Salisbury. 

Henry,  however,  was  well  aware  that  the  victory  of  Agincourt,  however 
brilliant,  had  done  little  to  advance  the  conquest  of  France,  and  he 


1419  Henry  V,  321 

immediately  set  about  prepai-ations  for  a  second  expedition.    In  the  cam- 
paign of  Agincourt,  luck  had  undoubtedly  played  a  very  large  part,  and 

nothing  shows  more  clearly  the  real  greatness  of  Henry  than  „ 

®  ,,     .  ,  .      ,  .  ,  Preparations 

the  care  he  was  at  to  eliminate  chance  in  his  second  cam-  for  a  second 

paign.    No  subject  was  too  trivial  for  his  attention.     Like     ^"^P^*£"' 

Richard  i.,  he  took  special  pains  with  the  fleet;  and  with  his  six  great  ships, 

eight  barges,  and  ten  ballingers,  may  be  said  to  have  created  the  nucleus 

of  the  royal  navy.     Surgeons  were  appointed  both  for  the  army  and  for 

the  navy.     A  code  of  regulations  for  soldiers  and  sailors  was  drawn 

up.     Piracy  was  forbidden  ;  duelling  discouraged  ;  and  every  detail  of 

victualling  was  carried  on  under  Henry's  personal  supervision.      Abroad, 

Henry  had  been  working  without  intermission  to  secure  the  assistance  of 

allies,  negotiating,  besides  his  league  with  Sigismund,  an  understanding 

with  the  Hanse  towns,  and  with  Cologne,  Holland,  Bavaria.    At  home  he 

carried  further  the  work  of  conciliation  ;  drew  closer  his  friendship  with 

the  earl  of  March  and  with  Henry  Hotspur's  son  ;  restored  the  earldom 

of  Huntingdon  to  young  John  Holland  ;  and  rewarded  Thomas  Beaufort 

for  his  services  at  Harfleur  by  the  title  of  duke  of  Exeter. 

At  length  in  1417  he  again  crossed  to  Harfleur,  which  had  been  bravely 
defended  by  Beaufort,  and  a  naval  attack  had  in  1416  been  defeated  by 
the  duke  of  Bedford.     The  second  campaign,  though  it  con- 
tained  no  such  striking  incident  as  the  battle  of  Agincourt,    second 
reflected  perhaps  even  higher  credit  upon  hmi  as  a  cautious,      ^"^P^^e"- 
painstaking,  and  determined  commander.      Eschewing  all  fighting  in  the 
open  field,  the  French  endeavoured  to  gain  time  by  obstinately  defending 
the  Norman  fortresses,  and  the  seasons  of  1417,  1418,  and  1419  were 
consumed  in  sieges.      Early  in  1419,   however,   Henry  brought  to  a 
successful  conclusion  the  great  siege  of  Rouen,  where,  exasperated  by  a 
joke  of  the  garrison,  who  placed  a  braying  ass  on  the  walls  by  way  of  a 
bad  pun  on  his  name  {L'dne  tit :  Henri),  he  suUied  his  fame  by  cruelly 
allowing  the  women  and  children  of  Rouen  to  perish  between  his  trenches 
and  the  walls.     In  July  Pontoise  fell,  and  the  road  to  Paris  lay  open. 

Danger  now  made  the  French  factions  unite.     Hitherto,  the  queen, 

with  her  daughter  Katharine,  had  been  on  the  side  of  the  Burgundians, 

and  Charles  the  Dauphin  on  that  of  the  Orleanists  ;  but  hopes    .,     , 

•       1    1  M-     •  .   1     1        «.         1      Murder  of 

were  now  entertained  that  a  reconciliation  might  be  effected,   the  Duke  of 

Accordingly,  in  August  a  meeting  was  arranged  between  the      ^^^^  y* 

duke  of  Burgundy  and  the  Dauphin  at  the  bridge  of  Montereau-faut- 

Yonne.     A  strong  barrier  separated  the  two   sides ;  but  the  duke  of 

Burgundy  unsuspectingly  crossed  it,  and  the  followers  of  the  Dauphin, 

headed  by  Tanneguy  du  Chastel,  put  the  duke  to  death.     This  horrid 

X 


322  House  of  Lancaster  1419 

crime  destroyed  all  hopes  of  resisting  Henry  ;  for  the  duke's  son,  Philip, 
and  the  French  queen  opened  negotiations  with  the  English.  The  pro- 
spect opened  by  this  caused  Henry  to  raise  his  demands,  which  would 
probably  have  at  first  been  satisfied  by  the  cession  of  Normandy ;  and, 
eventually,  it  was  agreed  that  Henry  should  marry  Katharine,  become 
king  of  France  on  Charles'  death,  and  should  act,  meanwhile,  as  Regent 

Treaty  of     ^^  France.     This  arrangement  was  completed  at  Troyes  on 

Troyes.  ]y[ay  24,  1420.  On  June  3,  Henry  and  Katharine  were 
married.  Soon  afterwards  he  entered  Paris  in  triumph,  and  after  spend- 
ing Christmas  in  royal  state,  returned  with  his  bride  to  England  in 
February  1421,  leaving  Clarence  to  act  as  his  representative  in  France. 

Meanwhile,  the  Dauphin  had  gathered  to  his  standard  the  forces  of  the 
south  of  France,  where  the  Armagnacs  had  most  adherents  ;  and  called 

Battle  of      ^  ^s  ^i^  *^®  Scots,  who,  as  was  usual  during  a  war  with 

Beaugf.  France,  had  invaded  the  north  of  England.  Their  raid,  long 
remembered  as  '  the  burnt  Candlemas,'  did  no  great  harm  ;  but  the 
arrival  of  a  body  of  Scots  in  France,  under  the  command  of  the  earl  of 
Buchan,  was  a  more  serious  matter.  In  March,  Clarence  marched  against 
the  allies,  and,  forgetful  of  the  old  adage,  '  England  were  but  a  fling,  but 
for  the  crooked  stick  and  the  grey  goose  wing,'  foolishly  attempted  to 
surprise  them  by  a  forced  march  of  his  cavalry.  The  result  was  disastrous. 
At  the  battle  of  Beaug^  the  English  were  completely  routed,  and  Clarence 
paid  with  his  death  the  penalty  of  his  temerity. 

To  repair  the  disaster,  Henry  returned  to  France  in  June  1421,  and 

his  arrival  restored  victory  to  his  countrymen.     The  Dauphin  was  driven 

,  south  of  the  Loire,  and  the  strong  fortress  of  Meaux  was 

third  Cam-    besieged.    During  the  winter  a  son,  afterwards  Henry  vi., 

P^^^n-  ^^g  \>oxn  at  Windsor,  and  in  May  Katharine  rejoined  her 

husband.     The  same  month  Meaux  fell.     Though  unbroken  success  had 

hitherto  followed  Henry's  standards,  and  he  had  fought  no  battle  he 

bad  not  won,  and  besieged  no  town  that  he  had  not  taken,  there  was 

Henry's       ^^^  chance  that  he  could  not  eliminate.    Dysentery,  then 

Death.  ^he  scourge  of  camps,  attacked  him ;  and  he  died  at 
Vincennes  on  the  31st  of  August  1422,  and  in  the  34th  year  of  his  age. 

Henry's  character  has  been  much  and  deservedly  praised.    There  is 

no  doubt  that  he  was  an  able  warrior  and  a  great  administrator,  and  also 

,        that,  according  to  the  ideas  of  the  time,  he  was  a  really 

place  in       religious  man.     His  persecution  of  the  Lollards  has  been 

condemned  by  the  judgment  of  subsequent  times,  but  it  is 

hard  to  blame  a  man  because  he  was  not  in  advance  of  his  age,  and  his 

cruelty  at  the  siege  of  Rouen  is  a  more  suitable  subject  for  detestation. 


1422  Henry  V,  323 

In  his  dealings  with  parliament,  he  was  as  true  to  constitutional  prin- 
ciples as  his  father,  though  much  less  under  the  influence  of  compulsion  ; 
and  while  aiding  the  clergy  against  the  Lollards,  he  was  by  no  means 
blind  to  the  necessity  of  refonn,  which  he  showed  by  ordering  a  reduction 
of  the  clerical  fees,  and  by  ordering  bishops  to  enforce  the  residence  of  the 
parochial  clergy.  He  also  stood  well  with  learned  men,  and  the  impres- 
sion he  created  among  his  contemporaries  was  certainly  most  favourable. 
Even  a  French  chronicler,  Juvenal  des  Ursins,  admits  that  *he  had 
been  of  high  and  great  courage,  valiant  in  arms,  pnident,  sage,  great  in 
justice,  who,  without  respect  of  persons,  did  right  for  small  and  great. 
He  was  feared  and  revered  of  his  relations,  subjects,  and  neighbours.' 


CHIEF  DATES. 

Battle  of  Agrincourt,   .... 

A.  D. 
1416 

Siege  of  Rouen, 

1419 

Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,     . 

1419 

Treaty  of  Troyes,        .... 

1420 

Battle  of  Beaug^,        .... 

1421 

CHAPTEK   III 

HENRY  VI.  :   1422— (dethroned)  1461— (dIED)  1471 
Born,  1421 ;  married  1446,  Margaret  of  Anjou. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS 

Scotland.  France.  Pope. 

James  i.,  d.  1436.  Charles  vi.,  d.  1422.  Eugenius  iv. 

James  ii.,  d.  1460.  Charles  vii.,  d.  1461. 

French  Wars— Siege  of  Orleans— Loss  of  France— Growth  of  Hostile  Parties 
headed  respectively  by  the  Beauforts  and  the  Duke  of  York— Outbreak  of 
Civil  War— Dethronement  of  Henry  vi. 

The  heir  of  Henry  v.  was  his  son,  a  child  of  nine  months  old,  and  during 
his  minority  the  government  was  carried  on  by  a  protector  and  a  council. 

The  Some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  defining  the  exact  powers 

Minority,  of  each  ;  but  eventually,  by  the  sanction  of  parliament,  it  was 
arranged  that  the  duke  of  Bedford  should  be  protector  and  defender  of 
the  realm  and  of  the  church  of  England,  and  principal  counsellor  to  the 
king  whenever  Bedford  was  present  in  England  ;  and  in  his  absence  the 
same  duties  were  assigned  to  the  duke  of  Gloucester.  The  council  con- 
sisted of  Gloucester,  as  chairman,  and  of  five  prelates,  one  duke,  five  earls, 
and  five  barons,  and  was  fully  representative  of  the  great  baronial 
families.  All  patronage  was  reserved  in  its  hands,  and  all  business  was 
carried  on  with  its  cognisance  and  advice.  In  practice,  however,  Bedford 
was  almost  invariably  in  France,  so  that  Gloucester  acted  as  protector ; 
and  after  him  the  most  prominent  place  was  held  by  Henry  Beaufort, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  the  uncle  and  friend  of  Henry  v. 

The  characters  of  these  men,  who  may  almost  be  called  a  triumvirate, 
were  very  different.     Bedford  was  now  thirty-three  years  of  age,  and  had 

B  df   d      ^^^  plenty  of  experience  both  of  government  and  war.    He 

had  been   thoroughly   trusted  by  his    brother,   and    well 

deserved  it,  for  he  was  really  a  noble  character,  distinguished  by  serious- 


1424  Henry  VL  325 

ness,  honesty,  and  complete  disinterestedness  ;  and,  though  he  was  not  so 

brilliant  as  his  elder  brother,  he   combined   Henry's   thoroughness  and 

soundness  with  some  of  the  nobility  of  character  which  distinguished  the 

Black  Prince.     Gloucester,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  com-    ^, 

.  Gloucester, 

pared  with  his  great  uncle,  Thomas,  the  popular  rival  of 

Richard  ii.     His  good  qualities  were  all  of  the  showy  order.     Brave, 

adventurous,  amiable   and   cultivated,  he  gained  popularity  while   his 

brother  earned  respect ;    and  his  self-seeking  ambition   and   complete 

thoughtlessness  hurried  him  into  actions  most  injurious  to  the  fortunes 

both  of  his  country  and  of  his  house.     Fortunately,  the  evil  genius  of 

Gloucester  was,  to  a  great  degree,  balanced  by  the  sterling  qualities  of 

the  great  bishop  of  Winchester.     With  abilities,  both  for  peace  and  war, 

as  great  as  those  of  any  of  his  family,  Henry  Beaufort  was,    Henry 

by  his  profession,  debarred  from  exhibiting  the  latter  on   Beaufort. 

English  fields,  but  the  fonner  he  phiced  fully  at  the  disposal  of  his 

nephews  ;  and  for  nearly  forty  years  he  was  the  guiding  spirit  in  English 

domestic  politics,  always  reiidy  to  sacrifice  both  time  and  money  for  the 

interests  of  his  countrymen. 

The  late  king  had  wished  that  the  regency  of  France  should  be 
undertaken  by  Philip,  duke  of  Burgundy  ;  but  as  that  prince  declined  it, 
the  duty  fell  to  the  lot  of  Bedford.     His  first  care  was  to   prench 
secure  the  teiTitories  occupied  by  the  English  from  French   Affairs, 
attacks.      Roughly  speaking,  the  English  district  took  the   fonn  of  a 
wedge,  whose   base  was   the  sea-coast  from   Calais  to  [the  borders  of 
Brittany,  and  whose  apex  was  at  Paris.     The  security  of  this  obviously 
depended  on  the  maintenance  of  friendly  relations  with  Burgimdy  and 
Brittany ;    and   to  gain   their  goodwill   Bedford   negotiated   a   double 
marriage,  by  which  he  himself  married  Anne,  sister  of  the  duke  of 
Burgimdy,  and  Arthur  of  Richemont,  brother  of  the  duke  of  Brittany, 
married  her  sister.      His   next   step   was   to   drive   the   French   from 
those  lands  which  divided  the  English  territories  from  those    Battle  of 
of  their  allies.     Two  campaigns  effected  this.     In  1423  the    Crevant. 
victory  of  Crevant,  won  by  Thomas  Montague,  earl  of  Salisbury,  cleared 
the  district  between  Paris  and  Burgundy  ;  and  in  1424,  Bedford's  great 
victory  of  Verneuil  did  the  same  for  the  lands  north  of  the    Battle  of 
Loire,  between  Paris  and  Brittany.       By  a  politic  act  of  Verneuil. 
generosity  the  council  also  detached  Scotland  from  the  French  alliance  by 
releasing  king  James,  and  in  1424,  after  a  captivity  of  nineteen  years,  he 
returned  home  tiiking  with  him  an  English  wife,  Jane  Beaufort,  cousin  of 
the  English  king. 

Unfortunately,  the  folly  of  the  duke  of  Gloucester  went  a  long  way  to 


326  House  of  Lancaster  14SI 

neutralise  Bedford's  policy.      Exactly   a    month  before  his  brother's 

marriage  to  Anne  of  Burgundy,  Humphrey  was  unpatriotic  enough  to 

Foolish-        niarry  Jacqueline  of  Hainault,  the  half-divorced  wife  of  the 

ness  of  duke  of  Brabant,  an  act  which  gave  mortal  offence  to  Philip 

of  Burgundy,  who  expected  to  succeed  to  her  dominions  ; 

and,  as  if  this  were  not  bad  enough,  in  1424  he  proceeded  to  Hainault  to 

push  his  wife's  claims  by  arms. 

By  this  time  the  condition  of  France  was  much  less  favourable  to 
the  invaders  than  it  had  been.  The  imbecile  Charles  vi.  died  in  1422,  not 
Charles  VII.  long  after  Henry  v. ;  but  the  succession  was  claimed  by  the 
of  France.  Dauphin  as  Charles  vii.,  and  he  was,  of  course,  supported  by 
the  French  national  party,  who  regarded  him  as  the  rightful  champion  of 
the  French  cause.  The  old  difficulties  which  had  proved  too  much  for 
the  Black  Prince  also  began  to  tell  against  Bedford.  The  first  enthusiasm 
of  the  English  had  spent  its  force,  and  men  and  money  were  both  more 
difficult  to  get.  Moreover,  the  feudal  armies,  against  which  all  the 
great  English  victories  had  been  won,  were  replaced,  as  the  war  went  on, 
by  professional  soldiers  of  the  type  of  the  celebrated  Dunois.  The  grave 
disadvantages  that  always  beset  armies  which  have  to  operate  among  a 
hostile  population  also  told  their  tale,  and  it  only  required  that  a  striking 
success  should  restore  the  confidence  of  the  French  to  bring  about  a  turn 
of  the  tide. 

In  this  state  of  affairs,  Bedford  decided  to  lay  siege  to  Orleans.  As 
this  turned  out  badly,  he  has  been  much  blamed,  but  the  causes  of  the 
Siege  of  failure  could  not  well  have  been  foreseen  ;  and  the  serious 
Orleans,  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  leaving  Orleans  in  French 
hands  was  obvious.  Commanding,  as  it  did,  the  passage  of  the  river 
Loire,  the  city  acted  as  a  gate  by  which  the  French  troops  from  the  south 
could  cross  over  into  English  territory,  and  so  long  as  it  remained  untaken 
it  was  a  constant  source  of  anxiety  and  disquiet.  Accordingly,  in  1428, 
Bedford  ordered  an  English  force  under  Salisbury,  the  victor  of  Crevant,  to 
lay  siege  to  Orleans.  Unluckily,  however,  Salisbury  was  killed  by  an  iron 
cannon-shot  aimed  at  him  by  a  French  gunner  while  he  was  inspecting 
the  works,  and  his  place  was  taken  by  William  de  la  Pole,  earl  of  Sufi'olk. 
For  some  months  the  siege  went  steadily  on  ;  and  in  February  1429,  at 
Rouverai,  a  small  detachment  under  Sir  John  Fastolf  distinguished 
itself  by  beating  off  a  French  force  which  tried  to  capture  a  convoy  of 
provisions  which  was  being  brought  up  for  the  besiegers.  When  the 
attack  commenced,  the  Englishmen  drew  up  the  wagons  in  a  circle — 
laager  wise — and  eventually  repelled  the  attack  with  showers  of  arrows, 
though  the  French  cannon-balls  made  so  much  havoc  among  the  herring- 


1435  Henry  VI.  327 

barrels,  with  which  the  wagons  were  loaded,  that  the  fight  was  jocularly 
called  the  battle  of  the  herrings.  The  failure  of  this  attempt  appeared  to 
seal  the  fate  of  the  garrison,  when  a  completely  new  turn  was  given  to 
events  by  the  appearance  on  the  scene  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans. 

This  wonderful  personage  was  a  girl  of  eighteen,  named  Jeanne  Dare, 
daughter  of  a  Domr^my  peasant,  who  believed  that  she  had  a  divine 
mission  to  lead  her  countrymen  to  victory  over  the  English,      jeanne 
and  to  crown  Charles  vii.  in  the  cathedral  of  Kheims.     Her      ^^^*^- 
pertinacity  and  belief  in  the  truth  of  her  mission  gained  her  admittance 
to  the  court.    There  her  services  were  accepted  ;  and  clad  in  armour,  and 
girt  with  a  sword,  she  led  the  enthusiastic  soldiers  against  the  English. 
In  May  the  siege  of  Orleans  was  raised.    A  few  days  later,  the    gj^t^igg  gf 
earl  of  Suffolk  was  defeated  and  captured  at  Jargeau,  and  J*^^8:eau^ 
the  heroic  Sir  John  Talbot  suffered  the  same  fate  at  Patay ; 
and,  within  the  year,  Charles  vii.  was  actually  crowned  at  Rheims.    The 
effort,  however,  died  away.    The  English  recovered  their  nerve  ;  jealousy 
again  broke  out  among  the  French  ;  and  the  capture  of  the  maid  at  Com- 
piegne,  in  May  1430,  finally  broke  the  spell.     To  the  disgrace  of  all 
persons  concerned,  she  was  tried  as  a  witch  and  condemned  to  die  by  a 
court  of  Norman  and  Burgundian  prelates,  presided  over  by  the  bishop 
of  Beauvais.      She  was  burned  to  death  at  Rouen  in  May  1431,  and 
her  ashes  thrown  into  the  Seine.    The  failure  at  Orleans  put  a  stop  to 
any  further  forward  movement  on  the  part  of  the  English  ;  but  for  some 
time  their  defensive  strength  seemed  unimpaired,  and  it  was  not  till  six 
years  after  this  that  the  French  made  any  considerable  progress  in  ridding 
themselves  of  the  invaders. 

Unfortunately,  in  1433,  Bedford  himself  made  a  most  serious  mistake, 
which  had  the  effect  of  breaking  the  English  alliance  with  Burgimdy,  on 
which,  more  than  on  anything  else,  their  power  of  holding  their  conquests 
rested.    His  first  wife,  Anne  of  Burgundy,  died  in  1432  ;  and  very  soon 
afterwards  he  married  Jacquetta  of  Luxembourg,  the  sister   Bedford 
of  the  count  of  St.  Pol.     The  lands  of  St.  Pol  lay  along  the    marries 
watershed  which   separated  Flanders  from  Artois,  and  so   ofLuxem- 
formed  a  barrier  between  the  king  of  France  and  the  duke     °"'^^* 
of  Burgundy,  much  as  at  a  later  date  Savoy  was  the  barrier  land  between 
France  and  Italy.     Of  this  the  counts  of  St.  Pol  had  made  their  advan- 
tage, by  siding  sometimes  with  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  and  sometimes 
with  the  king  of  France.     Consequently,  his  alliance  with  Bedford  was 
most  distaseful  to  the  duke  of  Burgundy,  who  from  that  moment  sought 
an  excuse  to  separate  himself  from  the  English.     The  opportunity  came 
in  1435.    For  some  time  Bedford's  health  had  been  declining,  and  he 


328  House  of  Lancaster  1435 

had  found  it  hard  to  cope  with  the  accumulation  of  difficulties  with 
which  the  English  were  threatened ;  and,  moreover,  English  affairs  had 
compelled  him  to  leave  France  for  sixteen  months.  Meanwhile,  negotia- 
tions between  the  French  and  the  Burgundians  resulted  in  a  secret 
agreement  that  the  French  should  formally  offer  terms  of  peace  to  the 
English,  and  that  if  these  were  refused.  Burgundy,  at  the  price  of  the 
cession  of  Amiens  and  certain  other  towns  along  the  river  Somme  and 
of  the  county  of  Ponthieu,  should  come  over  to  the  French  side.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1435,  and  when  a  great  congress  was  summoned  by  pope 
Congress  of  Eugenius  IV.  to  meet  at  Arras  in  August,  and  try  to  con- 
Arras,  elude  the  war,  the  French  were  ready  with  their  terms, 
which  were,  that  Normandy  and  Aquitaine  should  be  given  up  in  full 
sovereignty  to  the  English  king,  and  that  in  return  he  should  repudiate 
all  claim  to  the  French  crown.  In  an  evil  hour  the  offer  was  declined. 
On  September  14,  Bedford  died  at  Bouen  ;  and  on  the  21st  the  duke  of 
Bedford's  Burgundy  made  a  formal  treaty  with  France,  and  openly 
Death,  renounced  his  alliance  with  the  English.  The  death  of 
Bedford  and  the  severance  of  the  Burgundian  alliance  bring  to  a  close 
the  second  period  of  the  war,  which  lasted  from  the  treaty  with  Burgundy 
in  1419  to  1435. 

During  Bedford's  thirteen  years'  struggle  to  uphold  the  English  rule 

in  France,  he  had  been  continually  harrassed  by  having  to  attend  to  the 

perpetual  bickerings   and   disputes,  of  which  his  brother, 

ings  of  Gloucester,  was  the  originator.     That  infatuated  man,  after 

mortally  offending  the  duke  of  Burgundy  by  his  marriage 

with  Jacqueline  of  Hainault,  had  actually,  in  October  1424,  led  an  armed 

expedition  into  Hainault,  drawn  off  the  duke  from  France,  challenged 

him  to  single  combat,  and  assumed  for  himself  the  title  of  count  of 

Holland  and  Zealand.      He  gained,  however,  little  or  nothing  by  his 

expedition  ;    and  returned   to   England   loaded  with  debt.      His  next 

action  was  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  Henry  Beaufort ;  and  in  1425  Bedford 

had  to  return  home  to  restore  peace.     This  was  eventually  accomplished, 

rather  on  the  whole  to  Gloucester's  advantage,  at  the  instance  of  the 

Parliament  parliament  of  1425,  long  remembered  as  the  parliament  of 

of  Bats.        "i^g^^g  Qj.  i)iu(igeons.     In  1426,  Bedford  returned  to  France, 

accompanied  by  Henry  Beaufort ;  and  Gloucester  immediately  renewed 

his  designs  against  Burgundy.     The  same  year,  however,  Beaufort  made 

the  great  mistake  of  his  life.      Hampered  in  England  by 

becomes  a    the  intrigues  and  follies  of  his  nephew,  he  seems  to  have 

turned  hLs  thoughts  to  playing  a  part  in  the  larger  field  of 

European  politics ;   accepted  from  the  pope  the  title  of  cardinal,  and 


1435  Henry  VL  329 

spent  some  time  in  Gennany,  where  a  campaign  was  being  carried  on  by 
the  papacy  against  the  Hussites  of  Bohemia.  No  sooner,  however,  had 
he  returned  to  England  in  1428  than  he  found  that  he  had  placed  a  most 
formidable  weapon  in  the  hands  of  his  English  opponents ;  for,  in  spite 
of  all  his  protests  to  the  contrary,  it  was  easy  to  represent  him  as  a 
traitor  to  his  country,  and  to  play  upon  the  ancient  hostility  of  the 
English  people  to  all  forms  of  papal  interference  in  English  afifairs.  A 
year  later,  therefore,  Beaufort  was  glad  to  go  to  France  in  attendance  on 
the  little  king,  who  was  crowned  king  of  France  in  1429,  and  Beaufort 
remained  with  him  the  greater  part  of  two  years.  On  his  return  the  old 
troubles  broke  out  afresh  ;  and,  in  1433,  Bedford  was  again  in  England, 
doing  what  he  could  to  restore  peace.  Next  year,  however,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  return  to  Normandy,  and  never  saw  England  again.  Throughout 
these  quarrels  Gloucester  was  usually  supported  by  the  London  mob, 
with  whom  Beaufort  was  unpopular ;  but  Beaufort  had  the  confidence  of 
the  country  at  large,  and  parliament  was  therefore  on  his  side. 

For  some  time  the  question  of  the  right  method  of  conducting  parlia- 
mentary elections  had  been  in  agitation.      The  writs  of  summons  of 
knights  of  the  shire,  issued  to  the  sheriffs  in  the  time  of 
Edward  i.,  seem  to  have  left  the  actual  method  of  election  to   mentaiy 
the  discretion  of  that  official,  and  the  practice  was  therefore   ^^^1^°"^ 
subject  to  wide  variations  ;  while  the  tendency  was  to  leave 
the  election  pretty  much  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.     Under  Edward  iii. 
and  Richard  u.  complaints  had  been  made  of  the  partmlity  and  over- 
bearing conduct  of  the  sheriffs  ;  and,  in  1406,  an  act  of  parliament  was 
passed  by  which  it  was  directed  that  the  election  should  be  made  by  the 
whole  county  at  the  next  county  court  held  after  the  writ  had  been 
received.     Ordinarily,  however,  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  county  court 
was  attended  by  few  persons  of  importance  ;  and  so  it  was  open  to  the 
sheriff,  by  giving  notice  of  the  election  only  to  his  personal  friends  and 
adherents,  to  pack  the  court  as  he  pleased  ;  or,  in  case  of  a  riot,  to  return 
his  own  candidates  after  going  through  a  mere  farce  of  election.    Accord- 
ingly, in  1430,  an  act  was  passed  by  which  the  right  of  election  was 
secured  to  all  freeholders,  whose  lands  were  worth  forty  shillings  a  year  ; 
and,  in  1432,  it  was  further  ordered  that  these  freeholds  were  to  be 
situated  in  the  county  itself.     The  force  of  this  act  was  twofold.     First, 
it  checked  the  power  of  the  sheriff  by  securing  a  right  to  vote  to  certain 
qualified  people  in  each  shire  ;  and,  second,  it  checked  mob  violence  by 
taking  away  from  every  casual  attendant  at  the  county  court  the  right  of 
interference.    Another  act  passed  in  1445  insisted  on  sheriffs  duly  send- 
ing the  '  precept  to  elect '  due  to  each  city  or  borough  in  the  county 


330  House  of  Lancaster  t4S5^ 

which  returned  members.  The  election  then  took  place  in  the  city  or 
borough,  according  to  its  own  customs ;  and  a  deputation  from  it 
attended  the  county  court  to  hand  in  the  return,  and  to  see  it 
attached  by  the  sheriff  to  his  return  of  the  knights  of  the  shire. 
Owing,  however,  to  variations  in  practice,  the  whole  subject  of  parlia- 
mentary elections  is  very  obscure ;  but  the  object  of  the  legislation  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  vi.  was  to  secure  the  free  expression  of  the  opinion 
of  both  town  and  country  against  the  interference  of  the  sheriff,  whose 
action  was  doubtless  often  inspired  by  the  party  which  was  for  the 
time  in  power.  At  the  same  time,  it  distinctly  reduced  the  number  of 
those  who  had  been  able  to  take  a  part  in  the  conduct  of  elections,  for  in 
silencing  the  voices  of  the  sheriffs'  retainers  and  hangers-on,  parlia- 
ment also  disfranchised  the  copyholders  and  villeins,  some  of  whom  had 
certainly  attended  the  court  ;  and  the  forty  shillings  freeholders  con- 
tinued to  be  the  only  voters  in  counties  till  the  Reform  Act  of  1832. 

The  desertion  of  Burgundy  in  1435  roused  the  English  parliament  to 
such  anger  that  the  death  of  Bedford  passed  almost  unnoticed.  The 
Eff  r  regency  was  bestowed  on  the  young  Richard,  duke  of  York, 
Burgundy's  then  about  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  the  captaincy  of 
Calais,  which  from  its  situation  was  likely  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  Burgundy's  attack,  was  entrusted  to  the  duke  of  Gloucester.  Neither, 
however,  was  able  to  effect  much.  Paris  was  irretrievably  lost,  and  Calais 
proved  strong  enough  to  defy  the  duke  of  Burgundy  without  Gloucester's 
personal  assistance.  A  year  later  York  was  recalled  by  the  council,  and  the 
command  entrusted  first  to  the  earl  of  "Warwick  and  then  to  John  Beau- 
fort, earl,  and  afterwards  duke,  of  Somerset ;  and  though  York  was  again 
employed,  the  rivalry  between  him  and  the  Beauforts  began  the  feud 
which  afterwards  played  such  a  conspicuous  part  among  the  causes  of  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses.  For  the  time,  however,  their  rivalry  resulted  in  efforts 
which,  though  unable  to  keep  back  the  advancing  tide  of  French  success, 
served  to  maintain  the  English  reputation  for  deeds  of  arms.  Among 
these,  the  most  conspicuous  was  the  recapture  of  Harfleur,  in  1440,  by 
Somerset  and  his  brother  Edmund  Beaufort. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  active  continuation  of  the  struggle,  a  peace 

party  was  forming  itself,  which  based  its  convictions  on  the  growing 

certainty  that  England  was  not  strong  enough  to  establish 

a  Peace        an  English  dominion  in  France  in  defiance  of  French  national 

^^  ^'  feeling.     Before  his  death  this  conviction  had  certainly  been 

forming  itself  in  Bedford's  mind  ;  after  his  death  it  was  taken  up  as  the 

ground  of  a  definite  policy  by  the  great  cardinal  and  some  of  the  most 

experienced  of  the  statesmen  and  soldiers.     On  the  other  hand  it  was 


1442  Henry  VL  331 

bitterly  opposed  by  Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  partly,  no  doubt,  because 
it  was  the  cardinal's,  partly,  too,  because  by  temperament  and 
inclination  he  was  the  natural  mouthpiece  of  the  warlike  nobility, 
and  of  that  class  of  mind  which  regards  the  carrying  on  of  a 
hopeless  or  unjust  war  as  less  ignominious  than  coming  to  opposition  of 
honourable  terms.  His  opposition,  however,  was  most  Gloucester, 
serious  ;  for  he  was  very  popular  with  the  Londoners,  and  had  contrived, 
by  means  not  easily  comprehended,  to  win  himself  the  reputation  for 
chivalry  on  which  was  based  his  title  of  'the  good,'  which  accords  ill 
either  with  his  exploits  in  war  or  the  story  of  his  private  life.  Whatever 
he  could  do  to  thwaort  the  peace  party,  however,  he  did ;  and  in  1440, 
when  the  peace  party  persuaded  the  king  to  release  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
who  had  been  a  prisoner  since  Agincourt,  on  condition  that  he  should  use 
his  good  offices  in  favour  of  peace,  Gloucester  addressed  to  the  king  a 
letter,  in  which  he  reiterated  all  his  charges  against  Cardinal  Beaufort  and 
the  peiice  party,  and  endeavoured  to  make  it  appear  that  the  writer  and 
the  duke  of  York  were  the  leaders  of  the  only  patriotic  party.  Though 
not  successful  in  preventing  the  release  of  Orleans,  this  protest  was  of 
importance  as  giving  the  nation  a  wholly  false  estimate  of  the  real  motives 
and  policy  of  the  Beaufort  party.  John  Beaufort  died  in  1444,  leaving  a 
daughter,  Margaret ;  and  his  place  at  court  was  taken  by  his  younger 
brother  Edmund,  who  also  became  duke  of  Somerset. 

Meanwhile,  the  peace  party  received  a  valuable  adherent  in  the  person 
of  the  young  king.  Henry  actually  came  of  age  in  1442  ;  but  for  some 
years  before  he  had  acted  as  king,  and  the  date  is,  therefore, 
of  little  consequence.  From  the  first  he  was  a  delicate  boy  ;  becomes 
quite  unfit  to  take  his  share  in  the  business  of  war  at  an  age 
when  his  father  and  uncles  had  led  armies  in  the  field.  On  the  other 
hand,  his  mind  seems  to  have  been  singularly  precocious  ;  and  ill-con- 
sidered eff'orts  to  force  him  forward  make  it  probable  that  he  was  a 
victim  of  educational  overpressure.  Warwick  instructed  him  in  chivalry, 
Gloucester  in  the  study  of  literature,  Beaufort  in  the  art  of  government ; 
and  the  docile  lad  seems  to  have  weU  profited  by  their  instruction,  for  he 
grew  up  a  courteous  gentleman,  an  accomplished  man,  with  a  real  anxiety 
to  do  his  duty  to  his  subjects,  but  at  the  same  time  wholly  unfitted 
by  nature  to  be  the  successful  king  of  a  high-spirited  people  in  such 
troublous  times.  For  a  long  time,  however,  the  real  incompetence  of 
the  king  for  independent  action  was  concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  nation 
by  his  youth,  and  by  the  conspicuous  parts  played  by  such  men  as 
Gloucester  and  the  cardinal ;  but  sooner  or  later  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  real  character  of  the  king  would  come  to  be  understood. 


33^2  Hmse  of  Lancaster  1442 

In  1441,  1442,  and  1443,  the  English  held  their  own  well  in  Normandy 

under  the  duke  of  York  ;  but  the  peace  party  held  true  to  their  policy, 

.         and  in  1444  an  embassy  was   sent  to   Paris,   headed  by 

tionsfor       William  de  la  Pole,  earl  of  Suffolk.    This  nobleman,  who 

was  the  grandson  of  Michael  de  la  Pole,  the  minister  of 
Richard  11.,  and  son  of  the  earl  of  Suffolk,  who  fell  at  Agincourt,  had 
early  distinguished  himself  in  war  and  diplomacy,  and  had  gained  great 
influence  over  the  king.  He  was  a  thoroughgoing  member  of  the  peace 
party,  and  his  embassy  resulted  in  a  truce  for  two  years,  and  an  arrange- 
ment that  Henry  should,  as  a  step  towards  a  permanent  peace,  marry 

Margaret  of  Anjou,  daughter  of  Ren^,  duke  of  Anjou  and 
marries  count  of  Provence,  and  titular  king  of  Naples  and  Jerusalem, 
Mygaret     ^nd  niece  of  the  queen  of  Charles  vii.      In  April  1445  the 

bride  reached  England  and  wag  married  to  Henry,  he  being 
twenty-four  years  of  age  and  she  sixteen.  At  first  this  marriage  and  the 
hopes  of  peace  that  it  brought  with  it  were  popular  in  the  country.  Both 
houses  of  parliament  voted  their  thanks  to  Suffolk  in  1445.  The 
merchants  were  glad  to  renew  commercial  relations  with  France  ;  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  policy  of  Cardinal  Beaufort,  who  heartily  approved  of  the 
marriage,  was  going  to  be  crowned  with  complete  success.  Of  this  state 
of  affairs  Suffolk,  as  the  negotiator  of  the  marriage,  took  every  advantage 
to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  new  queen,  and  by  so  doing  diverted  to  him- 
self the  ill-will  of  Gloucester,  who  naturally  disliked  the  marriage,  not 
only  as  a  triumph  for  the  peace  party,  but  also  because  the  possible 
birth  of  an  heir  to  Henry  would  bar  his  hopes  of  succession  to  the  crown. 
Since  Bedford's  death  he  had  stood  next  in  the  succession,  and  so  eager  were 
some  of  his  household,  at  any  rate,  for  his  interests,  that  his  wife,  Eleanor 
Cobham,  whom  he  had  married  on  his  union  with  Jacqueline  being  pro- 
nounced null  by  the  pope,  practically  confessed  that  she  had  been  guilty 
of  employing  sorcery  to  bring  about  the  king's  death.  The  cardinal's 
health  was  failing,  and  it  was  clear  that  his  place  as  leader  of  the  peace 
party  was  about  to  fall  to  Suffolk,  who  attempted  to  strengthen  his 
position  by  arranging  a  marriage  between  his  son  John  and  the  little 
Margaret  Beaufort,  who,  after  Henry  and  Humphrey,  was  the  next  repre- 
sentative of  the  line  of  John  of  Gaunt. 

In  1447  the  struggle  between  Gloucester  and  Suffolk  came  to  a  head. 
Suffolk  was  sufficiently  influential  to  have  the  parliament  of  that  year 

summoned  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  where  Gloucester  would 

of  Bury  St.  be  at  a  distance  from  his  friends  the  Londoners,  and  where 

Edmunds,    g^^g-^ij^jg  ^^^  influence   would  be  at  its  greatest.      The 

House  met  in  February  ;  and  on  Gloucester's  arrival  he  and  some  of  his 


1448  Eenry  VL  333 

followers  were  arrested  by  the  earl  of  Salisbury  and  several  other  noble- 
men.    This  occurred  on  the  18th,  and  on  the  23rd  Gloucester  died 
in  his  lodgings.      How  he  met  his  end  none  can  say.     On    Death  of 
the  one  hand,  he  is  known  to  have  been  in  exceedingly    Gloucester, 
delicate  health,  and  anxiety  and  indignation  may  have  hurried  on  the 
course  of  natural  disease ;  or  he  may  have  been  slain  by  some  officious 
underling  ;  or  he  may  have  been  deliberately  put  to  death  by  Suffolk  him- 
self.     The  cardinal  can  hardly  have  had  a  hand  in  it,  for  the  removal  of 
Gloucester  was  a  most  serious  blow  to  the  house  of  Lancaster,  whose 
fortunes  it  was  his  interest  as  a  Beaufort  to  support.     Henry  was  certainly 
innocent ;  and  it  is  hard  to  suspect  Margaret,  a  girl  of  eighteen.     At  the 
time,  as  much  uncertainty  seems  to  have  prevailed  as  since  ;  but  as  time 
went  on,  the  darker  rumour  became  the  more  popular,  though  unsup- 
ported by  additional  evidence.     Six  weeks  after  the  death    p,     ,    , 
of  his  old  antagonist,  Cardinal  Beaufort  also  passed  away.    Cardinal 
leaving  behind  him  a  great  reputation  as  the  mainstay  of  his 
house,  and,  next  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  the  most  magnificent  ecclesiastic 
produced  by  this  country. 

The  deaths  of  Gloucester  and  Cardinal  Beaufort  made  Suffolk  for  a 
time  supreme.     With  great  adroitness  he  had  made  himself  the  confi- 
dant of  Margaret,  and  there  was  no  one  at  court  to  compare   Suffolk  in 
with  him  in  influence.     Edmund  Beaufort,  duke  of  Somer-   P°^^'^- 
set,  was  occupied  with   his  French  command  ;  and  in  1447,  Richard, 
duke  of  York,  was  made  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  so  kept  at  a 
distance.     Among  the  officials,  Bishop  Moleyns  and  Lord  Say  and  Sele 
were   Suffolk's  adherents  ;    while   Cardinal  Kemp,   the    archbishop   of 
Canterbury,  represented  Beaufort's  ideas.     The  general  aim  of  Suffolk^s 
policy  was  to  secure  peace,  and  it  must  be  taken  as  a  proof  of  his  honesty 
that  he  pursued  this  unpopidar  object  with  such  tenacity.     Accordingly, 
in  1448,  the  remaining  places  held  by  the  English  in  Anjou  and  Maine 
were  given  up  to   Bene,  probably  in  accordance  with  a 
verbal  promise  made  by  Suffolk  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  Maine 
negotiations.      This  was  an  attempt  to  secure  the  rest  of  ^"^""^^  ^^^  • 
the  English  dominions  by  the  surrender  of  a  part,  but  it  was  bitterly 
resented  in  England  ;  and,  with  Somerset's  consent,  some  men  of  the 
Maine  garrisons  in  their  retreat  sacked  Fougeres,  a  town  belonging  to 
the  duke  of  Brittany.     This  wicked  and  foolish  action  led    j^  .      , 
to  the  renewal  of  open  war.     In  May,  Pont  de  TArche,    Brittany 
which  commanded  the  approach  to  Rouen,  fell  ;  and,  in 
October,  Rouen  itself  was  taken.     For  these  accumulated  disasters  Suffolk 
and  Somerset  were  held  responsible.    A  cry  of  treachery  was  raised  ;  and 


334  House  of  Lancaster  1448 

the  council  seeing  itself  involved  in  their  unpopularity,  was  at  its  wits' 
end  for  a  defence. 

The  position  of  the  council  was  certainly  a  hard  one.  Constitutional 
government  had  been  carried  far  enough  to  make  the  ministers  respon- 
^  sible  for  failure,  but  not  far  enough  to  provide  a  ready  and 
ity  of  the  peaceful  way  of  transferring  the  duties  of  government  from 
the  shoulders  of  unpopular  ministers  to  those  of  their 
critics;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  discredited  Suffolk,  there  was 
no  man  in  the  court  party  strong  enough  to  take  the  lead  at  such  a 
crisis.  A  strong  king,  who  believed  in  himself,  and  could  be  his  own 
prime  minister  and  his  own  commander-in-chief,  might  have  brought  the 
nation  through  its  troubles  ;  or  under  a  constitutional  sovereign,  a  strong 
minister  like  the  elder  Pitt  might  have  weathered  the  storm  ;  but 
Henry  vi.  was  completely  wanting  in  the  qualities  of  a  successful  despot, 
and  no  one  of  the  politicians  who  surrounded  him  had  a  tithe  of  Pitt's 
capacity  and  spirit.  The  natural  consequence  was  that,  judged  by  every 
standard,  the  administration  of  Henry  vi.  was  a  failure.  Suffolk's  peace 
policy  and  Somerset's  ill  luck  or  want  of  capacity  were  alike  condemned 
by  the  nation.  The  debt  amounted  to  ^£370,000  ;  and  the  household 
expenses  had  increased  from  £5000  to  £25,000  a  year.  The  regular 
income  was  but  £5000  ;  and,  though  additional  taxation  was  voted  with- 
out much  demur  by  parliament,  the  burden  was  wearily  borne  by  the 
nation. 

Moreover,   the   elementary  duty  of  government,  that  of  preserving 

order,  had  been  neglected.     The  bands  of  retainers,  of  whom  little  is 

Disorder  in   heard  between  the  rebellion  of  the  Percies   and  the  loss 

England.       ^f  Normandy,  had  again  become  a  curse  to  the  country,  and 

the  great  nobles,  each  with  his  little  standing  army  at  his  back,  showed 

scant  respect  to  the  king's  peace  when  their  interests  were  at  stake.     For 

example,   in  Norfolk,   a  gentleman  named  John   Paston, 

whose  family  letters  have   been  preserved,  and  furnish   a 

mine  of  information  as  to  the  events  of  the  time,  made  good  his  legal 

right  to  the  manor  of  Gresham,  which  was  wrongfully  claimed  by  Lord 

Moleyns.    The  baron  collected  a  body  of  one  thousand  men,  and  choosing 

a  time  when  Paston  was  away,  stormed  the  house,  and  took  the  beams 

from  under  the  floor  of  Mrs.  Paston's  bedroom,  to  make  her  leave  the 

place.     So  early  as  1435,  a  quarrel  between  two  branches  of  the  Nevilles 

had  led  to  fighting,  and  the  lawlessness  of  the  country  was  such  as  had 

_  '    .  not  been  tolerated  in  England  for  many  centuries.     More- 

Retainers.  *=  •' 

over,   in  addition  to  their  household  retainers,  the  great 

nobles  had  begun  the  practice  of  making  bonds  with  the  freeholders  and 


1460  Henry  VI.  335 

knights  in  their  neighbourhood,  by  which  the  latter  agreed — save  their 
allegiance  to  the  king — to  serve  their  patron  against  all  comers,  so  that 
each  noble  had  a  small  standing  army  in  readiness,  and  a  larger  force 
behind  on  which  he  could  count  in  an  emergency.  In  these  circum- 
stances, nothing  but  a  leader  was  wanted  for  a  rebellion.  York,  however, 
was  in  Ireland ;  there  was  no  other  name  likely  to  attract  a  following  ; 
and  in  consequence  a  number  of  disconnected  outbreaks  took  place,  which 
make  the  year  1450  notable  as  a  year  of  riot  and  disorder. 

In  January,  Bishop  Moleyns  of  Chichester  was  sent  to  Portsmouth  to 
pay  the  sailors,  who  were  starting  for  France.     Unluckily  for  him,  his 

funds  did  not  permit  of  his  doing  more  than  making  a   „    ^ 

11         -1        ^     •  -11.  .  Murder  of 

payment  on  account ;  and  the  sailors,  furious  with  disappoint-    Bishop 

ment,  seized  and  murdered  him,  the  soldiers  meanwhile  look-       °  ^^^^' 

ing  on.     On  January  22  parliament  met,  and  Suflfolk,  well  aware  that^n 

attack  would  be  made  upon  him,  endeavoured,  by  a  vigorous  protest  of 

innocence  and  an  appeal  to  his  past  services,  to  stave  it  oft".    The  attempt, 

however,  was  unsuccessful ;  and  the  commons  acting  apparently  under 

the  direction  of  Lord  Cromwell,  himself  one  of  the  lords  of  the  council, 

prepared  a  long  series  of  charges,  on  which  they  impeached 

Suflfolk  before  the  lords.     The  accusations  thus  made  dealt   ment  of 

some  with    incompetency  and   some  with   treason.     The 

former  practically  arraigned  the  whole  policy  of  the  peace  party,  the  latter 

accused  Suflfolk  of  a  plot  to  marry  his  son,  John  de  la  Pole,  to  Margaret 

Beaufort,  and  to  place  them  on  the  throne.     The  latter  charge  could  only 

be  met  by  a  denial ;  but  the  former,  which  really  involved  the  council, 

was  most  embarrassing  for  the  court ;  and  apparently  it  was  arranged,  as 

the  best  way  out  of  the  difl&culty,  that  Suflfolk  should  avoid  a  trial,  which 

would  be  as  awkward  for  his  party  as  dangerous  to  himself,  by  throwing 

himself  on  the  king's  mercy,   without  answering  the  charges  at  all. 

Accordingly  this  was  done,  and  then  Henry  ordered  Suflfolk  to  leave  the 

country  for  five  years.     On  April  30  Sufi'olk  set  sail ;  but  his  ship  was 

intercepted  oflf  Calais  by  the  Nicolas  of  the  Tower ;  and  on  May  2  he 

was  taken  into  a  small  boat,  decapitated,  and  his  body  cast   Murder  of 

on  the  shores  of  Kent.     Evidence  is  wanting  to  decide    Suffolk. 

whether  his  murder  was  due,  like  that  of  Bishop  Moleyns,  to  the  anger  of 

mutinous  sailors,  or  to  a  determination  of  Suflfolk's  political  enemies  not 

to  be  baulked  of  their  prey.      There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  by 

depriving  Henry  of  the  one  really  able  councillor  he  possessed,  it  struck 

a  severe  blow  at  the  Lancastrian  dynasty,  and  may  be  compared  to  the 

loss  which  Charles  i.  sustained  by  the  death  of  Straflford  on  the  eve  of 

the  civil  war. 


336  House  of  Lancaster  1450 

A  month  later  Cade's  rebellion  threw  the  south-eastern  shires  into 
confusion.     Jack  Cade  was  an  Irish  retainer  of  Sir  Thomas  Dacre,  who 

Cade's         had  fled  the  country  as  a  murderer,  but  returned  under 

Rebellion.  ^^  assumed  name.  It  is,  however,  a  moot  point  whether 
he  was  the  real  leader  of  the  rebellion  which  bears  his  name,  or  whether, 
the  original  leader  having  perished  or  fled,  Cade  did  not  step  into  his 
place.  The  first  beginnings  of  the  movement  are  imperfectly  under- 
stood ;  but  a  rumour  that  the  men  of  Kent  would  be  held  responsible 
for  Sufi'olk's  death,  and  indignation  at  the  exactions  of  Crowmer  the 
sheriff,  seem  to  have  been  the  sparks  which  set  fire  in  Kent  to  the  com- 
bustible matter  with  which  all  England  was  filled.  Once  on  foot,  the 
movement  soon  assumed  formidable  dimensions.  No  nobles  and  only 
one  knight  are  said  to  have  joined  it ;  but  the  lesser  gentry  and  yeomen 
came  out  with  as  much  unanimity  as  though  the  militia  had  been  sum- 
moned, and  marched  in  orderly  array  to  Blackheath.  There  they  heard 
that  Henry  was  coming  against  them  in  person  and  retreated  ;  but  when 
a  detachment  sent  in  pursuit  by  Henry,  under  Sir  Humphrey  Stafford 

Battle  of      ^^^  his  brother  William,  overtook  them  at  Sevenoaks,  the 

Sevenoaks.  j.q\)qI^  turned,  defeated  the  royal  troops,  kiUed  both  their 
leaders,  and  returned  to  Blackheath.  From  this  moment  Cade  was 
certainly  their  leader.  He  dressed  himself  in  the  armour  of  the  fallen 
Stafford ;  declared  himself  to  be  Mortimer,  a  cousin  of  York,  and  did 
all  he  could  to  make  it  appear  that  he  was  acting  in  his  cousin's 
interests. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  had  found  his  troops  disheartened  by  the  defeat  at 

Sevenoaks,  and  so  far  from  being  whole-hearted  in  defending  the  govem- 

ment,  that  an  imperious  demand  was  made  for  the  imprison- 

retires  to  ment  of  Lord  Say,  the  treasurer.  This  was  granted  ;  and 
oven  ry.  ^j^^^  Henry,  feeling  himself  unequal  to  the  task  of  rallying 
his  mutinous  followers,  retreated  to  Coventry,  leaving  London  to  its  fate, 
and  giving  a  clear  demonstration  to  the  whole  nation  that  he  had  neither 
the  fighting  power  nor  the  self-reliance  necessary  for  an  English  king. 
On  the  king's  retreat,  Cade  advanced  to  Southwark,  setting  forth  as  the 
grievances  of  the  rebels  :  the  loss  of  France ;  the  heavy  taxation ;  the 
exclusion  of  the  king's  relatives  from  the  Council ;  interference  with  elec- 
tions ;  and,  generally,  the  ill  government  of  the  country.  On  July  3, 
Cade  crossed  the  bridge  into  London.  There  he  was  well  received 
by  the  citizens,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  possession  of  the  persons 
of  Lord  Say  and  Crowmer,  both  of  whom  were  beheaded.  Every  night 
his  men  slept  in  Southwark ;  but  Cade  himself  having  set  the  example 
of  plunder,  the  citizens,  aided  by  Matthew  Gough — a  veteran  of  the 


1450  Henry  VL  337 

French  wars — manned  the  bridge,  and  though  Gough  himself  was  killed, 
the  rebels  were  defeated  in  attempting  to  cross  on  July  6.     Disheartened 
by  this  failure,  and  finding  no  nobleman  willing  to  join 
them,   the   mass   of  rebels   accepted   pardons,   which   the    London 
government  ofiered  through  Cardinal  Kemp  and  Bishop      ^^  ^^' 
Waynflete,  and  the  most  part  returned  home.      Cade,  however,  kept 
some  men  together,  and  retired  with  his  plunder  to  Rochester.    Thence 
he  fled  alone,  but  was  overtaken  and  slain  by  Alexander   Death  of 
Iden,   the  new  sheriff  of  Kent.      During   the    course   of  Cade. 
Cade's  rebellion,  other  risings  had  taken  place.    In  Wiltshire,  Askew, 
bishop  of  Salisbury,  had  been  slain  at  Edington  by  his    Murder  of 
own  tenants ;  outbreaks  had  occurred  in  Gloucestershire  and   Askew. 
the  eastern  counties  ;  and  the  fact  that  no  less  than  twenty-four  traitors' 
heads  were  placed  on  London  Bridge  within  the  year,  shows  into  what 
anarchy  the  nation  had  drifted. 

The  deaths  of  Suffolk,  Moleyns,  and  Say  left  Henry  almost  without 
responsible  advisers.  Somerset  was  in  France,  and  in  dire  distress  ;  for 
the  battle  of  Formigny,  April  15,  in  which  the  English  were  Battle  of 
defeated  by  the  skilful  use  of  the  French  artillery,  had  Formigny. 
shattered  the  reinforcements  sent  out  under  Sir  Thomas  Kyriel,  with  the 
loss  of  three  thousand  Englishmen  ;  and  the  surrender  of  the  remaining 
garrisons  of  Normandy  was  merely  a  question  of  days.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  natural  adviser  of  the  king  was  undoubtedly  the  duke  of 

York  ;  but  that  nobleman,  whose  abilities  as  a  warrior  and    ^    .  . 

1     •    •  1     -.    -.  1    1      ,      .       -r^  1     Position  of 

an  admmistrator  had  been  proved  both   m    France    and   the  Duke  of 

Ireland,  had  long  been  an  exile  from  court,  and  the  way  in 
which  his  name  had  been  used  by  the  Kentish  rebels  and  by  the  discon- 
tented generally,  as  a  contrast  to  the  late  incompetent  advisers  of  the  king, 
was  not  likely  to  have  made  him  more  welcome.  Now,  however,  Duke 
Richard  thought  that  the  time  had  come  to  assert  himself;  and  in 
September  he  crossed  over  from  Ireland,  collected  a  force  of  4000  men 
from  the  Mortimer  lands  on  the  Welsh  marches,  advanced  on  London,  and 
demanded  a  personal  interview  with  the  king.  At  this  interview  York 
presented  a  petition,  in  which  he  complained  of  the  false  charges  made 
against  himself,  and  of  the  hindrances  that  had  been  put  in  the  way  of  his 
landing  j.  and  demanded  to  be  confronted  with  his  accusers.  In  answer, 
Henry  replied  that  the  language  used  by  the  insurgents  had  naturally 
caused  some  suspicion,  but  that  he  was  now  satisfied  of  York's  innocence, 
and  '  reputed  and  admitted  him  as  his  true  and  faithful  subject,  and  as 
his  faithful  cousin.'  Thus  relieved  of  thp  fear  of  a  prosecution  for  treason, 
York's  next  object  was  to  get  the  reins  of  government  out  of  the  hands  of 

Y 


338 


House  of  Lancaster 


1450 


from 
France. 


the  survivors  of  the  court  party.  He  was,  however,  a  cautious  man,  and 
would  proceed  no  further  than  he  could  be  sure  of  his  ground,  for  his 
methods  were  always  slow. 

The  fall  of  Bayeux  and  Caen  set  Somerset  free  from  his  duties  in 
France,  and  in  September  he  too  was  in  England,  reorganising  the 
shattered  court  party,  and  preparing  to  dispute  York's  claims 
Somerset  ^^  direct  affairs.  At  this  moment  Edmund  Beaufort,  duke 
of  Somerset,  was  probably  the  most  unpopular  man  in 
England.^  Now  that  Suffolk  was  gone,  Somerset  had  to  bear 
the  full  odium  of  the  loss  of  Normandy ;  and  peculation,  cowardice, 
treachery,  and  incompetence  were  everywhere  laid  to  his  charge.  His 
one  hope  of  maintaining  himself  lay  in  his  intimate  relations  with  the 
court ;  and  his  first  act  on  his  return  was  to  secure  the  title  of  constable 
of  England,  which  might  be  regarded  as  a  virtual  acknowledgment  of  his 
claim  to  direct  affairs.  Moreover,  he  had  the  confidence  of  Queen 
Margaret,  who  was  now  beginning  to  exercise  a  decisive  influence  over  the 
king's  mind,  and  who  naturally  disliked  York  as  the  probable  successor 
of  her  husband  in  case  her  marriage  proved  childless.  Henry  himself, 
weak  both  in  mind  and  body,  was  little  better  than  a  tool  in  their  hands. 
For  three  years  York  and  Somerset  manoeuvred  against  one  another. 
Somerset  was  actually  in  power,  and  York  was  excluded  from  all  share 
in  the  government ;  but  politics  were  resolving  themselves  into  a  set 
struggle  between  the  two.  Unluckily  for  Somerset,  affairs  in  France 
were  going  from  bad  to  worse.     No  sooner  had  Normandy  been  cleared 


1  THE  BEAUFORTS. 

John  of  Gaunt, = Katharine  Swynford. 
d.  1399.       I 


John,  Earl  of  Somerset,  d.  1410. 

I 


Henry,  Cardinal  Beaufort,  d,  1447. 


Katharine 
of  France. 


Owen  Tudor. 


John,  Duke 

of  Somerset, 

d.  1444. 

Edmund  Tudor,  =  Margaret. 
Earl  of  Kichmond,  I 

Henry  VII,, 

1485-1509. 


Edmund, 

Duke  of 

Somerset, 

killed  at  St. 

Albans,  1455. 


Jane, 
m.  James  i. 
of  Scotland. 


Henry,  Duke  of  Somerset, 

executed  after  Hexham, 

1463. 


Edmund,  Duke  of  Somerset, 

executed  after  Tewkesbury, 

1471. 


John,  killed 

at  Tewkesbury, 

1471. 


1453  Henry  VI.  339- 

of  the  English  than  the  French  attacked  Guienne,  a  district  which  had 
been  connected  with  the  English  crown  for  nigh  three  hundred  years, 
and  which  was  the  centre  of  a  flourishing  trade.     Somerset,  however, 
proved  unequal  to  its  defence  ;  and  in  1451  Bordeaux  and 
Bayonne  were  both   lost.      To   look  on  while  the  ancient    Bordeaux 
dominions  of  the  realm  were  being  sacrificed  by  an  incom-   ^^ 
petent  rival  was  more  than  York  could  bear.     The  lower  his 
own  fortunes  grew,  the  more  assiduous  was  Somerset  in  plying  the  king 
with  doubts  of  York's  loyalty.    Finally  in  1452  York  made  a  move,  and, 
repeating  his  action  of  1450,  approached  London,  protected  by  a  fonnid- 
able  force.     On  Blackheath  his  troops  were  confronted  by  those  of  the 
king.    Neither  side,  however,  wished  to  fight ;  and,  after  York's  com- 
plaints had  been  heard,  Henry  agreed  to  arrest  Somerset, 
with  a  view  to  a  thorough  sifting  of  York's  charges.    On   between 
this,  York  dismissed  his  followers,  and  himself  visited  the    Somerset 

'  '  ana  York. 

royal  camp  ;  but  on  arrival  found  Somerset  still  in  power, 
and  was  himself  placed  in  virtual  arrest.     Somerset,  however,  knew  too 
well  the  truth  of  the  duke's  charges  of  peculation,  corruption,  and  incom- 
petence in  his  French  administration  to  face  an  open  investigation.    His 
one  wish  was  to  stop  York's  mouth  ;  and  this  he  eflected  by  compelling 
York  to  swear  himself  a  loyal  subject,  and  then  treating  the  incident  as 
at  an  end.    For  the  moment  York  had  been  outmanoeuvred,  and  retired 
to  his  estates ;  but  Somerset's  ill-luck  was  constantly  providing  fresh 
matter  for  complaint.     In  1452,  a  chance  of  retaking  Guienne  had  pre- 
sented itself  through  the  dissatisfiiction  of  the  Gascons  with  French  rule, 
and  a  force  of  five  thousand  men  was  despatched  by   Somerset   to 
Bordeaux,  under  the  command  of  John  Talbot,  earl  of  Shrewsbury.    For 
a  time  they  carried  all  before  them ;  but  on  July  17,  1453,  Talbot  was 
enticed  into  attacking  a  strong  French  force  at  Castillon,    Battle  ot 
with  inferior  numbers.    The  French  were  strongly  posted  and   Castillon. 
well  supplied  with  artillery  ;  and  after  terrible  slaughter,  in  which  Talbot 
and  his  two  sons  perished,  the  English  were  utterly  routed. 
Three  months  later,  Bordeaux  again  feU  into  French  hands,  losTof^*^ 

and  it  seemed  only  too  likely  that  the  whole  force  of  France  iff5"f^. 

•^  ''       ^  possessions. 

would  be  concentrated  for  a  decisive  attack  on  Calais. 

Meanwhile,  York  had  been  sounding  his  friends  and  preparing  for 
fresh  action.      His    chief  reliance   was  placed  on  his  brother-in-law, 
Richard,  earl  of  Salisbury,  the  head  of  the  younger  branch    Richard 
of  the  Neville  family.     This  powerful  and  numerous  clan,    Eid^r^^Ead 
who  for  many  generations  ha"d  strengthened  themselves  by   of  Salisbury, 
a  series  of  fortunate  marriages,  at  this  time  held  among  its  members 


340  House  of  Lancaster  l4Bat 

and  connections  some  dozen  out  of  the  thirty -six  peerages  that  at 
that  date  existed  in  England.  Its  head  was  the  earl  of  Westmor- 
land ;  but  a  feud  had  existed  for  some  time  between  the  descendants  of 
the  two  wives  of  the  late  earl ;  and  Richard  Neville,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
second,  was  a  more  powerful  man  than  the  head  of  his  house.  His 
mother  left  him  the  castles  of  Sheriff  Hutton  and  Middleham,  and  other 
estates  in  Yorkshire  ;  from  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  that  earl  of  Salisbury 
who  was  killed  at  Orleans,  he  derived  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
Ri  h  rd  considerable  estates  in  the  south-western  counties.     Richard 

Neville  the  Neville  the  younger,  his  eldest  son,  was  an  even  more  powerful 
Earl  of  '         man  than  his  father,  for  his  marriage  with  Anne  Beauchamp, 

arwic  .  ^j^^  heiress  of  the  earldom  of  Warwick,  had  made  him  the 
largest  landholder  in  England ;  for  in  his  hands  were  accumulated  the 
property  of  the  Despensers  and  Beauchamps,  amounting  to  some  hundred 
and  fifty  manors,  and  some  fifteen  strong  castles.  Warwick  came  of  age 
in  1449,  and  as  he  was  as  energetic  and  vigorous  as  his  father  was 
cautious  and  calculating,  their  alliance  with  the  duke  of  York  was  of 
first-rate  importance.  One  of  Salisbury's  sisters  married  John  Mowbray, 
earl  of  Norfolk,  and  a  brother  William  married  the  heiress  of  the  barony 
of  Falconbridge. 

Hardly  had   the   news  of  Castillon   been  received  when  it  became 
known  that  the  king  was  seriously  ill.     Probably  he  inherited  a  taint  of 
The  King's    madness  from  his  grandfather,  Charles  vi. ;  possibly,  as  has 
illness.  ^ggjj  suggested,  the  defeat  of  Castillon  may  have  unnerved 

him  ;  but  it  was  soon  evident  that  his  mind  was  completely  unhinged, 
and  in  a  couple  of  months  he  was  practically  an  imbecile.  The  news  of 
the  king's  misfortune   was   followed  by   the   intelligence   that    Queen 

Birth  of  a     Margaret  had  given  birth   to   a  son,  which  occurred  on 

Prince.  October  13  ;  but  by  that  time  the  king's  mind  was  so  far 
gone  that  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had  happened,  and  did  not  even 
notice  the  child  when  it  was  presented  to  him.  These  two  events  com- 
pletely changed  the  position  of  affairs.  Since  the  death  of  Humphrey  of 
Gloucester,  the  childless  marriage  of  the  king  had  fostered  hopes  in  the 
mind  of  York  that  he  would  succeed  to  the  throne  in  the  natural  course 
of  events  ;  and  in  1451  a  proposal  had  even  been  made  in  the  House  of 
Commons  to  declare  him  heir  to  the  throne.  Now,  however,  it  was 
probable  that  the  succession  would  be  continued  in  the  direct  line,  and 
York's  enemies  would  no  longer  be  inspired  by  a  cautious  fear  that  in 
attacking  him  they  might  be  making  an  enemy  of  their  future  sovereign. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  mimediate  effect  of  the  king's  malady  was  to 
destroy  the  foundation  of  Somerset's  power,  for  even  the  lords  of  the 


1465  Henry  VL  341 

council  refused  to  identify  themselves  with  so  unpopular  a  statesman. 
In  the  difficulty  all  eyes  naturally  turned  to  York  ;  and  as  a  parliament 
had  fortunately  been  summoned,  York  acted  as  the  king's  representative, 
and  virtually  assumed  the  reins  of  government. 

The  inevitable  attack  on  Somerset  was  begun  by  York's  brother-in- 
law,  the  earl  of  Norfolk,  who  reiterated  the  old  charges  of  treason  and 
peculation ;    and  in   December   the   council,  as  a  precau-    Attack  on 
tionary  measure,  committed  him  to  the  Tower.     Next  year   Somerset, 
further  changes  were  made.     The  death   of  the  chancellor,  Cardinal 
Kemp,  made  it  absolutely  necessary  to  appoint  some  provisional  govern- 
ment ;  and  the  lords,  disregarding  Margaret's  claim  to  have  the  direction 
of  affairs,  named  York  protector,  reserving,  however,  most   York  made 
carefully,  the  rights  of  the  little  Prince  Edward,  to  whom    Protector. 
York  stood  godfather.     The  new  protector,  who  is  described  as  *  a  man 
of  low  stature,  with  a  short  square  face,  and  somewhat  stout  of  body,' 
at  once  took  energetic  measures  to  reform  the  administration,  and  began 
by  filling  the  chief  offices  of  state  with  men  on  whom  he  could  rely. 
The  earl  of  Salisbury  became  chancellor  ;  Warwick  was  made  a  member 
of  the  privy  council ;  Tiptoft,  earl  of  Worcester,  was  lord  treasurer. 

Under  York's  guidance  the  condition  of  the  country  rapidly  improved, 
and  his  influence  was  strong  enough  to  put  a  stop  to  a  private  war  which 
had  broken  out  in  the  north  between  Thomas  PeTcy,  earl  of  Egremont, 
assisted  by  the  duke  of  Exeter  and  some  of  the  elder  Nevilles,  against 
the  younger  branch  of  that  family,  headed  by  John  Neville,  afterwards 
Lord  Montague.  Meanwhile,  Somerset  wa.s  lying  in  the  Tower,  for  in 
the  king's  state  it  was  a  dangerous  and  difficult  task  to  bring  him  to 
trial ;  and  so  long  as  he  had  no  influence,  he  could  do  no  further  harm. 
Unfortunately  for  the  country,  in  December  the  king  began  Henry 
to  show  symptoms  of  recovery,  and  in  January  1455  he  was  "recovers, 
again  himself ;  and  the  first  use  he  made  of  his  power  was  to  release 
Somerset  and  restore  him  to  his  ascendancy  in  the  royal  councils. 

For  York  this  turn  of  afiairs  was  most  serious.     Not  only  had  he  to 
resign  the  protectorate,  but  he  lost  all  his  other  posts  ;  and  his  friends 
Salisbury,  Warwick,  and  Tiptoft  were  also  cashiered.     In 
May  a  council  was  held,  to  which  York  and  his  friends  were   friends 
not  summoned,  and  by  its  advice  a  parliament  was  called  at 
Leicester,  '  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the  safety  of  the  king's  person 
against  his  enemies.'     Who  were  meant  by  the  king's  enemies,  York  had 
no  doubt ;  and  seeing  that  the  moment  for  action  had  come,  he  called  out 
his  retainers,  summoned  Salisbury  and  Warwick  to  his  aid,  and  marched 
straight  on  London,  announcing  that  they  were  coming  to  convince 


342  House  of  Lancaster  %m 

the  king  of  'the  sinister,  malicious,  and  fraudulent  reports  of  their 
enemies.' 

No  sooner  was  it  known  that  they  were  on  their  road  than  Somerset 
and  the  king  marched  to  meet  them  with  a  small  force  of  three  thousand 
men,  hastily  collected  by  the  court  peers,  of  whom  about  twelve  were 
present,  including  the  dukes  of  Somerset  and  Buckingham,  the  earls  of 
Pembroke,  Dorset,  "Wiltshire,    Stafford,  and   Devon.    The  two  armies 

Battle  of     ii^et  at  St.  Albans ;  and,  after  some  parleying  and  the  refusal 

St.  Albans.  ^^  York's  demand  that  the  king  would  '  deliver  up  such 
persons  as  he  might  accuse  to  be  dealt  with  like  as  they  have  deserved,' 
the  town  was  stormed  by  the  Yorkists.  The  slaughter  among  the 
soldiers  was  slight ;  but  the  Lancastrian  leaders  suffered  severely,  as 
their  heavy  armour  made  flight  difficult.  Henry  himself  was  wounded 
by  an  arrow  ;  Somerset,  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  Lord  Clifford 
were  killed ;  Buckingham,  Stafford,  Devon,  and  Dorset  were  wounded 
and  taken  ;  Pembroke  and  Wiltshire  escaped. 

The  result  of  the  fight  at  St.  Albans  was  to  sweep  away  Somerset  and 
his  friends  much  as  Suffolk  and  his  ministers  had  perished  in  1450.     It 

Results  of    l®ft  York  practically  supreme,  and  his  first  act  was  to  restore 

the  battle,  j^jg  friends  to  power.  Bourchier,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
a  clever  but  somewhat  time-serving  prelate,  was  left  undisturbed 
as  chancellor ;  and  his  brother.  Lord  Bourchier,  was  made  treasurer. 
Somerset  was  succeeded  by  the  duke  of  York  as  constable,  and  by 
Warwick  as  captain  of  Calais ;  and  Salisbury  was  made  steward  of  the 
duchy  of  Lancaster.  These  appointments  were  confirmed  by  parliament ; 
,         and  an  opportune  recurrence  of  Henry's  illness  in  October 

second         restored  York  to  the  position  of  protector.      However,  in 

January   Henry   again    recovered,   and   the    old    game    of 

intrigue  was  renewed  ;  for  Margaret  of  Anjou  had  now  definitely  stepped 

forward  as  successor  to  Somerset's  influence,  and  was  bent  on  regaining 

power  at  all  risks.     So  infatuated  indeed  was  she,  that,  for 

takes^he        the  purpose  of  discrediting  York's  administration,  she  sug- 

Yoricf  ^^*"^*   gested  to  the  French  an  attack  on  Sandwich ;   is  believed 

to    have    had  a  hand  in  a   Scottish   raid ;    and  actually 

admitted  to  a  friend,  that  '  if  the  great  lords  of  her  own  party  knew  what 

she  was  doing,  they  would  be  the  first  to  rise  to  put  her  to  death.' 

On  the  whole  York's  government  was  successful.  Warwick,  too, 
particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his  successful  captaincy  at  Calais, 
Warwick  at  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  much  reputation  and  popularity  by  the  energy 
Calais.  jjg  threw  into  the  defence  of  the  narrow  seas,  in  which  he 

distinguished  himself  in  several  hand-to-hand  fights  with  Spanish,  French, 


1459  Henry  VL  343 

and  Hanseatic  sailors.  These  exploits,  though  not  exactly  in  accord  with 
modem  ideas  of  international  law,  made  him  the  darling  of  the  sailors, 
and  of  the  merchants  of  London  and  of  the  southern  ports  ;  and  he 
became,  next  to  York,  the  most  conspicuous  and  popular  figure  in  the 
country.  Under  York's  rule  the  country  seemed  again  to  be  settling 
down  ;  the  popular  songs  of  the  time  show  that  there  was  a  widespread 
expectation  of  better  times  ;  and  so  sanguine  was  Henry  himself  that,  in 
1458,  he  planned  a  great  function  of  reconciliation  at  St.  Paul's,  service  at 
in  which  the  chiefs  of  both  parties  went  in  procession,  two  S**  Paul's- 
and  two,  to  pray  for  the  souLs  of  those  who  had  been  killed  at  St. 
Albans. 

Margaret,   however,   had  far  different  thoughts,   and    was    working 
steadily  to  oust  York  and  his  friends,  and  little  by  little  she  succeeded. 
The  king's  recovery  terminated  York's  protectorate  ;  then 
the  Bourchiers  were  both  dismissed  ;  Salisbury  lost  his  post   attacks 
as  steward  ;   and  the  government  was  reorganised,  under  the 
direction  of  the  queen,  in  the  hands  of  Wiltshire,  Beaumont,  Shrewsbury, 
and  Exeter.      At  length,  in  1459,  Margaret  felt  herself  strong  enough  to 
renew  the  attack  on  York,  which  had  been  defeated  in  1455.    York  was  at 
Ludlow,  Salisbury  at  Middleham,  Warwick  at  Calais,  when  in  September 
the  queen,  acting  in  the  king's  name,  assembled  an  army  in  the  Midlands  ; 
and,  deciding  to  deal  with  Salisbury  first,  had  a  summons  sent  hmi  to  come 
up  to  London.     Salisbury,  however,  was  too  wary  to  fall  into  the  snare, 
and,  instead  of  obeying,  collected  a  force  of  3000  men  and  made  his  way 
towards  Ludlow  ;  at  the  same  time  sending  word  to  Warwick  to  come  to 
his  assistance.     The  queen's  plan,  however,  was  so  far  successful  that  a 
force  of  her  adherents,  headed  by  Lord  Audley,  intercepted  Salisbury  at 
Blore  Heath,  on  the  borders  of  Shropshire  and  Staffordshire  ;  Battle  of 
but  in  the  battle  that  followed,  Audley  was  defeated  and  ^^°^^  Heath, 
slain,  and  Salisbury  effected  his  junction  with  York  without  further 
molestation ;    while  Warwick,  bringing  with  him  six  hundred  trained 
soldiers  under  Sir  Andrew  TroUope,  also  joined  them.       Both  sides  then 
called  on  their  followers  ;  but  whereas  the  queen,  with  all  England  at 
her  back,  was  able  to  raise  50,000  men,  the  Yorkists,  cooped  up  in  the 
Severn  vaUey,  and  cut  off  from  many  of  their  estates  by  the  royal  army, 
were  only  able  to  raise  20,000.      The  result  was  that  their  followers  lost 
heart ;  and  when  the  two  armies  confronted  each  other  at  Ludford-on-the- 
Teme,    a  panic  spread  through  the    insurgent    host.    Sir   Panic  at 
Andrew  Trollope  went  over  to  the  enemy,  and  the  whole  army   Ludford. 
broke  up  in  confusion.       York  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  Ireland ; 
while  Salisbury,  Warwick,  and  Edward,  earl  of  March,  York's  eldest  son, 


344  House  of  Lancaster  1469 

reached  the  coast  of  Devon,  and  there  taking  ship,  were  indebted  to 
Warwick's  practical  skill  as  a  sailor  for  a  safe  voyage  to  Calais. 

For  the  moment  Margaret  was  completely  successful ;  but  the  use  she 
made  of  her  victory  was  not  calculated  to  conciliate  her  opponents.  A 
parliament  was  hurriedly  summoned  to  Coventry ;  so  hurriedly  indeed. 
Parliament  *^^^  through  want  of  time  for  the  due  formalities  of  election, 
of  Coventry,  ^j-^g  Lancastrian  sheriffs  were  able  practically  to  nominate 
the  members  ;  while  the  choice  of  Coventry  as  the  meeting-place  instead 
of  London  was  also  a  check  on  Yorkist  influence.  The  great  object 
of  the  session  was  the  punishment  of  the  insurgent  leaders.  By  a 
salutary  act,  passed  in  1404,  '  appeals  in  parliament,'  such  as  had  been 
common  under  Richard  ii.,  had  been  declared  illegal ;  but  an  even  readier 

Yorkists       weapon  was  now  devised  by  the  queen's  friends  in  the  shape 

attainted,  ^f  j^^ts  of  Attainder.  A  Bill  of  Attainder  is  a  bill  brought 
into  parliament  for  attainting,  condemning,  and  executing  a  person  for 
high  treason.  The  meaning  of  the  word  attaint  is  to  '  corrupt '  the  blood,  so 
that  an  attainted  person  can  neither  possess  property,  nor  transmit  it  to 
his  heirs.  His  property,  therefore,  is  forfeited  to  the  crown.  An  attaint 
may  follow  upon  either  an  Act  of  Attainder  or  upon  a  sentence  of  death 
in  a  court  of  law  for  treason  or  felony.  The  king  had  the  power  to  remit 
part  of  the  penalty  ;  and  sometimes  attainted  persons  lost  their  lives,  but 
were  allowed  to  transmit  their  property.  To  reverse  an  Act  of  Attainder, 
a  bill  for  its  repeal  had  to  be  passed  through  parliament,  just  as  much  as  for 
the  repeal  of  any  other  law.  This  terrible  implement  of  punishment  was 
used  for  the  first  time  in  the  Coventry  Parliament  of  1459  against  York, 
Salisbury,  and  Warwick.  Their  property  and  their  lives  were  forfeited  ; 
and  the  natural  result  was  that  the  struggle,  which  had  hitherto  been  for 
the  power  of  directing  the  king's  government,  became  one  for  life  and 
death. 

Meanwhile,  the  attainted  lords  were  collecting  their  forces  to  renew  the 

contest,  and  a  simultaneous  landing  of  York  in  Wales  and  of  the  earls  in 

Kent  was  arranged  for  the  following  June.     York,  however, 

land  in         was  behind  his  time  ;  so  the  first  step  was  taken  by  the  earls. 

^^"*'  As  Warwick's  ships  had  command  of  the  Channel,  they  were 

able  to  cross  without  molestation  ;  and  the  Lancastrians,  who  did  not 
expect  them  in  Kent,  had  no  force  to  oppose  them  between  Sandwich  and 
London,  which  the  earls  entered  without  fighting,  and  were  enthusi- 
astically received  by  the  citizens.  Everywhere  they  declared  that  the 
cause  of  their  coming  was  the  restoration  of  good  government,  and  that 
they  were  personally  loyal  to  the  king.  Once  in  London,  the  earls  found 
themselves  joined  by  numerous  adherents.     In  the  late  struggle  they  had 


1460  Henry  VI.  345 

stood  almost  alone  ;  but  the  queen's  severity  had  decided  the  waverers, 
and  throughout  the  south-eastern  shires  their  friends  were  in  a  decided 
preponderance.    Leaving  Salisbury  to  besiege  the  Tower,  Warwick  and 
March  advanced  to  Northampton,  where  they  found  a  Lan-  •  „     , 
castrian  force  under  the  conmiand  of  Henry  himself,  assisted    Northamp- 
by  the  duke  of  Buckingham.     After  vain  eflForts  to  obtain  an 
interview  with  the  king,  Warwick  ordered  an  attack,  and  the  Yorkists, 
aided  by  treachery,  stormed  the  trenches  and  put  their  opponents  to  utter 
rout.     Margaret  and  her  son  made  good  their  escape  ;  but  Henry  was 
captured.     As  at  St.  Albans,  the  slaughter  of  leaders  was  dispropor- 
tionately great  compared  to  the  total  loss,  and  included  Buckingham. 

The  result  of  the  battle  of  Northampton  was  to  make  the  Yorkists 
supreme  in  southern  and  middle  England  ;  so,  without  troubling  to  pursue 
Margaret,  Warwick  and  March,  taking  Henry  with  them,    York  claims 
returned  at  once  to  London.     There,  in  Henry's  name,  a   **^®  Crown, 
change  of  government  was  effected  like  that  which  followed  St.  Albans. 
Salisbury  was  made  lieutenant  of  the  six  northern  counties  ;   George 
Neville,  bishop  of  Exeter,  chancellor ;  John  Neville,  chamberlain ;  and 
Lord  Bourchier,  treasurer.   In  October  parliament  met ;  and,  having  been 
elected  under  Yorkist  influence,  repealed  the  Acts  of  Attainder  passed 
at  Coventry  in  1459.     On  the  third  day  of  the  session  York  arrived  in 
London.     On  his  journey  up  he  had  ventured  to  assume  royal  state,  and 
on  reaching  Westminster  forced  his  way  into  the  palace,  and  compelled 
Henry  to  vacate  the  royal  apartments.    Next  day  he  api^eared  before  the 
lords  and  openly  claimed  the  crown  as  the  heir  of  Richard  ii.      This 
action,  however,  proved  to  be  going  too  far  even  for  his  most  sturdy 
followers.     The  lords  made  no  sign  of  assent,  while  Warwick  openly 
avowed  his  disapproval  of  a  step  which  violated  all  the  oaths  of  fidelity 
they  had  taken  to  Henry,  and  was  in  complete  defiance  of 
every  declaration  of  Yorkist  policy.    The  result  was  a  com-   ciared  heir 
promise.     York  was  not  crowned  ;  but  was  declared  heir  to   ^t^*^^ 
the  throne,  and  given  the  titles  of  Protector  and  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  this  arrangement  was  accepted  by  Henry  and  confirmed  by 
Act  of  Parliament. 

Whether,  however,  it  would  be  of  effect  depended  on  the  relative  strength 
of  the  adherents  of  York  and  Margaret.  The  latter  was  in  Wales,  but  her 
friends  were  rallying  in  the  north  under  the  earl  of  Northum- 
berland  and  Lord  Clifford,  sons  of  those  who  had  fallen  at  St.  em  Lancas- 
Albans,  and  Lord  Neville,  brother  of  the  earl  of  Westmor-  *"*°®- 
land,  and  they  .were  soon  joined  by  Henry  Beaufort,  duke  of  Somerset, 
the  duke  of  Exeter,  and  other  noted  Lancastrians.    To  watch  them,  York 


346  House  of  Lancaster  M60 

and  Salisbury  advanced  with  six  thousand  men  to  Sandal  Castle,  near 

Wakefield,  and  were  there  awaiting  reinforcements,  when,  on  December 

„  ,,,     -      30,  a  clever  ruse  of  Clifford  drew  York  into  a  rash  encounter 
cattle  of 

Wakefield,  with  superior  numbers,  in  which  he  himself  was  killed  and 

Deaths  of     Salisbury   captured.      Eutland,  York's  second  son,  a  fine 

York  and      lad  of  seventeen,  was  slain  in  the  pursuit.      The  unlucky 

Salisbury  was  promptly  beheaded  at  Pontefract;   and  his 

head  with  that  of  York,  the  latter  adorned  with  a  paper  crown,  was 

barbarously  set  upon  the  gates  of  York. 

The  victory  of  Wakefield  seemed  to  give  Margaret  such  a  superiority 

that  the  men  of  the  north  flocked  to  her  standard  by  thousands,  and  she 

.,    was  soon  at  the  head  of  40,000  men  ;  but  her  very  success 
Margaret  s  '  '  -^ 

southern      was  her  danger,  for  the  rumours  of  the  intentions  of  the 

ruder  northerners,  who  claimed  to  plunder  at  will  south  of 

the  Trent,  roused  a  feeling  of  desperation  in  all  the  southern  shires,  and 

made  the  campaign  that  followed  a  national  war  in  a  sense  it  had  never 

been  before.    Hitherto  the  chief  fighting  had  been  borne  by  the  retainers 

of  the  nobility,  but  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  towns  came  into  the  field, 

and  the  interference  of  the  men  of  the  northern  moorlands  was  met  by  the 

appearance  of  peaceful  citizens  and  agriculturists,  who  saw  in  the  victory 

of  the  Yorkist  cause  the  only  guarantee  for  peace  and  good  government. 

Four  leaders  were  soon  in  the  field.    Margaret  and  her  northerners 

advancing  by  the  Ermine  Street  on  London,  and  plundering  on  their  way 

Grantham,  Stamford,  Peterborough,  and  Huntingdon  ;  War- 
Disposition  '  '  "  '  . 
of  the            wick,  with  30,000  men,  was  at  St.  Albans,  blocking  the  line 

armies.         ^^  Margaret's  advance  on  London.     The  earl  of  March,  with 

a  force  of  10,000  men,  raised  from  the  Mortimer  lands  on  the  marches, 

was  in  the  Severn  valley  ;  and  Jasper  Tudor,  earl  of  Pembroke,  who  had 

gathered   a  body  of  Welshmen   to  reinforce    the    queen's   army,    was 

threatening   March's  rear.      March  was   only  nineteen,   but   with   the 

instinct  of  a  general  he  saw  that  it  was  little  use  to  cross  the  Severn 

while  Pembroke's  force  was  intact ;  so,  turning  upon  his  foe 

Mortimer's  he  delivered  a  crushing  attack  at  Mortimer's  Cross,  near 

WZ-igjnore,  on  February   2,    1461.     Pembroke   was  utterly 

routed,  and  his  aged  father,  Owen  Tudor,  was  put  to  death  on  the  field. 

From  Mortimer's  Cross  Edward  hurried  to  join  Warwick  ;  but  he  had 

barely  reached  Oxfordshire,  when,  on  February  17,  Warwick  was  defeated 

„        ^         at  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans.     This  was  due  partly  to 

Second 

battle  of      bad  management,  partly  to  treachery.     Warwick's  line  was 

^"^'  too  extended  for  quick  concentration.      By  some  error  of 

his  scouts  no  warning  was  given  of  the  Lancastrian  attack ;  and  when 


1461  Henry  VL  347 

the  fight  began  a  body  of  Kentishmen  deserted,  and  let  the  Lancastrians 
through  the  line.  Inextricable  confusion  followed  ;  the  Yorkists  were 
driven  from  the  field  ;  and  Warwick,  with  difficulty  keeping  together  a 
few  thousand  men,  joined  Edward  at  Chipping-Norton,  leaving  the  road 
to  London  completely  open. 

The  queen  now  seemed  to  have  the  game  in  her  own  hands ;  King 
Henry  had  been  recaptured  at  St.  Albans,  and  nothing  remained  but  to 
march  on  London.     At  this  crisis,  however,  Margaret  failed. 
Time  was  lost,  and  when  the  Londoners  heard  that  Warwick   declares 
and  Edward  were  still  in  the  field  and  marching  to  their   JfaJSlJet 
assistance,  they  plucked  up  courage  to  stop  the  provision 
carts  which  were  carrying  stores  to  Margaret's  army,  and  next  day  War- 
wick and  Edward  again  entered  London. 

Next  morning  a  cowp  (VMat  was  carried  out.  Four  months  before, 
York's  proposal  to  seize  the  crown  had  met  with  universal  disapproba- 
tion ;  but  so  far  as  southern  England  was  concerned,  Wakefield  and  St. 
Albans,  and  above  all  the  plundering  by  the  northern  men,  had  swept 
away  all  feelings  of  loyalty  for  Henry  ;  and  it  was  felt  that,  blameless  as 
was  the  king's  personal  character,  his  wife's  conduct  had  made  his  further 
reign  impossible.  So  long  as  he  had  stood  aloof  from  party,  men  like 
Warwick  would  have  been  content  to  leave  him  the  shadow  while  they 
retained  the  substance  of  power ;  but  his  wife's  folly  had  identified 
Henry  with  a  faction,  and  by  so  doing  had  made  him  impossible.  Accord- 
ingly, on  Sunday,  March  9,  in  Clerkenwell  Fields,  Bishop  ^^^^^^ 
George  Neville  of  Exeter  addressed  the  soldiers  and  set  forth    Earl  of 

.  March 

Edward's  claim  to  the  crown.    His  speech  was  received  with   chosen' 
applause  ;  and  Warwick,  having  secured  the  assent  of  Arch-    ^'"^* 
bishop  Bourchier,  of  John  Mowbray,  earl  of  Norfolk,  his  brother  William 
Neville,  Lord  Falconbridge,  and  a  few  others,  held  a  meeting  of  the 
notables  of  the  Yorkist  party,  and  went  through  the  fonn  of  electing 
Edward  king,  and  he  was  accordingly  proclaimed  as  Edward  iv. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Siege  of  Orleans, 1429 

Death  of  Bedford, 1435 

Deaths  of  Gloucester  and  Cardinal  Beaufort,  1447 

Cade's  Rebellion, 1460 

Wars  of  the  Roses  hegin,  ....  1466 


CHAPTER  IV 

EDWARD  IV.:  1461-1483 
Born  1441 ;  married  1464,  Elizabeth  Woodville. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY  SOVEREIGNS 

Scotland.  France. 

James  iii.,  il.  1488.  Louis  xi.,  d.  1483. 

Battle  of  Towton  and  Suppression  of  the  Lancastrians— Edward's  Marriage- 
Warwick  intrigues  for  Power — Restoration  of  Henry — Battles  of  Barnet  and 
Tewkesbury— Death  of  Henry— Expedition  to  France— Power  of  Edward. 

No  regular  coronation  was  attempted ;  for  no  one  could  tell  how  soon 
Margaret's  standards  might  be  seen  on  Highgate  Hill ;  and  great  was 

the  joy  when  it  was  rumoured  that  her  army  was  in  retreat, 
the  Lan-      Hope  of  plunder  had  drawn  the  northerners  southward  ;  but 

the  first  use  Henry  made  of  his  liberty  was  to  issue  a  pro- 
clamation forbidding  it  altogether.  The  disgust  of  Margaret's  men  knew 
no  bounds.  Some  set  out  to  plunder  on  their  own  account,  others  hurried 
north  to  secure  what  they  had  already  won ;  and  even  those  who 
remained  with  their  standards  were  so  discontented  that  the  lords  declared 
a  retreat  inevitable  ;  and,  on  the  very  day  of  Edward's  election,  Margaret 
and  her  husband  reluctantly  turned  their  faces  north. 

No  time  was  lost  in  pursuing  them.     On  the  10th  the  main  body 
left  London,  and  on  March  26  Edward  was  at  Pontefract.     His  anny 

amounted  to  48,000  men,  led  by  Warwick  and  his  uncle. 

Pursuit  '  5  J  J 

of  the  Lord  Falconbridge,  Norfolk,  and  himself.     Every  southern 

shire  was  represented  in  their  ranks,  for  the  northerners  had 
been  merciless,  and  every  southerner  who  had  anything  to  lose  felt  that 
plunder  must  be  stopped  once  for  all  and  at  whatever  cost.  The  men 
of  Coventry  were  there  under  their  '  Black  Earn,'  and  those  of  Bristol 
under  the  standard  of  the  '  Ship.'  After  passing  the  lines  of  the  Trent 
and  the  Don,  the  northern  army  had  turned  to  bay  between  the  Aire 
and  the  Wharf e,  and  were  encamped  on  a  comparatively  high  plateau, 
known  as  Towton  Field,  about  four  miles  south  of  Tadcaster,  where  the 

343 


1461 


Edward  IF, 


349 


roads  from  Castleford  and  Ferrybridge-on-Aire  meet  on  their  way  to 
Tadca^ter.  By  a  rapid  movement  Edward  seized  the  passage  of  the  Aire  ; 
but  though  the  crossing  at  Ferrybridge  was  retaken  by  Lord  Cliiford, 
Lord  Falconbridge  successfully  crossed  at  Castleford,  and  had  the  good 
luck  to  intercept  and  kill  Lord  Clifford  when  he  attempted  to  retreat  on 
Towton. 


Next  day,  March  29,  which  happened  to  be  Palm  Sunday,  Edward, 
Warwick,  and  Falconbridge,  with  a  large  force,  attempted  to  stonn  the 
plateau,  relying  on  the  aid  of  Norfolk,  whom  they  left  ill  at  Battle  of 
Pontefract,  but  who  promised  to  be  up  in  time  for  the  great  '^°'^^°^- 
fight.  At  the  beginning  of  the  battle  the  Yorkists  were  nmch  aided  by 
a  blinding  snowstorm  which  Falconbridge  cleverly  used  to  deceive  the 
Lancastrians  into  discharging  most  of  their  arrows  at  a  useless  distance, 
but  the  real  struggle  was  hand-to-hand.  For  some  hours  neither  side  gained 
any  advantage  ;  but  when  Norfolk  came  up,  his  attack  on  their  left  wing 
proved  fatal  to  the  Lancastrians,  whose  right  rested  on  a  steep  ravine. 
Hemmed  in  thus,  but  fighting  furiously,  the  northern  men  were  gradually 
borne  backwards,  and  at  length,  after  ten  horns'  fighting,  were  pushed 
down  the  steep  bank,  at  whose  foot  flowed  the  Cock  Beck,  then  in  flood. 


350  Eouse  of  Yoi^h  i46i 

This  disaster  completed  their  destruction.  Thousands  perished  in  the 
stream  ;  and  it  is  said  that  no  less  than  37,000  corpses  were  buried  in  the 
field.  During  the  battle  Henry  and  Margaret  were  at  York,  and  after  it 
took  refuge  in  Scotland. 

From  Towton,  Edward  advanced  by  York  to  Durham  ;  and  then,  find- 
ing that  the  Lancastrian  army  had  broken  up,  he  returned  to  London, 
Conquest  of  leaving  to  Warwick  the  business  of  capturing  the  great 
the  North,  pg^cy  castles  of  Alnwick,  Dunstanborough,  and  Bamborough, 
and  of  resisting  any  invasion  of  the  Scots  which  Margaret  might  be  able 
to  organise.  The  reduction  of  these  strongholds  proved  a  formidable 
task,  and  the  castles  were  taken  and  retaken  several  times  before  they 
finally  remained  in  Yorkist  hands.  The  bulk  of  the  fighting  fell  on 
Warwick  and  his  brother,  John  Neville,  created  earl  of  Montagu  in  reward 
for  his  services  at  Towton.  Anger  and  thirst  for  revenge  had  destroyed 
the  last  vestige  of  Margaret's  patriotism.  The  Scots  were  bribed  by  the 
surrender  of  Berwick,  and  even  Calais  was  offered  to  the  French  as  the 
price  of  their  aid.  At  this  terrible  price  both  Scots  and  French  gave 
some  assistance  to  the  Lancastrians.  Several  times  the  Scots  crossed  the 
border,  and  2000  troops  were  landed  by  Louis  ;  but  at  length,  in  the  winter 
of  1462,  a  successful  raid  in  Scotland  brought  the  Scottish  regents  to  reason, 
and  deprived  Margaret  of  her  footing  in  that  country.  The  French  were 
confined  to  the  Percy  castles  ;  and  in  1463,  a  final  attempt  at  fighting, 
made  by  the  duke  of  Somerset,  was  defeated  by  Montagu  at  Hedgeley 
Moor  in  April  1464,  and  again  near  Hexham  on  May  13,  after  which 
fight  Somerset  and  other  leaders  were  sunmiarily  put  to  death.  In  the 
summer  the  three  castles  surrendered,  and  this  brought  the  war  in  the 
north  to  a  conclusion.  In  Wales  a  few  isolated  castles  still  held  out : 
among  others  Harlech,  in  which  was  being  educated  and  cared  for  the 
little  Henry,  son  of  Edmund  Tudor  and  Margaret  Beaufort,  who  was 
afterwards  destined  to  reign  as  Henry  vii.  In  1465  Edward's  safety  was 
assured  further  by  the  capture  at  Waddington  Hall,  near  Clitheroe,  of 
Hemy  vi.,  who,  since  the  flight  of  his  queen  and  his  own  expulsion  from 
Scotland,  had  wandered  aimlessly  about  among  the  tenants  of  the  duchy 
of  Lancashire  in  Craven  and  Ribblesdale. 

King  Edward  took  little  personal  share  in  the  pacification  of  the  north, 

but  for  the  most  part  remained  in  southern  England  ready  to  deal  with 

^ ,        ,       the  even  more  serious  danger  of  a  French  invasion.     The 

Edward's  ® 

personal       king's  character  is  one  which  is  not  easy  to   define.     In 

person  he  is  described  as  the  handsomest  man  of  his  time, — 

taU,  strong,  and  stately  in  his  bearing.     His  capacity  for  war  was  great, 

and  in  politics  he  showed  himself  from  boyhood  a  master  of  the  intrigue 


1464  Edward  IV,  351 

which  in  that  day  passed  current  for  statesmanship  ;  affable  and  pleiisant 
in  his  address,  he  knew  well  how  to  gain  both  the  ear  of  his  friends  and 
the  applause  of  the  multitude,  while  his  personal  fearlessness  and  good 
humour  ensured  a  wide  popularity.  With  these  qualities,  however,  he 
united  others,  which  recalled  neither  his  father  nor  the  Nevilles  so  much 
as  his  great-grandfather,  Edmund  of  York.  He  was  self-indulgent  in  no 
small  degree,  put  no  restraint  upon  the  gratification  of  his  passions,  and, 
though  capable  at  times  of  acting  with  conspicuous  energy  and  vigour, 
allowed  himself  in  general  to  sink  into  idleness.  Of  statesmanship  in 
the  higher  sense  of  the  word  he  appears  to  have  had  little  conception,  as 
was  clearly  shown  by  his  treatment  of  foreign  affairs. 

In  this  department  of  politics,  the  question  of  the  day  was  that  of  our 
attitude  towards  France.  On  this  matter  a  statesmanlike  and  clear  view 
was  held  by  Edward's  great  supporter,  the  earl  of  Warwick. 
Warwick,  who  had  grown  to  manhood  since  the  days  of  the  towards 
struggle  for  Normandy,  believed  the  prolongation  of  the 
war  to  be  impolitic  for  two  reasons  :  (1)  because  the  conquest  of  France 
by  England  was  impracticable,  and  the  war  only  served  to  exhaust  our 
resources  without  advantage  ;  and  (2)  because  so  long  as  we  were  at  war 
with  France  its  court  was  open  for  Lancastrian  refugees,  and  French 
assistance  was  forthcoming  to  aid  in  keeping  England  divided  by  civil 
strife.  He,  therefore,  advocated  peace  with  France,  and  wished  to  see  a 
treaty  cemented  by  a  marriage  between  Edward  and  a  French  princess. 
To  this  policy  Edward  offered  no  open  resistance,  and  allowed  Warwick 
first  to  negotiate  a  truce  and  then  to  make  the  preliminary  arrange- 
ments for  a  formal  embassy  and  proposal  of  marriage  ;  but  at  the 
very  last  moment,  on  September  28,  1464,  within  a  week  of  the  day 
fixed  for  the  meeting  between  Louis  and  Warwick,  he  suddenly  announced 
that  the  whole  negotiations  were  a  farce,  for  since  May  1  of  that  year 
he  had  been  married  to  Lady  Elizabeth  Grey. 

This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  Jacquetta  of  Luxembourg,  duchess  of 
Bedford  and  her  second  husband,  Richard  Woodville  or  Wydville, 
Lord  Rivers.  As  a  girl  she  had  married  John  Grey  or  Elizabeth 
Ferrers,  of  Groby,  who  had  been  killed  on  the  Lancastrian  "Woodville. 
side  at  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans,  and  in  1464  was  a  widow  of 
thirty-one,  with  two  boys  of  thirteen  and  eleven  respectively.  As  a 
Lancastrian  and  a  person  who  brought  to  the  king  no  addition  of  political 
strength,  Elizabeth  was  a  most  imdesirable  match ;  but  Edward  was 
perfectly  infatuated  about  her,  and  married  her  secretly  at  Grafton  on 
May  1, 1464.  Once  married,  however,  Edward  saw  his  way  to  turn  his 
action  to  account ;  and  determined,  by  raising  up  the  relations  of  his 


352,  House  of  YorJc  1469 

wife,  to  create  a  counterpoise  to  the  powerful  Neville  clan,  and  so 
reduce  Warwick's  influence.  The  history  of  the  next  seven  years,  there- 
fore, is  little  more  than  that  of  a  duel  between  Warwick,  the  astute 
warrior  of  middle  age,  and  the  young  but  clever  king  whom  he  had 
designed  to  keep  in  leading  strings. 

The  game  began  by  Edward's  marrying  every  marriageable  member  of 
his  wife's  family — to  the  number  of  some  half-dozen — to  various  members 

„  .       of  the  peerage  ;  making  his  father-in-law  first  lord  treasurer, 

Promotion  r         o    '  o  > 

of  Queen's  then  an  earl,  and  finally  constable  of  England;  and,  in  direct 
defiance  of  Warwick's  advice,  giving  his  sister,  Margaret  of 
York,  to  Charles,  count  of  Charolais,  the  eldest  son  of  the  duke  of 
Burgundy,  and  the  lifelong  enemy  of  Louis  xi.  Meanwhile,  Warwick 
Discontent  bided  his  time,  and  prepared  a  counterblow  by  a  marriage 
of  Warwick,  between  his  elder  daughter  Isabel — who  would  have  half  his 
lands — and  George,  duke  of  Clarence,  the  king's  younger  brother.  This 
match,  however,  was  peremptorily  forbidden  by  Edward ;  and  Warwick 
then  engaged  in  a  series  of  plots,  which,  though  by  no  means  completely 
unravelled,  are  believed  to  have  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  disturbances 
that  broke  out  in  1469. 

In  April  of  that  year  Warwick  moved  his  wife  and  two  daughters  to 
Calais  ;  and  in  June  a  rebellion  broke  out  in  the  neighbourhood  of  York, 
led  by  Robert  Huldyard,  otherwise  known  as  Robin  of  Redes- 
Robin  of  dale.  This  outbreak,  which  was  directed  in  the  first  instance 
against  a  piece  of  local  maladministration,  was  put  down  by 
Warwick's  brother,  John,  earl  of  Montagu,  and  Huldyard  was  put  to  death ; 
but  his  place  and  name  were  immediately  taken  by  Sir  John  Conyers,  the 
husband  of  one  of  Warwick's  nieces,  and  other  members  of  the  Neville 
family  joined  the  insurgents.      Thus  led,  the  rebels  made  their  way  south. 

Battle  of      ^^^  ^*  Edgecote,  near  Banbury,  they  encountered  Edward's 

Edgecote.  troops  under  Herbert,  who  had  just  been  made  earl  of  Pem- 
broke for  a  victory  over  Jasper  Tudor,  and  defeated  him  on  July  26. 
Herbert  was  put  to  death'  after  the  battle  ;  and  a  few  days  later.  Rivers 
and  his  son  were  seized  at  Chepstow,  and  beheaded  at  Coventry.  As 
Herbert  and  the  Woodvilles  were  the  personal  enemies  of  Warwick,  his 
hand  is  thought  to  appear  in  their  deaths  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  no  sooner 
was  Edward  called  north  by  the  insurrection  than  Clarence  slipped  across 
to  Calais,  and,  on  July  11,  was  married  to  Isabel  Neville.    That  done, 

^ ,       ^ .       Warwick  and  his  son-in-law  hurried  to  Kent,  raised  the 

Edward  in 

Warwick's    Neville  faction,  and,  marching  north,  took  advantage  of  the 

power.  discomfiture  of  Edward's  forces  at  Edgecote  and  the  desertion 

of  many  of  his  followers,  to  seize  his  person.     Seeing  that  for  the  moment 


Rebellion 
in  Lit 
shire. 

Battle  of 


1470  Henry  VI .  353 

resistance  was  out  of  the  question,  Edward  submitted  with  a  smile,  agreed 
to  all  Warwick's  demands,  and  accompanied  him  in  a  sort  of  honorary 
confinement  to  Warwick,  Coventry,  and  Middleham.  Edward,  however, 
was  too  popular  to  be  treated  as  a  prisoner ;  and  in  October,  Warwick,  aft^r 
making  the  best  terms  for  himself  and  Clarence,  allowed  the  king  to  go  free. 

Next  year,  however,  disturbances  broke  out  in  Lincolnshire — again 
probably  by  Warwick's  contrivance.     This  time  Edward  acted  with  great 
promptitude,  marched  himself  against  the  rebels,  and  defeated 
them  on  March  12,  at  Casterton,  near  Stamford,  in  a  fight   in' Lin  coin - 
popularly  known  as  Losecoat  Field,  from  the  precipitation 
with  which  the  fugitives  flung  away  their  coats  and  badges. 
This  success  turned  the  tables  on  Warwick,  who  had  no    Losecoat 
mind  to  encounter  Edward  at  the  head  of  a  victorious  army. 
He  therefore  fled  the  country,  and,  taking  Clarence  with  him,  made  for 
Calais.      There,  however,  his  friend  Sir  John  Wenlock,   possibly  by 
arrangement,  refused  to  receive  him,  and  he  therefore  landed   plight  of 
in  France  as  the  guest  of  Louis  xi.,  who  was  still  at  war  Warwick, 
with  Edward. 

In  Warwick's  arrival  Louis  saw  a  great  opportunity,  and  used  all  his 
immense  fund  of  diplomatic  skill  to  bring  about  an  alliance  between 
Warwick  and    Margaret    of  Anion,    who,    with   her   son    .... 

»  J      J  )  Alliance 

Edward,  now  seventeen  years  of  age,  was  also  an  exile  in   between 

Warwick 

his  dominions.  His  success  was  greater  than  could  possibly  and  Mar- 
have  been  expected,  and  an  agreement  was  entered  into  by  ^^^^  ' 
which  Edward  was  betrothed  to  Warwick's  second  daughter  Anne  ;  and 
an  expedition  was  to  be  made  for  the  purpose  of  dethroning  Edward  of 
York  and  replacing  Henry  vi.  Of  the  two  parties  to  this  strange  treaty, 
Margaret  probably  regarded  the  scheme  as  a  last  desperate  chance  of 
regaining  the  throne ;  and  Warwick  may  well  have  considered  that  as  he 
had  now  utterly  broken  with  Edward,  the  best  method  of  securing  the 
ascendancy  of  the  house  of  Neville — his  one  permanent  political  aim — was 
to  restore  the  Lancastrian  dynasty.  To  Clarence,  however,  the  whole 
arrangement  must  have  been  utterly  distasteful ;  and  secret  communica- 
tions were  at  once  opened  between  him  and  his  brother,  by  which  Clarence 
agreed  to  desert  Warwick  as  soon  as  they  had  landed  in  England. 

The  treaty  between  Margaret  and  Warwick  was  completed  in  July, 
1470.     Proclamations    announcing    Warwick's    return   were    scattered 
throughout  England,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  for  a   vvarwick's 
rising  in  the  north  to  draw  Edward  out  of  the  way.     So    invasion, 
long,  however,  as  the  ships  of  Edward's  brother-in-law,   the   duke   of 
Burgundy,  were  guarding  the  Channel,  the  passage  was  impossible  ;  but 


354  House  of  York  1470 

in  September  the  Bnrgundian  fleet  was  driven  into  harbour  by  the 
equinoctial  gales  ;  and  on  September  25,  Warwick  landed  unopposed  at 
Dartmouth,  accompanied  by  Clarence,  Jasper  Tudor,  the  earl  of  Oxford, 
and  other  Lancastrians.  Meanwhile,  Edward,  as  designed,  had  been 
drawn  north  to  Doncaster ;  so  Warwick  was  able  to  gather  his  friends 
unmolested.  On  October  6,  however,  Edward  had  returned  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Nottingham,  when  he  found  that  Warwick's  brother, 
John  Neville,  marquess  of  Montagu,  on  whose  fidelity  he  had  placed 
absolute  reliance,  had  declared  against  him,  and  that'his  army  was  honey- 
combed with  treachery.     Aghast  at  his  position,  Edward 

flight  to        immediately  fled,  and  taking  with  him  his  young  brother 
an  ers.     j^jgjjg^pjj^  ^nd  his  friend  Lord  Hastings,  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Lord  Scales,  he  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  Lynn,  and  thence 
taking  ship,  landed  almost  destitute  in  the  dominions  of  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Burgundy. 

The  very  day  of  Edward's  flight  Warwick  reached  London,  which 
opened  its  gates  with  alacrity ;  and,  immediately  riding  to  the  Tower, 
King  Henry  ^^^  released  King  Henry,  and  took  him  in  state  to  St.  Paul's, 
reinstated.  where  the  poor  broken  man  was  again  placed  on  a  throne 
and  treated  with  royal  honours.  It  was,  however,  made  clear  that  the 
restoration  was  rather  that  of  the  Nevilles  than  of  the  Lancastrians,  and 
that  Warwick  meant  to  keep  the  reins  of  government  in  his  own  hands. 
In  short,  in  the  view  of  the  great  kingmaker,  the  king  was  to  reign  but  not 
to  govern.  Warwick  himself  was  to  be  the  king's  lieutenant,  captain  of 
Calais,  and  admiral ;  his  brother  the  bishop  was  to  be  chancellor ;  and 
other  offices  were  handed  over  to  the  members  or  adherents  of  the  Neville 
clan  ;  an  arrangement  much  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  Margaret  and  her 
son  had  not  yet  left  France.  The  duke  of  Clarence  was  relegated  to  the 
distant  post  of  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland.  The  revolution  thus  accom- 
plished was  almost  bloodless  ;  the  only  man  put  to  death  being  Tiptoft, 
earl  of  Worcester,  a  stout  adherent  of  Edward,  who  combined  a  cruelty  to 
political  opponents,  which  gained  him  the  curses  of  his  countrymen,  with 
a  taste  for  learning  and  literature,  which  won  him  the  applause  of  Europe. 
Warwick's  first  use  of  power  was  to  negotiate  the  long-needed  peace  with 
France  ;  and  he  prepared  to  act  vigorously  against  Louis'  enemy  the 
duke  of  Burgundy. 

The  rapid  success  of  Warwick,  and  the  absence  of  Edward  in  the  north, 
had  made  it  impossible  for  Clarence  to  carry  out  his  scheme  of  deserting 
Discontent  ^*  ®^^^  *^  Edward ;  but  he  was  no  better  satisfied  than 
of  Clarence,  before,  and  kept  himself  in  constant  communication  with  his 
brother  with  a  view  to  a  counter-revolution.     The  duke  of  Burgundy 


1471  Henry  VI.  355 

was  no  less  anxious  to  put  a  stop  to  a  state  of  affairs  so  favourable  to  his 
French  rival ;  but  his  resources  were  far  too  much  taxed  by  his  own 
struggle  with  France  to  be  able  to  give  much  aid.  Accordingly,  Edward 
found  it  needful  to  act  for  himself ;  and,  following  the  example  of  Henry  of 
Bolingbroke,  he  landed  at  Ravenspur  on  March  15, 1471,  with 
a  band  of  1500  English  exiles  and  300  German  hand-gun  men,  lands  at 
lent  him  by  the  duke  of  Burgundy.  For  the  defence  of  York-  ^^^enspur. 
shire,  Warwick  relied  on  his  brother  Montagu,  who  lay  at  Pontefract 
Castle,  and  the  young  earl  of  Northumberland.  Edward,  however,  acted 
with  great  subtlety.  Giving  out  that  he  was  come  merely  to  claim  the 
lands  of  his  father,  he  mounted  the  Lancastrian  badge,  and  actually  swore 
at  York  '  that  he  would  never  again  take  upon  himself  to  be  king  of 
England.'  Still,  however,  he  marched  steadily  on  ;  and — Montagu,  having 
with  quite  unaccountable  folly  allowed  him  to  pass  Pontefract — made  his 
way  into  the  Midlands.  In  this  way  he  turned  Warwick's  defensive 
position,  and  Edward's  followers  from  the  north  and  west  were  able  to 
join  him  without  opposition.  On  March  22,  Edward  reached  Notting- 
ham, where,  finding  hhnself  at  the  head  of  five  or  six  thousand  men,  he 
threw  off  all  pretence  and  had  himself  proclaimed  king.  His  position, 
however,  was  most  perilous.  Oxford  was  marching  against  him  from 
Norfolk,  Montagu  was  in  his  rear.  Archbishop  Neville  was  guarding 
London  and  King  Henry,  the  kingmaker  was  at  Warwick,  and  Clarence 
in  Gloucestershire.  But  Edward's  energy  was  now  fully  roused.  With 
a  sudden  rush  he  drove  Oxford  back,  and  then  hurried  south  to  Leicester. 
Warwick  was  at  Coventry,  and  a  battle  seemed  imminent ;  but  both  sides 
were  waiting  for  reinforcements,  and  Warwick  knew  that  both  Clarence 
and  Montagu  were  not  far  off.  Now  was  the  moment  for 
Clarence  to  carry  out  his  long-arranged  plan.  On  April  4  joins  his 
he  joined  Edward  ;  Warwick,  of  course,  was  still  more  deter-  ^°  ^^' 
mined  to  wait  for  his  brother,  so  Edward  and  Clarence  marched  on 
London.     There  George   Neville  was   doing  all  he  could  to   organise 

resistance,  but  utterly  failed  to  rouse  the  citizens ;  and  on   „ , 

.  Edward 

April  10  Edward  marched  in  unopposed.     There  he  found   enters 

the  queen  and  his  eldest  son,  who  had  been  bom  during  his      °"  °"' 
absence,  and  was  joined  by  Bourchier,  earl  of  Essex,  and  by  so  many  others 
of  the  south-country  Yorkists  as  raised  his  force  to  about  20,000  men. 

His  entry  was  made  on  the  Thursday  before  Good  Friday ;  and  on 
Saturday  he  marched  out  to  fight  the  earl  of  Warwick,  who  was  advanc- 
ing along  the  Watling  Street  with  about  an  equal  force.    The    Battle  of 
two  armies  met  on  the  farther  side  of  Barnet,  on  the  rising   Garnet, 
ground  by  Monkton  Hadley  church ;  and  after  lying  all  night  within 


356  House  of  York  1471 

cannon-shot,  Edward's  troops  made  their  attack  in  the  early  morning  of 
April  14,  while  the  view  was  still  obscured  by  the  mist.  In  Edward's 
army  Richard,  though  only  eighteen,  led  the  right,  Hastings  the  left ; 
while  Edward  placed  Clarence's  men  in  the  centre,  and  took  the  com- 
mand of  them  himself.  On  the  other  side,  Montagu  and  Oxford  were  on 
the  right,  Warwick  and  Exeter  the  left ;  Somerset  had  the  centre — an 
arrangement  which  placed  Yorkists  and  Lancastrians  alternately  along 
the  line.  Owing  to  the  impossibility  of  seeing  more  than  a  few  yards, 
great  confusion  ensued.  Oxford  and  Montagu  were  victorious  on  their 
wing  ;  Warwick  was  holding  his  own  ;  Edward  and  Clarence  were  gaining 
ground,  when  some  of  Oxford's  victorious  men  were  mistaken  for 
Yorkists,  and  shot  at  by  their  own  side.  The  accident  arose  from 
Oxford's  badge,  '  the  star  with  rays,'  being  mistaken  for  the  '  sun  with 
rays '  of  York ;  but  the  result  was  completely  disastrous  for  Warwick. 
The  cry  of  treachery  ran  down  his  motley  line.  No  man  would  trust 
another,  and  no  leader  could  make  himself  obeyed.  The  result  was 
a  complete  rout,  in  which  Warwick  and  Montagu  were  both  slain. 

Edward  had  been  as  fortunate  as  Warwick  was  unlucky.  Margaret 
had  been  ready  to  sail  for  seventeen  days,  but  had  been  kept  back  by  a 
north  wind,  and  it  was  only  on  the  very  day  of  Barnet  that 
lands  at  shc  was  able  to  land  at  Weymouth.  Had  the  wind  changed 
Weymout  .  ^  ^^^  ^^^  earlier,  Margaret  could  easily  have  reached  Lon- 
don before  Edward,  the  result  of  the  campaign  might  have  been  wholly 
different,  or  Edward's  death  in  battle  might  have  made  the  restoration 
permanent.  As  it  was,  the  victory  of  Barnet  left  Edward  free  to  deal 
with  Margaret  at  his  leisure.  She  had  two  courses  open  to  her  :  one  to 
fight  her  way  to  London  and  rescue  Henry  ;  the  other,  to  slip  across  the 
Severn  into  Wales  and  prolong  the  war  by  the  aid  of  the  Welsh  and 
northerners.  Edward,  therefore,  marched  to  Windsor,  ready  for  either 
event.  After  some  hesitation  Margaret,  having  been  joined  by  Edmund 
duke  of  Somerset,  his  brother  John  Beaufort,  and  other  fugitives  from 
Barnet,  decided  for  Wales  ;  but  before  she  reached  the  Severn,  Edward 
was  close  on  her  track.  During  the  whole  war  the  towns  had,  as  a 
rule,  been  Yorkist,  and  at  the  critical  moment  the  citizens  of  Gloucester 
refused  to  allow  Margaret  to  cross  the  river. 

Thus  disappointed,  she  was  obliged  to  make  for  Tewkesbury,  and 
there,  before  the  crossing  could  be  effected,  Edward  appeared.  The 
Battle  of  Lancastrians  ready  to  cross  were  posted  in  enclosures  ;  and, 
Tewkesbury.  ^]^gj^  Edward  attacked  them  in  the  early  morning  of  May  4, 
his  troops  had  a  difficult  task  before  them.  The  van,  however,  was  led 
with  great  spijit  by  young  Kichard  of  Gloucester  ;  and  the  Yorkists  at 


1476  Henry  VL  357 

length  fought  their  way  through  the  hedges  and  gained  a  decisive  victory. 
Young  Edward,  who  was  a  year  younger  than  Gloucester,  had  fought 
gallantly ;  but  was  killed  in  the  flight,  either  fairly  or  in  cold  blood — 
probably  the  latter.  Margaret  was  soon  afterwards  captured.  The  victory 
was  sullied  by  the  treacherous  slaughter  of  fifteen  Lancastrians,  including 
Somerset  and  his  brother,  who  left  sanctuary  on  Edward's  express  promise 
that  their  lives  should  be  spared.  From  Tewkesbury,  Edward  returned  to 
London ;  and  on  the  day  of  his  entry  Henry  died,  not,  as  Death  of 
the  official  account  gave  out,  *of  piu*e  displeasure  and  H^"*"y- 
melancholy,'  but  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  and  almost  certainly  under 
Gloucester's  direction.  So  long  as  his  son  was  living,  Henry's  life  was  of 
importance.  Now  that  Edward  was  gone,  the  death  of  his  father  would 
destroy  the  last  descendant  of  Henry  iv.  The  line  of  the  Beauforts, 
ho.wever,  was  not  extinct ;  for  though  Henry,  Edmund,  and  John  had  left 
no  children,  the  family  was  still  represented  by  Margaret  and  her  little 
son  Henry,  now  aged  fourteen,  whom  his  uncle  Jasper  at  Henry 
once  hurried  off  to  a  safe  asylum  in  Brittany.  Warned  by  '^"**°'^* 
experience,  Edward  made  every  exertion  to  destroy  his  dangerous 
enemies.  Tewkesbury  was  followed  by  a  wholesale  and  treacherous 
slaughter  of  prisoners.  George  Neville  was  imprisoned  at  Guisnes  ; 
John  Holland,  duke  of  Exeter,  who  had  taken  sanctuary,  was  seized  and 
privately  put  to  death.  To  others  less  dangerous  he  displayed  a  con- 
ciliatory temper,  especially  to  John  Morton  and  John  Fortescue,  lord 
chief-justice,  both  of  whom  had  so  far  been  consistent  Lancastrians,  but 
who  in  1472  and  14V3  were  allowed  to  return  to  England. 

So  successful  was  Edward's  policy,  that  in  1475  he  found  himself 
strong  enough  to  leave  England  for  a  great  expedition  to  France. 
On  this  the  English  placed  great  expectations.  The  Expedition 
duke  of  Burgundy,  who  was  to  act  in  alliance  with  *°  France. 
Edward,  seemed  to  be  at  the  height  of  his  power ;  and  it  did  not 
seem  likely  that  Louis  would  be  able  to  offer  much  resistance  in  the 
field  to  a  warrior  so  celebrated  as  the  English  king.  Accordingly, 
money  was  readily  voted,  and  a  host  of  English  nobles  and  gentry  im- 
poverished themselves  to  provide  a  suitable  outfit  for  the  war.  The 
event,  however,  was  most  disappointing.  Before  the  English  expedition 
could  sail  Charles  had  spent  all  his  resources  ;  exhausted  his  army  in  a 
fruitless  siege  of  Neuss  on  the  Ehine ;  and  he  arrived  almost  unattended 
at  Edward's  camp,  to  the  huge  disgust  of  his  allies.  Louis,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  determined  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  get  rid  of  the 
English  without  fighting  ;  for,  as  Philip  de  Comines,  his  counsellor,  teUs 
us,  '  he  would  do  anything  in  the  world  to  get  the  king  of  England  out  of 


36S  Bouse  of  York  1475 

France,  except  putting  any  of  his  towns  into  his  possession  ;  rather  than 
do  that  he  would  hazard  all.'  Accordingly,  well  gauging  the  character 
of  his  opponent,  he  industriously  plied  him  with  flattering  messages  and 
offers  of  favourable  terms ;  and,  when  he  at  length  won  Edward  to  his 
will,  he  made  a  lavish  distribution  of  money  to  the  leading  nobles,  giving 
pensions  to  Dorset,  Hastings,  Howard,  and  others ;  and  provided  a 
magnificent  supper  for  the  rank  and  file.     In  the  end  the  two  kings  met 

Treaty  of     on  the   bridge   at   Picquigny,   on  the   Somme,   and  there 

Picquigny.  mutually  agreed  on  a  seven  years'  truce  ;  and  that  in  con- 
sideration of  the  payment  of  75,000  crowns  down,  and  a  pension  of 
50,000  a  year,  Edward  was  to  return  to  England  and  release  Margaret 
of  Anjou ;  while  Louis  also  promised  that  the  dauphin,  afterwards 
Charles  viii.,  should  marry  Edward's  eldest  daughter  Elizabeth,  after- 
wards queen  of  Henry  vii.  Though  a  statesman  might  think  that  a 
pension  of  50,000  crowns  was  a  good  exchange  for  a  war  which  experi- 
ence had  shown  could  never  be  permanently  successful,  the  nation  as  a 
whole  was  indignant  at  the  peace,  and  decidedly  sympathised  with  young 
Eichard  of  Gloucester,  who  had  expressed  his  disapproval  of  it  without 
reserve. 

To  Edward,  however,  the  discontent  of  his  subjects,  so  long  as  it  did 
not  show  itself  in  open  rebellion,  was  tolerably  indifferent ;  and  of  this, 
now  that  the  main  line  of  the  Lancastrians  was  destroyed,  there  was  no 
great  danger.  He  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  glad  to  get  young  Henry 
Tudor  into   his  hands,  but  his   negotiations   for  this  purpose    proved 

_      . ,         abortive.      Edward,   indeed,  was  afraid  of  trouble   within 

Troubles  '  ' 

with  his   own  family.      In  1471,  sorely  against  Clarence's  will, 

Eichard  had  married  Anne,  the  second  daughter  of  War- 
wick, who  had  been  betrothed  to  Edward  of  Lancaster,  and,  of 
course,  claimed  half  the  lands  of  Earl  Eichard  as  her  dowry.  The 
result  was  a  succession  of  bitter  disputes  between  the  brothers  ;  and 
Edward,  who  liked  and  trusted  Gloucester,  while  he  held  a  deservedly 
poor  opinion  of  Clarence's  trustworthiness,  had  had  much  ado  to  prevent 
them  from  coming  to  open  blows.  At  length,  in  1478,  he  found  an 
opportunity  to  rid  himself  of  anxiety  on  this  score.  In  a  parliament 
which  met  in  January  of  that  year,  Edward  himself  charged  his  brother 
Clarence  with  treason,  chiefly  on  the  ground  of  his  action  in  1471, 
but  also  in  general  terms  with  a  series  of  actions  calculated  to  discredit 
his  brother's  rule.  A  bill  of  attainder  passed  through  both  houses. 
Death  of  and  on  it  Clarence  was  put  to  death,  but  by  what  method 
Clarence.  ^^  uncertain.  Some  said  he  was  drowned  in  a  butt  of 
Malmsey  wine.     Gloucester  was  present  in  parliament ;  but  it  is  certain 


1483  Henry  VL  >  359 

that  Edward  himself  took  the  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  against 
his  brother,  and  that  Gloucester  openly,  at  any  rate,  opposed  the  king.  After 
Clarence's  death,  English  affairs  during  the  remainder  of  the  reign  were 
unimportant.  Gloucester  distinguished  himself  by  retaking  Berwick, 
after  it  had  been  held  by  the  Scots  for  twenty-one  years,  in  the  course  of 
an  invasion  of  Scotland,  in  which  he  took  part  as  the  ally  of  the  duke  of 
Albany,  who  had  been  banished  by  James  iii.  In  1482,  when  Louis  xi. 
violated  the  treaty  of  Picquigny  by  betrothing  his  son  to  Margaret  of 
Austria,  granddaughter  of  Charles  the  Bold,  there  was  some  Death  of 
talk  of  another  French  war,  when  the  scene  was  wholly  Edward, 
changed  by  the  death  of  Edward,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  in  April  1483, 
at  the  age  of  forty-two. 

On  the  whole,  the  condition  of  England  improved  under  Edward  iv. 
What  England  wanted  at  that  stage  of  her  social  and  political  develop- 
ment was  a  strong  and  resolute  government,   capable  of 
enforcing  law  and  order,  and  securing  the  weak  against  the  strong 
aggressions  of  the  strong.     Of  this,  so  long  as  each  great 
baron  had  at  his  call  an   army  of  household  retainers,  backed  by  a 
reserve  of  his  neighbours,  sworn  to  fight  in  his  quarrel  and  to  wear  his 
badge,  there  could  be  no  possibility  ;   and  the  correspondence  of  the 
Paston  family,  happUy  preserved  throughout  this  period,  shows  us  how, 
even  in  Norfolk,  then  one  of  the  most  flourishmg  districts  in  England, 
honest  men  had  much  ado  to  come  by  and  keep  their  own.      Fortunately 
the  prolonged  agony  of  the  civil  wars,  the  rebellion  of  Warwick,  and  the 
expenses  thrown  on  the  fighting  classes  by  the  French  campaign  of  1475, 
materially  diminished  the  power  even  of  the  surviving  nobility  to  maintain 
the  military  retinues  of  their  predecessors,  and  this  by  itself  made  for 
peace.     Moreover,  the  fact  that,  except  during  the  Towton  campaign,  the 
fighting  had  almost  entirely  been  done  by  retainers,  and  that  sacking  of 
towns  had  been  unknown,  had  allowed  the  mercantile  and  industrial 
classes  to  pursue  their  ordinary  avocations  almost  undisturbed,  while  the 
cessation  of  foreign  war  had  as  usual  been  followed  by  a  period  of  revived 
prosperity.     Of  these  circumstances  Edward  iv.  reaped  the  benefit ;  and 
though  he  personally  showed  little  political  insight,  except  so 
far  as  to  cherish  the  goodwill  of  the  middle  classes  as  the  best   reliance  on 
support  for  his  crown,  his  reign  may  be  taken  as  the  starting-   ^^^^^^^ 
point  of  a  new  period,  distinguished  by  the  existence  of  a 
strong  and  popular  monarchy,  resting  for  its  support   on  the  middle 
classes,  and  bent  on  curbing  by  every  means  the  overweening  power  of 
the  turbulent  nobles.     Edward,  however,  was  well  aware  that  such  a  rule 
as  his  could  not  afibrd  to  make  itself  unpopular  by  heavy  taxation,  and 


360  House  of  York  1483 

he  therefore  devised  the  ingenious  expedient  of  asking  his  rich  supporters 
Benevo-       ^^  oblige  him  from  time  to  time  with  gifts  of  money.     These 
lences.         gjf^g  ^SQTQ  called  benevolences,  and,  if  legal  in  form,  were  in 
spirit  a  violation  of  the  principle  of  taxation  by  parliamentary  consent 
only  ;  but  those  who  paid  them  had  neither  the  wish  nor  the  power  to 
invoke  the  strict  letter  of  the  law,  so  long  as  the  government,  on  the 
whole,  gave  them  the  peace  and  security  which  they  considered  it  to  be 
its  chief  function  to  afford.     On  the  other  hand,  a  system  of  this  kind 
brought  with  it  many  ill  and  dangerous  practices.      For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  England  torture  was  systemat- 
ically used  as  an  engine  for  extorting  confessions ;  an  odious  spy  system 
was  set  on  foot,  which  undermined  the  very  foundations  of  social  trust  and 
fidelity ;   while  the  rare  meetings  of  parliament  tended  to 
free  the  king  from  the  salutary  check  of  the  organised  public 
opinion  of  the  community. 

CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Towton, 1461 

Edward's  Marriage, 1464 

Battle  of  Barnet, 1471 

Treaty  of  Picquigny, 1475 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  WOODVILLES. 


John,  Duke  of  =  Jacquetta  of 
Bedford,  Luxembourg. 


Richard  Woodville, 
created  Earl  Rivers. 


Antony,  Lord  Rivers,  Richard,  Edward  Elizabeth, 

executed  1483.  executed  1469.     Woodville.     m.  Edward  iv. 


I  I  I 

Edward  v.  Elizabeth,  Katharine, 

m.  Henry  vii.  in.  Sir  W.  Courtenay. 


I 

Henry  Courtenay, 

Marquess  of  Exeter, 

executed  1529. 


I 


Edward  Courtenay. 


CHAPTER  V 

EDWARD  v.:    1483 
(9th  April  to  June  25th.) 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Scotland.  France. 

James  m.,  d.  1488.  Louis  xi.,  d.  1483. 

Charles  vm.,  d.  1494. 

Eichard  of  Gloucester  becomes  Protector,  and  eventually  Edward  is  dethroned. 

Edward  iv.  died  on  April  9,  and  the  council  at  once  recognised  his 
son  Edward  as  his  successor.  The  new  king  was  only  thirteen  years  of 
age,  and,  consequently,  the  government  would  have  to  be  Dangers  of 
carried  on  in  his  name  as  in  the  early  days  of  Richard  ii.  and  *  minority. 
Henry  vi.  In  England,  such  minorities  had  uniformly  been  unfortunate, 
and  the  truth  of  the  proverb,  '  Woe  to  thee,  0  land,  when  thy  king  is  a 
child,' had  been  forcibly  impressed  on  the  English  mind  by  bitter  experience ; 
while  the  story  of  the  evil  that  befell  the  mice,  or  the  commonalty,  when 
the  cat,  or  king,  was  too  young  to  keep  down  the  rats,  or  nobility,  which 
appears  in  Langland's  Vision  of  Piers  Ploughman^  pointed  out  exactly 
the  sort  of  evils  which  invariably  followed  the  accession  of  a  weak 
sovereign.  It  is  little  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  accession  of  so  young  a 
king  excited  more  fear  than  hope  in  the  nation,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
his  dethronement. 

During  Edward's  lifetime  his  detennined  character  and  ruthless  punish- 
ments had  kept  in  check  the  elements  of  discord  which  existed  at  court ; 
but  no  sooner  was  he  dead  than  a  struggle  began  for  the    state  of 
possession  of  the  reins  of  power,  and  the  different  sections  at   Parties, 
once  stood  out  in  clear  relief.      First  of  all  in  prominence,  but  not  in  real 
power,  were  the  Woodvilles,  who  had  been  raised  to  position  and  wealth 
by  Edward  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  NeviQes,  but  who  were   ^he  Wood- 
still  regarded  by  old  Lancastrians  as  renegades,  and  by  the  viUes. 
ancient  nobility  as  upstarts.     Their  leaders  were  the  queen,  her  brothers, 


362  House  of  York  1483 

the  accomplished  Anthony,  Earl  Rivers,  and  Richard  and  Edward  Wood- 

ville,  and  her  sons  by  her  first  marriage,  Thomas  Grey,  earl  of  Dorset, 

Official        ^^^  Si^  Richard  Grey.     Next  to  them  stood  the  lords  of  the 

nobility.       council,  who  had  been  the  friends  and  advisers  of  the  late 

king,  chief  among  whom  were  William,  Lord  Hastings,  a  tried  warrior 

and  honourable  man,  who  held  the  post  of  captain  of  Calais  ;  Thomas, 

Lord  Stanley,  third  husband  of  Margaret  Beaufort,  who  had  great  estates 

in  Cheshire  and  Lancashire,  steward  of  the  household  ;  and  John  Howard, 

created  Lord  Howard  in  1470  ;  and  two  clergymen,  Thomas  Rotherham, 

archbishop  of  York,  and  John  Morton,  bishop  of  Ely.      Outside  the 

official  circle  stood  Henry  Stafford,  duke  of  Buckingham,  grandson  of  the 

duke  killed  at  Northampton.     This  young  nobleman,  as  great-grandson  of 

The  old        Anne,   daughter  of  Thomas   duke   of  Gloucester,    son    of 

nobility.       Edward  III.,  and  also  a  Beaufort  through  his  mother,  was 

not  only  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  but  also  heir  of  half  the  lands  of  the 

Bohuns  of  Hereford,  and  wielded  great  influence  in  the  Severn  valley. 

Another  representative  of  the  ancient  nobility  was  John  de  la  Pole,  duke 

of  Suffolk,  son  of  the  old  minister  of  Henry  vi.,  and  husband  of  Edward's 

sister  Elizabeth,  by  whom  he  had  a  numerous  family,  of  which  John  de  la 

Pole,  earl  of  Lincoln,  was  the  eldest.     Lastly,  Henry  Percy,  earl   of 

Northumberland,  son  of  the  earl  who  fell  at  Towton,  who  had  been 

restored  to  his  honours  in  1469,  and  was  now  warden  of  the  Scottish 

Richard  of  marches.     While  aloof  from  all  these,  but  most  important, 

Gloucester.  -^^  Richard  of  Gloucester,  the  ablest  son  of  Richard,  duke 

of  York,  whose  reputation  as  a  warrior  was  known  far  and  wide,  and  who 

was  also  esteemed  in  the  north  as  an  excellent  administrator  of  civil 

affairs. 

As  to  the  ability  of  Richard  of  Gloucester  there  can  be  no  two 
opinions ;  and  in  matters  where  his  own  personal  interest  was  not  con- 
cerned, he  was  not  without  kindliness  of  heart ;  but  where  the  interests 
either  of  his  house  or  himself  were  at  stake,  he  knew  no  scruples  what- 
ever. It  cannot,  however,  be  proved  that  he  was  the  actual  murderer  of 
Henry  vi.,  and  if  he  took  part  in  the  death  of  Prince  Edward  at  Tewkes- 
bury, he  was  only  one  among  others.  His  whole  early  training  must 
have  made  him  think  lightly  of  the  guilt  of  such  crimes  as  these,  which 
were  so  obviously  for  the  advantage  of  his  house.  His  personal  courage 
was  unquestioned,  and  though  there  is  evidence  that  one  of  his  shoulders 
was  slightly  higher  than  the  other,  it  did  not  hinder  his  efficiency  as 
a  soldier.  In  private  life  his  manner  and  address  seem  to  have  been 
exceptionally  winning,  and  to  have  given  no  indication  of  the  darker 
crimes  with  which  he  is  credited.      His  successes  in   Scotland,   and 


1483  Edward  V,  363 

excellent  rule  on  the  border,  coupled  with  his  patriotic  disgust  with  the 
French  peace,  had  caused  him  to  stand  high  in  the  opinion  of  his  country- 
men. 

At  the  moment  of  Edward's  death,  the  queen,  with  her  brothers 
Edward  and  Richard,  and  her  son  the  earl  of  Dorset,  and  the  lords  of  the 
council,  were  in  London  ;  Earl  Rivers  and  Sir  Richard  Grey  j^^^.  ^^^  ^^^ 
were  at  Ludlow,  in  attendance  on  the  Prince  of  Wales ;  possession 
Buckingham  was  on  his  estates ;  and  Gloucester  in  York-  °  '"^* 
shire.  The  differences  between  the  lords  of  the  council  and  the  Wood- 
villes  at  once  showed  themselves,  for  the  queen  claimed  the  guardianship 
of  the  young  king,  while  Hastings,  supported  by  Buckingham,  and  in 
accordance,  it  is  believed,  with  Edward  iv.'s  own  intentions,  wished  to 
fall  back  on  the  precedent  of  1422,  and  to  make  Gloucester  protector. 
At  the  same  time  the  council  positively  forbade  the  Woodvilles  to  send 
an  escort  of  more  than  2000  men  to  conduct  the  king  to  London.  Mean- 
while, Gloucester  was  marching  south,  and  at  Northampton,  on  April 
29,  found  himself  within  ten  miles  of  the  king,  who,  under  the  escort  of 
Rivers  and  Richard  Grey,  had  left  Ludlow  on  the  24th  and  had  just 
passed  through  Northampton  to  Stony  Stratford.  The  same  evening 
Rivers  and  Grey  were  sent  back  by  the  young  king  to  convey  his  greetings 
to  Gloucester,  and  Buckingham  also  joined  the  party.  The  four  passed 
the  evening  together,  but  next  morning  Rivers  and  Grey  were  seized,  and 
sent  under  guard  to  the  north  ;  and  the  two  dukes,  taking  the  little  king 
with  them,  marched  forward  to  London.  They  were  preceded,  however, 
by  the  news  of  the  arrest  of  Rivers  and  Grey ;  and  on  hearing  it,  the 
queen  at  once  took  sanctuary  at  Westminster,  accompanied  by  her 
second  son,  Richard,  a  boy  of  eleven,  and  her  five  daughters,  the  eldest  of 
whom  was  Elizabeth,  now  aged  about  eighteen.  Dorset  and  Edward 
Woodville,  who  had  hitherto  been  engaged  in  raising  an  armed  force, 
took  to  flight.  In  this  way  the  Woodville  party  was  shattered  before  the 
king  reached  London  ;  and  on  his  arrival  there,  Hastings  and  the  council 
declared  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester,  protector.  So  far,  Richard's 
conduct  seems  to  have  met  with  general  approval,  and  he  was  very  well 
received  by  the  citizens.  Little  sympathy  was  felt  for  the  fallen  Wood- 
villes. 

Richard  assumed    the    protectorate    on    May    4.      The    coronation 
was  fixed  for  June  22,  and  a  parliament  was  summoned  for  June  25. 
The  interval  was  used  by  Richard  of  Gloucester  to  advance 
his  plans  a  step  further.     Having  gained  the  goodwill  of  unites  with 
Buckingham,  and  brought  up  a  sufficient  number  of  their    ^'^  ^°^  ^™' 
retainers  to  put  down  any  resistance,  they  proceeded  to  attack  the  lords 


364  House  of  York  14^3 

of  the  council.  On  June  13,  at  a  council  meeting  in  the  Tower, 
Execution  of  Gloucester  suddenly  brought  against  Hastings  an  accusation 
Hastings.  Qf  plotting  with  the  Woodvilles — which  may  very  well  have 
been  true — and  insisted  on  his  immediate  execution,  while  Rotherham 
and  Morton  were  thrown  into  prison.  At  the  same  time,  Richard 
subjected  to  public  disgrace  Jane  Shore,  Hastings'  mistress,  formerly 
mistress  of  Edward  iv.,  who,  it  is  probable,  had  acted  as  intermediary 
between  Hastings  and  the  Woodvilles.  On  the  16th,  Gloucester  gained  a 
further  point  by  employing  the  blandishments  of  the  aged  time-server, 
Cardinal  Bourchier,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  induce  the  queen  to 
allow  her  son  Richard  to  join  his  brother  in  the  Tower.  Everything 
being  now  ready,  and  all  serious  opponents  dead  or  in  prison,  the  corona- 
tion and  parliament  were  put  off,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  at  St. 
Paul's  Cross  by-  Dr.  Shaw,  a  brother  of  the  lord  mayor,  in  which 
the  theory  was  advanced  that  Edward  iv.'s  marriage  with  Elizabeth 
Woodville  was  illegal  in  consequence  of  a  pre-contract  to  Lady  Eleanor 
Butler ;  that  the  right  of  Clarence's  children  was  barred  by  their 
father's  attainder ;   and,  therefore,  that  the  true  right  to  the  crown  lay 

in  the  duke  of  Gloucester.  This  startling  announcement 
claims  the    — which  may  or  may  not  be  really  true — failed  to  win  the 

applause  of  the  congregation  ;  but  two  days  later  the  duke 

of  Buckingham  repeated  the  same  arguments  in  a  speech  to  the  citizens 

at   the   Guildhall,   some   expressions   of  applause   emanating  from   the 

followers   of  the  two  dukes   were   taken  for  consent,   and   next    day 

Gloucester,  no  doubt  by  pre-arrangement,  was  waited  on  by  Buckingham 

at  the  head  of  '  many  and  diverse  lords,  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  other 

nobles  and  notable  persons  of  the  commons.'     They  asked  him  to  take 

the  crown  ;  and,  with  some  show  of  surprise  and  hesitation,  he  graciously 

consented.     On  or  about  the  same  day  Rivers  and  Richard  Grey  were 

publicly  put  to  death  at  Pontefract ;  and  on  the  26th  Richard  went  to 

Westminster  Hall,   seated  himself,   as  Edward  had  done 
End  of 
Edward's     before  Towton,  in  the  marble  chair,  and  declared  his  right 

^^^^"'  to  rule  as  an  hereditary  and  elected  king.     The  reign  of 

Edward  v.  was  reckoned  as  having  closed  on  June  25. 


CHAPTER   VI 

RICHARD  III.:   1483-1485 


Born  1452 ;  married,  1473,  Anne  Neville. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Scotland, 

France.                            Arragon  and  Castile. 

James  ill. 

Louis  XI.,  d.  1483.                 Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

Charles  viii. 

Murder  of  the  Princes— Morton's  Conspiracy— Benevolences  condemned — 
Conspiracy  of  Henry  Tudor — Bosworth. 

Though  the  revolution  which  placed  Richard  on  the  throne  was  the 
work  of  a  small  clique,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  excited  any  great 
indignation  among  the  people  at  large.    Edward  v.  was  too    ^^^^ 
young  and  too  little  known  to  excite  personal  enthusiasm  ;    acceptance 
and  the  advantages  of  avoiding  a  long  minority,  and  substi- 
tuting for  it  the  rule  of  a  distinguished  soldier  and  administrator,  were  too 
obvious  to  be  overlooked  by  practical  men.     Of  the  importance  of  laying 
stress  on  his  claims  to  support  on  this  ground  Richard  was  perfectly 
aware  ;  and  throughout  his  short  reign  did  all  in  his  power  to  exhibit  him- 
self as  a  dispenser  of  justice,  and  the  stem  upholder  of  public  morality. 

The  first  care  of  the  new  sovereign  was  to  reward  his  followers. 
Buckingham  ^  was  made  constable,  and  received  shortly  afterwards  the 

1  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  STAFFORDS. 
Edmund,  =  Anne,  daughter  of  Thomas,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and 


fifth  Earl  of 
Stafford, 


granddaughter  of  Edv/ard  iii. 
Humjihrey, 


created  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
killed  at  Northampton,  1460. 


Humphrey,  Earl  of  Stafford,  Sir  Henry  Stafford,  m.  Margaret, 

killed  at  St.  Albans,  1456.  Countess  of  Richmond, 

I  mother  of  Henry  vii. 

Henry,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  by  her  first 

beheaded  1483.  husband. 

Edward,  Duke  of  Buckingham 
beheaded  1521. 


366  House  of  York  1483 

chief  part  of  that  moiety  of  the  lands  of  the  Bohuns  which  had  passed  to 

the  descendants  of  Henry  iv.  (see  page  279).     Stanley  was  retained  in 

„.  ,      ,        his  office  of  lord  steward.     Lord  Howard  was  advanced  to 

Richard  s 

first  the  rank  of  duke   of  Norfolk,  and  became   earl  marshal. 

Eichard's  next  step  was  to  make  a  progress  through  that  part 

of  the  country  where  he  was  less  known,  with  a  view  to  extending  the 

favourable  impression   of  himself  which  undoubtedly  existed   in  the 

north.     Setting   out  from   London,   he  and  his   queen  visited  Oxford, 

Woodstock,  Gloucester,  Worcester,   and  Warwick ;   and  then   turning 

north  made  their  way  by  Leicester,  Nottingham,  and  Pontefract  to  York, 

where  he  gratified  his  friends  by  again  going  through  the  ceremony  of 

coronation  on  September  8.     This  journey  produced  a  very  favourable 

impression,  especially  the  king's  refusal  of  money  gifts  offered  by  the 

citizens. 

During  this  progress,  however,  a  crime  is  believed  to  have  been  com- 
mitted, which  in  the  end  lost  Richard  his  crown.  Ever  since  his  deposi- 
Murder  of  tion,  Edward  and  his  brother  Eichard  had  disappeared  from 
the  Princes,  ^j^^  public  gaze  within  the  walls  of  the  Tower  ;  but  a  rumour 
now  spread  that  they  had  been  put  to  death,  and  though  the  truth  of 
the  report  could  not  be  proved,  for  many  years  the  whole  subject  was 
involved  in  a  mystery  which  has  not  yet  been  wholly  dispelled.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  early  in  the  autumn  of  1483,  a  rumour  asserted 
that  they  had  been  murdered,  and  that  this  report  was  taken  as  true  ; 
but  no  details  were  known  for  nearly  twenty  years,  when,  in  1502,  Sir 
James  Tyrrel  confessed  that,  during  the  king's  progress,  he  had  been 
employed  with  two  of  his  servants.  Forest  and  Dighton,  to  strangle  the 
princes  and  bury  them  secretly  in  the  Tower.  This  confession  was  made 
when  Forest  was  dead  and  Tyrrel  was  under  sentence  of  death  for 
another  crime  ;  but  it  was  supported  by  the  evidence  of  Dighton,  and  in 
1674  received  further  confirmation  by  the  finding  of  two  skeletons  corre- 
sponding to  the  size  of  the  two  princes. 

According  to  Tyrrel's  story,  the  murder  took  ]Dlace  about  the  middle  of 
August  1483 J  but  before  that  date  a  widespread  conspiracy  for  dethroning 
Morton's  Eichard  was  on  foot.  The  originator  of  this  was  John 
Conspiracy.  Morton,  bishop  of  Ely.  He  had  been  thrown  into  the 
Tower  by  Gloucester,  as  a  friend  of  Hastings,  but  had  been  subsequently 
entrusted  to  the  care  of  Buckingham,  by  whom  he  had  been  taken  to 
Brecknock  Castle.  Morton  had  been  a  Lancastrian  as  long  as  that 
dynasty  seemed  to  have  a  chance  of  success,  but  made  his  peace  with 
Edward  iv.  after  Tewkesbury.  He  was,  however,  no  friend  to  Eichard  ; 
and  the  ingenious   prelate  so  far  won  the  confidence   of  his   gaoler 


1483  Richard  III.  367 

that  he  induced  Buckingham  to  enter  into  a  conspiracy  for  his  overthrow. 
The  first  design  of  Morton  and  Buckingham  was  to  restore  Edward  v. ; 
but  the  news  of  his  death  changed  their  plans,  and  Morton  then  induced 
the  duke  to  enter  into  an  entirely  new  political  combination,  based  on  a 
marriage  between  Henry  Tudor,  earl  of  Eichmond,  and  Elizabeth 
of  York,  who,  if  her  brothers  were  dead,  had  become  the  representa- 
tive of  the  house  of  York.  Accordingly,  negotiations  were  opened 
between  Margaret  Beaufort,  now  Lady  Stanley  and  the  queen- 
dowager  for  the  marriage  of  their  children.  Henry  also  gave  his 
consent,  and  aided  by  Edward  Woodville,  set  about  organising  an 
expedition  in  Brittany,  which  was  to  land  on  October  18,  on  which 
date  Buckingham  and  Morton  were  to  be  ready  to  rise  in  England. 
Eventually  it  was  settled  that  simultaneous  outbreaks  were  to  occur 
on  that  day  at  Maidstone,  Newbury,  Salisbury,  and  Exeter,  so  that 
Richard  would  be  distracted  by  the  number  of  his  enemies ;  while 
Buckingham  and  his  Welsh  followers  were  to  cross  the  Severn  in  force 
and  give  coherence  to  the  movement. 

The  scheme  was  well  planned  ;  but  suflBcient  allowance  was  not  made 
for  the  uncertainty  of  the  weather,  and  an  inopportune  storm  of  wind 
and  rain  wrecked  the  whole.     So  violent  was  the  gale  in  the     scheme 
Channel,  that  Richmond's  fleet  was  dispersed,  and  when  he     *^**^*- 
himself  at  length  reached  Poole  with  a  single  ship,  he  found  the  coast 
guarded,  while  a  Severn  flood,  higher  than  had  been  known  for  years, 
and  long  remembered  as  'Buckingham's  great  water,'  rendered  all  the  fords 
impassable ;  and  since,  just  as  at  Tewkesbury,  the  bridges    ^ 
were  either  destroyed,  or  held  for  the  Yorkists,  Buckingham   hams 
was  quite  unable  to  cross,   and  his  soldiers,  pinched  for     *^ 
subsistence,  rapidly  deserted.     The  English  rising,  thus  unsupported,  came 
of  course  to  nothing.     Thus  baffled,  the  leaders  took  refuge  in  disguise 

and  flight.   Morton  had  the  good  fortune  to  reach  Flanders  ;    _         .       , 
°  ,  , ,  .        ,  ,  ,     Execution  of 

but  Buckingham  was  betrayed  by  a  retamer  he  trusted,  named   Bucking- 
Ralph  Banaster,  and  was  promptly  put  to  death  at  Salis-     ^^' 
bury.      His    office    of   lord    high    constable    was    conferred    on  Lord 
Stanley. 

Encouraged  by  his  good  luck,  Richard  now  thought  himself  secure,  and 
after  celebrating  Christmas  with  great  pomp,  assembled  a  parliament  in 
January  1484,  of  which  Sir  William  Catesby,  who  had  Meeting  of 
betrayed  Hastings  to  Richard,  was  chosen  speaker.  This  Parhament. 
body  confirmed  the  petition  by  which  Richard  had  been  requested  to 
assume  the  crown,  and  embodied  it  in  an  Act  of  Parliament.  An  act  of 
attainder  was  passed  against  the  late  duke  of  Buckingham,  Richmond, 


368  Hmise  of  York  148 

Pembroke,  Dorset,  Morton,  and  ninety-five  others.     On  the  other  hand  a 
variety  of  useful  enactments  were  carried,  the  most  important  of  which  was 
a  condemnation   of  benevolences   as   'new   and   unlawful  inventions.' 
Condemna-    An  oath  was  also  taken  by  the  members   to   secure  the 
Benevo-         Succession  of  Richard's  only  child  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales, 
lences.  ^orn  in   1476.      Unluckily  for   Richard,   the   Prince    of 

Wales   died  in  April  the  same  year,   leaving  him  childless ;    and  he 
then   recognised   as   his   successors,   first   Clarence's    son, 
Richard's       Edward,  Plantagenet,  and  afterwards  John  de  la  Pole,  earl 
^°"'  of  Lincoln,  the  son  of  his  eldest  sister.^ 

The  greater  part  of  the  year  1484,  however,  was  taken  up  by  Richard's 
efforts  to  counteract  the  plans  of  Richmond.     With  great  adroitness  he 
made  friends  with  the  duke  of  Brittany  by  promising  to 
against  ^°"^    defend  him  against  the  king  of  France  ;  and  he  also  threw 
Tudor^  over  his  alliance  with  the  duke  of  Albany,  and  became 

friendly  with  king  James  iii.  An  embassy  also  was  sent  to 
the  pope,  promising  '  that  filial  and  catholic  obedience  which  was  of  old 
due  and  accustomed  to  be  paid  by  the  kings  of  England  to  the  Roman 
pontiffs,'  a  proceeding  very  much  on  the  lines  of  those  of  King  John. 
These  measures  had  some  success,  and  in  particular  Landois,  the  duke  of 
Brittany's  minister,  was  induced  to  consent  to  a  plan  for  seizing  Rich- 
mond and  handing  him  over  to  Richard.  Richmond,  however,  was 
warned,  and  escaping  in  disguise,  received  a  good  reception  in  France ; 


1  THE  DE  LA  POLES. 
William  de  la  Pole  of  Kingston-upon-Hull. 

Michael  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of  Suflfolk, 
minister  of  Richard  ii.,  d.  1388. 

Michael,  second  Earl, 

restored  to  his  earldom  in  1399, 

died  at  Harfleur,  1415. 


Michael,  third  Earl,  William,  first  Duke  of  Suffolk, 

killed  at  Agincourt,  1415.  minister  of  Henry  vi.,  impeached 

and  murdered,  1450. 


John,  second  Duke  of  Suffolk,  =  Elizabeth,  sister  of  Edward  iv. 
d.  1491. 

1  \  i 

John,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  killed        Edmund,  third  Duke  of  Richard  de  la  Pole, 

at  Stoke,  1487.                Suffolk,  surrendered  title  of  killed  at  Pavia, 

Duke  and  that  of  Earl,  1 525. 
1493,  executed  1573. 


1485  Bichard  III.  369 

while  the  duke  of  Brittany  provided  funds  for  the  other  English  exiles  to 
join  him  in  his  new  retreat. 

Meanwhile,  Kichniond's  position  had  been  strengthened  in  other  ways. 
No  sooner  had  he  got  back  from  his  first  expedition  to  England,  than  he 
summoned  a  meeting  in  Brittany  of  Dorset,  Sir  Edward 
Woodville,  Edward  Poynings,  and  his  other  friends,  at  Tudor's 
which  he  swore  to  marry  Elizabeth  of  York,  and  they  to  be  o^spiracy. 
true  to  him  and  to  each  other,  while  a  new  expedition  to  England  was 
unanimously  resolved  upon.  For  this  purpose  his  expulsion  from 
Brittany  was  no  disadvantage,  for  France  could  give  more  effective 
assistance,  and  was  not  so  likely  to  be  coerced  into  deserting  him  as  a 
small  duchy  might  have  been. 

Richard's  apprehensions,  therefore,  in  no  way  diminished,  and  he  went 

steadily  on  with  his  preparations  ;  gave  great  attention  to  the  fleet,  and 

organised  a  system  of  horsemen,  posted  twenty  miles  apart, 

on  all  the  chief  roads,  by  which  letters  could  be  sent  two   prepara- 

hundred  miles  in  two  days.    Moreover,  in  the  course  of  1484,   ^*°"^- 

Richard  contrived  to  come  to  terms  with  the  queen-dowager,  and  when 

his  wife  Anne  died  in  March  1485,  he  proposed  to  checkmate  Richmond's 

scheme  by  marrying  Elizabeth  himself,  and  had  probably  made 

,.        ,  ,.,,..        .„  Proposal  to 

some  overtures  lor  the  purpose  during  the  Imgering  illness   marry 

of  his  late  wife.  More  strange  still,  there  is  some  evidence  *^*  ^*  ' 
to  show  that  Elizabeth  herself  was  not  averse  to  the  plan,  and  her  time- 
serving mother  certainly  made  a  show  of  considering  it.  When,  however, 
the  matter  came  to  the  ears  of  Richard's  own  counsellors.  Sir  Richard 
Ratcliffe  and  Sir  William  Catesby,  they  told  him  plainly  that  such  a 
marriage  would  outrage  the  feeUngs  of  the  country,  and  must  not  be 
thought  of.  Richard,  therefore,  gave  it  up  ;  and,  summoning  before  him 
the  lord  mayor  of  London  and  a  number  of  aldermen,  solemnly  assured 
them  that  such  a  step  had  never  even  been  contemplated. 

By  this  tune  Richmond  was  nearly  ready.  With  the  assistance  of  the 
ministers  of  Charles  viii.  he  had  collected  a  small  fleet  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Seine,  and  was  at  the  head  of  a  small  force  including  all  Henry's 
his  former  friends,  except  Dorset,  whom  his  mother's  adherents, 
influence  had  withdrawn  ;  also  Fox,  an  able  priest,  who  was  destined 
to  play  a  great  part  in  England;  and,  above  all,  John  de  Vere,  earl 
of  Oxford,  who  had  escaped  from  his  prison  at  Hammes,  and  brought 
many  soldiers  with  him. 

These  preparations  filled  Richard  with  natural  alarm ;  and  when  he 
heard  that  Richmond  was  at  Harfleur,  and  ready  to  sail,  he  issued  a  pro- 
clamation declaring  him  to  be  illegitimate,  both  on  the  side  of  his  father 

2a 


370  House  of  York  1485 

and  his  mother,  and,  therefore,  without  claim  to  the  crown,  and  accused 

him  and  his  followers  generally  of  every  kind  of  vice  and  treachery,  and 

especially  of  an  intention  to  restore  Calais  to  the  French  in 

proclama-    payment  for  their  present  assistance.   To  furnish  himself  with 

^^°"*  supplies  he  called  on  his  richest  supporters  to  lend  him  money, 

promising  to  repay  all  in  a  year  and  a  half ;  and,  stationing  himself  at 

Nottingham,  sent  orders  to  the  nobility  and  gentry  to  join  him  in  force 

on  the  first  news  of  the  landing  of  Kichmond.     So  numerous,  however, 

were  the  defections  which  had  recently  taken  place,  that  the  king  was 

filled  with  constant  apprehensions  of  treachery  ;  and  he  particularly  dis- 

The  trusted  Lord  Stanley  and  his  brother,  Sir  William  Stanley, 

Stanleys,     chamberlain  of  Wales.     As  husband  of  Margaret,  Stanley 

might  be  expected  to  sympathise  with  Kichmond,  but  he  was  too  acute 

a  politician,  and  had  too  much  at  stake,  to  associate  himself  prematurely 

with  what  might  be  the  losing  side.     He  therefore  made  no  sign,  and 

he  and  his  brother  were  entrusted  with  the  general  defence  of  North 

Wales,  Cheshire  and  Lancashire. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  had  sailed  from  Harfleur  on  August  1,  and 
reached  Milford  Haven  on  August  7.  Landing  there,  he  found  himself 
Henry  lands  in  the  midst  of  his  own  people  ;  and  though  he  brought  with 
in  Wales.  j^^jj^  ^^^  gOOO  men,  the  accessions  of  Welshmen  who  were 
drawn  to  his  standard  by  the  presence  of  Jasper  Tudor  soon  raised  his 
numbers.  Passing  slowly  through  central  Wales,  he  reached  Shrewsbury, 
and  there  passed  the  line  of  the  Severn ;  while  Sir  William  Stanley, 
so  far  from  crushing  him,  maintained  an  attitude  of  neutrality.  Alarmed 
at  this,  Richard  summoned  Stanley  to  Nottingham.  Stanley,  however, 
contented  himself  with  sending  his  son  George,  Lord  Strange,  whom 
Richard  retained  as  a  hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  father. 
Consequently  the  Stanleys  were  compelled  to  pretend  fidelity;  but  though 
they  marched  on  Nottingham,  they  kept  at  a  respectful  distance  from 
Richmond's  army.  In  this  way  Richmond's  force,  followed  by  the 
Stanleys,  advanced  through  Lichfield  and  Atherstone,  while  Richard 
moved  from  Nottingham  to  Leicester.  There  the  armies  were  within 
striking  distance,  and  at  a  secret  interview  with  the  Stanleys,  Henry  was 
assured  of  their  support  in  the  coming  battle. 

Thus  encouraged,  he  determined  with  his  inferior  force  of  5000  men 
to  attack  Richard.  The  night  before  the  battle  Henry's  small  army 
Position  of  was  camped  about  four  miles  from  that  of  Richard,  which 
the  armies,  ^^g  composed  of  about  twice  the  number  ;  but  besides  the 
king's  and  Richmond's  troops,  there  were  also  in  the  field  5000  men 
under  Lord  Stanley,  posted  near  the  king  and  ostensibly  on  his  side,  and 


1485  Richard  III.  371 

3000  under  Sir  William  Stanley,  who  was  somewhat  nearer  to  Richmond 
but  on  his  other  flank.  Richmond  had  with  him  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
and  his  son  Lord  Surrey,  and  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  besides 
Ratclifl'e,  Catesby,  Francis,  Lord  Lovel,  Sir  James  Tyrrel,  Sir  Robert 
Brackenbury,  and  other  faithful  followers. 

In  the  morning  the  two  main  armies   encountered   one   another  on 
Redmoor  Plain,  about  three  miles  south-east  of  Market  Bosworth.    Henry 
had  at  first  the  better  position,  being  drawn  up  between  a    Battle  of 
morass  and  a  stream  ;  but  he  advanced  to  the  attack,  and  as    Bosworth. 
soon  as  he  was  clear  of  the  morass  Richard  ordered  his  men  to  fall  on. 
The  advantage  seemed  all  on  his  side,  when  Lord  Stanley  threw  off  his 
disguise  and  advanced  to  aid  Lord  Oxford,  while  Sir  William  hurried 
up  to  save  Richmond,  who  was  being  attacked  by  Richard  in  person 
with  such  violence  that   for  a  moment  his  followers  despaired  of  his 
safety.     At  the  same  time  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  as  was  likely 
in  one  of  a  Lancastrian  house,  held  his  followers  aloof.     Norfolk  was 
killed ;   Surrey  taken  prisoner ;   and   the  whole   brunt   of  the   attack 
fell  on  the  king.     Scorning  to  fly,  Richard  turned  fiercely   Death  of 
to  bay  ;  but  at  length,  pierced  with  many  wounds,  he  fell    R»chard. 
dead,  and  the  crown  which  he  had  worn  in  the  field  was  placed  by  Sir 
William  Stanley  on  the  head  of  his  rival. 


CHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Murder  of  the  Princes, 

1483 

Buckingham's  RebeUlon,     . 

1483 

Book  VI. 
THE    HOUSE    OF    TUDOR 


XIV.— THE  HOUSE  OF  TUDOR. 


Henry  VII.,  1485-1509, 
great  -  great  -  grandson 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  by 
his  mother,  Margaret 
Beaufort. 


Elizabeth  of  York, 
daughter  of 
Edward  iv. 


Arthur, 
d.  1502. 


Henry  VIII. , 
1509-1547. 


Margaret, 
m.  James  iv. 
of  Scotland. 


Mary  =  (1)  Louis  xii.  of  France, 
d.  151.5. 
(2)  Charles  Brandon, 
Duke  of  Suffolk. 


Mary, 
1553-1558. 


Elizabeth, 
1558-1603. 


Edward  VI., 
1547-1553. 


Frances, 
d.  1559. 


Henry  Grey  (great-grandson  of  Elizabeth 
Woodville  by  her  first  husband),  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  executed  1554. 


Lady  Jane  Grey,  m.  Guildford  Dudley  (see  p.  433).  Katharine,  m. 

executed  1554.  executed  1554.  (1)  Lord  Hastings. 

(2)  Lord  Herbert. 


XV.— THE  KINGS  OF  SCOTLAND,  1460-1603. 
James  III.,  1460-1488. 


(1)  James  IV.,  =  Margaret  Tudor  =  Earl  of  Angus. 
1488-1513. 


James  V., 
1513-1542. 


Margaret  =  Earl  of  Lenox. 


Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 


1542-1567. 


Lord  Darnley, 


Charles, 


James  VI.  of  Scotland 

and  I.  of  England, 

1567-1625. 


murdered  1567.      Earl  of  Lenox. 
Arabella  Stuart. 


874 


XVI.— THE  KINGS  OF  FRANCE,  1483-1603. 


Charles  VIII.,  1483-1498,  great-grandson  of  Charles  vi. 

Succeeded  by  Louis  XII.,  1498-1515,  great-grandson  of  Louis,  Duke  of 
Orleans,  brother  of  Charles  vi. 


Claude  ==  Francis  I.,  1515-1547,  also  great-grandson  of 
Louis,  Duke  of  Orleans,  brother  of 
Charles  vi. 

Henry  II.,  =  Katharine  de  Medici. 
1547-1559. 


Francis  XL, 

Charles  IX., 

Henry  III., 

Francis, 

Margaret,  m.  Henry 
I  v.,  1589-1610,  de- 

1559-1560, 

1560-1574.; 

1574-1589, 

Duke  of 

m.  Mary, 

suitor  of 

Alen9on, 

scendant  of  Robert, 

Queen  of 

Queen 

suitor  of 

the  son  of  St.  Louis, 

Scots. 

Elizabeth. 

Queen 

Elizabeth, 

d.  1584. 

and  heir  to  French 
throne,  all  the  inter- 
mediate branches 
being  extinct. 

CHAPTEK  I 

HENRY  VII. :  1485-1509 

Born  1456  ;  married,  1486,  Elizabeth  of  York. 

CHIEF    CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Scotland.  Spain. 

Charles  viii.,  d.  1498.  James  iii.,  d.  1488.  Ferdinand  (d.  1517) 

Louis  XII.,  d.  1574.  James  iv.,  d.  1513.  and  Isabella. 

Policy  of  Henry  vii. — Rebellion  of  Simnel  and  Perkin — Ireland — Strengthening 
of  the  Crown — Foreign  Affairs. 

Henrt  Tudor  assumed  the  position  of  king  on  the  field  of  Bosworth  ; 
and,  after  marching  by  easy  stages  to   London,  entered  the  capital  in 

royal  state  on  September  3,  the  second  Saturday  after  the 
Ssumes  the  battle.  Any  formal  statement  of  his  claims  would  have  been 
position  of      inconvenient  and  dangerous,  so  Henry  merely  appealed  to 

the  silent  logic  of  accomplished  facts,  arranged  for  his 
coronation  on  October  30,  and  sent  out  writs  as  king  for  the  election  of 
His  first  a  parliament.      When   this   met  on   November  7,  Henry 

Parliament,  informed  the  members  in  vague  terms  that  he  held  the 
crown  by  just  right  of  inheritance,  and  by  the  judgment  of  God  as  shown  on 
the  field  of  battle.  They  in  the  same  spirit  declared,  by  act  of  parliament, 
'  that  the  inheritance  of  the  crowns  of  England  and  France  be,  rest,  remain, 
and  abide  in  the  person  of  our  now  sovereign  lord,  King  Henry  the  Seventh, 
and  in  the  heirs  of  his  body.'  At  the  same  time  Richard  iii.was  declared  to 
have  been  an  usurper,  and  those  who  fought  for  him  at  Bosworth  traitors. 
No  executions,  however,  followed,  for  it  was  Henry's  policy  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  slaughters  and  executions  which  had  been  lately  the  rule, 
and  a  general  pardon  soon  restored  confidence.  So  far  nothing  had  been 
publicly  said  about  Henry's  promise  to  marry  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  on  which 
...  his  Yorkist  supporters  had  relied  :  but  at  the  close  of  the 

with  session  both  houses  joined  in  a  request  that  Henry  would 

'deign'  to  marry  her,  and  to  this  he  consented  at  once. 
The  marriage  took  place  in  January  1486  ;  and  as  a  son,  Arthur,  the 

376 


1485  Henry  VII.  377 

first  of  many  children,  was  bom  the  same  year,  the  union  between  the 
two  houses,  the  crafty  device  of  Bishop  Morton,  was  secured.  Henry, 
however,  was  determined  to  rest  his  position  on  his  own  claims,  and  not 
on  those  of  his  wife  ;  so,  though  treated  kindly  in  private,  the  queen  was 
for  some  time  kept  in  the  background. 

The  character  of  Henry  has  been  already  shown  by  his  actions.  He 
was  cool,  wary,  and  persevering,  a  fair  soldier,  and  a  bom  diplomatist. 
There  was  also  something  about  him  which  distinguishes  him  Henry's 
from  former  kings,  and  makes  him  well  fitted  to  be  the  first  character, 
modern  sovereign  of  England.  His  portraits  show  him  to  have  been 
eminently  a  thinker  and  reasoner,  and  his  features  have  an  expression 
which  shows  what  was  meant  by  saying  that  his  face  had  in  it  somewhat 
of  the  'ecclesiastic'  His  queen,  on  the  other  hand,  was  of  the  true 
Yorkist  type,  full-faced  and  rather  voluptuous,  as  became  the  daughter  of 
Edward  iv. 

As  befitted  his  character,  Henry,  throughout  his  reign,   trusted  to 

diplomacy  rather  than  force ;  and  though,  when  it  was  necessary,  he  showed 

no  want  of  ability  for  warfare,  preferred  to  outwit  his  enemies  rather 

than  meet  them  in  the  open  field.     The  two  main  objects  of  his  policy 

were,  first,  to  secure  the  throne  to  himself  and  his  fiimily  by   ^. . 

•  ,1     .      ,  1  ii  11  Objects  of 

rooting  out  all  rivals  ;  and,  secondly,  to  strengthen  the  power   Henry's 

of  the  crown  itself  by  curtailing  that  of  the  nobility  ;  and  ^°  ^^^' 
to  these  he  afterwards  added  a  third,  viz.  that  of  taking  an  active  part 
in  European  politics,  and  strengthening  himself  by  matrimonial  alliances. 
These  three  objects  Henry  handed  down  as  of  cardinal  value  to  his 
successors,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  period  were  such  that  with  some 
variations  they  fomi  the  basis  of  the  policy  of  all  the  Tudors.  Such  a 
policy,  however,  could  only  be  attempted  by  popular  sovereigns,  for  in 
the  absence  of  a  standing  army  the  king,  in  time  of  rebellion,  could  rely 
only  upon  the  goodwill  of  law-abiding  citizens.  It,  therefore,  became  the 
policy  of  Henry  and  his  successors  to  court  the  favour  of  the  gentry  and 
middle  classes,  by  rigidly  enforcing  the  laws  for  the  security  of  life  and 
property.  On  the  one  hand,  they  put  down  the  retainers  of  the  great 
nobles,  whose  existence  had  made  civil  war  possible  ;  and  on  the  other, 
they  dealt  sternly  with  all  fonns  of  theft  and  violence.  In  this  way 
a  sense  of  security  was  created  which  had  hitherto  been  unknown.  Men 
ceased  to  wear  anns  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  the  industrial  classes,  pro- 
fiting by  the  increased  facilities  for  trade,  gave  a  steady  support  to  the 
government. 

In  pursuance,  therefore,  of  a  consistent  scheme,  Henry's  first  care  was 
to  secure  the  persons  of  his  rivals,    Richard  iii.  had,  at  difierent  times, 


378  House  of  Tudor  1485 

named  as  his  heir  Edward  Plantagenet,  eldest  son  of  the  duke  of  Clarence, 
who,  on  the  death  of  his  grandmother,  would  be  earl  of  Warwick,  and 
Imprison-  John  de  la  Pole,  earl  of  Lincoln,  eldest  son  of  his  sister 
Edwa?d  Elizabeth  and  John  de  la  Pole,  earl  of  Suffolk.     Of  these 

Plantagenet.  Edward  Plantagenet  was  brought  from  Sheriff  Hutton  in 
Yorkshire  and  placed  in  the  Tower  ;  but  Lincoln  was  permitted  to  make 
his  peace  with  the  king,  and  remained  at  court.  These  precautions, 
however,  did  not  prevent  rebellions.  In  1486,  during  a  tour  which 
Henry  made  in  the  north,  outbreaks  occurred  in  Worcestershire  and 
Level's  Yorkshire,  and  Henry  narrowly  escaped  capture  by  the 
Plot.  Yorkshire  insurgents  under  Lord  Lovel.     The  same  year 

Richard  Simon,   a  priest,   trained  a  lad  named   Lambert    Simnel   to 
personate  Edward  Plantagenet.     The  impostor  made  his  appearance  in 
Simnel's      Ireland,  where  the  house  of  York  had  always  been  popular, 
Rebellion.    ^^^  ^^g  crowned  without  opposition  ;  and  his  story  gained 
additional  credence  when  Lincoln  suddenly  left  the  court  and  fled  to 
Flanders,  spreading  a  report  that  he  had  himself  aided  Edward  to  escape, 
and  had  spoken  with  him  on  the  way  to  Ireland.     In  Flanders  he  met 
Lovel,  and  received  the  best  assistance  of  Margaret,  the  widow  of  Charles 
the  Bold.     With  her  aid,  a  band  of  2000  trained  Germans  was  hired 
under  Martin  Schwarz,  and  the  expedition  reached  Ireland  in  May  1487. 
Picking  up   Simnel  and  an   Irish   contingent,   Lincoln  crossed  into 
England,  and  landing  at  Bardsea-in-Furness,  made  his  way  into  York- 
Battle  of      shire.     There,  however,  they  met  with  little  favour ;  and. 
Stoke.  turning  southward,  they  encountered  Henry  himself  at  Stoke- 

upon-Trent,  near  Newark,  and  were  routed,  after  a  battle  far  more  bloody 
than  that  of  Bosworth  Field.  Lincoln  and  Schwarz  fell  with  many  of  their 
followers ;  Lovel  disappeared ;  Simnel  and  Simon  were  taken  prisoners. 
The  latter  was  hanged,  the  former  was  made  a  scullion  in  the  royal 
kitchen.  Had  the  rebellion  been  successful,  in  all  probability  Lincoln 
would  have  made  himself  king.  As  it  was,  the  overthrow 
of  the  of  such  a  formidable  force  added  to  Henry's  reputation  ;  but 

Queen.  j^^  recognised  the  advisability  of  gratifying  the  Yorkists  by 
carrying  out  the  long-delayed  coronation  of  the  queen. 

For  five  years  the  Yorkists  remained  quiet ;  but  in  1492  there  appeared 
in  Ireland  an  impostor  whose  real  name  was  soon  ascertained  to  be 
Perkin's  Perkin  Osbeck  or  Warbeck,  but  who  gave  out  that  he  was 

Conspiracy,  really  Richard,  duke  of  York,  who  had  escaped  from  the 
Tower  when  his  elder  brother  was  murdered.  The  imposture  took  its 
rise  in  Ireland,  and  seems  to  have  been  almost  forced  on  Perkin  by  the 
people  of  Cork,  who,  seeing  a  well-dressed  and  unknown  stranger  in  their 


1492  Henry  FIT.  379 

streets,  insisted  that  he  must  be  a  prince  of  some  kind,  and  Perkin  fell  in 
with  their  whim.  Though  Perkin's  origin  was  soon  ascertained,  his 
imposture  gave  Henry  considerable  trouble,  because  he  was  unable  to 
prove  the  death  of  the  princes,  about  whose  fate  nothing  certain  was 
known  till  after  Perkin's  conspiracy.  From  Ireland,  Perkin  went  to 
France  in  September  1491,  and  was  well  received  by  Charles  viii.,  with 
whom  Henry  was  then  at  variance  ;  and  when  the  conclusion  of  a  peace 
compelled  him  to  leave  France,  he  passed  into  Flanders,  where  he  was 
well  received  by  Margaret  of  York,  who  pretended  to  recognise  him  as  her 
nephew.  For  three  years  he  remained  with  her ;  but  Henry  knowing 
that  the  real  policy  of  Flanders  was  dictated  by  the  burghers,  whose 
trade  depended  on  English  wool,  interdicted  all  commerce  with  Flemish 
ports,  and  the  burghers  were  soon  glad,  through  their  young  duke, 
Philip  the  Handsome,  to  enter  into  a  conmiercial  treaty  with  England, 
and  as  the  price  of  the  expulsion  of  Perkin  obtained  from  Henry  com- 
mercial advantages,  which  placed  their  trade  on  an  excellent  footing. 
This  treaty  is  known  as  the  magmis  intercursus,  or  great  .  Magnus 
intercourse.  From  Flanders,  after  an  abortive  attempt  to  intercursus.' 
land  in  Kent,  Perkin  returned  to  Ireland  and  thence  on  to  Scotland, 
where  he  was  kindly  received  by  James  iv.,  who  was  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  his  power  felt  by  Henry.  Accordingly,  perkin  in 
whether  James  really  believed  in  Perkin  or  not,  he  kept  Scotland, 
him  in  Scotland  about  two  years,  and  even  allowed  him  to  marry 
Katharine  Gordon,  a  relative  of  his  own.  Once,  indeed,  James  and 
Perkin  crossed  the  border,  but  the  harrying  of  Northumberland  peasants 
seems  to  have  been  distasteful  to  Perkin,  and  the  expedition  soon 
returned.  At  last  James  grew  tired  of  his  guest,  so  Perkin  and  his  wife 
sailed  for  Cork  under  the  escort  of  the  celebrated  seamen,  Andrew  and 
Robert  Barton.  In  Ireland  he  found  small  assistance,  for  the  country 
was  settling  down  under  Henry's  wise  rule  ;  but  while  there  he  heard  of 
events  in  Cornwall  which  led  him  to  think  that  something  might  be 
effected  there. 

Before  Perkin  left  Flanders,  however,  Henry  decided  to  show  by  a 
terrible  example  that  he  would  brook  no  playing  fast  and  loose  with 
loyalty.  Evidence  was  forthcoming  that  his  chamberlain,  sirWiiHam 
Sir  William  Stanley,  who  had  placed  the  crown  on  his  head  Stanley, 
at  Bosworth,  had  been  repeating  the  double-dealing  which  had  deceived 
Richard  iii.  Henry  had  him  promptly  arrested,  tried,  and  put  to  death  ; 
and  this  fearful  proof  that  no  nearness  to  the  throne  could  secure  im- 
munity for  disaffection,  put  a  stop  to  Perkin's  hope  of  creating  an 
English  party  in  his  favour. 


380  House  of  Tudor  1497 

In  1497,  to  defend  the  northern  counties  against  another  inroad  of  the 
Scots,  parliament  granted  a  subsidy  of  ;£1205000,  and  a  loan  of  ^40,000 
Cornish  "^^^  ^^^^  collected.  These  imposts  aroused  the  wrath  of 
Rebellion,  ^he  Cornish  men,  who  grumbled  at  having  to  pay  so  much 
for  '  a  little  stir  of  the  Scots  soon  blown  over.'  Their  discontent  took 
form  under  Thomas  Flammock,  a  lawyer,  and  Michael  Joseph,  a  Bodmin 
blacksmith,  and  under  their  lead  a  strong  body  of  insurgents  set  out  to 
march  on  London.  At  "Wells  they  were  joined  by  Lord  Audley,  under 
whom  they  marched  to  Kent.  They  reached  Blackheath,  but  were 
Battle  of  there  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  horse,  foot, 
Blackheath.  ^nd  artillery  under  Henry  in  person.  The  leaders  were 
put  to  death,  but  their  followers  were  treated  with  such  lenity  that 
some  thought  Henry  was  too  frightened  to  be  severe,  and  sent  over  to 
Perkin  to  tell  him  that  if  he  would  land  in  Cornwall  he  would  find 
plenty  of  supporters.  Perkin  accordingly  landed  at  Whitsand  Bay,  and 
Perkin  lands  ^^  joined  by  3000  followers.  With  them  he  made  an  un- 
in  Cornwall,  successful  attempt  upon  Exeter,  and  then  passed  on  to 
Taunton  ;  but  by  that  time  all  Henry's  friends  were  in  arms,  and 
Perkin,  seeing  that  all  hope  of  raising  a  serious  insurrection  had  vanished. 
If'fr  his  army,  and  took  sanctuary  in  the  Abbey  of  Beaulieu.  On  promise 
of  his  life  he  soon  surrendered,  and  Henry,  who  was  glad  to  get  a  full 
confession  of  his  imposture,  ordered  him  to  be  paraded  through  the 
streets  of  London,  and  then  placed  in  security.  Katharine,  his  wife,  was 
made  an  attendant  on  the  queen.  On  the  flight  of  their  leader,  Perkin's 
followers  at  once  submitted.  A  few  were  hanged  ;  but  Henry  punished 
most  of  them  by  levying  fines  in  proportion  to  their  pro- 
knprison-  P^rty,  thus  showing  the  western  men  that  he  was  not  afraid 
^^cutlon  ^^  exacting  their  money.  After  his  disgrace,  Warbeck 
was  retained  about  the  court,  but  a  futile  attempt  to 
escape  led  to  his  being  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  There  he  was  able 
to  communicate  with  his  unlucky  fellow-prisoner,  the  earl  of  Warwick, 
and  in  1499  the  two  formed  a  plan  to  escape.  Detection  followed. 
The  affair,  mainly  to  get  rid  of  Warwick,  was  treated  as  treason,  and 
that  ill-fated  nobleman  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four,  fourteen  years  of  which  he  had  passed  in  confinement.  Perkin  was 
hanged  at  Tyburn. 

The  death  of  Warwick  destroyed  the  last  Yorkist  representative  in 

the  male  line ;  but  Henry  was  still  apprehensive  of  danger  from  the 

The  De  la     younger  brothers  of  the  earl  of  Lincoln — Edmund  de  la 

Poles.  Pole,  earl  of  Suffolk,  and  his  brother  Kichard— and  in  1501 

they  escaped  to  the  continent.      In  connection  with  this,  Sir  James 


1497  Henry  VII.  381 

Tyrrel,  governor  of  Guisnes,  was  accused  and  convicted  of  treason, 
and  it  was  between  his  sentence  and  his  death  that  he  made  the  con- 
fession of  his  share  in  the  murder  of  the  little  princes,  on  which  all 
subsequent  versions  of  that  incident  are  based.  Suffolk  remained 
abroad  till  1506,  when  he  was  surrendered  to  Henry  by  Philip,  duke  of 
Burgundy,  but  on  condition  that  his  life  was  spared.  Henry  kept  his 
promise  to  the  letter ;  but  in  1513  Suffolk  was  put  to  death  by  Henry  viii. 
His  brother,  Richard  de  la  Pole,  succeeded  him  as  earl,  and  lived  on  the 
continent  till  his  death  at  the  battle  of  Pavia  in  1525.  Warwick's  only 
sister  Margaret,  countess  of  Salisbury,  married  Sir  Richard  Pole,  and 
became  the  mother  of  a  family  which  played  an  important  part  in  sub- 
sequent events. 

The  support  which  both  Simnel  and  Perkin  had  received  in  Ireland 
attracted  Henry's  attention  to  the  condition  of  this  country,  where  the 
people  were  so  prone  to  revolt,  that  as  Henry  remarked  condition  of 
to  some  of  them,  '  My  masters  of  Ireland,  ye  will  crown  Iceland, 
apes  for  kings.'  The  state  of  Ireland  at  his  accession  was  not  mate- 
rially different  from  what  it  had  been  at  any  time  since  the  so-called 
conquest.  The  country  was  parcelled  out  among  great  chiefs,  some  of 
whom,  like  the  O'Neals  and  O'Briens,  were  at  the  head  of  native  clans  ; 
others,  like  the  Geral  dines  of  Kildare,  the  Bourkes  of  Connaught,  and 
the  Butlers  of  Ormond,  were  representatives  of  great  Norman  families. 
The  usual  English  machinery  of  government  had  been  introduced,  and 
Ireland  had  its  parliament,  council,  courts  of  king's  bench  and  common 
pleas,  chancellor,  justiciar,  and  treasurer ;  but  these  ofl&cials  had  no 
authority  worth  mentioning  outside  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
Dublin  and  the  counties  of  Kildare,  Dublin,  Meath,  and  Louth,  which  were 
known  as  the  Pale  ;  for  the  Norman  lords  were  palatines  in  their  own 
districts,  and  the  Irish  clans  were  ruled  according  to  their  own  laws. 
In  this  way  a  state  of  society  grew  up  much  more  analogous  to  the 
feudalism  of  France  and  Germany  than  anything  that  had  ever  existed  in 
England.  The  chief  efforts  of  the  government  were  directed  to  prevent- 
ing the  Norman  settlers  from  relapsing  into  the  barbarism  of  the  native 
Irish,  and  becoming,  as  was  said,  *  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves.* 
Two  typical  statutes  display  the  state  of  affairs.  In  1367  was  passed  the 
statute  of  Kilkenny,  which  made  it  high  treason  for  an  English  settler 
to  adopt  Irish  customs,  to  speak  the  Irish  tongue,  or  to  marry  an  Irish 
woman.  In  1465  parUament  declared  it  lawful  for  any  freeman  to  kill  a 
thief,  or  suspected  thief,  and  deliver  his  head  to  the  government.  In 
such  a  country  as  this  the  very  rudiments  of  political  and  social  well- 
being  were  wanting,  and  Henry  vii.  set  himself  seriously  to  deal  with  it. 


382  House  of  Tudor  1497 

For  some  years,  however,  he  found  it  practically  impossible  to  get  rid 
of  the  earl  of  Kildare,  who,  in  spite  of  manifold  treasons,  was  so  power- 
ful that  it  was  impossible  to  oust  him  from  his  post  of  deputy.  'All 
Ireland,'  it  was  said,  *  could  not  rule  him.'  So  perforce,  as  Henry  him- 
self put  it,  *  he  had  to  rule  all  Ireland.'  At  length,  however,  Henry 
felt  himself  strong  enough  to  act,  and  in  1494  he  gave  the  post  of  deputy 

Poynings     *^  ^^^  trusted  friend  Sir  Edward  Poynings,  who  had  been 

Acts.  tjis  companion  in  exile.     Poynings  arrested  Kildare,  and 

summoned  a  parliament  at  Drogheda,  in  which  was  passed  a  series  of 
memorable  statutes  known  as  the  Poynings  Acts. 

These  statutes  dealt  with  many  matters,  but  the  chief  enactments 
were  three  :  first,  that  no  parliament  should  be  summoned  in  Ireland 
without  the  consent  of  the  king  of  England  and  his  council ;  second,  that 
no  bill  could  be  considered  by  an  Irish  parliament  unless  it  had  pre- 
viously been  approved  by  the  English  council ;  and  third,  that  all  laws 
recently  passed  by  the  English  parliament  should  be  of  binding  force  in 
Ireland.  These  enactments  were  designed  to  make  a  fresh  start  in  the 
government  of  Ireland.  They  were  aimed  at  controlling  the  great 
English  settlers,  and  hardly  touched  the  native  Irish  at  all.  Moreover, 
although  they  indicate  a  state  of  parliamentary  government  very  far 
removed  from  ideal,  the  actual  state  of  the  English  parliament  was  not 
materially  different  from  that  which  existed  in  Ireland,  for  under 
Henry  vii.  the  real  initiative  of  legislation  lay  with  the  king  and  his 
council. 

During  all  his  dealings  with  the  difficulties  created  by  pretenders, 
Henry  had  steadily  been  pursuing  his  design  to  strengthen  the  power 
of  the  crown.  In  this,  his  right-hand  man  was  John 
Morton,  formerly  master  of  the  rolls  and  bishop  of  Ely, 
whom  he  had  advanced,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop  Bourchier,  to  be 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Morton  was  a  man  of  great  experience  and 
ability,  a  representative  of  the  official  ecclesiastic  of  his  time,  who 
devoted  himself  heart  and  soul  to  the  king's  business  ;  and,  till  his  death 
in  1500,  he  must  be  regarded  as  the  king's  leading  minister  and  most 
trusted  adviser  in  all  constitutional  matters.  Henry  saw  clearly  that 
the  one  real  guarantee  of  order  was  the  abolition  of  retainers ;  and,  having 
obtained  from  Parliament  an  enactment  making  it  penal  to  grant 
liveries  or  enter  into  '  engagements  of  maintenance,'  he  set  himself  to 
devise  a  means  to  make  this  statute  a  reality  instead  of  the  dead  letter 
which  all  its  predecessors  had  been. 

With  this  end  in  view  he  devised  a  new  court  which  should  be 
independent  of  popular  control,  and  which  should  not  be  liable  to  failures 


1497  Henry  VIL  383 

of  justice,  either  through  the  goodwill  of  jurymen  to  the  oflfender,  or 
their  intimidation  or  corruption  by  some  powerful  or  wealthy  magnate. 
The  new  court  was  constituted  by  act  of  parliament,  and  New  Court 
was  composed  of  the  lord  chancellor,  the  lord  treasurer,  the  o^ Justice, 
keeper  of  the  privy  seal,  a  bishop,  a  lord  of  the  council,  and  the  two 
chief  justices.  Their  orders  were  to  deal  with  such  offences  as  livery 
and  maintenance,  jury  packing,  inciting  to  riot,  and  other  offences 
difficult  to  deal  with  in  the  ordinary  courts.  Of  these,  livery  and  main- 
tenance were  the  chief.    Livery  is  a  word  whose  meaning    , . 

-        ,     ,  ,  .  ,  11  1        Livery  and 

IS  now  restricted  to  the  clothes  which  a  nobleman  or  gentle-    Mainten- 

man  gives  his  servants  ;  but  in  its  original  sense  it  in- 
cluded the  allowances  of  food  which  in  every  mediaeval  household  were 
measured  out  to  all  its  members.  The  political  signification  of  the  word 
implied  the  practice  of  the  magnates  of  keeping  in  their  household  as 
large  and  ostentatious  a  retinue  as  their  wealth  permitted,  and  using  it 
either  to  fight  their  quarrels  in  war  or  to  support  their  interests  in  peace, 
not  always  by  peaceful  means.  Maintenance  was  the  practice  of  great 
men  taking  up  the  quarrels  of  poor  ones,  as  was  done  by  John  of  Gaunt 
in  the  case  of  Wyclif,  and  by  appearing  at  their  side,  or  filling  the  court 
with  men  wearing  their  livery,  to  intimidate  judge  and  jury  into  giving 
a  false  decision.  Such  a  system  was  liable  to  the  grossest  abuse, 
maintainer  and  maintained  even  going  shares  in  dividing  property  so 
wrongfully  obtained  ;  and  as  the  two  practices  were  at  the  very  root  of 
the  power  possessed  by  the  fifteenth  century  barons,  Henry  was  deter- 
mined to  put  them  utterly  down.  The  method  of  the  court  was  astute  ;  for 
on  conviction  it  fined  the  culprit  so  severely  as  to  put  it  out  of  his  power 
to  offend  again.  Even  Henry's  most  intimate  friends  were  not  spared. 
As  he  had  beheaded  Sir  William  Stanley  to  show  that  past  services  could 
not  condone  treason,  so  he  made  his  old  general,  the  earl  of  Oxford,  an 
example  that  the  keeping  of  retainers  could  no  longer  be  permitted. 
One  day  when  leaving  the  earl,  after  a  visit,  Henry  passed  Earl  of 
through  two  rows  of  gentry  and  yeomen  wearing  the  earl's  Oxford, 
badge.  '  These  are  your  servants,'  said  the  king.  *  No,'  said  Oxford,  *  I 
am  too  poor  for  that.  They  are  my  retainers  assembled  to  do  you 
honour.'  *  I  thank  you  for  your  hospitality,'  Henry  replied  ;  *  but  I 
cannot  have  my  laws  broken  in  my  sight.'  Oxford  was  summoned  before 
the  new  court  and  fined  ^15,000,  equivalent  to  at  least  £150,000  of  our 
money.  Such  an  example  was  efi'ective ;  and  complaint  began  to  be 
made  that  the  retainers  who  were  turned  adrift  became  thieves  and 
robbers. 

The  court  which  dealt  so  eflfectively  with  these  elements  of  disorder 


384  House  of  Tvdor  1497 

was  new,  but  in  reality  its  constitution  did  not  materially  diflfer  from  a 
revival  of  the  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  privy  council.     Since  the  reign 

The  Privy    of    Henry   III.,  by  which   date  the    chief   judicial  func- 

Council.  tions  of  the  council  had  been  exercised  by  special  courts 
the  council  had  been  chiefly  an  advising  body  ;  sometimes,  under  weak 
kings,  like  Henry  in.,  Edward  11.,  or  Richard  11.,  specially  constituted 
by  parliament  as  a  check  on  the  royal  authority  ;  sometimes,  under  such 
powerful  sovereigns  as  Edward  i.  and  Edward  in.,  dropping  out  of  sight 
altogether.  Under  Henry  iv.,  however,  and  the  Lancastrian  sovereigns,  it 
began  to  have  a  more  permanent  character,  and  to  be  really  an  advising 
body,  trusted  and  used  by  the  king  both  for  consultative  and  executive 
business.  Its  importance  grew  rapidly  during  the  minority  of  Henry  vi., 
and  by  degrees  the  phrase  '  king  and  council '  showed  that  it  had  come 
to  be  considered  as  having  a  sort  of  co-ordinate  authority  with  the  king. 
Edward  iv.  tried  to  increase  its  representative  character  by  introducing 
commoners  as  well  as  nobles ;  and  whether  it  was  due  to  deliberate 
intention,  or  merely  to  the  weakness  of  parliament,  the  Tudors  made  it 
a  chief  instrument  of  government. 

The  weakness  of  parliament  here  alluded  to  is  one  of  the  most  striking 

facts  of  the  reigns  of  Edward  iv.,  Henry  vii.,  and  the  first  part  of  the 

reign  of  Henry  viii.     It  was  due  to  a  variety  of  causes. 

of  Parlia-     Chief  among  these  was  the  decline  of  the  nobility,  to  whom 

"^^"  ■  the  commons  had  always  looked  for  the  armed  support  on 

which  their  power  to  attack  a  king's  favourite  or  to  resist  an  unpopular 
proposal  necessarily  depended.  It  was  also  due  to  the  circumstance  that, 
on  the  whole,  the  Tudors  carried  out  the  policy  of  those  classes  to  whom 
members  of  parliament  belonged.  At  any  rate,  under  Edward  iv.  and 
Henry  vii.,  parliament  did  little  except  pass  without  question  acts  which 
had  been  prepared  by  the  king  and  his  council,  and  vote  supplies. 

Among  other  important  statutes  passed  by  direction  of  Henry  vii.  was 
one  designed  to  give  greater  security  to  those  who  held  office  under  a 

De  Facto     ^i^ig  ^f  doubtful  title  who  might  ultimately  be  dispossessed. 

Statute.  ijijj^g  ^g^g  passed  in  1495,  and  enacted  that  'no  person 
attending  upon  the  king  and  sovereign  lord  of  this  land  for  the  time 
being,  and  doing  him  true  and  faithful  service,  shall  be  convicted  of  high 
treason,  by  act  of  parliament  or  other  process  of  law,  nor  suflfer  any 
forfeiture  or  punishment ;  but  that  every  act  made  contrary  to  this 
statute  shall  be  void  and  of  none  effect.'  Thus  a  distinction  was  made 
between  a  king  de  facto  and  a  king  de  jure^  and  the  temptation  to  take 
part  in  Yorkist  plots  with  a  view  to  being  safe  in  every  eventuality 
was  diminished. 


1490  Henry  VI I.  385 

Another  great  enactment  was  the  statute  of  fines,  copied  from  an  act 
of  Eichard  iii.  The  immediate  object  of  this  act  was  to  provide  a  ready- 
way  of  settling  the  ownership  of  estates.  Numbers  of  statute  of 
disputes  had  arisen  during  the  confusion  of  the  late  war,  ^*"^^- 
and  as  a  consequence  of  the  extensive  forfeitures  which  had  taken  place. 
For  this  purpose  it  was  enacted  that  if  a  decision  in  a  disputed  case  had 
been  given,  and  a  fine  levied  with  proclamations  in  a  public  court  of 
justice,  then,  after  five  years,  except  in  a  few  special  cases,  no  further 
claim  to  the  lands  could  be  raised.  The  indirect  results  of  this  act  were 
wider  than  its  immediate  eflFects,  for  the  lawyers  discovered  in  it  an 
ingenious  device  for  breaking  the  entails  created  under  the  statute 
de  donis  conditionalibus.  This  device  was  extremely  welcome  to  many 
of  the  ancient  landowners  who  had  become  impoverished  through  ex- 
travagance or  war,  and  in  consequence  many  entailed  estates  came  into 
the  market  and  were  bought  by  rich  merchants  of  the  towns. 

The  direct  taxes  voted  by  parliament  under  Henry  vii.  were  not 
numerous,  and  he  had  ample  means  to  know  their  unpopularity.  Besides 
the  Cornish  rebellion  already  referred  to,  taxation  caused  The  Bene- 
an  outbreak  in  Yorkshire  at  Topcliffe,  one  of  the  Percy  ^°  ences. 
manors,  where  the  earl  of  Northumberland  was  murdered  by  some  of 
his  own  tenants  who  objected  to  pay  towards  an  expedition  to  Brittany  a 
subsidy  of  one-tenth  of  the  annual  value  of  lands,  and  about  one-sixth  of 
the  value  of  goods  and  chattels.  Henry  therefore  relied  on  indirect 
means  to  fill  his  treasury.  Among  these  was  the  collection  of  bene- 
volences. The  first  of  these  was  collected  in  1491,  and  received  the 
sanction  of  a  great  council  or  assembly  of  notables,  a  substitute  for  a 
parliament,  of  which  Henry  was  somewhat  fond.  Cardinal  Morton  is 
said  to  have  drawn  up  directions  to  the  collectors  to  the  eflect  that  *  if 
they  met  any  who  were  sparing,  they  must  tell  them  they  must  needs 
have,  because  they  laid  up  ;  and  if  they  were  spenders  they  must  needs 
have,  because  it  was  seen  in  their  port  and  manner  of  living.'  This 
ingenious  method  of  approach  gained  the  name  of  Morton's  Fork.  This 
benevolence  was  afterwards  sanctioned  by  parliament,  and  all  arrears 
were  ordered  to  be  paid. 

Even  these  exactions,  however,  did  not  make  Henry  so  unpoimlar  as 
those  which  are  associated  with  the  names  of  Sir  Richard  Empson  and 
Sir  Edmund  Dudley,  barons  of  the  exchequer.  The  method  Empson 
of  these  men  was  to  rake  up  all  the  ancient  customs  and  ^^^  Dudley, 
obligations  of  feudalism  which,  in  the  rise  of  a  new  civilisation,  were 
either  obsolete  or  rapidly  becoming  so,  and  to  have  before  their  court  all 
who  wittingly  or  unwittingly  had  infringed  the  rights  of  the  crown, 

2b 


386  The  Tudors  1492 

The  offenders  were  then  mercilessly  fined ;  and  so  great  was  the  anger 
aroused  by  such  an  oppressive  perversion  of  law,  that  the  names  of  the 
two  barons  still  retain  an  evil  notoriety  as  examples  of  such  as  strain  the 
law  for  the  benefit  of  a  king.  In  spite,  however,  of  the  grumbling  of  his 
people,  Henry  contrived  to  grow  rich.  He  spent  little  on  himself,  and, 
at  the  close  of  his  reign,  left  property,  chiefly  in  the  shape  of  jewels, 
estimated  in  our  money  at  no  less  than  ^18,000,000  sterling. 

We  must  now  turn  to  foreign  affairs.     Eather  from  necessity  than 
choice,  Henry  found  it  needful  to  mix  more  in  the  general  politics  of 
Foreign       *^^  Continent  than  any  of  his  predecessors,   and  in  this 
Affairs.        respect  his  reign  forms  a  turning-point  in  English  history. 
During  its  early  years  Henry  was  drawn  into  a  war  in  Brittany.     That 
duchy,  the  last  of  the  great  fiefs  of  France  to  be  absorbed  by  the  crown, 
was,  in  1490,  by  the  death  of  the  duke,  left  in  the  hands  of  Anne,  a  girl 
of  eleven  years.     The  prospect  of  seeing  Brittany  become 
^"^*     an  integral  part  of  France,  and  her  harbours  and  seamen  at 
the  disposal  of  the  French  king,  was  naturally  distasteful  to  Englishmen  ; 
and  Henry,  who  himself  was  under  much  obligation  to  the  late  duke, 
had  the  sympathy  of  his  subjects  in  trying  to  protect  the  dominions  of 
the  little  duchess.     In  doing  so  he  had  some  expectation  of  assistance 
from  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  and  from  Maximilian  of  Austria,  the  latter 
of  whom  was  designed  to  be  the  husband  of  Anne  ;  but  Ferdinand  was 
too  busy,  and  Maximilian  too  poor,  to  be  of  much  assistance  so  far  from 
home ;  and,  though  Henry  sent  soldiers  to  help  the   duchess,  it  was 
impossible  to  defend  Brittany  permanently  against  France  without  sacri- 
fices much  greater  than  either  he  or  his  subjects  were  willing  to  make. 
Eventually  the  matter  was  settled  by  the  French  invading  Brittany, 
and  Anne  agreeing  to  marry  Charles  viii.,  the  young  king  of  France, 
since  which  marriage  Brittany  has  become  a  part  of  the  French  monarchy. 
The  way  in  which  Henry  had  been  thus  outwitted  led  to  war  with 
France ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1491  Henry,  having  entered  into  an 
War  with     alliance  with  Ferdinand  and  Maximilian,  led  an  English 
France.        army  to  the  siege  of  Boulogne.     The  expedition,  however, 
proved  to  be  the  counterpart  of  that  of  1475.     Charles  showed  himself 
as  anxious  as  his  father  had  been  to  get  rid  of  the  English  without  fight- 
Treaty  of     ^^S-     He  opened  negotiations  at  once,  and  agreed  by  the 
Etapies.       treaty  of  Etaples  to  repay  the  English  the  expenses  they 
had  been  at  in  sending  troops  to  Brittany,  and  also  two  years'  arrears  of 
the  annual  sum  promised  at  Picquigny.     The  whole  sum  is  calculated 
at  from  three  and  a  half  to  four  million  pounds  of  our  money,  and  was 
to  be  paid  in  instalments  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 


1494  Henry  VII.  387 

pounds  a  year.  Such  a  peace,  though  doubtless  a  good  thing  for  both 
countries,  was  most  unpopular  in  England,  where  many  nobles  and 
gentlemen  had  half-ruined  themselves  to  provide  an  outfit  for  the 
expected  campaign. 

Henry's  next  alliance  arose  out  of  a  wide  European  complication. 
The  new  unity  which  had  been  given  to  France  by  the  policy  of  Louis  xi., 
and  to  which  the  annexation  of  Brittany  had  given  the  key-  charles  viii. 
stone,  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Europe.  Hitherto,^"  Italy, 
as  a  rule,  French  kings  had  concerned  themselves  mainly  with  the 
affairs  of  France ;  now  an  opportunity  was  given  for  engaging  in 
enterprises  abroad,  and  the  energy  of  the  French  people,  which  had 
hitherto  spent  itself  either  in  civil  broils  or  wars  with  the  English,  was 
eagerly  on  the  lookrout  for  a  new  outlet.  Such  an  opportunity  was  found 
by  Charles  viii.  in  the  revival  of  claims  which  had  come  to  him  from  the 
last  count  of  Anjou  to  the  kingdoms  of  Naples  and  Sicily.  To  prosecute 
this  claim,  Charles  allied  himself  with  Ludovico  Sforza,  the  uncle  and 
guardian  of  the  little  duke  of  Milan,  with  the  Genoese,  the  Florentines, 
and  the  pope,  and  in  1494  marched  an  army  into  Italy,  and  with  little 
or  no  fighting  occupied  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  His  presence,  however, 
soon  roused  the  national  feeling  of  the  Italians,  and  a  great  league  was 
formed,  with  the  Venetians  at  its  head,  to  intercept  his  homeward  march. 
The  plan,  however,  failed  ;  for  Charles'  soldiers,  who  were  much  better 
fighters  than  the  Italians,  brushed  away  the  army  of  the  league  at  Fornovo, 
and  regained  France  in  safety. 

This  expedition  created  the  utmost  consternation  among  the  other 
European  powers,  especially  at  the  court  of  Maximilian,  the  emperor, 
who  regarded  himself  as  sovereign  of  Italy,  and  at  that  of 
Ferdinand,  and  Isabella,  who,  having  completed  the  con-    League*" 
quest  of  the  Moors  of  Granada  in  1492,  were  also  prepared   |ga>nst 
to  take  a  larger  share  than  before  in  European  afiairs.     The 
consequence  was  the  projection  of  a  great  European  alliance  to  keep 
France  in  check,  and  '  for  the  mutual  preservation  of  states,  so  that  the 
more  powerful  might  not  oppress  the  less  powerful,  and  that  each  should 
keep  what  rightly  belongs  to  him.'     As  a  renewal  of  the  English  inva- 
sions would  probably  be  the  most  effective  check  on  the  Italian  designs  of 
the  French,  it  became  a  great  point  to  secure  the  assistance  of  the  king  of 
England.    Henry,  however,  was  not  prepared  to  give  his  assistance  for 
nothing.    Maximilian  had  lately  been  aiding  Perkin  Warbeck,  and  Henry 
would  do  nothing  till  this  was  withdrawn.     Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
however,  were  most  anxious  to  secure  Henry's  aid,  and  were  willing  to 
put  pressure  on  INIaximilian ;  so  Warbeck  was  dismissed,  and  negotiations. 


388  The  Tudms  1494 

entered  on  for  the  marriage  of  Henry's  son  Arthur  with  Katharine  of 
Arragon,  third  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  On  this,  Henry 
entered  the  league  and  sent  a  peremptory  letter  to  Charles  requiring  him 
not  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe.  By  this  means  France  was  com- 
pletely isolated.  Charles,  however,  died  in  1498  ;  but  as  his  successor 
Louis  XII.  not  only  succeeded  to  his  claims  on  Naples,  but  had  claims  of 
his  own  to  the  duchy  of  Milan,  the  need  for  a  great  anti-French  alliance 
was  no  less  than  before. 

Accordingly,  the  league  was  placed  on  a  more  permanent  basis  by  a 
series  of  marriages  which  had  the  most  important  results  upon  the  history 
Matrimonial  ^^  Europe.^  Already  the  marriage  of  Maximilian  of  Austria 
Alliances.  ^ith  Mary  of  Burgundy,  the  heiress  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
had  brought  the  Netherlands  under  the  rule  of  the  House  of  Austria ; 
while  that  of  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  and  Isabella  of  Castile  had  brought 
under  one  crown  the  whole  of  the  Spanish  peninsula  with  the  exceptions 
of  Portugal  and  Navarre.  In  1496  Joanna,  the  second  daughter  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  married  Maximilian's  only  son  Philip  the  Handsome; 
and  as  her  only  brother  died  childless,  Joanna  became  the  heiress  of  the 
dominions  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  passed  her  rights  on  to  her 
eldest  son  Charles,  afterwards  the  celebrated  emperor,  who  was  bom  in 
1500.  In  1501,  Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  was 
married  to  Katharine  of  Arragon,  but  died  in  April  of  the  next  year  ; 
upon  which  negotiations  were  immediately  opened  for  her  marriage  with 
Henry's  younger  son  Henry,  born  in  1491  ;  and  in  expectation  of  this 
the  girl- widow  still  remained  in  England  under  the  guardianship  of  her 
father-in-law.  One  European  country,  Scotland,  still  remained  the  ally 
of  France ;  but  both  Ferdinand  and  Henry  exerted  themselves  to  the 
utmost  to  detach  the  Scots  from  their  hereditary  alliance,  and  in  1502 
this  was  thought  to  have  been  effected  by  the  marriage  of  Henry's  elder 
daughter  Margaret  to  the  Scottish  king,  James  iv. 

Henry's  queen  died  in  1503,  and  various  negotiations  were  carried  on 

Death  of      ^^^  ^  second  marriage  connected  with  the  great  alliance, 

Henry.         \^^^  ^11  came  to  nothing  ;   and  in  1509  he  died,  leaving 

his  kingdom  in  peace  and  prosperity,  and  with  a  European  position 


] 

Maximilian  of     = 
Austria,  Emperor, 
d.  1519. 

GENEALOGY  OF  CHARLES  V. 
=     Mary  of                     Ferdinand,     = 
Burgundy,              king  of  Arragon, 
d.  1481.                     d.  1516. 

=  Isabella  of 
Castile, 
d.  1504. 

Archduke   Philip 

A-ustria,  lord  of  t 

J^"etlierlands,  king 

Castile,  c^.  1506. 

C 

of  =  Joanna, 
tie       d.  1552. 
of 

HARLES  V. 

(?) 

Katharine,   = 
d.  1536. 

(1)  Arthur,  d.  1502. 
2)  Henry  viii. 

1509  Henry  VIL  389 

and  importance  far  beyond  anything  she  had  held  since  the  days  of 
Henry  v. 

In  many  respects  the  reign  of  Henry  vii.  forms  a  turning-point  in 
English  history,  either  as  the  begiiming  of  a  new  epoch  or  the  end  of  an 
old  one.  This  was  due  partly  to  the  domestic  causes  which  ^ 
had  enabled  Henry  to  do  so  much  for  civilisation  by  ridding  naissance 
the  country  of  retainers,  and  by  enforcing  a  higher  standard 
of  law  and  order,  and  partly  to  causes  which  affected,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  the  whole  of  the  civilised  world.  This  great  movement, 
which  is  known  sometimes  as  the  Renaissance — renascence,  or  new  birth — 
sometimes  as  the  revival  of  learning,  according  as  it  is  regarded  in  its 
more  general  or  special  aspect,  is  so  complicated  and  many-sided  that  it 
is  impossible  to  do  more  than  glance  at  its  broader  facts.  Its  birthplace 
was  Italy,  where  a  variety  of  causes  had  created  the  possibility  of  a 
higher  standard  of  civilisation  than  had  been  possible  elsewhere.  Much 
attention  had  early  been  paid  to  the  study  of  painting  and  sculpture  ; 
and  when  in  1453  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks  had 
dispersed  Greek-speaking  scholars  into  Europe,  and  made  possible  the 
acquisition  of  thousands  of  precious  manuscripts  of  classical  authors, 
which  had  long  mouldered  unread  in  the  libraries  of  Byzantine  monas- 
teries, an  immense  stimulus  was  given  to  classical  study,  and  so 
enthusiastic  did  the  Italian  scholars  become  in  the  pursuit  of  the  new 
learning  that  the  ideas  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  were  almost  worshipped 
by  their  new  votaries. 

From  Italy  the   movement  spread  to  other  lands.     Tiptoft,  earl  of 

Worcester,  was  an  enthusiastic  Latin  scholar  ;  in  1492  Groceyn  taught 

Greek  at  Oxford,  and  a  little  later  was  aided  by  Linacre.    ^^    _, 

'  ^  The  Move- 

John  Colet,  afterwards  dean  of  St.  Paul's,  lectured  on  the    ment  in 

Greek  Testament  at  Oxford  in  1496,  and  used  his  influence  "^  ^" 
in  after  life  to  promote  education  in  the  new  modes  of  thought.  Hardly 
of  less  influence  in  England  was  Erasmus,  a  Fleming,  who  came  to  Eng- 
land in  1498,  became  the  friend  of  all  English  scholars,  and  by  his  ready 
wit  and  keen  satire  influenced  the  thoughts  of  Englishmen.  Painting,  too, 
gradually  made  its  way  norths  and  the  new  mode  was  made  familiar  to 
Englishmen  by  Holbein,  who  lived  here  some  years  after  1526. 

Learning  and  the  fine  arts,  however,  were  only  one  side  of  the  move- 
ment. Immense  strides  were  made  in  geographical  discovery.  Early 
in  the  fifteenth  century  Henry  the  Navigator,  nephew  of  our  Geographical 
Henry  iv.,  had  directed  the  Portuguese  to  the  advantage  of  Discoveries, 
seeking  new  outlets  for  trade  by  investigating  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
Later  on,  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  and  the  closing 


390  The  Tudors  1509 

of  the  old  trade-routes  from  the  Levant  to  the  east  compelled  merchants 
to  seek  a  new  road  to  India,  and  gave  rise  to  the  speculations  and  voyages 
which  ultimately,  in  1492,  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 
This  event  naturally  roused  the  Portuguese  to  further  exertions,  and  in 
1497  Vasco  da  Gama  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  reached 
Calicut.  Nor  was  England  much  behind.  In  the  very  first  year  of  his 
reign  Henry  had  assured  the  Bristol  merchants  of  his  sympathy  and  assist- 
ance ;  and  in  1497  the  merchant  adventurers  of  that  city  manned  a 
British  ship  with  British  sailors,  and  sent  it  on  a  voyage  of 
discovery,  under  the  command  of  John  Cabot,  a  Venetian, 
and  his  son  Sebastian.  This  ship  was  the  first  European  vessel  to  reach 
the  mainland  of  North  America. 

These  discoveries  not  only  changed  men's  ideas  in  geography,  but 
made  a  great  alteration  in  the  relative  political  importance  of  the  nations 
Influence  on  ^^  *^®  world.  Hitherto,  these  which  had  had  the  most 
Politics.  ready  access  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea  had  taken  the  lead 

in  civilisation  and  commercial  activity  ;  now,  however,  men's  thoughts 
turned  to  the  ocean,  and  Cadiz,  Lisbon,  Bordeaux,  Bristol,  London,  and 
Antwerp  became  the  natural  harbours  for  the  traffic  of  the  world. 

Side  by  side  with  these  discoveries  stand  the  two  great  inventions 
of  printing  and  gunpowder.  Printing,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the 
art  of  printing  with  moveable  types,  is  said  to  have  been  invented  by 
Gutenberg  in  1440.  The  improvement  was  due  to  the  desire  to  copy 
books  more  rapidly  than  by  hand  in  response  to  the  greater  demand 
created  by  the  growing  thirst  for  knowledge  ;  but  when  it  had  been 
made,  the  greater  cheapness  of  the  copies  multiplied  by  the  new  method 
gave  an  immense  stimulus  to  the  spread  of  learning.  Printing  was 
introduced  into  England  by  William  Caxton  in  1471,  and  the  first 
new  book  printed  and  published  in  England  was  The  game  and  playe  of 
the  Chesse,  which  appeared  in  1474.  Gunpowder  was  first 
tion  of  employed  for  artillery  about  the  time   of  the  battle  of 

unpow  er.  Qj,qqj^   ]3^t    j^  ^^^g    gj^^  jj^    coming   into    use ;    for   so 

efficient  were  the  continental  crossbows  and  the  longbows  of  the 
English,  and  so  destructive  were  the  siege  implements  in  use,  that  it 
was  long  before  the  new  cannons  and  hand-guns  could  really  compete 
with  them.  When,  however,  equality  in  efficiency  was  reached,  the  old 
weapons  speedily  became  obsolete,  for  their  use  required  a  longer  train- 
ing than  the  new,  and  cannons  were  less  difficult  to  transport  than  the 
old  catapults,  rams,  and  mangonels.  The  efl'ect  of  the  new  weapons  on 
society  was  perhaps  greater  than  that  on  the  art  of  war,  for  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  armoured  knight,  whose   mail  was   no   defence 


1509 


Henry  VIL 


391 


against  the  new  projectiles,  passed  away  a  class  distinction  which  had 
made  warfare  a  comparatively  safe  amusement  for  the  rich.  Hence- 
forward the  same  danger  confronted  the  noble  and  the  plebeian  soldier. 
Moreover,  the  introduction  of  gunpowder  was  of  enormous  moment  in 
the  conquest  of  the  New  World.  Without  the  advantage  given  by  its 
possession  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  exploits  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro 
could  have  been  performed,  or  the  rapid  conquest  of  vast  territories  in- 
habited by  semi- civilised  but  brave  people  have  been  accomplished  by 
such  handfuls  of  Europeans  as  were  then  able  to  cross  the  ocean. 

The  discovery  of  America  and  of  the  new  route  to  India,  the  conquest 
of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  the  revival  of  learning,  and      Modern 
the  inventions  of  printing  and  gunpowder,  are  ihe  great      Europe, 
events  which  mark  the  change  from  mediaeval  to  modern  Europe,  and 
their  influence  began  to  make  itself  felt  in  the  reign  of  Henry  vn. 


CHIEF  DATES 

Battle  of  Stoke, 

First  appearance  of  Perkin  Warbeck, 
Discovery  of  the  West  Indies,     . 
Charles  VIII. 's  Expedition  to  Italy,  . 
Cabot  discovers  the  American  Mainland, 
Vasco  da  Gama  reaches  Calicut, 
Capture  of  Perkin  Warheck, 
Death  of  Prince  Arthur, 


A.D. 

1487 
1492 
1492 
1494 
1497 
1497 
1498 
1502 


CHAPTEK  II 

HENRY  Vlll. :  1509-1547 


Born  1491  ;  married 


'1509,  Katharine  of  Arragon,  divorced  1533,  d.  1536. 

1532,  Anne  Boleyn,  executed  1536. 

1536,  Jane  Seymour,  died  1537. 

1540,  Anne  of  Cleves,  divorced  1540,  died  1557. 

1540,  Katharine  Howard,  executed  1542. 
J543,  Katharine  Parr,  survived  her  husband. 


Scotland. 

James  iv.,  d.  1513.  Louis  xii. 

James  v.,  d.  1542.  Francis  i. 

Mary,  deposed  1567. 

Emperors. 
Maximilian,  d.  1519, 
Charles  v.,  d,  1558. 


CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY  PRINCES. 

France. 


1515. 
1547. 


Spain. 
Charles  i.,  1516-1556. 


Popes. 
Julius  II.,  d.  1513. 
Leo  X.,  1513-1522. 
Clement  vii.,  1523-1534. 


Foreign  politics— Flodden — Wolsey's  career — The  Divorce  question  leads  to  the 
fall  of  Wolsey  and  the  separation  from  Rome — Changes  in  the  Church — 
Dissolution  of  the  Monasteries — Resistauce  to  these  changes — Henry's 
domestic  life — Later  foreign  policy. 

The  death  of  Henry  vii.  gave  the  crown  to  his  son  Henry,  a  young 
man  of  eighteen.  In  appearance  there  was  little  in  Henry  to  recall  his 
Character  of  father.  His  figure  was  cast  in  the  Yorkist  mould — tall, 
strong,  and   stoutly   built,  with  round,  fair-complexioned 


Henry. 


face  and  a  profusion  of  reddish  flaxen  hair.  His  temperament  was 
jovial,  and  delighted  in  all  manner  of  games  and  sports  in  which  his 
personal  courage  and  agility  enabled  him  to  display  himself  to  advantage. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  his  addiction  to  such 
pursuits  was  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  business  as  king.  From  his 
very  accession  Henry  showed  himself  as  determined  as  his  father,  not 
only  to  reign,  but  to  govern.  The  reports  of  ambassadors  were  made 
directly  to  him.  Each  day  he  made  time  to  despatch  a  vast  quantity  of 
business,  and  both  his  own  letters  and  those  written  to  him  fully  prove 


1509  Henry  Fill.  393 

that  he  considered  no  detail  of  government  as  beneath  his  notice.  Like 
his  father  he  was  a  good  judge  of  character,  and  probably  was  a  greater 
adept  at  reading  the  thoughts  of  the  masses  ;  and  his  ready  wit  and  easy 
manners  gained  him,  from  the  very  outset,  a  popularity  so  well  established 
that  no  subsequent  actions,  however  arbitrary  or  cruel,  appear  to  have 
seriously  diminished  it. 

No  change  of  importance  was  made  in  the  composition  of  the  council, 
of  which  the  chief  members  continued  to  be  Richard  Fox,  bishop  of 
Winchester,  a  painstaking  and  able  ecclesiastic,  who  had  The  Mini- 
succeeded  to  much  of  Morton's  influence  ;  Thomas  Howard,  s^^^^- 
earl  of  Surrey,  son  of  the  duke  of  Norfolk  who  fell  at  Bosworth,  a  man 
of  courage  and  determination,  who  represented  the  ideas  of  the  nobility ; 
and  Archbishop  Warham,  a  man  of  no  great  force.  Thomas  Wolsey, 
a  young  and  able  ecclesiastic,  was  acting  as  secretary  to  Fox.  Under 
these  men  the  quiet  and  orderly  domestic  government  of  Henry  vii.  was 
continued,  and  was  broken  chiefly  by  the  disgraceful  treat-  Empsonand 
ment  of  Empson  and  Dudley,  who  were  sacrificed  by  the  ^"^^^^y- 
young  king  to  appease  the  popular  outcry.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to 
find  a  legal  charge,  for  their  acts,  though  harsh,  had  come  within  the  letter 
of  the  law,  and  had  been  fully  provided  for  in  their  commissions  ;  so  an 
absurd  charge  of  treason  was  brought  against  them,  accusing  them 
of  plotting  to  get  the  young  king  into  their  hands,  and  usurping  the 
government.  On  this,  Dudley  was  convicted  in  London,  Empson  at 
Northampton,  and  the  whole  iniquitous  transaction  was  confirmed  by  an 
act  of  attainder.  For  some  time  their  lives  were  spared,  but  at  length 
Henry,  exasperated  by  the  constant  complaints  of  their  extortions, 
ordered  them  to  be  put  to  death.  At  the  same  time  some  attempt  was 
made  to  compensate  their  victims. 

In  foreign  affairs  the  king  showed  his  intention  of  following  his 
father's  policy  by  marrying  Katharine,  with  whom  he  declared  himself 
so  well  satisfied  that  if  he  had  to  choose  again  he  would  take  Katharine 
her.  Katharine  was  then  twenty-four,  and,  though  not  beau-  °^  Arragon. 
tiful,  was  a  very  attractive  person,  and  is  described  as  being  '  of  a  lively 
and  gracious  disposition.'  She  danced  well,  was  a  good  musician,  wrote 
and  spoke  English  excellently,  and,  above  all,  was  perfectly  devoted  to 
her  husband. 

Though  Henry  vii.  had  joined  the  anti-French  alliance,  he  had  taken 
no  active  part  in  foreign  affairs,  in  which  he  had  been  little  more  than  a 
dependant  of  Spain.  Since  the  death  of  Charles  viii.  Italy  had  been  the 
chief  centre  of  affairs.  In  1499,  Louis  xii.,  with  the  aid  of  the  Venetians, 
had  taken  Milan  ;  and  in  1501,  contrary  to  the  general  policy  of  the 


394  The  Tudors  1509 

League,  Ferdinand  had  entered  into  alliance  with  him  and  made  an 
attack  upon  Naples,  which,  since  the  expulsion  of  the  French,  had  again 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  branch  of  the  house  of  Arragon.  Next  year, 
however,  Louis  and  Ferdinand  quarrelled  about  their  plunder,  and  the 
French  were  again  expelled  from  Naples.  However,  by  1508,  the  French 
and  Spaniards  had  again  patched  up  their  quarrels,  and,  under  the 
nominal  leadership  of  Pope  Julius  ii.,  had  formed  the  League  of  Cambray 
for  the  purpose  of  partitioning  the  territories  of  the  Venetians,  the  only 
power  in  Italy  which  might  possibly  have  rallied  the  smaller  states  to 
keep  out  both  French  and  Spaniards.  In  the  war  that  followed  the 
French  acted  with  such  vigour  that  they  secured  most  of  the  Venetian 
territory  on  the  main  land  ;  and  so  alarmed  was  Julius  ii.  at  this  exhibi- 
tion of  French  power  that  he  immediately  set  on  foot  what  was  described 
as  a  Holy  League  for  the  defence  of  the  pope  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
French  from  Italy,  and  in  1511  requested  Henry  viii.  to  join  it.  As  his 
father-in-law,  Ferdinand,  was  one  of  the  leading  members,  Henry  had  no 
objection,  and  planned  a  joint  campaign  in  the  south  of  France,  by  which 
it  was  hoped  that  England  would  reconquer  Guienne  and  Ferdinand 
acquire  Navarre.  The  temptation  to  attack  Guienne  was  great ;  for  its 
trade  was  extremely  valuable,  and  the  possession  of  a  piece  of  territory, 
driven  like  a  wedge  between  France  and  Spain,  would  give  the  king  of 
England  a  great  advantage  in  dealing  with  their  respective  sovereigns. 
Expedition  However,  when  the  English  troops,  under  the  marquess  of 
to  Guienne.  Dorset,  landed  in  Guienne,  they  found  Ferdinand  quite  un- 
prepared. After  six  weeks  of  inaction,  their  commander,  under  the 
impression  that  Ferdinand  meant  to  use  his  own  troops  against  Navarre, 
brought  his  soldiers  back  to  England.  This  expedition  was  a  great  dis- 
appointment to  Henry.  Accordingly,  great  preparations  were  made  for 
the  campaign  of  1513,  and  it  is  in  these  that  Wolsey  first  made  a 
reputation  with  the  king. 

Thomas  Wolsey,  who  is  perhaps  the  greatest  of  the  long  line  of  ecclesi- 
astical statesmen  from  Lanfranc  to  Laud,  was  born  at  Ipswich  in  1471. 
His  father  was  a  burgher  of  wealth  and  position,  and  gave 
his  clever  son  the  best  education  in  his  power.  He  entered 
Oxford  as  a  boy  and  took  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  at  fifteen,  and 
became  fellow  and  bursar  of  Magdalen  College.  While  there,  the  beauti- 
ful tower  of  the  college  was  being  built,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
Wolsey  had  any  thing  special  to  do  with  it.  His  next  post  was  that  of 
master  of  Magdalen  College  School,  and  while  there  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  marquis  of  Dorset  whose  sons  he  had  taught.  Dorset 
presented  him  to  the  rectory  of  Lymington.     He  next  became  chaplain 


1513  Henry  VIII,  395 

to  Deane,  who  succeeded  Morton  as  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  he 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  administrative  life  as  assistant  to  Sir  Kichard 
Nanfan,  deputy-governor  of  Calais.  By  him  he  was  recommended  to 
Henry  vii.,  and  became  a  royal  chaplain  about  1506.  At  court  Wolsey 
attached  himself  to  Fox,  possibly  as  his  secretary,  and  was  employed  on 
several  diplomatic  missions  for  the  king.  The  accession  of  Henry  viii. 
was  favourable  to  his  advancement,  for  Wolsey  was  full  of  energy  and 
had  ideas  that  suited  the  young  king  much  better  than  the  wary  maxims 
and  cautious  traditions  of  the  statesmen  of  Henry  vii.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, till  the  preparations  were  begun  for  the  French  war  that  Wolsey 
was  able  to  find  an  adequate  field  for  his  energies,  but  he  then  threw 
himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  task  of  providing  an  efficient  force,  and 
this  brought  him  to  the  notice  of  Henry  himself. 

The  campaign  which  followed  was  on  the  whole  successful ;  Admiral 
Sir  Edward  Howard  attacked  the  French  fleet  with  such  violence  in  open 
boats  that,  though  he  lost  his  own  life,  and  his  men  were    invasion 
beaten  off,  the  French  did  not  venture  to  impede  the  passage   °^  France, 
of  the  English  fleet  to   Calais.     From  Calais  Henry,  with  Wolsey   in 
his  train,  advanced  to  the  siege  of  Therouenne,  and,  while  before  it, 
was  joined  by  Maximilian  as  a  volunteer.     During  the  siege  an  action 
was  fought  at  Guinegaste  with  a  French  relieving  force  which  attempted 
to  throw  supplies  into  the  town.     It  was  a  mere  cavalry    Battle  of 
aff'air,   and  the  French   fled  so   soon  that  the  fight   was   G"inegaste. 
jocularly  known  as  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs.    Therouenne  surrendered, 
and  soon  afterwards  the  important  town  of  Tournai ;  but  Henry  did  not 
pursue  his  advantage  further,  for  he  found  that  both  Ferdinand  and 
Maximilian  expected  him  to  encounter  the  dangers  while  they  reaped  the 
profits  of  the  war,  and  he  made  the  excuse  of  being  wanted  at  home  to 
return  to  England. 

There,  in  his  absence,  great  events  had  happened.  Contrary  to  the 
expectations  which  had  been  founded  on  the  marriage  of  Margaret 
and  James  iv.,  the  hereditary  friendship  of  the  Scots  for  Scottish 
France  had  proved  too  much  for  the  honour  of  James,  and  invasion, 
when  Henry  crossed  to  France  he  invaded  Northumberland  with  a 
large  army.  Henry  had  left  Katharine  in  charge  at  home,  and  she, 
perhaps  remembering  Philippa  of  Hainault  and  Neville's  Cross,  threw 
herself  most  energetically  into  the  work  of  defence,  attended  council 
meetings,  prepared  banners  with  her  own  hand,  and  addressed  the 
leaders  who  were  setting  out  for  the  north.  The  chief  command  was 
entrusted  to  the  earl  of  Surrey  and  his  son.  Sir  Thomas  Howard,  who 
had  succeeded  hia  brother  as  admiral     They  mustered  their  forces  at 


396 


The  Tudors 


1513 


Newcastle,  and,  marching  north,  learned  that  James  had  taken  up  a  strong 
position  on  Flodden  Edge,  a  spur  of  the  Cheviots  lying  at  right  angles  to 
the  river  Till,  a  tributary  of  the  Tweed,  which  there  forms  the  boundary 
between  England  and  Scotland.  On  Sunday,  September  4,  Surrey, 
after  the  fashion  of  chivalry,  sent  a  challenge  to  James  to  fight  a  pitched 
battle  on  the  following  Friday.  This  James  accepted  ;  but  when  Surrey 
suggested  that  he  should  leave  his  strong  post  and  fight  on  even  ground, 
James  politely  but  firmly  declined. 


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THE  FLODDEN  DISTRICT 

In  these  circumstances,  Surrey  adopted  the  advice  of  his  son  to  turn 
James'  position  by  blocking  his  retreat  to  Scotland  ;  and,  accordingly,  on 
Surrey's  Thursday  he   crossed  the   Till  at  Wooler,  and,  marching 

Manoeuvres,  parallel  to  the  river  but  at  such  a  distance  from  it  as  to  be 
concealed  by  the  rising  ground,  made  his  way  to  Twisel  Mill  close  to  the 
junction  of  the  Till  and  Tweed.  There  he  stayed  till  Thursday  night, 
and  at  daybreak  on  Friday  recrossed  the  Till  and  marched  straight  to 
Coldstream  as  though  about  to  invade  Scotland.  The  ruse  was  com- 
pletely successful.  When  James,  from  Flodden  Edge,  saw  Surrey  making 
for  Scotland  he  broke  up  his  camp,  burnt  his  tents,  and  hurried  off  in 
hot  pursuit.  On  this,  Surrey  returned  to  meet  him  ;  and  the  two  armies, 
concealed  from  each  other  by  the  smoke  of  the  blazing  tents,  met  one 
another  on  Brankston  Moor,  the  Scots  still  having  the  advantage  of 
being  on  higher  ground.  The  Scottish  forces,  who  are  thought  to  have 
numbered  30,000,  were  drawn  up  in  dense  masses.  On  the  right  were 
the  Highlanders,  with  target  and  claymore  ;  next  the  king,  at  the  head 
of  a  mass  of  7000  spearmen  ;  on  the  left,  the  Borderers  under  Huntly 
and  Home.    With  the  Scots  were  seventeen  pieces  of  artillery.     The 


1513  Henry  Fill.  397 

English  also  arranged  their  forces  in  three  divisions — Sir  Edward 
Stanley  led  the  left,  Surrey  the  centre,  and  the  admiral  and  Sir  Edmund 
Howard  the  right.  The  chief  reliance  of  the  English  soldiers,  who  were 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  northern  counties,  was  placed  in  their  long- 
bows ;  but  for  close  quarters  they  used  a  most  formidable  weapon,  the 
bill,  which  consisted  of  a  double-headed  hatchet  with  a  six-inch  spike 
projecting  between  the  blades  and  wielded  with  both  arms  at  the  end 
of  a  stout  handle  nearly  six  feet  long,  so  that  it  could  be  used  either  for 
hacking  or  thrusting.     Surrey,  too,  had  artillery. 

When  the  light  began  the  English  guns  soon  silenced  those  of  the 
Scots,  and  did  so  much  execution  among  the  spearmen  that  James 
hurried  to  get  to  close  quarters,  and  ordered  a  general  charge.  Battle  of 
On  his  left  the  earls  of  Huntly  and  Home  beat  Sir  Edmund  Fio^den. 
Howard  on  the  extreme  right ;  but  the  English  right  centre,  under  Sir 
Thomas  Howard,  though  hard  pressed,  held  its  own  ;  Surrey  presented 
a  stout  front  to  the  king,  and  the  Lancashire  men,  under  Sir  Edward 
Stanley,  not  only  foiled  every  attempt  of  the  fierce  Highlanders  to  break 
their  ranks,  but  even  advanced  in  their  turn  and  drove  the  clansmen  off 
the  field.  By  this  time  Sir  Thomas  Howard,  to  whose  aid  the  reserve 
had  been  sent,  had  also  routed  the  Scots  opposed  to  him,  and  so  he  and 
Stanley,  wheeling  inwards,  were  able  to  charge  the  king^s  forces  in  flank 
and  rear,  while  they  were  engaged  with  Surrey  in  front.  This  manoeuvre 
was  decisive.  James  himself  was  transfixed  by  an  arrow,  and  received 
a  deadly  blow  on  the  head  from  an  English  bill ;  but  his  countrymen 
fought  furiously  round  his  corpse,  and  only  the  fall  of  night  separated 
the  maddened  combatants.  James'  body,  found  among  a  heap  of  slain, 
was  fully  identified  ;  and  his  blood-stained  plaid  was  sent  over  by 
Katharine  as  a  trophy  to  her  husband.  With  James  perished  the 
flower  of  Scottish  chivalry.  No  less  than  twelve  Scottish  earls  lay  dead 
on  the  field  ;  and  there  were  few  noble  families  in  Scotland  which  had 
not  to  mourn  the  loss  of  some  of  their  members. 

The  political  results  of  Flodden  were  as  decisive  as  its  circumstances 
were  dramatic.  It  showed  Europe  that  England  could  not  be 
intimidated  by  an  attack  on  her  borders ;  and  so  far  as  Results  of 
Scotland  was  concerned  it  removed  all  danger  of  trouble  for  ^^*  Battle, 
many  years.  James'  successor  was  his  posthumous  son  James  v.,  and 
the  government  of  the  country  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  widow  Margaret. 
Within  a  few  months,  however,  she  made  the  mistake  of  marrying  the 
earl  of  Angus,  and  this  alliance,  by  introducing  a  new  element  of  discord 
among  the  Scottish  lords,  served  still  further  to  weaken  the  country. 

In  spite,  however,  of  his  successes  at  Therouenne  and  Flodden,  Henry 


398  The  Tudor s  1513 

had  no  mind  to  carry  on  the  war  as  the  cat's-paw  of  Maximilian  and 
Ferdinand  ;  and  in  this  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Wolsey,  whose  para- 
Peace  with  mount  influence  seems  to  date  from  Henry's  return  from 
France.  France,  Wolsey's  great  gift  was  for  diplomacy,  for  which 
Fox  had  no  liking,  and  was  glad  to  leave  it  in  his  hands.  He  held  also 
most  patriotic  ideas  as  to  the  real  place  which  England  ought  to  hold  in 
continental  affairs,  and  was  as  eager  as  Henry  to  see  her  secure  an 
independent  position.  To  effect  this  Henry  and  Wolsey  determined  to 
make  an  alliance  with  France,  a  combination  which  would  be  most 
dangerous  to  the  schemes  of  Maximilian  and  Ferdinand,  and  would  show 
them  that  England  must  be  treated  at  its  proper  value.  Accordingly, 
with  great  secrecy  negotiations  were  opened,  and  it  was  arranged  that 
Henry's  sister  Mary,  a  beautiful  girl  of  seventeen,  should  repudiate  her 
engagement  to  Charles  of  Burgundy,  and  marry  Louis  xii.,  aged  fifty-two, 
who  had  lately  become  a  widower  through  the  death  of  Anne  of 
Brittany.  For  the  moment  this  alliance  effected  all  that  Henry  and 
Wolsey  expected  from  it ;  but  unluckily,  at  the  beginning  of  1515, 
Louis  died.  His  successor  was  Francis  i.  of  Angouleme,  who  married 
Louis'  daughter  Claude,  the  heiress  of  Brittany.  Mary  of  England 
immediately  married  Henry's  favourite  comrade,  Charles  Brandon, 
created  duke  of  Suffolk.  She  was  the  grandmother  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 
To  Wolsey  Henry's  gratitude  knew  no  bounds.  For  his  services  in 
France  he  made  him  bishop  of  Tournai,  and  in  1514  bishop  of  Lincoln. 
^Volsey's  III  \f)\b  he  was  further  promoted  to  be  archbishop  of  York, 
Promotion.  ^^^  ^^  j^^^^j  ^jjg  secular  office  of  chancellor.  Henry  would 
have  been  glad  to  see  Wolsey  a  cardinal,  but  Pope  Leo  x.  objected,  and 
it  was  not  till  1517  that  Henry  found  himself  sufficiently  influential  with 
the  pope  to  secure  his  wish,  and  also  to  have  Wolsey  appointed  papal 
legate  in  England.  This  plan  of  paying  his  secular  officials  by  clerical 
preferments  was  cheap  for  the  king,  but  was  most  injurious  to  the 
Church ;  for  by  making  its  nominal  leaders  into  mere  statesmen  the 
whole  institution  tended  to  be  demoralised,  and  in  few  of  the  leading 
bishops  of  this  time  can  any  traces  of  religious  feeling  be  discovered. 

Wolsey,  however,  himself  was  far  from  being  a  mere  official.    So  keen- 
sighted  and  practical  a  man  as  he  was  could  not  fail  to  be  struck  with 
Wolsey's     niany   disorders  in  the  Church,  and   to  see  that  the   stir 
Policy.         which    the   Kenaissance    was     creating    in    men's    minds 
necessitated  reform  either  from  within  or  without.    Of  these  the  most 
The  Monas-  crying  was  the   condition  of  the  monasteries.      Since  the 
tenes.  coming  of  the  friars   at  the   beginning  of  the   thirteenth 

century  few  monasteries  had  been  founded  in  England.     Their  number, 


1516  Hennj  VIII.  399 

however,  had  not  diminished,  and  they  had  been  growing  more  and  more 
out  of  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  cessation  of  civil  wars 
had  deprived  them  of  their  claim  to  be  the  sole  places  where  men  of 
peace  could  live  secure.  The  printing  of  manuscripts  had  taken  the  place 
of  copying  by  hand.  The  rise  of  the  universities  had  taken  from  them 
their  at  one  time  well-founded  boast  that  they  were  the  guardians  of 
learning.  Above  all,  the  new  learning,  which  was  attracting  the  attention 
of  scholars  and  directing  into  new  channels  the  thoughts  of  Europe,  had 
found  no  welcome  within  monastic  walls.  In  these  circumstances  it  was 
difficult  to  see  on  what  general  grounds  the  monasteries  could  justify 
their  existence.  They  had  come  to  be  merely  bodies  of  wealthy  landed 
proprietors,  reaping  the  harvests  which  their  predecessors  had  created, 
and  no  doubt  doing  charitable  deeds  among  their  poorer  neighbours, 
but  in  few  if  any  cases  living  up  to  the  standard  of  life  prescribed  by 
their  early  founders.  Scandal,  too,  declared  that  this  was  not  by  any 
means  the  whole  case  against  the  monks ;  and  the  condition  of  the 
smaller  monasteries,  as  proved  by  an  inquiry  held  under  Henry  vii.  and 
other  episcopal  visitations,  left  much  to  be  desired. 

Wolsey,  however,  proposed  to  remove  the  evil  by  a  method  at  once 
practical  and  judicious — namely,  by  dissolving  such  of  the  monasteries  as 
were  shown  to  be  disorderly,  and  devoting  their  wealth  to  Foundation 
the  creation  of  foundations  like  that  of  William  of  Wyke-  o^  Colleges, 
ham,  consisting  of  a  school  or  college  in  the  country  which  sent  on  its 
best  scholars  to  a  college  at  the  university.  He  himself  set  the  example 
by  obtaining  leave  to  dissolve  certain  small  and  unsatisfactory  founda- 
tions and  establish  a  school  at  Ipswich  and  a  college  at  Oxford,  which 
he  called  Cardinal  College,  and  which  still  flourishes  under  the  name  of 
Christ  Church.  It  is  also  certain  that  Wolsey  had  at  one  time  an  idea 
that  he  might  have  been  made  pope,  in  which  case  it  is  possible  that  he 
might  have  carried  out  his  reforms  on  a  more  extended  scale  ;  but  his 
scheme  was  never  realised,  for  his  laborious  life  as  a  diplomatist  left  him 
little  time  for  anything  else. 

The  new  king  of  France  was  as  ambitious  as  his  predecessor,  and  being 
a  young  man  of  twenty-one,  he  was  far  more  energetic  in  carrying  out  his 
plans.  At  his  accession  he  found  the  French  entirely  driven  Policy  of 
from  Italy,  and  his  first  exploit  was  to  reconquer  the  duchy  ^'^■^"cis  i. 
of  Milan.  Ferdinand  and  Maximilian  had  trusted  that  the  Swiss,  who 
had  been  hired  by  the  duke,  would  have  been  strong  enough  to  repel  the 
French  ;  but  at  Marignano,  in  September  1515,  they  were  completely 
routed  by  the  gallantry  of  the  French  horsemen  in  a  battle  which  deserves 
to  be  remembered  as  the  last  triumph  of  mediaeval  chivalry.    This  victory 


400  The  TudoTS  1516 

gave  Francis  a  European  reputation  ;  and  the  diplomacy  of  Europe  was  at 
once  called  into  action  to  neutralise  the  new  danger,  and  in  this  Wolsey 
took  his  full  share.  However,  in  1516  Ferdinand  died,  and  this  event, 
by  uniting  under  Charles  of  Burgundy  Spain,  the  Indies,  Sicily,  Naples, 
and  the  Netherlands,  with  reversion  of  the  duchy  of  Austria  and  of 
Austrian  influence  in  Germany,  created  an  entirely  new  situation. 
Again  Wolsey  found  the  best  solution  of  the  European  problem  in  an 
alliance  between  England  and  France  ;  and  accordingly  it  was  arranged 
that  Henry's  only  daughter  Mary  should  marry  the  baby  Dauphin,  and 
that  Tournai  should  be  restored  for  a  sum  of  600,000  crowns.  Scotland 
also  was  included  in  the  peace  ;  and  great  was  Wolsey's  triumph  when 
the  pope,  the  emperor,  and  the  king  of  Spain  also  agreed  to  join,  so  that 
England  appeared  as  the  negotiator  of  a  universal  peace,  in  which  the 
pope  and  the  emperor,  who  had  long  been  the  heads  of  all  European 
combinations,  appeared  in  a  secondary  position. 

The  scheme,  however  well  planned,  did  not  last  long,  for  in  January 
1519  the  situation  was  again  changed  by  the  death  of  Maximilian,  and 
the   necessity  for  electing  a  new    emperor.      Three    not 
of  the  unlikely  candidates  presented  themselves.    First,  the  Elector 

mperor.  ^^  Saxony,  who  represented  the  idea  of  Germany  for  the 
Germans,  but  who  was  too  weak  to  give  the  military  aid  necessary  in 
defending  the  empire  against  the  Turks.  Second,  Charles  of  Spain,  who 
was  already  lord  of  the  Netherlands  and  king  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  whose 
elevation  would  be  disliked  both  by  Francis  and  the  pope,  but  who  had 
strong  claims  as  head  of  the  house  of  Austria  and  as  an  efficient  aid 
against  the  Turks.  Third,  Francis,  who,  though  he  had  no  real  claim, 
put  himself  forward  on  the  plea  that  Germany  might  as  well  be  connected 
with  France  as  with  the  Netherlands  and  Spain.  Between  these  candi- 
dates Wolsey  wished  England  to  be  neutral,  and  to  aflfect  to  further  the 
cause  of  everybody.  But  the  vanity  of  Henry  viii.  prompted  him  to 
become  a  candidate,  though  his  chance  of  election  was  of  course 
Election  of  infinitesimal.  Ultimately  the  matter  was  settled  by  the 
Charles.  election  of  Charles,  who  became  emperor  as  Charles  v. 
The  emperor  was  elected  by  seven  persons — the  archbishops  of  Mainz, 
Koln,  and  Trier  ;^  by  the  Electors  of  Bohemia,  Saxony,  Brandenburg,  and 
the  Palatinate.  These  chose  a  king  of  Germany  who  had  a  right  to 
demand  coronation  at  the  hands  of  the  pope  ;  and  when  he  had  received 
this  he  was  looked  on  as  the  successor  of  the  Eoman  emperor  of  the 
West. 

Wolsey  had  now  to  deal  with  two  forces,  viz.  Charles  and  Francis, 
1  The  French  spelling  of  these  towns  is  Mayence,  Cologne,  and  Treves. 


1627  Henry  Fill.  401 

instead  of  with  three  as  heretofore  ;  and  between  the  two  he  determined 
on  a  policy  of  neutrality,  friendly  to  each,  but  committed  to  neither. 
With  this  view  he  negotiated  interviews  between  Henry  and  Neutrality 
each  of  the  others.  In  May,  Charles  visited  Henry  informally  °^  England, 
at  Canterbury.  On  his  departure  Henry  crossed  to  Calais,  and  held  a 
conference  with  Francis  in  such  formal  state  that  the  site  of  their  interview 
was  known  as  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.      At  Calais,    „.  ,  ^    ,  , 

1  1  1  ,  111  ,        .  .  .  ,      Field  of  the 

however,  on  the  road  home,  he  had  another  interview  with  Cloth  of 
Charles,  so  that  England  was  flattered  by  seeing  the  two  °  * 
greatest  potentates  on  the  continent  vieing  with  each  other  for  the 
friendship  of  Henry.  It  was  impossible,  however,  even  for  Wolsey's 
ingenuity  to  maintain  this  position  long.  War  between  Charles  and 
Francis  was  inevitable,  and  England  was  soon  drawn  to  take  a  part.  At 
first,  Henry's  relationship  to  Charles,  and  the  commercial  connection 
between  the  English  and  the  Flemings,  inclined  him  to  the  side  of 
Charles,  and  Wolsey  had  perforce  to  carry  out  his  wishes.  Two  abortive 
campaigns,  however,  served  to  disillusion  the  English,  and  Wolsey  was 
again  able  to  return  to  diplomatic  methods.  It  was  during  this  alliance 
with  Charles  that  the  possibility  of  Wolsey  being  made  pope 
seemed  for  a  short  time  real.  Years  before,  both  Francis  and  the 
and  Charles  had  sought  to  win  his  friendship  by  promising  ^P^^V' 
their  influence  with  the  cardinals.  Wolsey,  however,  was  too  great  a  man 
to  swerve  from  his  duty  for  any  such  personal  considerations.  His 
primary  idea  was  to  serve  Henry  and  England,  and  if  he  could  do  so 
more  effectively  as  pope,  he  was  willing  to  do  so  ;  but  he  placed  himself 
quite  in  the  hands  of  Henry,  and  Charles  had  no  serious  intention  of 
securing  his  election.  After  the  expedition  of  1523  England  withdrew 
from  active  operations  ;  but  it  was  not  till  1525,  when  Francis  had  been 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Pavia,  that  Wolsey  was  able 
to  make  much  progress  towards  a  third  alliance  with  France,  which  he 
regarded  as  the  best  policy  for  the  country.  Independently,  moreover, 
of  English  interest,  Wolsey  thoroughly  appreciated  the  danger  of  allow- 
ing such  a  sovereign  as  Charles  v.  to  acquire  a  dominant  power  in 
Europe,  and  with  some  difficulty  he  persuaded  Henry  to  agree  to  his 
views,  and  enter  into  a  treaty  with  Francis.  In  1527  Charles  allowed 
his  troops,  under  the  renegade  duke  of  Bourbon,  to  storm  Kome  and 
imprison  the  pope,  an  act  of  lawlessness  that  shocked  Europe,  and 
confirmed  Henry,  who  was  still  a  pious  son  of  the  Church,  in  the  new 
alliance. 

Wolsey,  however,  was  perfectly  aware  that  his  policy  of  peace  with 
France  was  a  very  dangerous  one  for  himself.     From  the  very  beginning  of 

2c 


402  The  Tudors  1527 

his  career  he  had  had  to  face  the  hatred  with  which  the  old  nobility  had 
from  time  immemorial  regarded  all  upstart  advisers  of  the  king.     His 
Unpopu-      policy,  too,  was  itself  distasteful  to  the  nobility,  who  were 
}^^  °^,       the  strongest  exponents  of  the  ancient  feeling  of  hostility  to 
Peace  France,  and  who  also  saw  in  Wolsey  a  check  on  the  warlike 

°  ^^^'  activity  of  the  king.  The  late  expeditions,  useless  and  expen- 
sive, also  had  made  him  unpopular  with  the  commons,  for  though  under- 
taken contrary  to  his  policy,  Wolsey  had  to  bear  all  the  odium  of  trying  to 
raise  money  to  pay  the  debts  incurred,  and  in  1523  he  had  given  mortal 
offence  both  to  the  House  of  Commons  and  the  citizens  of  London  by  the 
haughtiness  of  his  demands.  His  magnificence  and  display,  though 
perhaps  due  in  his  opinion  to  his  high  office,  had  also  tended  to  give 
offence.  Altogether,  he  was  well  aware  that  a  crowd  of  enemies  were 
ready  to  fall  on  him  the  moment  the  king's  favour  was  withdrawn. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  affairs  that  a  new  problem  arose  calculated  to 
try  Wolsey's  skill  to  the  uttermost.  Henry  and  Katharine  had  been 
The  Divorce  iiiarried  eighteen  years,  but  all  their  sons  and  daughters  had 
Question.  ^\^q^  j^  infancy  except  Mary,  a  delicate  girl,  who,  by  the  last 
treaty  with  France,  had  been  affianced  to  the  duke  of  Orleans.  The 
state  of  the  succession,  therefore,  gave  rise  to  very  serious  apprehen- 
sions. If  Henry  died  without  children,  the  crown  would  go,  first,  to 
Margaret's  son,  James  of  Scotland,  then  a  lad  of  thirteen,  and  next,  to 
her  daughter  by  Angus,  and  it  was  doubtful  if  either  of  these  would  be 
accepted  in  England  without  dispute.  The  children  of  his  other  sister, 
Mary,  were  all  daughters.  On  the  question  of  the  succession,  Henry 
was  as  apprehensive  as  his  father  had  been.  In  1513  he  had  put  to 
death  the  duke  of  Suffolk,  and  in  1521  he  had  had  the  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham beheaded.  The  duke  was  the  only  son  of  that  earl  of  Buckingham 
who  had  perished  under  Kichard  iii.,  and  his  direct  descent  from  Edward 
III.,  through  Thomas  duke  of  Gloucester,  made  him  a  possible  claimant 
for  the  throne.  The  duke  seems  to  have  talked  incautiously  of  his  royal 
descent,  and  Henry  instantly  had  him  tried  for  treason  and  put  to  death. 
In  1525,  at  the  battle  of  Pavia,  fell  Kichard,  the  last  male  representative 
of  the  de  la  Poles  ;  so  that  as  far  as  claimants  outside  the  Tudor  family 
were  concerned  Henry  might  feel  secure ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  doubt 
that  if  the  legality  of  his  own  marriage  were  disputed,  very  difficult  times 
would  follow.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  every  precaution  had  been 
taken  to  procure  a  Papal  Bull  providing  for  every  eventuality ;  but  Henry 
now  began  to  profess  to  have  doubts  in  his  own  mind.  Undoubtedly  his 
apprehensions  had  been-  excited  by  the  deaths  of  his  sons ;  but  the  actual 
cause  which  moved  him,  in  1527,  was  a  passion  he  had  conceived  for  a 


1528  Henry  Fill  403 

young  lady,  named  Anne  Boleyn,  a  granddaughter  on  the  mother's 
side  of  that  earl  of  Surrey  who  had  defeated  the  Scots  at  Flodden, 
whom,  as  she  refused  to  be  his  unstress,  he  determined  to  make  his 
wife.  With  this  view  he  broached  the  matter  to  Wolsey,  who  saw 
no  other  course  open  but  to  further  his  master's  views  to  the  best  of  his 
ability.     (See  page  422.) 

In  such  matters  the  popes  had  long  established  their  authority,  and  of 
late  years  had  granted  divorces  to  several  sovereigns  for  purely  dynastic 
reasons :  as,  for  example,  to  Louis  xii.^  in  order  that  he 
might  marry  Anne  of  Brittany,  the  widow  of  Charles  viii.  and  the 
Since  the  ill-omened  precedent  of  the  divorce  of  John  'v°''*^^' 
from  Avice  of  Gloucester,  England  had  seen  no  case  of  the  kind 
in  the  royal  family,  and  it  was  not  likely  that  such  a  divorce  and 
re-marriage  could  be  carried  out  without  a  decided  shock  to  the 
moral  sense  of  Englishmen.  In  ordinary  circumstances,  however,  it  is 
not  likely  that  much  difficulty  would  have  been  raised  by  the  pope  ; 
but  at  the  moment  the  raising  of  the  question  placed  the  pope  in  a 
position  of  great  embarrassment.  The  reigning  pope,  Clement  vii., 
was  Giulio  de  Medici,  nephew  of  Leo  x.,  and  his  interests  were 
divided  between  those  of  the  papacy  and  those  of  his  own  family.  Ever 
since  Wolsey  had  adopted  the  system  of  creating  alliances,  into  which 
the  pope  entered  not  as  a  principal  but  as  a  subordinate,  the  papal  power 
had  seriously  diminished,  and  it  had  also  been  subjected  to  a  rude  shock 
by  the  preaching  of  Luther  in  Germany,  which  had  led  to  a  virtual 
schism  in  some  districts  of  that  country,  and  was  spreading  also  to 
Denmark  and  Scandinavia.  In  these  circumstances  the  pope  was  bound 
to  walk  warily,  especially  as  Katharine  was  the  aunt  of  the  emperor,  who 
might  easily  take  mortal  oflence  at  any  slight  put  upon  his  relative. 
Henry,  however,  was  determined  to  push  on.  His  passion  for  Anne 
Boleyn  grew  by  being  thwarted.  Moreover,  his  relations  with  Katharine 
had  become  more  strained  since  the  negotiation  of  the  French  alliance, 
for  she  had  always  been  an  ardent  supporter  of  her  nephew  Charles. 

Various  embassies  were  despatched  to  the  pope  to  entreat  him  to  let 
the  case  be  tried  in  Wolsey's  legatine  court,  and  to  confirm  beforehand 
the  decision  there  come  to  ;  but  Clement  refused  to  let  his  campeggio's 
hand  be  forced,  and  in  1527  sent  over  Cardinal  Campeggio,  Mission, 
an  Italian  well  known  to  the  English  court,  and  bishop  of  Salisbury, 
to  act  as  Wolsey's  colleague.  Campeggio's  movements,  however, 
were  slow  ;  and  it  was  not  till  July  1528  that  the  court  sat,  and 
Englishmen  beheld  for  the  first  time  the  extraordinary  spectacle  of 
their  king    and    queen    cited  by  name  to  appear   before  a  pair  of 


404  The  Tudors  1528 

cardinals,   nominated  by  a  pope  whom  of  late  years  they  had  been 
,     learning  to  despise.     Katharine  appealed  directly  to  Rome  ; 

appeal  to       but  the  court  overruled  her  plea,  and  was  beginning  to 
°"^^*  take  evidence,  when  Campeggio  announced  that,  following 

the  practice  of  the  Roman  law  courts,  the  court  would  adjourn  till 
October. 

This  delay  was  more  than  Henry  could  bear,  for  it  meant,  of  course, 
indefinite  delay;  and  his  wrath  vented  itself  upon  Wolsey,  who  was  in  no 

Fall  of         "^^y  responsible  for  what  had  happened.     Accordingly,  in 

Wolsey.  October  1528  Henry  directed  his  attorney  to  sue  for  a  writ 
of  Prcemunire  (see  page  268)  against  Wolsey,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
violated  that  statute  by  acting  as  papal  legate.  Such  an  act  was  most 
unfair,  for  Wolsey  had  obtained  his  legatine  authority  by  Henry's 
special  request ;  but  Henry  was  now  determined  to  quarrel  with  the 
pope,  and  struck  his  first  blow  at  the  papacy  through  the  person  of  its 
legate.  Wolsey  well  knew  that  he  was  ruined,  and  determined  as  far  as 
possible  to  propitiate  his  master  by  submission.  He  therefore  signed  a 
document  confessing  his  guilt  in  acting  as  legate,  and  declaring  all  his 
goods  forfeited  to  the  king,  and  himself  liable  to  perpetual  imprisonment. 
By  this  obsequiousness  Henry  was  somewhat  mollified,  and  Wolsey 
soon  received  assurance  of  pardon.  His  two  best  servants,  Stephen 
Gardiner,  who  had  acted  as  his  messenger  to  the  pope,  and  Thomas 
Cromwell,  who  had  given  Wolsey  valuable  if  not  disinterested  assistance 
since  his  fall,  passed  into  the  service  of  the  king. 

After  his  fall,  Wolsey's  career  was  not  prolonged.     On  February  12 

1530  he  received  a  full  pardon  from  the  king,  but  was  compelled  to 

resign  the  bishopric  of  Winchester  and  the  abbey  of  St.  Albans,  and  to 

live  within  the  archbishopric  of  York,  at  a  distance  from  the  court. 

There  for  a  few  months  he  occupied  himself  with  his  ordinary  episcopal 

duties  and  with  dispensing  hospitality.     Nevertheless  it  is  not  easy  for 

one  who  had  so  long  played  a  great  part  in  the  world's  affairs  to  quit  the 

stage,  and  he  still  continued  a  clandestine  correspondence  with  Francis, 

which  he  conducted  through  his  physician,  a  certain  Doctor  Augustine, 

who  revealed  all  the  letters  to  Wolsey's  enemy,  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  and 

Norfolk  laid  the  matter  before  the  king.     The  result  was 
'^r  olsev  s 
Arrest  and   Wolsey's  arrest  on  November  4,  1530  ;  and  he  was  being 

^**  '         conveyed  to  London  under  the  charge  of   the    earl    of 

Northumberland,  when  he  died  at  Leicester  Abbey  on  November  30. 

Had  he  lived  to  reach  London  a  trial  for  high  treason  awaited  him. 

With  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  the  government  of  England  by  clerics  comes 

practically  to  an  end.     Since  the  institution  of  the  office,  the  chancellor- 


1529  Henry  Fill  405 

ship  had  been  held,  with  but  few  exceptions,  by  a  bishop.  Since  1529 
it  has  been  held  by  five  ecclesiastics  only.  This  change  marks  one  of  the 
most  striking  results  of  the  revolution  carried  out  by  Henry  viii.,  and 
gives  a  key  to  the  meaning  of  one  side  of  the  Reformation  movement, 
namely,  that  it  was  an  uprising  of  the  laity  against  the  over-inter- 
ference of  the  clergy  in  civil  affairs. 

The  new  chancellor  was  a  layman,  Sir  Thomas  More,  one  of  the  most 
typical  men  of  his  time.  Son  of  one  of  the  judges,  and  born  in  1478,  he 
made  the  acquaintance  at  Oxford  of  Colet  and  Erasmus,  sir  Thomas 
and  drank  deeply  of  the  critical  spirit  of  the  English  ^°^^' 
Renaissance.  Refined,  witty,  and  humorous,  he  had  a  keen  eye  for 
detecting  the  abuses  of  the  time,  and  holding  them  up  to  censure  in  a 
literary  form.  In  modern  times  his  reputation  rests  chiefly  upon  his 
Utopia,  a  Latin  work  consisting  of  two  parts — the  first  an  exposition  of 
the  evils  of  the  time,  and  the  second  a  description  of  an  ideal  common- 
wealth. The  book  illustrates  the  strength  and  weakness  of  More's  char- 
acter. In  the  first  part  he  showed  clearly  that  competition  and  extravag- 
ance were  at  the  bottom  of  much  of  the  evil  of  the  time  ;  in  the  second 
his  proposed  reformation  was  based  upon  the  extirpation  of  both,  which 
meant  a  complete  revolution  in  human  nature.  To  his  contemporaries 
he  also  became  known  as  an  excellent  lawyer,  who  had  shown  great 
boldness  by  confronting  Wolsey  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
As  a  practical  politician  More  showed  to  much  less  advantage,  and  a 
speech  which  he  delivered  at  the  opening  of  parliament,  in  which  he 
attacked  Wolsey,  is  a  lasting  monument  of  the  errors  in  taste  into 
which  a  literary  man  may  fall  when  he  tries  to  adapt  his  language 
to  the  standard  of  politics. 

Henry  was  now  committed  to  a  contest  with  the  papacy,  not,  how- 
ever, purposely  sought  by  him.  He  had  two  objects  in  view  :  first,  to  be 
legally  married  to  Anne  Boleyn  ;  second,  to  get  a  decision  ^j^^  Divorce 
from  the  pope  which  would  enable  him  to  be  so  ;  and  when  pressed 
to  his  surprise  the  two  objects  became  incompatible,  he 
pursued  the  first  at  the  cost  of  a  break  with  the  papal  power.  To  do  so 
was  a  bold  step  ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  Henry  would  have  ventured 
upon  it  had  not  Wolsey  taught  him  to  regard  England  as  a  first-rate 
power  whose  importance  was  at  least  as  great  as  the  antiquated  pre- 
tensions of  the  empire  and  the  papacy.  Henry,  however,  was  well 
aware  that  in  order  to  successfully  defy  the  pope,  he  must  carry  the 
nation  with  him.  One  of  his  first  acts,  therefore,  after  the  dismissal  of 
Wolsey,  was  to  summon  a  great  council  of  the  nobility  and  citizens  of 
London,  and  to  explain  to  them  the  reasons  of  his  conduct  with  regard 


406  The  Tudors 


1529 


to  the  divorce.  Having  thus  appealed  to  public  opinion,  he  summoned 
a  parliament  to  meet  on  November  3,  1529. 

This  parliament,  which  in  some  respects  may  be  regarded  as  the  first 
modern  parliament  of  England,  sat,  not  like  most  of  its  predecessors 
The  Reform  ^^^  ^  single  session  of  a  few  weeks,  but  for  repeated  sessions 
Parliament,  extending  over  seven  years.  This  tended  to  give  it  a  cor- 
porate feeling,  and  it  carried  out  by  legislative  means  what  amounted  to 
a  religious  revolution.  The  Houses  were  composed  as  follows  :  for  the 
upper  the  lay  peers  numbered  about  forty,  the  spiritual  peers  forty-eight, 
so  that  the  laity  were  always  liable  to  be  outvoted  by  the  clergy,  a 
circumstance  which  had  hitherto  been  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
king.  The  lower  house  was  composed  of  about  three  hundred  members, 
of  whom  seventy-four  sat  for  counties,  and  the  remainder  for  cities  and 
boroughs,  most  of  which  were  situated  in  the  south  of  England ;  Wales, 
Chester,  and  Durham  being  as  yet  unrepresented.  The  mass  of  the 
members  were  gentry,  citizens,  and  lawyers,  and  though  the  methods  by 
which  they  were  chosen  were,  doubtless,  by  no  means  regular,  it  is  un- 
questionable that  the  two  houses  represented  between  them  a  very  fair 
picture  of  the  political  life  of  England,  and  of  the  ideas  of  all  those  classes 
who  presumed  to  have  a  voice  in  the  ajffairs  of  the  country.  In  appealing 
to  such  a  body  as  this  for  support  in  his  quarrel  with  the  pope,  Henry 
knew  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear.  The  average  English  layman  cared  little 
or  nothing  for  papal  authority,  and,  indeed,  regarded  it  with  aversion  ; 
while  he  eagerly  welcomed  an  opportunity  of  attacking  the  clerical 
abuses  and  cutting  down  ecclesiastical  revenues,  which  he  would  have 
done  any  time  since  the  days  of  Wyclif  and  Chaucer,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  circumstance  that  the  alliance  between  the  king  and  the  upper 
clergy  had  formed  a  protection  for  the  Church. 

In  using  the  word  Reformation  it  is  extremely  important  to  realise 

the  many-sidedness  of  the  movement,  and  not  to  use  it  in  too  narrow  a 

sense.    Roughly  speaking,  the  English  ecclesiastical  reforma- 

the  ternf  °    ^i^n  of  the  sixteenth  century  proceeded  along  three  lines. 

Son°'^"'*"  (^)  "^^^  separation  of  the  Church  of  England  from  the 
Church  of  Rome.  This  was  mainly  Henry's  affair,  and 
arose  out  of  the  divorce,  and  involved  a  reconstitution  of  the  church 
government  to  suit  the  new  state  of  aflfairs.  (2)  The  reform  of 
abuses  in  the  English  Church,  mainly  as  they  affected  the  laity, 
and  including  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  (3)  The  changes  in 
doctrine  which  ultimately  distinguished  the  reformed  Church  of  England 
from  the  Church  of  Rome.  Of  these,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  viii., 
the  first  and  second  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  nation,  the  third  was 


1529  Hemy  Fill.  407 

hardly  dealt  with  at  all ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  forms  the  principal 
object  of  interest  during  the  reigns  of  Edward  vi.  and  Elizabeth. 

The  Church  of  southern  England  had  been  connected  with  the  Church 
of  Rome  since  the  landing  of  St.  Augustine  in  597,  and  of  northern 
England  since  the  Synod  of  Whitby  in  664  ;  and  in  course  connection 
of  time  this  connection  had  taken  an  organised  form.  "^^^^  Rome. 
First,  the  pope  was  universally  acknowledged  as  the  head  of  the  Western 
Church,  of  which  the  English  Church  was  a  branch.  Second,  there  had 
grown  up  a  system  of  appeals  from  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  England 
to  the  papal  court  at  Rome.  The  monks  were  great  litigants,  and 
although  of  late  years  the  system  had  been  disliked  because  it  took 
money  out  of  the  country  for  no  return,  and  had  been  strictly  prohibited 
by  the  parliaments  of  Edward  iii.  and  Richard  ii.  in  the  Acts  of 
Praemunire,  the  practice  had  still  gone  on.  Third,  a  system  of  taxa- 
tion had  also  grown  up.  A  hearth  tax  of  a  penny,  known  as  Peter's 
Pence,  had  been  paid  almost  from  time  immemorial ;  and,  since  the 
time  of  Henry  iii.,  the  clergy  had  had  to  pay  to  the  pope  the  first 
year's  income  of  all  ecclesiastical  preferments,  and  an  income  tax 
of  two  shillings  in  the  pound  afterwards.  The  income,  however,  had 
been  valued  once  for  all  in  1291,  and  so  was  often  below  the  real 
value  of  the  living.  Fourth,  the  pope  had  acquired  for  himself  since 
1215  a  most  unpopular  influence  in  the  disposal  of  bishoprics  and  other 
preferments,  in  spite  of  the  Act  of  Provisors.  Fifth,  almost  the  whole 
of  the  monastic  orders  were  directly  under  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and 
owed  no  obedience  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  Sixth,  the  authority  of 
the  pope  was  represented  by  a  legate,  sometimes  sent  over  for  a  special 
purpose,  but  usually  one  of  the  English  bishops  like  Morton  or  Wolsey. 
All  these  links  Henry  gradually  swept  away,  but  without  in  the  least 
intending  to  deviate  from  the  principles  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  1528  Wolsey  had  been  compelled  to  confess  that  he  had  incurred 
the  penalties  of  the  Act  of  Praemunire  by  accepting  and  exercising  the 
legatine  authority.     Directly  after  Wolsey's  death  Henry 
determined  to  exact  from  the  clergy  who  had  acknowledged    enforces 
Wolsey's  authority  a  similar  confession.      Accordingly  he      ^semunire, 
compelled  the  convocations  of  Canterbury  and  York  not  only  to  admit  that 
their  goods  were  forfeited  to  the  king  but  that  they  them- 
selves were  liable  to  be  imprisoned  at  the  king's  pleasure.    cat?ons"^°* 
He  then  exacted  from  them  a  fine  of  ^118,000— consider-    fe''dge°Henry 
ably  over  a  million  of  our  money — and  compelled  them   as  head  of 
to  address  him  as  '  supreme  head  of  the  church  and  clergy  so 
far  as  the  law  of  Christ  would  allow.'    After  obtaining  this  concession 


408  The  Tudors  1529 

from  the  clergy,  Henry  took  no  further  steps  for  some  time  in  the 
direction  of  separation,  and,  indeed,  continued  his  negotiations  with  the 
pope  for  several  years  longer. 

Meanwhile,  parliament  was  engaged  in  reforming  the  discipline  of  the 
Church,  and  removing  those  abuses  which  pressed  most  heavily  on  the 
Reform  of    ^^^^J'     ^^  ^  petition  presented  to  the  king  at  the  meeting 
Church         of    parliament   in   1529,   these  had  been   defined  as   the 
obligation  of  the  laity  to  obey  the  canon  law,  the  hardships 
caused  by  ecclesiastical  summonses,  especially  to  the  poor,  the  cost  of 
Ecclesias-      obtaining  probate  of  wills,  and  excessive  fees,  and  the  pre- 
tical  courts,    gentation  of  minors  to  livings.  Accordingly  in  the  first  session 
the  fines  and  fees  connected  with  the  probate  of  wills  were  regulated,  the 
practice  of  seizing  as  a  '  mortuary '  the  best  chattel  of  a  dead 
man,  and  the  '  upmost  cloth '  which  covered  his  body,  was 
abolished ;  and,  by  another  act,  no  clergyman  was  allowed  to  buy  and  sell 
for  profit,  or  to  hold  more  than  four  benefices,  and  these  of 
small  value.     In  the  session  of  1532,  benefit  of  clergy  was 
abolished  for  all  under  the  rank  of  deacons,  and  the  fees  of  the  archbishop's 
Benefit  of    court  of  arches  were  reduced.     Lands  could  no  longer  be 
clergy.         saddled  with  the  obligation  of  paying  for  masses  for  the  dead 
for  more  than  twenty  years  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  clergy  were  com- 
pelled to  submit  the  existing  canon  law  to  a  mixed  commission  of  laymen 
and  ecclesiastics,  and  to  make  no  new  canons  without  the  king's  consent. 
In  carrying  these  reforms  the  House  of  Commons  had  been  practically 
unanimous,  but  they  were  only  agreed  to  with  reluctance  by  the  clerical 
majority  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

During  these  series  of  reforms,  the  chancellorship  had  been  held  by 
Sir  Thomas  More,  whose  tenure  of  office  is  chiefly  notable  for  his  per- 
secution of  the  reformers.     It  is  one  of  the  problems  of 
ligious  Re-   the  Eeformation  period   how  far  any  connection   can  be 
beSrf  *°"     traced  between  the  Lollards  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the 
Protestants  of  the  sixteenth  ;  but  it  is  generally  considered 
that  the  connection,  if  any,  was  slight,  and  that  the  origin  of  the  English 
movement  must  be  looked  for  in  Germany. 

Of  its  leaders  the  most  notable  was  William  Tyndal,  born  in  1484, 
who,  after  studying  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  conceived  the  idea  of 
translating  the  New  Testament,  and  made  a  proposal  to 
^"  ^  *  do  so  to  the  bishop  of  London,  Tunstall.  Meeting  no  en- 
couragement, however,  he  went  to  the  continent  and  joined  Luther,  and 
under  his  direction  translated  the  epistles  and  gospels,  printed  3000 
copies  of  his  work,  and  sent  them  over  to  England.     There  they  seem 


1582  .  Henry  Fill  409 

to  have  been  received  by  an  *  association  of  Christian  brothers,'  formed 
in  London  the  same  year,  who  distributed  them  and  other  religious 
works  about  the  country,  sowing  everywhere  the  seeds  of  the  Keforma- 
tion.  The  bishops  were  seriously  alarmed  ;  they  disapproved  of  Tyndal's 
translation,  but  so  long  as  Wolsey  continued  in  power,  no  personal  ill 
usage  was  inflicted  on  the  '  Christian  brothers.'  Wolsey  himself  was 
not  inclined  to  severity,  and  under  him  the  most  serious  punishment  for 
heresy  consisted  in  carrying  a  fagot  in  procession,  and  in  aiding  to  burn 
heretical  books.  But  after  his  fall,  Sir  Thomas  More  took  up  the 
business  of  extirpating  heresy  with  vigour,  perhaps  with  the  idea  of 
showing  that  the  reform  of  church  discipline  was  perfectly  consistent 
with  an  unflinching  persecution  of  heresy.  More,  before  becoming 
chancellor,  had  taken  part  in  a  controversy  with  some  of  the  new  thinkers, 
and  had  answered  a  tract  called  *  The  Supplication  of  Beggars,'  in  which 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory  was  ridiculed,  by  another  called  '  The  Supplica- 
tion of  Souls,'  and  had  also  engaged  in  disputes  with  Tyndal  More's 
and  other  Protestants.  He  now  brought  the  full  force  of  the  Persecution, 
law  to  bear  upon  his  old  antagonists,  and  burnings  of  heretics  at  Smith- 
field  became  numerous.  For  some  time,  however,  More  had  been  dis- 
satisfied with  the  way  in  which  events  were  tending,  and  particularly 
with  the  proposed  divorce,  and  in  May  1532  he  resigned  his  post  as 
chancellor. 

While  parliament  had  been  reforming  the  abuses  of  the  Church,  and 
More  had  been  burning  the  heretics,  Henry  had  never  ceased  to  negotiate 
with  the  pope  on  the  subject  of  his  divorce,  and  had  brought  The  Divorce 
every  means  to  bear  to  influence  the  papal  decision  in  his  negotiations, 
favour.  Among  these  was  a  plan  devised  by  Thomas  Cranmer,  a  Cam- 
bridge scholar.     Cranmer  was  the  son  of  a  Nottinghamshire  gentleman, 

born  in  1484.     He  had  been  a  fellow  of  Jesus  College,  and   ^ 

o  '  Cranmer 

afterwards  chaplain  to  Lord  Kochfort  and  tutor  to  Anne   suggests  an 
Boleyn.      Chancing   to  meet   Gardiner,  bishop   of  Win-   the  Univer- 
Chester,  he  suggested  that  the  king  should  take  the  opinion   *^^*^* 
of  the  universities.     '  This  man  has  got  the  right  sow  by  the  ear,'  said 
Henry  when  he  heard  of  the  plan  ;  and  commissioners  were  immediately 
sent  to  all  the  universities  of  Europe  to  obtain  their  opinion  on  the 
question.  Whether  the  pope  was  competent  to  allow  a  man  to  marry  his 
deceased  brother's  widow  ?    The  opinions  might  have  been  of  some  value 
if  there  had  been  any  pretence  of  freedom  ;  but  as  each  sovereign  used 
all  his  influence  to  control  the  decision  of  the  universities  under  his 
power,  they  were  quite  valueless,  and  merely  added  to  the  difficulties 
of  the  situation.     In  this  way  'the  king's  matter'  dragged  on  for  three 


410  TheTudors  1532 

years  without  any  sign  of  being  nearer  conclusion.     It  had  now  been  in 
agitation  at  least  six  years,  and  neither  Henry  nor  England  was  pre- 
pared to  wait  indefinitely.     Accordingly  in  1532,  Henry,  in  order  to  show 
the  pope  the  pecuniary  effect  of  a  breach  with  England,  allowed  parlia- 
Suspension    ^^^*  ^^  P^^^  ^^  ^^^  suspending  the  payment  of  annates, 
of  Annates,    firstfiuits,  and  Peter's  Pence,  but  giving  Henry  the  power 
and  Peter's    to  put  the  act  into  operation  when  he  saw  fit.     This  was 
ence.  ^j^^  g^^^  ^^^p  taken  by  parliament  towards  the  separation 

from  Rome.  The  same  year  Henry,  accompanied  by  Anne  Boleyn,  paid 
a  visit  to  Francis,  who  probably  advised  him  to  cut  the  diplomatic  knot 
by  marrying  Anne,  and  leaving  the  pope  to  do  his  worst.  This  advice 
Henry  took  ;  and  though  the  actual  day  of  the  marriage  is  not  known,  it 
is  certain  that  some  time  between  November  1532  and  January  1533, 
the  marriage  was  privately  celebrated.  Fortunately  for  Henry,  Arch- 
bishop Warham  had  died  during  the  year,  and  Henry  replaced  him  by 
Thomas  Cranmer,  on  whose  goodwill  he  could  rely.  Accordingly,  at  the 
Appeal  to     l>eginning   of  1533,  parliament  passed  an   act  abolishing 

Rome  appeals  to  Rome  in  all  questions  of  marriage  or  other  sub- 

abohshed.      .  . 

jects  that  came  before  the  ecclesiastical  courts.     This  made 

the  archbishop's  court  supreme,  and  Cranmer  was  immediately  directed 

to  try  the  question  of  the  legality  of  the  king's  first  marriage.     This  was 

Cranmer      ^0°®  ^^  ^  court  held  at  Dunstable  early  in  1533.   Katharine 

declares       refused    to    plead,    and    Cranmer   thereupon,   basing   his 

Henry's  n      .  .  ,  .    .  „      ,  ...  ■,-,■, 

marriage  decision  on  the  opmion  of  the  universities,  declared 
^^^  '  the  marriage  illegal.  Henry's  marriage  with  Anne  was 
immediately  made  public,  and  on  Whitsunday  she  was  crowned  at 
Westminster  with  the  utmost  magnificence.  When  she  became  queen, 
Anne  was  twenty-six  years  of  age.  Her  portraits  differ  very  much,  but 
leave  the  impression  that  she  was  of  dark  complexion,  with  eyes  of 
wonderful  meaning  and  vivacity,  and  she  had  long  black  hair  of  exquisite 
softness.  In  character  Anne  must  have  been  greatly  wanting  in  refine- 
ment. The  position  she  had  occupied  for  years  with  regard  to  the  late 
queen  was  most  ofi'ensive,  and  her  bearing  to  others  besides  Katharine 
clearly  shows  an  insolence  of  behaviour  which  ultimately  raised  up  bitter 
enemies  against  her.  The  magnificent  ceremony  of  the  coronation  was 
well  designed  to  enlist  the  feelings  of  the  people  in  favour  of  the  new 
queen. 

In  September  the  queen  bore  a  child,  afterwards  the  great  Elizabeth, 

^,.    ,     ,      and  an  Act  of  Succession  was  then  passed  settling  the 
Elizabeth.  ^  ° 

crown  on  the  children  of  Henry  and  Anne.     The  Succession 

Act  was  carefully  worded,  so  as  to  offend  as  little  as  possible  the  friends 


1532  Henry  Fill.  411 

of  Queen  Katharine  ;   but   Sir  Thomas  More  and  Fisher,  bishop  of 

Rochester,  refused  to  take  an  oath  to  abide  by  it,  and  were  both  sent 

to  the  Tower.     The  coronation  of  the  queen,  the  birth  of  The  Succes- 

Elizabeth,  and  the  Act  of  Succession  naturally  compelled  ®*°"  ^^^' 

the  pope  to  act.      Henry  was  threatened  with  excommunication,  and 

probably  nothing  but  the  distracted  condition  of  his  own  affairs  prevented 

the  emperor  from  undertaking  a  crusade  on  behalf  of  his  aunt.    All  hope 

of  reconciliation  rapidly  vanished,  and  in  1534  Henry  had   ^he  Act  of 

the  Act  of  Supremacy  passed.    This  Act  dropped  the  reser-    Supremacy. 

vations  made  by  convocation  in  1530,  but  at  the  same  time  declared  that 

the  king  and  parliament  did  not  intend  by  it  '  to  decline  or  vary  from 

the  congregation  of  Christ's  Church  in  any  thing  concerning  the  very 

articles  of  the  Catholic  faith  of  Christendom,  and  in  any  other  things 

declared  by  Scripture,  and  the  word  of  God.'     After  this  Act  the  king 

was  spoken  of  as  *  supreme  head  on  earth,  under  God,  of  the  Church  of 

England.' 

The  famous  Act  of  Supremacy  brought  to  a  close  the  series  of  measures 

which  separated  the  Church  of  England  from  the  Church  of  Rome.     By 

the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  Act  of  Pnemunire  the  pope   „ 

^  ^  ^      Separation 

had  been  deprived,  since  Wolsey's  fall,  of  his  power  of  inter-    from  Rome 

fering  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  English  Church  ;  by  the  ^°"^^ 
Act  of  1532  all  payments  to  Rome  had  been  stopped ;  in  1533 
appeals  had  been  prohibited,  and  the  Act  of  1534  completed  the  series. 
Some  regulations,  however,  were  necessary  for  the  new  order  of  things. 
The  authority  of  the  pope  was  divided  between  the  king  and  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  in  1535  a  proclamation  was  issued  naming 
Cromwell  vicar-general.  Meanwhile,  the  annates  and  firstfruits  of  the 
clergy  were  collected  as  usual,  but  the  king  reserved  them  for  his  own 
use,  possibly  at  first  with  the  idea  of  the  payment  being  resumed,  but 
afterwards  as  a  regular  source  of  income.  The  pope  was  also  excluded 
from  all  voice  in  the  election  of  bishops  (see  page  268).  ^he  election 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  wishes  of  °^  Bishops, 
both  king  and  pope  had  guided  the  election,  sometimes  one  sometimes 
the  other  being  the  more  influential ;  but  henceforward  the  king's  will 
alone  was  law,  and  the  penalties  of  Prcemunire  were  denounced  against 
the  whole  chapter  unless  a  majority  of  the  members  voted  for  the 
king's  nominee.  There  has  never  yet  been  an  instance  of  refusal.  In 
1535  all  the  bishops  were  suspended  and  restored  by  Henry,  so  that  the 
real  meaning  of  his  supremacy  might  be  clear  to  everybody. 

As  the  Act  of  Supremacy  formed  the  central  part  of  one  side  of  the 
Reformation,  the  reception  it  received  formed  a  test  by  which  Henry 


412  The  Tudors  1332 

could  judge  of  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects.  While  it  was  under  considera- 
tion he  had  taken  great  pains  to  influence  public  opinion.  Bishops 
Reception  of  i^Tid  friars  were  compelled  to  preach  the  view,  '  that  the 
the  Act.  bishop  of  Rome  hath  no  more  power  in   England  than 

any  other  foreign  bishop.'  Mayors  and  others  in  authority  were 
ordered  to  express  the  same  sentiments  at  table,  and  on  all  public 
occasions.  A  circular  was  even  sent  lo  the  justices  of  the  peace 
ordering  them  to  see  that  the  clergy  eradicated  '  the  memory  of  the 
pope,'  'not  coldly  or  feignedly.'  On  the  whole,  the  reception  of  the  Act 
was  favourable.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  met  with  remarkably  little 
opposition  ;  to  the  average  Englishman  it  mattered  little  whether  the 
officials  of  the  church  looked  to  the  king  or  to  Rome  for  their  head, 
and  even  the  bishops  and  abbots  accepted  the  change  for  the  most  part 
without  opposition. 

Three  notable  exceptions,  however,  demanded  the  attention   of  the 
government.    The  monks  of  the  London  Charter  House,  Fisher,  bishop  of 
Rochester,  and  Sir  Thomas  More  were  known  to  be  hostile  to 
thusians.     the  supremacy,  and  as  they  represented  respectively  the 
Fisher.       niost  pious  of  the  monastic  orders,  the  most  upright  and 
God-fearing  of  the  existing  prelates,  and  the  spirit  of  lay 
culture,  it  Avas  impossible  for  the  government  to  ignore  an 
opposition  that  was  certain  to  be  contagious.     Fisher  had  been  confessor 
to  Lady  Margaret,  the  mother  of  Henry  vii.,  and  had  incited  her  to 
found  St.  John's  and  Christ's   Colleges  at  Cambridge,  and  the  Lady 
Margaret  professorships  of  divinity.     He  was  in  high  favour  at  Rome, 
and  when  the  news  of  his  arrest  reached  the  pope,  a  cardinal's  hat  was 
foolishly  bestowed  upon  him  to  the  great  indignation  of  Henry.     Osten- 
sibly  Fisher's  only  fault  was  his  reluctance  to  accept  the  supremacy, 
but   it  is  certain  that  he  had  written  to  the  pope  advising  an  armed 
invasion  of  England — an  act  of  undoubted  treason.      In  the  case  of  all 
these  malcontents  Henry  would  certainly  have  been  glad  to  find  a  means 
of  mercy,  but  their  firmness  was  inexhaustible,  and  eventually  ten  of  the 
Charter  House  monks  were  hanged.     Fisher  was  beheaded  on  the  22nd 
June  1535,  and  More  on  July  6  of  the  same  year. 

In  all  these  proceedings  Henry's  right-hand  man  had  been  Wolsey's 
old  servant,  Cromwell.  Thomas  Cromwell,  the  first  great  English 
Thomas  secretary  of  state,  is  believed  to  have  been  born  about 
Cromwell.  1485^  and  was  the  son  of  a  small  ironmaster  at  Putney. 
He  was  brought  up  as  an  attorney  and  an  accountant,  but  left  England 
in  1504,  and  for  some  time  took  part  in  the  wars  in  Italy.  After 
engaging  in  business  in  Antwerp  he  returned  to  England  and  went 


1535  Henry  VIII .  413 

into  business  in  London,  combining  attorney's  work  with  money- 
lending  and  speculation  in  wool.  There  he  attracted  the  attention 
of  Wolsey,  and  was  appointed  by  him  to  act  as  collector  of  revenues 
in  the  diocese  of  York,  and  was  also  employed  in  the  dissolution 
of  those  monasteries  whose  property  was  transferred  to  Cardinal  College. 
He  also  made  his  mark  in  the  parliament  of  1523.  After  Wolsey's  fall, 
he  attached  himself  to  Henry,  who  thoroughly  appreciated  his  ability, 
and  for  ten  years  he  was  the  most  influential  layman  in  England  in 
everything  that  concerned  ecclesiastical  matters. 

Side  by  side  with  Cromwell  stood  Hugh  Latimer,  the  son  of  a 
yeoman  farmer  of  Leicestershire  who  fought  at  Blackheath.  At  four- 
teen Latimer  went  to  Cambridge,  and  at  nineteen  became  Hugh 
fellow  of  Clare  Hall,  and  began  his  controversial  life  by  Latimer, 
writing  against  Melanchthon.  In  1520,  however,  he  began  to  attack  the 
abuses  of  the  Church  as  he  saw  them  in  England,  and  as  he  was  an  able 
and  fearless  preacher  he  soon  began  to  attract  attention.  The  bishop  of 
Ely  tried  to  silence  him ;  but  Wolsey,  liking  Latimer's  boldness,  gave 
him  full  licence  to  preach.  After  Wolsey's  fall,  Latimer  was  fortunate 
in  securing  a  patron  in  Henry  who,  appreciating  the  humour  and  bold- 
ness of  his  sermons,  made  him  his  chaplain,  protected  him  in  1532 
when  the  bishops  tried  to  entrap  him  into  a  confession  of  heresy,  and  in 
1535  made  him  bishop  of  Worcester. 

The  king's  second  marriage  did  not  turn  out  well.  The  birth  of  an 
heir  was  anxiously  looked  for,  and,  unfortunately,  of  Anne's  three  children 
the  two  boys  were  born  dead.  The  last  died  on  the  29th  paii  of  Anne 
of  January  1535,  and  Henry  was  bitterly  disappointed.  Boleyn. 
Meanwhile,  a  strong  party  against  Anne  had  been  growing  up  ;  she  was 
disliked  by  the  old  nobility  because  of  her  insolence,  and  by  the  Spanish 
party  as  representing  the  alliance  with  France.  Her  friendliness  to  the 
Protestants  secured  her  the  hatred  of  the  orthodox  ;  and  when  Queen 
Katharine  died  in  January  1535,  it  was  seriously  asserted  that  Anne 
had  procured  her  removal  by  poison.  Suddenly,  however,  in  April  1535, 
it  was  rumoured  that  she  had  been  accused  of  adultery,  and  she  and  five 
gentlemen  were  arrested.  Anne  was  tried  by  her  peers,  the  gentlemen 
by  various  juries,  but  all  were  found  guilty  and  put  to  death.  The 
whole  afiair  remains  a  mystery,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  Anne 
was  guilty  of  the  most  abominable  conduct,  or  whether  she  was  the 
victim  of  a  conspiracy ;  it  is,  however,  certain  that  Henry  believed  the 
evidence  against  her.  Anne's  tragic  death  only  made  the  succession 
question  more  complicated  still ;  but  now  that  she  and  Katharine  were 
both  dead,  Henry  was  free  to  contract  a  marriage  of  undoubted  legality, 


414  The  Tudor s  1535 

and  accordingly  within  a  few   days   he  married  Jane   Seymour,   by 
Jane  whom  in   1536  he  had  a  son,  Edward.      Unluckily  the 

Seymour,     queen  died  within  a  few   days   of  his  birth,  and  Henry 
remained  unmarried  for  four  years. 

We  saw  that  Wolsey  had  appreciated  the  necessity  of  reforming  the 
monasteries.      The  abolition  of  the  papal  authority  in  England  had 
The  Mon-     brought   the  monks  under  the   direct  jurisdiction   of  the 
astenes.       king,  and  probably  no  class  resented  the  change  which  had 
taken  place  more  than  the  religious  orders,  or  were  more  willing  to 
engage  in  seditious  resistance.     Besides  this,  the  necessity  for  monastic 
reform  had  been  recognised  for  years.     Morton,  Warham,  and  Wolsey 
had  each  carried  out  visitations  which  revealed  widespread  corruption, 
but  had  been  unable  to  cope  with  it  effectively.     Accordingly,  in  1535, 
.    .       Henry  through  Cromwell  issued  a  commission  to  Legh,  Ley- 
of  inspec-        ton,  and  Ap  Rice  to  inspect  the  monasteries.     The  commis- 
sioners were  young  and  energetic  men,  with  few  scruples, 
and  they  did  their  work  thoroughly  ;  and  when  parliament  met  in  1536, 
their  report,  known  as  the  Black  Book  of  the  Monasteries,  was  laid  on  the 
table  of  the  House  of  Commons.     As  all  procurable  copies  of  this  were 
destroyed  under  Queen  Mary,  the  report  itself  has  not  come  down  to  us ; 
but  the  letters  of  the  commissioners  have  been  preserved,  and  these, 
coupled  with  the  reports  of  previous  visitations,  leave  no  room  for  doubt 
as  to  the  condition  of  the  religious  houses.    The  larger  seem  as  a  whole  to 
have  been  fairly  well  conducted,  though,  usually,  their  financial  condition 
was  very  bad ;  but  some  of  the  smaller  houses  were  in  a  terrible  state,  and, 
undoubtedly,  were  the  abodes  of  abominable  vices.     The  commissioners 
themselves  had  done  a  good  deal  by  way  of  reform ;  they  had  allowed  all 
monks  under  twenty -four,  and  nuns  under  twenty-one,  who  wished  to 
leave  the  abbeys  to  do  so,  and  they  had  everywhere  insisted  that  those 
who  remained  should  confine  themselves  to  their  monasteries  and  should 
obey  the  strict  rules  of  their  order.     However,  when  the  full  report  was 
laid  before  parliament,  and  the  widespread  nature  of  the  evil  appeared, 
the  members  concluded  that  in  the  case  of  the  smaller  monasteries  reform 
was  hopeless,  and  with  the  exception  of  about  thirty  abbeys,  which  had 
been  reported  free  from  stain,  all  the  religious  houses  having 
monasteries    an  income  less  than  £200  a  year — to  the  number  of  376 — 
isso  ve  .        ^ffQYQ  dissolved,  and  their  incomes  given  to  the  king.     The 
inmates  were  allowed  either  to  migrate  to  a  larger  monastery  or  to  go 
free,  with  a  pension  about  equivalent  to  the  income  of  an  ordinary  parish 
priest.     At  that  date  there  was  no  idea  of  touching  the  greater  monas- 
teries, though  Stokesley,  bishop  of  London,  remarked  that  '  the  putrified 


ine  Henry  Fill.  415 

old  oaks  must  soon  follow.'  The  houses  affected  by  this  change  were 
chiefly  Benedictine,  Cluniac,  and  Cistercian.  The  Friaries  also  were 
included. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Henry's  proceedings  would  fail  to  rouse 
a  strong  opposition.  The  old  Spanish  party,  attached  to  Katharine  and 
the  imperial  alliance,  were  naturally  aggrieved.  The  ecclesi-  Rise  of 
astical  changes  had  aroused  a  very  bitter  feeling  among  the  opposition, 
lower  clergy,  while  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  produced  a  fresh 
crop  of  malcontents.  The  first  open  attempt  at  spreading  disaffection 
was  connected  with  the  celebrated  Nun  of  Kent.  Elizabeth  The  Nun  of 
Barton  was  a  servant  girl,  subject  to  fits,  who  on  the  strength  ^^"*- 
of  some  religious  ravings  had  been  made  a  sort  of  oracle  and  admitted 
into  a  monastery.  Her  prophecies  had  been  sent  to  Wolsey,  and  she  had 
been  seriously  examined,  at  one  time  or  another,  by  Fisher  and  Sir 
Thomas  More.  At  length  it  became  clear  that  she  was  being  used  as 
the  tool  of  some  priests,  who  taught  her  to  denounce  the  divorce  and  the 
separation  from  Kome.  On  being  examined  by  Cromwell  she  made  a 
confession  of  imposture,  and  she  and  her  confederates  were  put  to  death 
in  1534.  Throughout  1635  a  large  amount  of  intrigue  was  going  on, 
connected  with  a  proposed  invasion  of  England  by  the  emperor,  to  which 
no  less  than  fifteen  noblemen  were  said  to  have  given  their  consent  The 
death  of  Katharine,  in  January  1536,  put  a  stop  to  this  ;  but  the  spirit 
of  disaffection  was  still  widespread,  and  wanted  nothing  but  a  spark  to 
cause  a  considerable  conflagration. 

.  Discontent  was  particularly  strong  in  the  northern  counties  of  England. 
In  those  days  the  difference  between  the  England  north  of  the  Trent  and 
south  of  it  was  so  marked  as  to  constitute  them  almost  Discontent 
two  difl'erent  countries.  The  northerners,  hardened  by  the  *"  ^^^  north, 
savage  experiences  of  the  Scottish  wars  and  closely  attached  to  the  great 
baronial  families,  regarded  the  southerners  with  aversion,  and  were  as 
ready  for  invasion  and  pillage  as  they  had  been  in  the  Wars  of  the  Koses. 
They  had,  moreover,  special  causes  of  grievance.  The  monasteries  were 
much  more  popular  in  the  north,  where  they  were  less  out  of  date  than 
in  the  south.  Much  annoyance  had  lately  been  caused  by  the  hearing 
in  London  of  suits  which  used  to  be  settled  in  their  own  country.  The 
Statute  of  Uses  had  caused  serious  inconvenience  by  practically  making 
it  impossible  for  landowners  to  make  charges  upon  their  estates  for  the 
benefit  of  their  younger  sons  and  daughters.  To  the  nobles  it  seemed 
disgraceful  that  an  upstart  like  Cromwell  should  be  called  to  sit  among 
the  ancient  barons  of  the  realm.  Lastly,  the  substitution  of  sheep-farming 
for  agriculture,  due  to  the  great  rise  in  the  price  of  wool,  had  caused  much 


416  The  Tudor s  1536 

hardship  among  the  poorer  classes  by  diminishing  the  demand  for  labour 
and  by  stimulating  the  enclosure  of  commons.  Nobles,  gentry,  and  com- 
monalty, therefore,  had  each  their  special  grievance,  and  it  was  a  question 
whether  they  could  be  brought  to  act  in  common  against  the  government. 
Besides  these  real  grievances  all  sorts  of  rumours  were  afloat.  Cromwell's 
excellent  plan  of  parish  registers  was  represented  as  the  design  for  levy- 
ing taxation  on  weddings  and  christenings,  and  it  was  said  that  no  man 
would  be  allowed  to  eat  meat  in  his  house  without  paying  a  duty  to  the 
king.  The  result  of  all  these  causes  of  sedition  was  a  series  of  outbreaks 
which,  beginning  in  Lincolnshire,  spread  thence  through  Yorkshire  to 
Cumberland,  and  kept  the  north  in  commotion  from  the  beginning  of 
October  1536  till  February  1537. 

In  Lincolnshire  the  outbreak  was  almost  confined  to  the  clergy  and 
commons.  It  had  no  organisation ;  and  though  at  one  time  many  thousand 
Outbreak       ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  arms,  the  rebel  host  melted  away  before  the 
in  Lincoln-    advance  of  the  duke  of  Suffolk.     In  Yorkshire  it  was  much 
more  formidable,  and  took  the  name  of  the  Pilgrimage  of 
Grace.     The  leaders  were  men  of  good  family.    Eobert  Aske,  its  chief 
organiser,  was  a  cousin  of  the  earl  of  Cumberland,  and  his  chief  sup- 
Th   PI        porters  were  Lord  Darcy,  an  excellent  soldier,  and  Sir  John 
grimage  of  Constable,  and  they  were  supported  by  most  of  the  best 
families  of  the  north.     Their  plans  were  well  laid,  and  they 
advanced  with  a  picked  force  to  Doncaster,  demanding  that  the  religious 
houses  should  be  restored,  that  villein  blood  should  be  removed  from  the 
privy  council,  and  that  heretic  bishops  should  be  deprived  and  punished. 
There  they  found  the  river  Don  guarded  by  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  with 
a  much  inferior  force.     Aske,  however,  wished,  if  possible,  to  avoid 
bloodshed ;  and  Henry,  finding  it  necessary  to   temporise,  authorised 
Norfolk  to  grant  a  full  pardon  to  the  rebels,  and  to  promise  a  parliament 
at  York.     The  armies  then  disbanded,  and  Henry  used  all  his  influence 
to  regain  the  goodwill  of  the  gentry,  so  as  to  divide  his  opponents. 
Meanwhile,  a  new  insurrection  had  broken  out  in  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland, where  the   rebels    attacked    Carlisle  ;  and  in  Yorkshire   the 
spread  of  the  belief  that,  after  all,  the  king  had  deceived  them,  caused 
fresh  trouble.     Of  this  Henry  took  advantage  to  arrest  Aske  and  the 
other  leaders.     At  their  trial  it  was  shown  that  they  still  had  in  their 
hands  artillery  which  belonged  to  the  king,  and  accordingly  they  were 
convicted  of  treason.     Aske,  Darcy,  Constable,  four  abbots — those  of 
Fountains,  Jervaulx,  Barlings,  and   Sawley — and  a  few  of  the  other 
leaders  suffered  death,  but  except  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  the 
rebels  were  treated  with  lenity.      The  crisis  was  a  most  severe  one, 


1639  Henry  FIIL  417 

and  had  the  rebels  been  supported  by  the  emperor,  or  had  they  been 
able  to  put  at  their  head  a  plausible  claimant  to  the  crown,  the  result 
might  have  been  very  different.  As  it  was,  little  or  nothing  was  effected  ; 
no  parliament  was  held  at  York,  and  the  chief  permanent  result  was  the 
establishment  of  the  council  of  the  north,  which  was  a  com-  The  council 
mittee  of  the  privy  council,  and  sat  for  four  months  of  the  °*^  *^^  north, 
year  at  York,  Hull,  Newcastle,  and  Durham  for  the  purpose  of  trying 
cases  which  would  otherwise  have  been  taken  to  London.  The  president 
of  the  court  acted  as  the  king's  representative  in  the  north,  and  had  a 
general  responsibility  for  its  government.  The  Statute  of  statute 
Uses  was  still  nominally  enforced,  but  in  practice  the  court  °^  ^^^^* 
of  chancery  found  means  to  recognise  the  duties  of  trustees,  and  so 
removed  the  grievance  complained  of. 

The  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  as  the  rebels  called  their  movement,  served 
rather  to  accelerate  than  retard  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries. 
Consciousness  of  treason  made  many  of  the  inmates  anxious  to  con- 
ciliate the  king  ;  the  irksomeness  of  the  stricter  life  which  the  commis* 
sioners  had  enforced  made  their  condition  distasteful,  and  d      f 

probably  with  the  superior  monks  the  liberal  provision  made  the  greater 
by  the  king  may  have  had  its  influence.    At  any  rate,  in 
1536  the  larger  abbeys   began,  one  after  another,  to  surrender  their 
property  to  the  king.     The  first  large  house  to  surrender  was  Furness. 
Other  monasteries  were  cajoled  into  making  what  they  believed  to  be 
merely  a  formal  surrender  of  their  property.     In  some  cases  the  property 
of  a  monastery  was  most  tyrannically  forfeited  on  account  of  the  treason 
of  the  abbot ;  but  in  one  way  or  another,  before  1539,  all  had  put  them- 
selves at  the  king's  disposal.  The  monks  were  treated  with  great  liberality. 
At  Tewkesbury  the  abbot  received  over  ;£250  a  year,  the  prior  £16,  and 
the  monks  variable  amounts  ranging  from  £13  to  £6,  13s.  4d.,  which 
may  be  reckoned  at  about  fifteen  times  the  amount  in  modern  coinage 
The  goods  and  chattels  of  the  abbeys  were  sold,  but,  except  the  lead, 
produced  very  little  ;  the  lands  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  king. 

The  acquisition  of  such  an  enormous  amount  of  property — for  the 
monastic  revenues  were  worth  in  our  money  £6,500,000 — gave  an  immense 
opportunity.      Some  wished  to  use  it  for  the  purpose  of 
increasing  the  number  of  bishoprics  and  the  foundation  of  the  Abbey- 
colleges  and  schools;  others,  for  the  reduction  of  taxation  and     ^"  ^* 
the  fortification  of  the   coast.     Henry,   however,  saw  that  the  most 
practical  use  to  make  of  it  was  to  use  it  as  a  fund  for  securing  a  party 
for  the  Reformation  ;  and  the  main  part  of  the  land  was  sold  at  a  low 
price  either  to   the  neighbouring  proprietors  or  to  Henry's  friends  at 

2d 


418  'TheTudors  1539 

court.  Six  new  bishoprics  were  created — those  of  Westminster,  Oxford, 
Chester,  Gloucester,  Bristol,  and  Peterborough  ;  and  six  great  Benedic- 
tine monasteries  were  refounded  as  secular  chapters  for  these  sees.  The 
old  cathedral  monasteries,  such  as  Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  were 
turned  into  secular  foundations  with  a  dean  and  canons.  Some 
money  was  spent  on  the  fortification  of  the  coast.  The  vast 
majority,  however,  of  the  land  passed  into  the  hands  of  individuals 
— some  of  it  in  huge  estates  with  which  Henry  and  his  successors 
rewarded  the  services  of  the  Russells,  Seymours,  Dudleys,  Cavendishes, 
and  Cecils,  but  most  of  it  in  smaller  portions — so  that  within  twenty 
years  it  was  stated  that  forty  thousand  families  were  interested  in 
the  retention  of  the  abbey  lands.  The  effect  of  this  policy  was  to 
identify  the  Reformation  with  the  material  interests  of  an  important 
section  of  the  community,  and  to  erect  a  most  formidable  barrier  against 
any  return  to  the  old  ways.  The  results  of  the  dissolution  of  the  monas- 
teries were  many  and  various ;  the  removal  of  the  abbots 
Some  results 
of  the  Dis-       from  the  House  of  Lords   had   the  effect  of  placing  the 

so  u  ion.  spiritual  peers  in  a  permanent  minority,  and  so  of  increasing 
the  relative  importance  of  that  house.  The  distribution  of  the  monastic 
property  to  laymen  created  a  set  of  landlords  more  grasping  if  more 
active  than  their  predecessors,  and  increased  the  evils  of  pasturage  and 
enclosure.  At  the  same  time,  the  abolition  of  the  monasteries  deprived 
the  poor  and  sick  of  the  neighbourhood  of  a  charity  to  which  they  had 
grown  accustomed,  so  aggravating  an  evil  which  had  already  assumed 
serious  proportions.  To  the  reformers,  however,  the  fall  of  the 
monasteries  appeared  an  unmixed  blessing  ;  as  Spenser,  the  Puritan  poet 
of  the  century,  wrote  :  '  The  thirsty  land  drank  up  his  blood,  his  corse 
ay  on  the  strand.' 

Though  Charles  had  given  no  assistance  to  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace, 
the  fear  of  an  invasion  from  the  Netherlands  had  been  by  no  means 
Conspiracy  removed,  and  in  1538  the  government  became  aware  of  a 
of  the  Poles,  most  formidable  conspiracy.  The  centre  of  this  movement 
was  Reginald  Pole,  the  second  son  of  Margaret,  countess  of  Salisbury 
and  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Clarence,  who  had  married  Sir  R.  Pole. 
Reginald  Pole  had  been  a  great  favourite  of  Henry  viii.,  and  had  received 
a  deai^ery  and  several  canonries  before  he  was  nineteen.  At  first  he 
favoured  the  divorce,  but  afterwards  wrote  a  pamphlet  against  it,  and  a 
Latin  treatise  on  ecclesiastical  unity;  for  which  the  pope  made  him  a 
cardinal  and  Henry  had  him  attainted.  In  1536  Pole  was  sent  to  the 
Netherlands  with  a  commission  from  the  pope  calling  on  Charles  to 
invade   England.     The  natural  result  of  Pole's  conduct  was  to  throw 


W89  Eeivry  VIIL  419 

suspicion  upon  his  relations.  His  elder  brother,  Henry,  Lord  Montague, 
had  married  a  daughter  of  Lord  Abergavenny,  a  member  of  the  Neville 
family,  and  was  on  terras  of  close  intimacy  with  Henry  Courtenay, 
marquis  of  Exeter,  the  son  of  Katharine,  daughter  of  Edward  iv.  The 
power  of  the  marquis  of  Exeter  in  the  west  was  as  great  as  that  of  the 
Howards  in  Norfolk,  or  the  Percies  in  Northumberland,  and  this 
attempt  to  bring  together  the  Nevilles,  the  Courtenays,  and  the  line  of 
Edward  iv.,  pointed  to  a  very  real  danger  in  case  of  invasion.  Cromwell, 
however,  was  well  prepared  ;  Geoffrey  Pole,  Eeginald's  younger  brother, 
turned  traitor,  and  on  his  evidence  the  marquis  of  Exeter  and  Lord 
Montague  were  found  guilty  of  treason  and  beheaded  in  1539.  The 
countess  of  Salisbury  also  was  implicated  and  sent  to  the  Tower,  but 
was  not  tried  and  put  to  death  till  1541.^ 

Meanwhile,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  ecclesiastical  changes 
which  had  been  made,  and  the  religious  ferment  on  the  continent,  were 
rapidly  dividing  England  into  two  sections — those  who.    Religious 
while  gladly  accepting  the  separation   from  Rome,  were    l^^visions. 
determined  to  preserve  the  orthodox  belief,  and  those  who  were  prepared 
to  go  further  in  the  direction  of  reform.     At  the  head  of  the  former  party 
were  Norfolk,  Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Bonner,  bishop  of 
London  ;  while  the  other  was  led  by  Cranmer  and  Latimer.     Henry  was 
in  favour  of  the  former  so  far  as  doctrine  was  concerned,  but  agreed  with 
the  latter  in  pushing  forward  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  and   Translation 
Cromwell  took  much  the  same  line.     All  copies  of  Tyndal's   of  ^^e  Bible. 
Bible  had  been  as  far  as  possible  destroyed  ;  but  in  1534  Cranmer  per- 
suaded convocation  to  authorise  a  revision  of  it.     Little  progress,  how- 
ever, was  made  ;  so  Cromwell  employed  Miles  Coverdale,  who  was  then 
residing  in  Germany,  to  make  a  new  translation,  which  he  completed  in 
1535,  with  the  advice  and  approval  of  Tyndal.     In  1536  Tyndal  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Inquisition  and  was  burnt,  but  in  1537  John  Rogers 

1  THE  POLES. 
George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  =  Isabel  Neville,  daughter  of  the 


brother  of  Edward  iv., 
d.  1478. 


Earl  of  Warwick, 
d.  1477. 


I  I 

Margaret,  =  Sir  Richard  Pole.  Edward  Plantagenet, 


Countess  of  Salisbury, 
executed  1541. 


Earl  of  Warwick, 
executed  1499. 


Henry  Pole,  Reginald,  Geoffrey. 

Lord  Montacute,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

executed  1539.  and  Cardinal,  d.  1558. 


420  .The  Tudors  1539 

put  together  all  Tyndal's  work,  which  included  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  Old  Testament  from  Genesis  to  the  Second  Book  of 
Chronicles,  giving  the  remainder  in  Coverdale's  translation.  This  he 
published  under  the  assumed  name  of  Matthew,  and  Cromwell  persuaded 
the  king  to  give  it  his  licence.  Cranmer  wrote  a  preface  for  it,  and  in 
1539  it  was  placed  in  churches  as  '  The  Great  Bible.'  In  the  same  year 
Henry  allowed  private  persons  to  have  Bibles,  and  new  editions  were 
quickly  sold. 

If  the  translation  of  the  Bible  was  a  success  for  the  reforming  party, 
the  Act  of  the  Six  Articles  was  a  triumph  for  their  opponents.  In  1539 
Act  of  the  a  new  parliament  met,  and  at  once  took  into  consideration 
Six  Articles,  ^^iq  condition  of  religious  belief.  The  laity  at  this  date  were 
extremely  sensitive  to  any  imputation  of  heresy,  and,  led  by  the  duke  of 
Norfolk,  the  lords,  in  spite  of  some  opposition  from  Cranmer  and  Latimer, 
agreed  upon  an  Act  which  imposed  upon  the  nation  the  belief  and  practice 
of  Six  Articles  of  Catholic  doctrine,  and  it  passed  the  lower  house  by 
acclamation.  The  Act  asserted  (1)  truth  of  Transubstantiation  ;  (2)  that 
communion  in  both  kinds  was  not  necessary  ;  (3)  that  priests  might  not 
marry  ;  (4)  that  vows  of  chastity  ought  to  be  observed  ;  (5)  that  private 
masses  ought  to  be  continued  ;  (6)  that  auricular  confession  must  be 
retained.  The  penalty  for  denying  the  first  was  death  ;  for  the  rest, 
forfeiture  of  property  for  the  first  offence,  death  for  the  second.  Henry 
had  suggested  that  in  every  case  a  written  statement  of  his  heresy  should 
be  given  to  the  accused  before  trial,  and  that  the  trial  should  take  place 
in  open  court,  but  these  modifications  were  not  accepted.  The  passing 
of  this  Act  was  a  great  blow  to  the  advanced  party,  and  Latimer,  the  most 
fearless  among  them,  at  once  resigned  his  see.  There  is  little  doubt, 
however,  that  it  exactly  represented  the  position  of  the  average  English- 
man who  wished  to  see  the  Church  of  England  separated  from  Rome,  but 
retaining  the  old  faith  unaltered.  On  July  30,  1540,  a 
PrSestants  typical  execution  took  place.  Three  priests,  Abel,  Feather- 
CathoHcs^"  stone,  and  Powel,  attainted  by  parliament  as  traitors  for 
denying  the  royal  supremacy,  and  three  Protestants,  Barnes, 
Gerard,  and  Jerome,  also  attainted  by  parliament  for  heresies  '  too  long 
to  be  repeated,'  were  dragged  in  pairs  on  hurdles  to  Smithfield  and  there 
put  to  death. 

Ever  since  the  Reformation  became  the  question  of  the  day  a  division 
had  arisen  in  foreign  politics  similar  to  that  which  had  existed  on  religious 

Foreign       matters.     While  the  advanced  reformers  wished  to  connect 

Politics.  England  with  the  general  reforming  movement  on  the  con- 
tinent, their  opponents  were  desirous  of  holding  aloof.   In  1530  the  German 


1540  Henry  VIIL  421 

reformers  had  formed  the  League  of  Schmalkalden  for  mutual  defence;  and 
in  1539  it  was  hoped  that  the  confederates  might  form  an  alliance  with 
Francis.  If  Henry  joined  this,  all  danger  of  invasion  by  the  emperor 
would  be  removed,  and  Cromwell  strongly  urged  Henry  to  do  so.  The 
king  agreed,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  alliance  should  be  Anne  of 
cemented  by  a  marriage  with  Anne  of  Cleves,  the  sister  of  ^^^^^s. 
the  duke  of  Cleves,  whose  territory  occupied  a  most  important  position 
on  the  lower  Rhine,  linking  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany  with 
France  and  the  Netherlands.  Unfortunately  the  negotiations  for  the 
marriage  had  hardly  been  completed  when  the  scheme  for  a  general 
alliance  broke  down.  Nevertheless  Henry  determined  to  fulfil  his  en- 
gagement ;  and,  as  Anne  had  been  represented  to  him  as  a  beautiful  girl, 
he  looked  forward  to  the  marriage  with  pleasure.  However,  when  Anne 
arrived  she  turned  out  to  be  extraordinarily  plain  ;  and  though  Henry 
went  through  the  marriage  ceremony,  he  was  soon  determined  on  a 
divorce.  This  was  arranged  in  a  way  most  disgraceful  to  the  clergy  ;  but 
Anne  herself  seems  to  have  readily  acquiesced  in  the  loss  of  her  husband 
in  return  for  a  pension,  and  lived  happily  afterwards  in  England  for 
many  years. 

The  failure  of  the  alliance  and  the  king's  disgust  with  his  marriage  were 
fatal  to  Cromwell.  For  some  time  his  power  had  been  growing  more  pre- 
carious. By  the  old  nobility  he  was  detested  with  a  hatred  pall  of 
worse  than  that  with  which  they  had  regarded  Wolsey  ;  and  Cromwell, 
at  the  very  first  symptom  of  the  king's  withdrawing  his  favour,  he  was 
attacked  on  all  sides.  A  short  time  before,  Cromwell  had  asked  the 
judges  whether  an  act  of  attainder  passed  without  the  accused  being 
heard  in  his  own  defence  would  be  good  at  law  ;  the  judges  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  and  this  opinion  was  now  used  against  himself.  The 
attack  was  led  by  the  duke  of  Norfolk  and  Gardiner.  It  was  not  easy 
to  show  that  he  had  committed  treason  ;  but  a  charge  that  he  had  ex- 
ceeded his  powers  in  the  execution  of  his  office  was  stretched  to  mean 
that  he  had  encroached  on  the  royal  authority,  and  he  was  attainted 
of  treason  and  beheaded  in  July  1540.  Cromwell  was  undoubtedly 
an  extremely  able  man  and  the  first  of  the  line  of  English  lay  states- 
men. During  the  ten  years  of  his  power  he  had  exercised  very  great 
influence  over  Henry,  and  was  rightly  regarded  by  the  old  nobility 
as  their  most  formidable  opponent.  Cromwell's  sister's  son,  Richard 
Williams,  took  the  name  of  Cromwell,  and  was  the  great-great-grand- 
father of  the  Protector. 

Cromwell's  fall  may  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  reaction  which  had 
produced  in  the  passing  of  the  Six  Articles.     Another  symptom  of 


422  The  Tudms  1540; 

it  was  Henry's  marriage  to  Katharine  Howard,  niece  of  the  duke  of 
Norfolk,  and  daughter  of  Sir  Edmund  Howard  who  was  killed  in 
Katharine  1513.^  Unluckily,  after  two  years  it  was  indisputably 
Howard.  proved  that  she  had  behaved  badly  both  before  and  after 
her  marriage,  and  she  was  put  to  death,  and  the  king  soon  afterwards 
Katharine  married  Katharine  Parr,  widow  of  Lord  Latimer.  She 
Parr.  ^^^  ^  good  and  discreet  person,  and  made  Henry  an  ex- 

cellent wife  during  his  last  years. 

The  reign  of  Henry  saw  several  important  changes  made  in  the  relations 

between  different  portions  of  the  king's  dominions.     Hitherto  Wales  and 

the  county  palatine  of  Chester  had  been  unrepresented  in  the 

Incorpora-  .  . 

tion  of  English  parliament.    In  1536  this  distinction  was  abolished. 

Twenty-four  members  for  Wales,  four  for  Cheshire,  and 
three  for  Monmouthshire,  took  their  seats  in  parliament.  The  lands  of 
the  lords-marcher  were  abolished.  The  old  Welsh  shires  were  enlarged, 
and  five  new  shires — Denbigh,  Radnor,  Montgomery,  Brecon,  and  Mon- 
mouth— were  established.  A  council  similar  to  the  Council  of  the 
North  began  to  sit  at  Ludlow,  under  a  president ;  it  heard  appeals  from 
the  Welsh   courts,  and  was  generally  responsible  for  the  good  order 

of  the  principality.      In  Ireland  more  than  one  rebellion 
Ireland.  i.        » 

occurred  during  the  reign,  but  in  1536  the  power  of  the 

turbulent  Fitz-Geralds  was  broken  by  wholesale  executions ;  and,  in 
1542,  Henry  brought  Ireland  a  step  nearer  to  the  English  crown  by  ex- 
changing the  title  of  lord  for  that  of  king  of  Ireland. 

Between   the  battle  of  Flodden  and  1542  there  was  no   open   war 


1  THE  HOWARDS. 

John  Howard, 
created  Duke  of  Norfolk,  killed  at  Bosworth,  1485. 

Thomas,  Earl  of  Surrey, 
won  battle  of  Flodden,  1513,  restored  to  the  dukedom,  1514,  d.  1514. 

Thomas,  Duke       Edmund  Howard.       William  Howard,       Elizabeth  =  Thomas 
of  Norfolk,  I  created  Lord  Howard    Howard.      Boleyn. 

d.  1554.  Katharine  Howard,  of  Effingham.  I 

m.  Henry  VIII.,  |  Anne  Boleyn, 

executed  1542.  Charles,  m.  Henry  viii., 

second  son  of  Lord  Howard     executed  1536. 
j  of  Effingham,  defeated  the  | 

Henrv  Earl  of  Surrey  Armada,  1588,  created       Queen  Elizabeth, 

beheaded  1547  Earl  of  Nottingham,  1590,  1558-1603. 

I  '  d.  1624. 

Thomas,  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
beheaded  1572  (great-grandfather 
of  Lord  Stafford,  executed  in  1680). 


1544  Henry  Fill.  423 

between  England  and  Scotland,  but  the  border  lords  kept  up  a  perpetual 
strife,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  weaken  the  country  by  promoting 
internal  dissensioD,      It  might  have  been  hoped  that  the 
young  king,  James  v.,  would  have  been  friendly  to  his  uncle ; 
but  when  he  grew  up  he  threw  himself  into  the  French  alliance,  and 
married  successively  Magdalen,  daughter  of  the  French  king,  and  after- 
wards Mary  of  Guise.     The  result  was  to  accentuate  the  border  quarrels ; 
and,  in  1542,  James  led  an  army  to  the  border.     The  occasion,  however, 
was  seized  by  some  of  the  Scottish  nobles  to  show  their  dislike  of  James' 
favourites  ;  and  when  the  English  army,  composed  of  border 
farmers,  made  its  appearance  at  Sol  way  Moss,  the  Scots  fled    Solway 
in  disgraceful  rout.     This  broke  James'  heart ;  and  in  a       °^^' 
few  days  he  died,  leaving  his  crown  to  his  daughter  Mary,  an  infant  of  a 
week  old.     Henry  at  once  took  advantage  of  this  turn  of   Mary  Queen 
affairs  to  suggest  a  marriage  between  his  son  Edward  and   °^  Scots, 
the  young  queen.     The  proposal  was  of  course  viewed  with  favour  by 
the  English  party  in  Scotland,  but  was  disliked  by  the  French,  whose 
traditional  policy  of  playing  off  Scotland  against  England  would  have 
been  destroyed  by  it.     However,  in  1543,  a  treaty  for  the  marriage  was 
completed  ;  but  Cardinal  Beaton  and  the  French  party  acting  in  concert 
with  Mary  of  Guise,  threw  every  obstacle  in  the  way,  and  finally  getting 
the  upper  hand,  entered  upon  an  alliance  with  France.    Henry,  however, 
who   was   now  in   alliance   with   the   emperor,   took    the   ,„ 

«,       .  XX     .  T     1  x'.  t  ,    \     -,      -,  War  with 

offensive.  He  invaded  1^  ranee  in  person,  and  took  the  long-  France  and 
coveted  town  of  Boulogne  ;  while  he  sent  an  army  by  sea  ^°  ^"  * 
into  Scotland  under  his  brother-in-law  Edward  Seymour,  earl  of  Hert- 
ford, and  John  Dudley,  Lord  Lisle,  son  of  Henry  vii.'s  old  minister.  The 
invaders  landed  at  Leith  and  burned  it  and  Edinburgh,  but  effected 
nothing  more.  This  lesson  destroyed  for  a  time  the  power  of  the  French 
party,  and  in  1546  Cardinal  Beaton  was  murdered. 

During  the  later  years  of  Henry  viii.,  the  financial  difficulties  of  the 
government  drove  the  king  into  a  great  mistake.  The  possessions  of 
the  monasteries  had  for  the  most  part  been  disposed  of  for  . 

political  purposes  at  a  price  much  below  their  value,  and  the  of  the 
money  been  spent  at  once.  The  expenses  of  the  long  °*"*k^- 
preparation  for  an  invasion  of  the  southern  coast  had  been  very  con- 
siderable, and  the  invasions  of  Scotland  and  France  had  put  a  further 
strain  upon  the  resources  of  the  country.  In  these  circumstances  the 
government  fell  back  upon  the  unfortunate  expedient  of  debasing  the 
coinage.  For  many  years  the  English  coinage  had  maintained  a  high 
reputation ;  it  had  been  renewed  by  Henry  ii.,  Henry  iii.,  Edward  i., 


424  The  Tudors  1544 

and  Edward  iii.,  and  the  standard  set  by  the  last  monarch  had  been 
steadily  maintained.  The  rule  of  the  mint  was  that  j-oz.  of  alloy  should 
be  mixed  with  every  12-oz.  of  silver,  in  order  to  give  sufficient  durability 
to  the  coin  ;  but  in  1543  coins  were  issued  in  which  the  proportion  was 
2-oz.  of  alloy  ;  and  in  1546  the  proportion  was  8-oz.  of  alloy  to  12-oz.  of 
silver.  The  result  of  this  was  to  relieve  Henry  by  defrauding  the 
government  creditors,  but  its  effect  on  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the 
country  was  disastrous.  Transactions  between  distant  customers  became 
impossible,  for  no  one  knew  the  value  of  the  money  to  be  paid.  The 
good  coins  were  hoarded  or  sent  out  of  the  country,  and  nothing  re- 
mained but  the  bad  ones.  The  social  evil  which  followed  was  as  serious 
as  the  commercial.  Prices  went  up,  to  the  distress  of  the  wage-earning 
classes,  while  wages,  which  never  rise  so  rapidly  as  prices,  were  little 
altered.  Distress  in  the  towns,  and  beggary  and  robbery  in  the  country 
naturally  followed. 

In  religion,  the  last  few  years  of  Henry  viii.  witnessed  a  constant 
struggle  between  the  reformers  and  their  opponents,  sometimes  the  one 
and  sometimes  the  other  gaining  the  advantage.     On  the 
of  the  Refor-   one  hand,  Gardiner's  party  were  able  to  enforce  the  Act  of 
mation.  ^^^q   gj^   Articles   against   heretics  ;    and   in   1546,    Anne 

Askew,  a  well-known  lady  and  friend  of  the  queen,  was  burnt  to  death. 
They  were  also  able,  in  1543,  to  have  the  reading  of  the  Bible  forbidden  to 
husbandmen,  artificers,  and  journeymen,  and  to  all  women  except  gentle- 
women. On  the  other  hand,  the  reformers  gained  a  great  step  in  the 
direction  of  an  English  liturgy.  Down  to  the  Reformation  there  had 
been  no  service-book  in  use  throughout  the  whole  country.  Various 
forms  were  in  use  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  Uses  of 
Sarum,  Lincoln,  Bangor,  and  Hereford  were  most  largely  employed.  As 
early  as  1536,  however,  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments had  been  published  in  England  along  with  some  Articles  of 
Belief.  There,  for  some  time,  progress  stopped ;  but  in  1544,  Henry  him- 
self prepared,  and  possibly  translated,  our  present  Litany  for  processional 
use,  and  in  1545  there  was  issued  a  service  for  morning  and  evening  prayer 
and  the  burial  of  the  dead,  to  be  used  instead  of  the  breviary.  After  1545 
Henry's  health  rapidly  deteriorated,  and  all  parties  began  to  intrigue  for 
the  chief  power  under  the  expected  minority  of  Edward.  Henry  himself 
Fall  of  the  "^^^  anxious  that  power  should  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Howards.  Howards,  who,  as  the  leaders  of  the  old  nobility  and  of  the 
reactionary  movement  against  the  Eeformation,  might  be  expected  to 
undo  much  of  his  work.  The  duke  of  Norfolk  himself,  though  an  old 
and  faithful  servant  of  the  crown,  was  not  likely  to  commit  himself ; 


1647  Henry  VIII.  425 

but  his  son,  Henry,  earl  of  Surrey,  the  accomplished  poet,  was  a  man 

of  rash  and  violent  temper,  and  was  certainly  plotting  to  secure  the 

ascendancy  of  his  family.     Suspicion  was  first  aroused  by  his  moving  the 

arms  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  which  he  had  a  right  to  bear,  to  a  place 

on  his  shield,  which  meant  that  he  was  in  direct  descent  from  the  throne. 

Upon  this,  he  and  his  father  were  both  arrested,  and  sufficient  evidence 

was  found  to  secure  their  attainder.      Surrey  was  at  once    Henry's 

beheaded,  but  it  is  uncertain  what  would  have  been  Nor-    Death. 

folk's  fate,  had  not  Henry's  death  occurred  in  1547. 

The  character  of  Henry  viii.  has  always  had  a  strong  fascination  for 

historians.     By  some  he  has  been  represented  as  a  monster  of  wickedness, 

and  the  slave  of  his  own  passions ;  by  others  as  the  able 

.,        -   ,.  ,       ^  ,  '         ,.^      ,  ,»,,        Reflections 

guide  of  his  country  through  a  most  dirncult  time.     The   on  his 

strong  point  of  Henry  viii.,  like  that  of  all  men  who  ^racter. 
have  successfully  led  the  English  nation,  was  that  at  any  given  time  his 
ideas  represented  the  exact  length  to  which  the  average  Englishman 
was  prepared  to  go.  In  the  reform  of  church  discipline,  in  the 
separation  from  Kome,  and  in  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries, 
he  was  certainly  not  in  advance  of  the  wishes  of  his  time.  In 
securing  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  he  was  supplying  a  demand  which 
persecution  had  hardly  been  able  to  keep  in  check  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
when  in  fear  of  the  spread  of  heresy  he  agreed  to  the  Six  Articles  and 
the  restriction  of  the  use  of  the  Bible,  he  accurately  represented  English 
fear  of  recklessly  leaving  the  old  paths.  In  the  strength  as  well  as  in 
the  weakness  of  his  character,  he  was  a  thorough  Englishman,  and  the 
middle  course  taken  by  the  English  Keformation  as  compared  to  its 
history  in  Germany,  France,  or  Scotland,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  fact 
that  we  had  in  Henry  viii.  a  king  who  was  able  to  guide  the  move- 
ment in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  more  sober  part  of  the  lay 
population. 

CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Flodden, 1513 

Divorce  question  raised, 1527 

Act  of  Supremacy  passed 1533 

Dissolution  of  the  smaller  Monasteries,    .  1536 

Incorporation  of  Wales 1536 

Pilgrimage  of  Grace, 1636 

Surrender  of  the  larger  Monasteries  confirmed,  1539 

Act  of  the  Six  Articles, 1539 

FaU  of  Cromwell, 1540 

Debasement  of  the  Coinage,      ....  1543 


CHAPTER   III 

EDWARD  VI.  :   1547-1553 

Born  1537 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

Emperor.  Scotland.  France. 

Charles  v.,  resigned.  Mary,  deposed  1567.  Henry  ii.,  d.  1559. 

The  Arrangements  for  the  Minority — Somerset— Battle  of  Pinkie,  and  Rebellions 
in  Devonshire  and  Norfolk — Ascendancy  of  John  Dudley— The  Reformation 
—Unpopularity  of  the  Government— Plot  to  alter  the  Succession. 

Henry  viii.  left  the  crown  by  will  to  Edward,  his  son  by  Jane  Seymour, 
and  in  event  of  Edward's  death  without  children,  to  his  daughters  Mary  and 
Henry  Elizabeth  successively.     Failing  their  issue  it  was  to  go  to 

VIII. 's  Will,  tjje  descendants  of  his  sister  Mary,  duchess  of  Suffolk  ;  the 
children  of  Margaret  of  Scotland  being  thus  omitted  from  the  succession. 
Edward  was  only  nine  years  old.  He  was  to  come  of  age  at  sixteen,  and 
until  then  the  government  was  to  be  carried  on  by  a  council  of  executors 
named  in  the  will.  Henry  had  chosen  these  with  great  care,  excluding, 
as  he  thought,  all  persons  of  rash  and  violent  character,  and  so  managing 
that  both  the  old  faith  and  the  new  should  be  represented.  By  this 
means  he  hoped  to  secure  the  continuation  of  his  own  moderate  policy 
Chief  Coun-  until  his  SOU  came  of  age.  The  chief  members  of  the  council 
ciUors.  were  Hertford,  Lisle,  Cranmer,  and  Paget,  who  represented 

the  new  ideas  ;  and  Wriothesley  the  chancellor.  Sir  Anthony  Browne,  and 
Tunstall,  bishop  of  Durham,  who  inclined  to  the  old  order  of  things.  No 
member  of  the  council  was  to  have  precedence  over  the  rest,  so  that 
responsibility  for  its  actions  might  rest  upon  the  whole  council.  Henry's 
chief  reliance,  however,  was  placed  upon  Hertford  and  Paget,  and  he 
spent  the  last  two  days  of  his  life  in  earnestly  explaining  to  them  his 
ideas  for  the  future  government  of  the  country, 

426 


1547  Edward  VI.  427 

Hardly,  however,  was  Henry  dead  when  Hertford  and  Paget  set  to 
work  to  upset  his  scheme.  In  spite  of  the  chancellor,  they  persuaded 
the  other  executors  that  the  good  of  the  kingdom  required  a  ,,     ,    ^ 

,,  -.TT^iTi  •IT'.  Hertford 

single  head,  and  Hertford  accordingly  was  appomted  Pro-  becomes 
tector  of  the  realm,  and  governor  of  the  king's  person.  The 
executors  then  declared  that  Henry  had  intended  to  raise  many  of  them 
to  higher  ranks  in  the  peerage,  and  to  give  them  grants  of  church  lands. 
Accordingly,  Hertford  became  duke  of  Somerset,  and  his  brother, 
Thomas  Seymour,  Lord  Seymour  of  Sudeley ;  Lord  Lisle,  earl  of 
Warwick  ;  and  Wriothesley,  earl  of  Southampton.  Two  months  later,  a 
mistake  of  Wriothesley's  led  to  his  removal  from  the  chancellorship,  and 
then  Hertford  induced  the  king  to  give  him  a  new  commission  as  Pro- 
tector, not  as  an  executor  under  Henry  viii.'s  will,  but  as  the  nominee 
of  Edward  himself. 

The  Protector  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters  of  his  time. 
He  was  a  man  of  undaunted  courage   and   some   military   ability,   of 
generous  disposition,  aiming  at  the  accomplishment  of  great 
things,  and  sympathetic  towards  the  grievances  of  the  poor,    of  the 
But  his  abilities  as  a  statesman  were  by  no  means  equal     ^°  '*^  °^' 
to  the  position  to  which  he  had  raised  himself.     He  was  wanting  in 
caution,  and  belonged  to  that  class  of  politician  whom  Frederick  the  Great 
described  as  '  always  taking  the  second  step  before  they  took  the  first.' 

The  weakness  of  Somerset's  character  was  at  once  shown  in  his  treat- 
ment of  religious  matters.  Henry  viii.  had  always  aimed  at  holding  the 
mean  between  the  two  opposing  religious  parties,  and  had  „  ,.  . 
hoped  that  his  executors  would  follow  out  his  policy  when 
his  son  came  of  age.  Somerset,  on  the  other  hand,  over-estimating 
the  ripeness  of  the  country  for  change,  and  not  understanding  that  what 
was  popular  in  London  and  the  seaport  towns  would  probably  not  com- 
mend itself  to  the  slower  minds  of  the  country  districts,  almost  immedi- 
ately sent  out  a  commission  to  pull  down  all  images  in  churches,  and  to 
whitewash  the  frescoes  on  the  walls.  They  also  abolished  the  mass,  and 
ordered  the  service  to  be  said  in  English.  In  London  the  commissioners 
were  well  received,  but  it  was  very  different  in  the  country  ;  and  things 
were  made  worse  by  the  gross  irreverence  with  which  the  commissioners' 
servants  carried  out  the  orders  of  their  masters.  They  might  be  seen 
parading  the  country,  dressed  out  in  religious  vestments  ;  and  images  and 
pictures,  which  had  received  the  reverent  worship  of  many  generations  of 
parishioners,  were  dragged  down  and  burnt  amidst  unseemly  revel. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  unwise.  Hitherto,  so  far  as  the  country 
people  had  been  concerned,  the  Reformation  had  been  merely  a  question 


428  The  Tudors  IMt 

of  nominal  changes  ;  but  the  destruction  of  the  images  and  ornaments, 

the  substitution  of  English  for  the  chanted  Latin  services,  for  which  this 

country  was  celebrated,  brought  home  to  the  country  people  the  reality 

of  the  change,  and  caused  much  excitement. 

At  the  same  time,  the  government  foolishly  attacked  the  interests  of 

the  artisans  of  the  towns.       In  the  towns  the  most  important  institution 

^,      ^  was  that  of  the  guilds,  which  dated  back  from  before  the 

Disendow-  i  i 

mentofthe     Conquest,  and  seem  to  have  been  inseparable  from  English 

life.  They  were  of  many  kinds  :  some,  like  the  guilds 
merchant,  were  associations  of  leading  merchants ;  others,  like  the 
craft-guilds  of  the  weavers  er  dyers,  were  more  like  trades  unions, 
except  that  they  included  both  the  masters  and  the  journeymen  ;  others 
were  associations  for  common  purposes,  as  for  the  cultivation  of 
music.  These  guilds,  besides  regulating  trade,  performed  a  variety  of 
useful  functions.  They  acted  as  insurance  or  benefit  societies,  which 
aided  members  when  they  were  sick,  educated  the  young,  helped  work- 
men who  had  suffered  from  accident,  provided  for  the  burial  of  the  dead, 
pensioned  widows,  and  paid  for  masses  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of 
their  members.  Besides  this  they  played  a  large  part  in  the  social  life 
of  the  people.  The  feast  days  of  the  guilds  were  festive  gatherings  for 
their  members,  and  in  many  places,  as  at  York,  miracle  plays  and  pro- 
cessions formed  part  of  the  day's  entertainment.  In  Norfolk  there  were 
no  less  than  nine  hundred  and  nine  guilds,  and  in  the  little  town  of 
Bodmin  there  were  forty-eight.  In  course  of  time  these  guilds  had 
accumulated  a  considerable  property,  on  which  was  charged  the  payment 
for  masses  for  the  dead  ;  and  the  Protector  persuaded  the  members  of 
parliament,  who  must  have  been  themselves  unconnected  with  the 
guilds,  to  pass  an  Act  confiscating  their  property.  The  London  trade 
companies,  being  too  powerful  to  be  touched  with  impunity,  were  spared. 
In  regard  to  Scotland  Somerset  pursued  an  equally  reckless  policy. 
Henry  viii.  had  been  well  aware  that  the  all-important  marriage  which  had 
been  arranged  between  Edward  and  Mary  could  only  be 
carried  out  at  the  price  of  much  tact,  and  also  that  it  was 
necessary  at  all  hazards  to  support  the  English  faction  in  Scotland. 
Somerset  neglected  both  these  principles.  He  allowed  the  clerical  party, 
with  the  aid  of  the  French,  to  capture  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  where  the 
murderers  of  Cardinal  Beaton  were  holding  out,  and  then  exasperated 
the  whole  country  by  an  invasion.  He  crossed  the  border  in  August, 
declaring  that  he  came  to  enforce  the  treaty  of  1543,  and  took  with 
him  14,000  foot,  4000  horse,  and  15  guns,  marching  along  the  coast 
towards  Edinburgh  supported  by  his  fleet. 


16W  Edward  VI.  429 

He  found  the  Scots,  25,000  strong,  posted  near  Musselburgh,  on  the 
Edinburgh  side  of  the  river  Esk,  which  here  flows  into  the  Forth  almost 
at  a  right  angle.  The  river  was  shallow,  but  the  banks  Battle  of 
were  so  steep  and  rugged  that  it  could  only  be  crossed  by  P*"^^^' 
cavalry  and  guns  at  one  bridge  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  mouth. 
Somerset  encamped  his  men  about  two  miles  short  of  the  bridge,  and  was 
expecting  a  doubtful  and  difficult  passage  of  the  river  in  face  of  the 
Scots,  when  the  enemy,  mistaking  his  halt  for  fear,  determined  to  advance 
next  morning  and  themselves  attack  the  English  camp.  Accordingly 
at  daybreak  they  crossed  the  river  by  the  bridge,  and,  turning  to  theii 
right  to  avoid  the  guns  of  the  English  fleet,  made  their  way  over  some 
marshy  and  arable  land  in  the  direction  of  Fawside  Brae,  a  piece  of 
rising  ground  about  two  miles  from  the  sea.  The  English,  however, 
divining  their  intention,  were  the  first  to  seize  the  brae,  where  they 
planted  artillery,  and  then  charged  the  Scottish  right  wing  with  the 
English  horse  under  Lord  Grey.  The  impenetrable  barrier  of  Scottish 
spears,  however,  threw  the  English  horsemen  into  disorder,  and  Grey 
himself  was  wounded  ;  but  the  Scots,  in  the  excitement  of  victory,  fell 
into  confusion.  In  this  condition  they  were  charged  by  the  English  foot, 
and  so  complete  a  rout  followed  that  it  is  said  that  no  less  than  13,000 
Scots  were  slain.  The  victory  of  Pinkie  destroyed  for  a  time  the 
Scottish  military  power,  but  from  a  political  point  of  view  it  was  worse 
than  useless.  Even  Scotsmen  who  were  not  unfavourable  to  the 
English  alliance  were  repelled  by  the  barbarity  of  the  invasion.  The 
marquis  of  Huntly's  remark  that  he  'misliked  not  the  match  but  he 
hated  the  manner  of  wooing,'  spoke  the  general  sentiment.  The  Scots 
were  thrown  into  the  arms  of  France,  and  the  little  queen  was  at  once 
sent  across  the  water  to  be  brought  up  at  Paris  as  the  future  wife  of  the 
Dauphin.  Next  year  the  Protector  sent  a  force  to  occupy  Haddington, 
which  was  held  for  some  years  by  the  English. 

The  chief  event  of  the  session  of  1549  was  the  issue  of  a  new  prayer- 
book,  called  the  First  Prayer-book  of  Edward  vi.     This  was  prepared 
by  a  committee  of  divines  sitting  at  Windsor,  of  whom  the 
best  known  were  Cranmer  and  Nicolas  Ridley,  bishop  of   Pra^yer- 
Rochester.     It  was  approved  by  convocation,  and  was  then    Edward  vi 
laid  before  parliament.      It  received  the  sanction  of  both 
houses,  and  an  Act  of  Uniformity  was   passed  substituting  it  for  the 
Uses  and  other  services  hitherto  employed.      This  prayer-book  was 
founded  upon  the  old  missal  and  breviary,  and  the  work  of  translation 
was  mainly  done  by  Archbishop  Cranmer.     The  question  of  the  exact 
position  of  the  Sacraments  was  long  debated,  and  in  the  end  was  settled 


430  The  Tudors  1549 

by  a  compromise  which  left  room  for  some  latitude  of  opinion,  neither 
strictly  following  the  views  either  of  the  old  Catholics  or  of  those  who 
took  their  views  from  the  teaching  of  Calvin  at  Geneva.  This  service- 
book  was  revised  in  1552,  1559,  1603,  and  1662  At  its  introduction, 
when  it  had  to  contend  against  the  popularity  of  old-established  uses,  it 
was  little  liked,  but  the  beauty  of  its  language  and  its  devotional  tone 
have  long  endeared  it  to  members  of  the  Church  of  England. 

The  same  session  of  parliament  had  to  deal  with  the  treason  of  Lord 
Seymour  of  Sudeley.     This  man,  who  was  a  notorious  evil  liver,  was  far 

Lord  Sey-     inferior  to  his  brother  in  every  way.     He  was  extremely 

mour's  ambitious  and  intriguing.  He  first  aspired  to  marry  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  then  clandestinely  married  Henry's 
widow,  Katharine  Parr.  On  her  death  in  1548  he  reverted  to  his 
former  scheme,  and  bribed  Elizabeth's  attendants  to  influence  her  in  his 
favour.  Besides  this,  he  used  his  influence  as  admiral  to  make  friends 
with  the  pirates  of  the  Channel ;  had  money  coined  for  him  at  Bristol ;  set 
on  foot  two  cannon  foundries;  forged  twenty-four  cannons  and  thirteen  tons 
of  shots  ;  and  fortified  and  provisioned  Holt  Castle.  These  things  having 
come  to  light,  their  treasonable  character  was  manifest,  and  Seymour 
was  put  to  death  by  an  act  of  attainder.  '  He  was  a  wicked  man,'  said 
Latimer,  '  and  the  realm  was  well  rid  of  him.' 

Trouble  next  arose  in  the  West ;  the  new  service-book  was  read  for  the 
first  time  on  Whit  Sunday,  1549.     It  created  a  storm  of  indignation  ; 

Rising  in      and  in  one  village,  at  any  rate,  the  congregation  compelled 

the  West,  ^^iq  priest  to  sing  mass  as  usual.  The  malcontents  soon 
appeared  in  arms,  and  an  abortive  attempt  of  Sir  Peter  Carew  to  put 
down  the  insurrection  only  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  The  rebels  marched 
on  Exeter,  10,000  strong,  under  Sir  T.  Pomeroy  and  Sir  Humphrey 
Arundel,  demanding  the  religious  laws  of  Henry  viii,,  especially  the  Six 
Articles,  the  restoration  of  the  mass  and  the  elevation  of  the  host,  the 
suppression  of  the  English  version  of  the  Bible,  and  the  recall  of 
Cardinal  Pole.  Had  they  marched  on  London  at  once,  the  situation 
would  have  been  extremely  serious,  for  insurrections  had  also  broken 
out  in  Oxfordshire,  Berkshire,  and  other  counties  ;  but  time  was  wasted 
in  an  unsuccessful  siege  of  Exeter,  and  in  August,  Lord  Russell  and  Lord 
Grey  de  Wilton,  aided  by  a  body  of  German  troops  whom  the  govern- 
ment had  hired  as  a  standing  army,  attacked  them  at  St.  Mary's  Clyst, 
a  village  about  four  miles  from  Exeter.     The  rebels  fought 

St.  Mary's  with  the  utmost  determination,  and  Grey,  who  had  led 
^^  ■  the  cavalry  at  Pinkie,  said  he  had  never  seen  such  steadi- 

ness ;  but  in  the  end  the  German  bullets  proved  too  much  for  the  valour 


1549  Edward  VL  431 

of  the  brave  English  peasantry,  and,  after  a  second  battle  at  Sampford 
Courtenay,  and  the  loss  altogether  of  about  4000  men,  the  rebellion  in 
Devonshire  was  put  down.  Arundel  and  three  others  were  hanged  at 
Tyburn.  For  his  services  in  the  west,  Kussell  was  made  earl  of 
Bedford. 

While  this  struggle  had  been  going  on  in  the  west,  another  insurrec- 
tion had  broken  out  in  the  eastern  counties.  Devonshire  and  Norfolk 
in  those  days  represented  almost  the  two  extremes  of  Rising  in 
English  life.  Norfolk  was  probably  the  richest  county  in  Norfolk. 
England,  with  the  largest  number  of  manufactures,  and  a  population 
more  in  sympathy  with  the  Keformation  than  that  of  any  other  rural 
district  in  England.  Devonshire,  on  the  other  hand,  was  far  removed 
from  the  life  and  stir  of  the  times,  and  clung  to  the  old-world  tradition. 
In  Norfolk,  however,  the  commons  had  grievances  of  their  own.  No 
county  in  England  had  been  more  affected  by  the  rise  of  sheep-farming 
and  the  consequent  evictions  of  yeomen  tenants,  enclosure  of  commons, 
and  diminution  in  the  demand  for  agricultural  labour.  The  base 
coinage,  too,  had  made  the  small  wages  even  less  remunerative  than 
formerly,  while  the  recent  disendowment  of  the  guilds  had  added  a 
further  cause  of  discontent.  Accordingly,  on  July  6,  at  Wymondham 
near  Norwich,  a  casual  gathering  of  people  resulted  in  an  organised 
attack  upon  the  enclosures,  led  by  Robert  and  William  Ket.  The  Kets 
were  tanners  of  some  means,  and,  under  their  guidance,  the  peasantry 
formed  a  camp  on  Household  Hill,  which  overlooks  Norwich  from  the 
north.  There  they  built  log  huts,  supplied  themselves  with  provisions 
from  the  manor-houses  of  the  neighbouring  gentry,  and  called  the 
gentlemen  themselves  before  them  to  answer  for  their  conduct.  Their 
proceedings  were  perfectly  orderly  ;  no  blood  was  shed  ;  the  new  morning 
and  evening  prayers  were  read  daily  ;  and  sermons  were  preached  from  a 
solitary  tree,  called  the  Oak  of  Reformation,  among  others  by  Matthew 
Parker.  Somerset  was  placed  in  a  great  difficulty  ;  he  had  already  ex- 
pressed dissatisfaction  with  the  enclosures,  and  appointed  a  commission 
to  inquire  into  the  subject ;  he  therefore  hesitated  to  use  force,  and  tried 
to  persuade  the  rebels  to  go  home  quietly.  His  well-meant  intentions, 
however,  failed  ;  fighting  began,  and  the  council,  taking  the  matter  into 
their  own  hands,  ordered  the  earl  of  Warwick,  who  was  on  his  way  to 
Scotland,  to  turn  his  forces  against  the  rebels.   This  he  did  ;   ^  ^ 

and  the  peasantry,  foolishly  leaving  the  high  ground,  were    Mousehold 
attacked  at  great  disadvantage  in  the  valley  of  Duffindale, 
and  routed  with  the  loss  of  3000  men  on  August  27.     It  was  said  that 
a  silly  prophecy,  'The  country  gruffs.  Hob,  Dick,  and  Hick,  with  club8 


432  TheTudors  1549 

and  clouted  shoon,  shall  fill  up  Duffindale  with  blood  of  slaughtered 
bodies  soon,'  lured  them  to  their  destruction.  The  two  Kets  were 
hanged,  the  rest  were  not  treated  with  severity.  Other  smaller  move- 
ments took  place  in  the  other  eastern  counties,  and  the  widespread  cry 
of  '  Kill  the  gentlemen  ! '  showed  what  an  exceedingly  dangerous  spirit  of 
class  hatred  had  been  aroused  by  the  new  landowners. 

For  this  state  of  things  the  gentry  and  nobility  threw  the  blame  on 

Somerset ;  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  his  rule  had  been  a  failure. 

The  French  kings  had  been  allowed,  little  by  little,  to  make 

Unpopu-  ^  J  J  J 

larity  of       themselves  masters  of  the  environs  of  Boulogne,  so  that  the 
omerse  .    ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  -^^^^  ^.^^^  exceeding  difficulty  and  expense. 

The  alliance  with  the  emperor,  so  important  in  any  war  with  France, 
had  been  endangered,  and  war  with  France  was  now  imminent.  The 
finances  of  the  country  were  in  complete  disorder  ;  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  the  officials  were  tainted  with  the  vice  of  peculation.  There 
had  been  more  rioting  and  rebellion  in  the  last  six  months  than  in  the 
whole  reign  of  Henry  viii. ;  nothing  seemed  to  succeed  under  the  Pro- 
tector's rule.  The  other  councillors  therefore  determined  to  take  their 
stand  upon  the  literal  meaning  of  Henry  viii.'s  will,  and  to  oust  Somerset 
from  his  office  of  Protector. 

The  process  was  by  no  means  easy.  The  councillors,  led  by  Warwick, 
assembled  in  London,  and  drew  up  a  remonstrance ;  but  Somerset  had 
Fall  of  the  king  with  him  at  Hampton  Court,  and  when  he  heard 
Somerset.  ^^  ^^^^j,  (jgsign  he  issued  a  proclamation,  calling  upon  the 
commons  to  come  to  his  defence,  and  sent  for  Eussell  from  the  west  to 
defend  the  person  of  the  king.  The  councillors,  however,  held  to  their 
course,  and  sent  letters  over  the  country  explaining  their  position. 
Their  steadiness  seems  to  have  unnerved  Somerset.  He  hurried  the 
king,  in  a  wild  midnight  ride,  to  Windsor,  and  there  made  a  complete 
submission.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  Tower,  and  signed  a  series  of 
charges  against  himself,  based  upon  the  failure  of  his  policy.  He  was 
then  treated  with  clemency,  and  in  April  next  year  was  restored  to  his 
position  in  the  council. 

After  Somerset's  fall,  no  new  Protector  was  appointed,  but  the  chief 
influence  in  the  council  fell  into  the  hands  of  Warwick.  John  Dudley, 
Rise  of  earl  of  Warwick,  was  the  son  of  the  old  minister  of 
"Warwick,  jjem-y  yjj^  jjg  had  been  largely  employed  under  Henry 
VIII.,  had  distinguished  himself  both  as  a  soldier  and  as  a  diplomatist, 
and  had  been  raised  to  the  peerage  in  1542  as  Viscount  Lisle.  In  1644, 
and  again  in  1547,  he  had  acted  as  second  in  command  to  Somerset  in 
Scotland,  and  had  maintained  his  previous  character  for  efficiency.     His 


1551  Edward  VL  4315 

recent  victory  over  the  Norfolk  insurgents,  and  the  adroitness  with 
which  he  had  carried  out  the  change  of  government,  had  made  him  the 
most  conspicuous  man  in  the  state.  Warwick  was  one  of  those  men  of 
the  Napoleonic  type  who  always  come  to  the  front  in  revolutionary 
times ;  ambitious,  able,  unscrupulous,  indifferent  to  religious  beliefs, 
singularly  cool  and  calculating,  he  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  the 
advancement  of  himself  and  his  family.^ 

The  immediate  concern  of  the  council  was  to  remove  the  ill  effects 
of  Somerset's  government.  Careless,  however,  of  everything  but  their 
own  selfish  interests,  they  attempted  to  provide  for  the  debt  poiicy  of 
by  borrowing  more  money,  and  by  coining  large  sums  of  *^^  Council, 
debased  metal.  They  also  attempted  to  check  a  sudden  rise  in  prices, 
owing  to  a  deficient  harvest,  by  fixing  a  maximum  price  at  which  corn 
should  be  sold — a  measure  which  created  so  much  exasperation  among 
the  farming  classes  that  it  had  to  be  withdrawn  immediately,  for  fear  of 
an  insurrection.  A  more  reasonable  action  was  to  make  peace  with 
France,  which  was  done  at  the  price  of  giving  up  Boulogne. 

In  religious  matters  the  fall  of  the  Protector  made  a  new  starting- 
point  in  the  Keformation.  Warwick  was  probably  aware  that  a 
reaction  towards  the  policy  of  Henry  viii.  would  have  . 

been  popular,  but  he  could  hardly  attempt  this  without 
releasing  the  duke  of  Norfolk  and  Gardiner  ;  and  he  saw  clearly  that 
a  restoration  of  the  old  nobility  to  power  would  be  fatal  to  his  own 
pretentions ;  he  therefore  supported  the  Reformation.  Accordingly, 
Bonner,  Gardiner,  and  other  bishops  of  the  old  faith  were  deprived,  and 
their  places  taken  by  such  men  as  Ridley,  bishop  of  London,  and 
Hooper,  bishop  of  Gloucester,  and  Miles  Coverdale,  bishop  of  Exeter. 
All  three  were  strong  Protestants,   and   Hooper  was   with  difficulty 

1  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  DUDLEYS  AND  THE  SIDNEYS. 
Edmund  Dudley  (minister  of  Henry  vn.)  executed  1509. 

John  Dudley  (Viscount  Lisle,  1542  ;  Earl  of  Warwick,  1547), 
created  Duke  of  Northumberland,  1551,  executed  1553. 

Earl  of  Warwick,  Robert  Dudley,  Guildford  Dudley         Mary,  m.  Sir 

executed  1553.  younger  son,  (m.  Lady  Jane  Henry  Sidney, 

created  Earl  of  Grey),  executed  Lord-Deputy  of 

Leicester,  1563.  1554.  Ireland,  d.  1586. 


Sur  Philip  Sidney,  d.  1586,  Robert  Sidney,  created  Earl  of 

m.  Frances,  daughter  of  Leicester,  1618.     (Grandfather  of 

Sir  F.  Walsingliam.  Algernon  Sidney,  who  was 

executed  1683). 

2e 


434  The  Tudors  1552 

induced  to  wear  the  Episcopal  robes.  At  the  same  time,  there  was  no 
cessation  in  the  prosecution  of  heretics  whose  views  were  more  advanced 
than  those  of  the  men  in  authority.  In  1550  Joan  Boucher  was  burnt 
for  heretical  views  as  to  the  Incarnation  ;  and  in  1551  George  van  Paris, 
a  Dutch  Anabaptist,  suffered  the  same  fate.  The  responsibility  for  these 
executions  lies  mainly  with  Cranmer,  who  with  great  difl&culty  persuaded 
Edward  to  give  his  consent.  Meanwhile,  the  council  were  much  puzzled 
as  to  what  should  be  done  about  the  Princess  Mary,  who  still  adhered  to 
the  use  of  the  mass.  She  was  ordered  to  desist  but  stood  firm  ;  and,  the 
emperor  Charles  having  interested  himself  in  her  favour,  the  council, 
fearful  that  he  might  ally  himself  with  France  against  England,  with- 
drew their  prohibition  of  its  use  in  her  household. 

Meanwhile,  Somerset  had  been  regaining  a  good  deal  of  his  influence. 
His  personal  character  gave  him  an  immense  advantage  over  his  rival. 
Death  of  and  his  genuine  attachment  to  Protestantism  gained  him 
Somerset,  ^j^g  affectionate  support  of  the  earnest  believers  in  the  new 
faith.  In  the  autumn  of  1551  it  seemed  quite  possible  that  a  reaction 
in  his  favour  might  again  drive  Warwick  from  power,  and  both  states- 
men were  undoubtedly  plotting  against  one  another.  Warwick,  how- 
ever, was  the  more  astute,  and,  taking  advantage  of  information  he 
possessed  as  to  Somerset's  schemes,  he  had  him  suddenly  arrested  on  a 
charge  of  treason.  Eventually,  however,  the  charge  of  treason  was 
dropped,  but  Somerset  was  found  guilty  of  a  murderous  conspiracy 
against  his  rival,  and  was  beheaded  in  January  1552.  The  scene  at  his 
execution  proved  his  extraordinary  popularity,  and  those  near  the 
scaffold  dipped  their  handkerchiefs  in  his  blood  to  keep  them  as  relics  ; 
but  Edward  coolly  noted  in  his  journal,  'the  duke  of  Somerset  had  his 
head  cut  off,  upon  Tower  Hill,  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning.'  From  that  day  forward  Warwick,  who  shortly  before  had 
been  made  duke  of  Northumberland,  became  thoroughly  detested. 

In  1552  there  was  an  important  session  of  parliament ;  in  which  was 
sanctioned  a  revised  version  of  the  Prayer-book,  conmionly  called  the 
Second  prayer-book  of  Edward  vi.      The  new  work  was 
Prayer-  a  drastic  revision  of  the  old  ;  and  the  changes  made,  especi- 

Edward  VI    ^^^^  ^^  regard  to  the  Sacrament,  being  in  the  Protestant 
direction,  made   it    less    easy  for  those  who  believed  in 
Transubstantiation  to  accept  it.     With  the  new  prayer-book  were  pub- 
lished an  ordinal  abolishing  some  ceremonies  and  vestments  hitherto 
Treason       allowed,  forty-two  articles  of  religion,  a  set  of  homilies, 
Trials.         and  a  catechism  for  the  instruction  of  the  young.     An  act 
was  also  passed  regulating  trials  for  treason,  by  which  it  was  enacted 


1562  Edward  FL  435 

that  in  future  no  one  should  be  convicted  except  on  the  evidence  of  two 
witnesses  at  least. 

Another  series  of  acts  dealt  with  the  economic  difl&culties   of  the 
time.     The   abolition  of  villeinage  and  the  virtual  separation  of  the 
labourer  from  the  soil  had  created  a  class  of  labourers  who   ^he  Unem- 
were  wholly  dependent  for  their  livelihood  upon  the  sale  of  ployed, 
their  labour.    If  they  could  not  sell  it  they  had  nothinor  to  fall  back  upon, 
and  although  it  had  been  assumed  that  there  was  work  for  everybody 
who  wanted  it,  experience  showed  that  this  was  not  true,    pj^st  Poor 
Statesmen,  in  fact,  were  confronted  in  the  sixteenth  century,    ^^w. 
for  the  first  time,  with  the  problem  of  the  '  unemployed.'  They  met  it  by 
a  Poor  Law  enacting  that  in  each  parish  a  systematic  collection  was  to  be 
made  for  the  poor,  and  by  appointing  a  commission  to  see  what  could  be 
done  for  the  revival  of  agriculture.     On  the  other  hand,    usury 
they  neglected  a  practical  scheme  which  was  offered  to  them   forbidden, 
for  making  dyeing  a  great  English  industry,  and  renewed  the  old  laws 
against  usury,  which  was  declared  to  be  '  odious  and  detestable.' 

Nothing  could  be  better  calculated  to  bring  about  a  reaction  against 
the  Reformation  than  the  conduct  of  Northumberland  and  his  friends. 
Under  the  new  order  of  things  everything  seemed  to  be 
going  from  bad  to  worse.  In  old  time  the  immorality  of  against  the 
the  clergy  had  been  a  grave  cause  of  complaint ;  but  the  ^*  ormation. 
Reformation,  by  concentrating  men's  religious  thoughts  on  points  of 
belief  only,  had  as  usual  led  to  neglect  of  conduct,  and  now  there  was 
complaint  of  a  general  relaxation  of  manners.  In  the  old  days,  before 
the  disendowment  of  the  guilds,  some  means  had  been  taken  to  ensure 
the  quality  of  goods  ;  now,  there  was  complaint  on  all  hands  of  adultera- 
tion and  bad  work,  and,  to  the  disgrace  of  the  country,  English  merchan- 
dise had  been  exposed  at  Antwerp  and  Venice  as  of  fraudulent 
manufacture.  Before  the  fall  of  the  monasteries  there  had  been  less 
talk  of  the  rapacity  of  the  landowners,  and  of  the  new  proprietors  who 
regarded  the  life  of  a  man  less  than  that  of  a  sheep.  In  the  old  days 
government  had  contrived  to  live  on  its  own  ;  now  the  country  was 
deeply  in  debt,  and  that  in  spite  of  the  confiscation  of  vast  quantities  of 
church  property,  the  sale  of  the  church  bells,  of  the  lead  from  their  roofs, 
even  of  the  copes  and  surplices  of  the  clergy.  For  all  these  things,  the 
Reformation  tended  to  get  the  blame  ;  and  men  looked  back  with  regret 
to  the  time  of  Henry  viii.,  who,  though  stern  and  harsh  to  his  opponents, 
had  always  been  in  sympathy  with  the  general  body  of  his  subjects. 

Much  was  hoped  from  Edward's  rule.     Though  delicate,  he  was  a  pre- 
cocious lad,  and  some  of  his  written  papers  show  a  marvellous  insight 


436  The  Tudors  1552 

into  the  real  state  of  affairs.     He  was  now  fifteen  years  old  ;   he  was  to 

come  of  age  at  sixteen,  and  it  was  hoped  that  when  he  could  take  the 

Edward's    ^^^^^  ^^^  ^i^  ®^^  hands  an  immense  improvement  would 

Character,   -^g  uiade.     Already  he  had  done  something  to  cut  down  the 

expenses  of  the  royal  household,  and  had  formed  a  scheme  for  gradually 

paying  off  his  debts.   Unluckily,  in  the  spring  of  1552,  Edward  began  to 

show  unmistakable  signs  of  failing  health.     As  early  as  the  night  ride  to 

Windsor  in  1551,  he  had  been  troubled  with  a  cough  which  he  seemed 

unable  to  shake  off,  and  he  now  grew  rapidly  worse.     His  condition 

filled  Northumberland  with  alarm  ;  according  to  Henry  viii.'s  will,  made 

with  the  full  sanction  of  parliament,  he  was  to  be  succeeded  by  the 

^^     ^  Princess  Mary — and  the  duke  could  have  no  doubt  that  in 

Northum-  . 

beriand's     that  event  his  own  rum  was  certain.     He  therefore  devised 
°^"  an  ingenious  plan  to  set  aside  the  succession.     After  Mary 

and  Elizabeth  the  crown  was  to  go  to  the  duchess  of  Suffolk,  and  then  to 
her  daughters  Jane  and  Katharine  Grey.  Northumberland,  therefore, 
arranged  a  marriage  between  Lady  Jane  and  his  son  Lord  Guildford 
Dudley,  and  between  Katharine  Grey  and  Lord  Herbert,  the  eldest 
son  of  his  friend  the  earl  of  Pembroke.  Edward  throughout  his  life  had 
shown  himself  an  ardent  Protestant,  and  the  celebrated  John  Knox  and 
Grindal,  afterwards  the  Puritan  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  were  among 
his  chaplains.  On  this  Northumberland  worked,  and  persuaded  him 
that,  in  the  interests  of  Protestantism,  Mary  must  be  set  aside,  nominally 
on  the  plea  of  her  illegitimate  birth.  The  same  rule  applied  to  Eliza- 
beth. He  then  induced  Edward,  without  parliamentary  authority,  to 
make  an  illegal  will,  bequeathing  the  crown  to  Lady  Jane  and  her  heirs, 
afterwards  to  her  sister,  and  then  to  the  heirs  of  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Margaret  Tudor,  who  had  married  the  earl  of  Lennox.  The  judges 
plainly  pointed  out  to  Edward  the  illegality  of  what  he  was  doing,  but 
the  boy  persisted,  and  the  will  was  accepted  under  compulsion  by  most 
of  the  leading  men.  After  this  Edward  rapidly  grew  worse,  and  on 
July  6,  1553  he  died  in  his  sixteenth  year. 


CHAPTEK    IV 

MARY:  1553-1558 
Born  1516  ;  married  1554,  Philip  of  Spain. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS. 

Scotland.  France.  Spain. 

Mary,  deposed  1567.  Henry  ii.,  d.  1559.  Charles  i.,  resigned  1556. 


Philip  II.,  d.  1598. 


Emperor. 
Charles  v..  d.  1558. 


The  Accession— The  Spanish  Match— Gradual  Rejieal  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Legis- 
lation passed  since  1529— Persecution  of  the  Protestants— War  with  France 
and  Loss  of  Calais — Unpopularity  of  the  Government. 

Northumberland  had  made  every  preparation  to  keep  Edward's  death 
concealed  until  Mary  had  been  arrested,  but  a  friend  conveyed  instant 
intelligence  of  it  to  Hunsdon  in  Hertfordshire  whore  she  jy^^j.  gi^jes 
was  residing.  Edward  died  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  Northum- 
on  July  7,  and  before  the  next  morning  Mary  was  on  her 
way  to  Kenninghall  in  Norfolk,  a  castle  belonging  to  the  Howards. 
Norfolk  himself,  the  head  of  the  family,  was  in  the  Tower,  but  the  others 
were  keenly  in  her  favour ;  and  Norfolk  was  a  good  place,  either  for  a 
long  resistance  or  for  flight  to  the  continent  in  case  it  became  neces- 
sary. Everywhere  on  her  road  Mary  declared  herself  queen, 
and  called  upon  all  loyal  Englishmen  to  come  to  her  assistance. 
Meanwhile,  Lord  Kobert  Dudley,  afterwards  the  famous  earl  of  Leicester, 
had  been  despatched  by  his  father  to  Hunsdon  to  arrest  her.  He  found 
the  bird  flown,  and  it  then  appeared  what  a  fatal  mistake  Northumber- 
land had  made  in  not  effecting  Mary's  arrest  sooner. 

Concealment  being  no  longer  possible,  Northumberland  gathered  the 
council,   announced   Edward's   death,   and  made   preparations  for  the 
accession  of  Lady  Jane.     On  the  9th  she  was  accepted  as   Lady  Jane 
queen  by  the  lords  of  his  party,  and  on  the  10th  took  up  proclaimed. 
her  residence  in  the  Tower.     The  same  day  she  was  formally  proclaimed 

•437 


438  The  Tudors  1563 

in  the  city.  The  people  listened  respectfully,  but  made  no  demonstra- 
tion in  her  favour  ;  and  one  lad,  Gilbert  Potter,  boldly  exclaimed,  'the 
Lady  Mary  has  the  better  title  ! '  Jane  herself,  who  from  the  accounts 
retained  of  her  and  from  her  own  letters,  must  have  been  of  a  most  beauti- 
ful character,  combining  sincere  piety  with  a  learning  and  wisdom  far 
beyond  her  years,  took  little  pleasure  in  her  new  dignity,  but  showed 
Northumberland  that  she  was  likely  to  be  no  puppet  in  his  hands  by 
declining  to  have  her  husband  Lord  Guildford  Dudley  crowned  with 
her.     '  That,'  she  said,  *  could  not  be  done  without  an  act  of  parliament.' 

From  the  country   the  most   serious  reports  were  hourly  reaching 

Northumberland  ;  his  sons.  Lord  "Warwick  and  Lord  Robert,  had  caught 

up  Mary's  escort,  but  their  own  followers  had  refused  to 

ness  o"^"    fight.     Noblemen  and  gentlemen  were  flocking  into  Norfolk 

Jane's  from  all  sides,  and  the  earl  of  Derby  was  said  to  have  raised 

cause.  '  *' 

20,000  Cheshire  men  to  fight  for  the  rightful  queen.  The 
fact  was,  that,  as  the  case  presented  itself  to  all  but  a  small  clique, 
Mary's  claim  was  unanswerable.  She  was  the  rightful  heir,  according 
to  a  will  made  by  the  authority  of  an  act  of  parliament,  and  never  set 
aside.  Nothing  was  known  of  her  character  but  good  ;  she  had  won 
respect  by  the  determined  stand  she  had  made  on  behalf  of  her  own 
religion,  and  pity  by  the  long  course  of  ill  usage  to  which  she  had  been 
subjected.  Her  accession  might  be  expected  to  restore  the  good  times 
of  Henry  viii.,  and  to  produce  such  a  religious  settlement,  based  upon 
his  jDolicy  of  separation  from  Rome  but  adherence  to  Catholic  doctrine, 
as  the  majority  of  Englishmen  undoubtedly  desired.  Jane's  success,  on 
the  other  hand,  meant  the  continuance  in  power  of  Northumberland  and 
his  creatures,  who  were  identified  in  the  popular  mind  with  all  the 
mistakes  and  corruption  of  the  last  reign.  In  these  circumstances,  there- 
fore, Jane  had  no  chance. 

To  defeat  the  forces  who  were  gathering  round  Mary  and  to  seize  her 
person  was  Northumberland's  one  chance,  and  he  therefore  hired  troops 
by  lavish  promises  of  pay,  and  set  out  for  Norfolk  ;  while 
North'um°^  the  fleet  was  sent  round  to  Yarmouth.      But  the  ranks  of 
bedand's     Northumberland's  army  had  been  deliberately  filled  by  the 
servants  and  dependents  of  his  bitterest  enemies,  who  were 
prepared  to  turn  upon  him  at  the  first  favourable  moment,  while,  im- 
mediately on  their  arrival  at  Yarmouth,  the  sailors  declared  for  Queen 
Mary.     No  sooner  had  Northumberland  left  London  than  the  lords  of 
his  own  party  headed  by  Lord  Pembroke,  the  father-in-law  of  Katharine 
Grey,  declared  for  Mary,  and  the  news  reached  Northumberland  when 
a  few  miles  beyond   Cambridge.      Seeing  that  the  game  was  up,  he 


X688  Mary  439 

retraced  his  steps,  and  on  July  20  himself  proclaimed  Mary  at  Cambridge. 
Next  day  he  was  arrested  by  Mary's  orders,  and  with  his  son  the  earl  of 
"Warwick,  and  a  few  others,  sent  to  the  Tower.  On  the  3rd  August  Mary 
entered  London,  riding  side  by  side  with  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  and 
her  first  act  was  to  release  from  the  Tower  Norfolk,  Gardiner,  and 
Edward  Courtenay,  son  of  the  marquis  of  Exeter,  who  had  been  executed 
in  1539.  Northumberland  could  expect  no  mercy.  He  w^s  executed 
at  once,  and  did  infinite  harm  to  the  cause  of  the  Keformation  by  a 
declaration  that  his  Protestantism  had  been  all  along  a  sham.  Trial  of 
Lady  Jane  Grey  and  Lord  Guildford  Dudley  were  also  sent  Lady  Jane, 
the  Tower,  and  in  November  were  tried  and  convicted  of  treason,  but  Mary 
had  no  intention  at  this  date  of  putting  their  sentences  into  execution. 

At  her  accession  Mary  was  thirty-six  years  of  age,  with  a  face  which, 
though  stern,  was  not  without  beauty  when  animated  ;  and  from  her 
picture  she  must  have  been  extremely  like  her  great-grandmother 
Margaret  Beaufort,  from  whom  perhaps  she  inherited  the  strength  of 
her  religious  convictions.  Now  that  people  could  show  their  minds 
freely,  it  was  clear  that  Mary's  accession  was  cordially  ac-  Mary's 
cepted  by  all  but  a  small  group  of  reformers,  but  her  very  position, 
success  was  in  itself  a  danger.  The  English  people  had  accepted  Mary 
as  offering  the  best  chance  of  securing  a  certain  kind  of  government, 
rather  than  from  any  real  knowledge  of  her  character,  of  which  they 
knew  only  the  best  side.  She  would  certainly  endanger  her  popularity 
either  by  a  foreign  marriage,  or  by  any  attempt  to  bring  back  the  country 
into  communion  with  Rome.  Unluckily  for  her,  these  were  precisely 
the  points  on  which  her  mind  was  already  made  up  ;  and  when  she 
thought  any  course  to  be  dictated  by  the  interests  of  religion  she  had 
no  hesitation  in  carrying  it  through,  irrespective  of  policy. 

The  ablest  adviser  in  her  council  was  Stephen  Gardiner,  bishop  of 
Winchester,  Wolsey's  old  pupil,  who  became  lord  chancellor.     He  was 
thoroughly  English  in  his  sympathies,  and,  though  he  wished    Stephen 
to  go  back  to  the  religious  policy  of  Henry  viii.,  had  no   Gardiner, 
desire  to  re-establish  the  authority  of  the  pope.     Instead,  however,  of 
listening  to  his  advice,  Mary  put  herself  completely  in  the  hands  of 
Renard,  the  imperial  ambassador,  whose  one  wish  was  to 
promote  the  interests  of  his  master.      She  also  opened  a 
secret  negotiation  with  the  pope  and  with  her  enthusiastic  cousin,  Cardinal 
Pole,  who  was  appointed  papal  legate,  and  who  wished  to  come  to  Eng- 
land at  once.     Neither  Renard,  Pole,  nor  Mary  really  understood  the 
English  people,  and  consequently  from  the  very  first  Mary's  popularity 
began  to  diminish. 


440  The  Tudors  1553 

The  first  question  raised  was  that  of  the  queen's  marriage.  Gardiner, 
and  practically  the  whole  English  nation,  wished  that  she  should  marry 
Edward  Courtenay,  who  had  been  created  earl  of  Devon,  and 
Marriage  who  was  the  last  representative  of  the  Yorkist  line  ;  and  an 
Question,  alliance  with  him  would  therefore  have  strengthened  the 
dynasty,  while  it  would  have  produced  no  complication  with  foreign 
powers.  Mary,  on  the  other  hand,  had  made  up  her  mind  to  marry 
Philip,  the  eldest  son  of  the  emperor,  and  received  every  encouragement 
from  Renard.  He  also  did  all  in  his  power  to  set  her  against  her  sister 
Elizabeth,  and  to  incite  her  to  the  execution  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  and  her 
husband.  Mary  herself  was  quite  infatuated  upon  the  subject,  and 
imagined  herself  deeply  enam.oured  of  Philip,  whom  she  had  never  seen. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  unpopularity  of  the  match  in  England.  The 
only  thing  to  be  said  in  its  favour  was  that  as  the  Queen  of  Scots  was 
married  to  the  Dauphin,  England  ought  to  strengthen  herself  by  a 
connection  with  Spain  ;  but  this  seemed  nothing  compared  to  the  danger 
of  becoming  a  mere  dependency  of  the  Spanish  monarchy,  like  Naples 
or  the  Netherlands,  which  most  Englishmen  fully  expected.  However, 
the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics  could  not  agree  to  make  common  cause 
against  it,  and  the  result  was  that  Mary  carried  the  consent  of  the 
council  by  surprise.  Nevertheless  in  drawing  up  the  marriage  articles, 
Charles  v.  was  careful  to  allow  fully  for  English  susceptibilities.  He  re- 
served to  Mary  the  sole  administration  of  English  affairs  and 
Marriage  of  English  revenues,  and  as  Spain  would  go  to  Don  Carlos, 
Contract,  pi^iijp'g  child  by  his  first  wife,  he  promised  Burgundy  and 
the  Low  Countries  to  the  children  of  the  English  marriage.  The  council 
also  stipulated  that  no  foreigner  should  have  any  command  in  the  army 
or  the  fleet,  and  that  England  should  not  be  involved,  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  the  war  between  France  and  the  empire.  The  arrangements 
were  concluded  before  the  close  of  the  year,  and  it  was  intended  that 
the  marriage  should  take  place  before  Lent  1554,  when  an  outburst  of 
insurrection  in  England  caused  it  to  be  postponed. 

The  leaders  of  the  insurrection  were  the  duke  of  Suffolk,  Courtenay, 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  Sir  Peter  Carew,  and  other  persons  who  had  been 
Wyatt's  friends  of  the  duke  of  Northumberland.  Nominally  their 
Rebellion,  insurrection  was  directed  against  the  Spanish  marriage  ;  but 
had  they  succeeded,  Mary  would  in  all  probability  have  been  dethroned 
and  Elizabeth  set  in  her  place.  The  insurrection  proved  a  failure.  Cour- 
tenay was  questioned  before  the  council  and  confined ;  Carew  was  arrested 
in  Devonshire  ;  and  Suffolk  found  that  his  connection  with  Northumber- 
land prevented  the  midland  counties  from  rising  in  his  favour.     Sir 


1554  Mary  441 

Thomas  Wyatt,  however,  got  together  a  considerable  following  in  Kent, 
and  being  joined  at  Rochester  by  a  body  of  Londoners  whom  the  earl  of 
Norfolk  had  led  against  him,  made  his  way  to  Suffolk.  Had  he  been 
able  to  cross  London  Bridge,  matters  would  have  been  very  serious,  for 
Mary's  rule  was  more  unpopular  in  the  city  than  anywhere  else.  She 
herself,  however,  with  masculine  courage,  rode  to  the  Guildhall,  and 
promising  that  she  would  not  marry  till  the  project  had  been  considered 
by  parliament,  succeeded  in  enlisting  the  goodwill  of  the  citizens. 
London  Bridge,  therefore,  was  held  against  Wyatt,  and  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  march  up  the  river  to  the  next  bridge  at  Kingston,  and 
cross  there.  This  he  did  ;  but  his  followers  melted  away,  and  though 
Wyatt  himself,  whom  the  citizen-soldiers  seemed  unwilling  to  slay,  made 
his  way  to  the  city,  he  was  there  arrested. 

This  foolish  and  ill-managed  insurrection  was  not  only  ruinous  to  the 
cause  of  those  who  wished  to  prevent  the  marriage,  but  fatal  to  the 
friends  of  those  who  were  concerned  in  it.  Renard  seized  upon  the  oppor- 
tunity to  win   Mary's  consent   to   the   execution   of  the    Death  of 
innocent  Lady  Jane,  and  she  was  put  to  death  with  her    Lady  jane, 
husband  on  February  12  ;  while  Gardiner,  flying  at  higher  game  still, 
spared  no  effort  to  implicate  Elizabeth,  who  was  sent  to  the  Tower.     To 
get  evidence  against  her   of  complicity  in  the  rebellion,    Danger  of 
threats  and  promises  were  used  to  the  condemned  insurgents.    Elizabeth. 
Fortunately,  however,  these  failed  ;  and  Wyatt  on  the  scaffold  declared 
that  she  had  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  movement.     Suffolk 
was  beheaded.     Courtenay  was  imprisoned  for  some  time,  but  ultimately 
was  released.     He  died  unmarried  at  Venice  in  1566.     The  other  in- 
surgents were  hanged  in  scores.     After  Elizabeth  had  been  kept  in  the 
Tower  till  May  19,  she  was  sent  to  Woodstock.     The  marriage  arrange- 
ments now  went  on  without  opposition.     In  April  parliament  met  and 
confirmed  the  marriage  treaty  ;  and  in  July  Philip  arrived, 
and  the  marriage  took  place  on  July  25.     At  his  marriage   marries 
with  Mary,  Philip  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age  ;  he  was   ^"*"P- 
short,  but  well  proportioned,  with  a  broad  forehead,  grey  eyes,  and  a  flaxen 
pointed  beard,  which  added  length  to  a  face  already  long  by  nature.     His 
disposition  was  cold,  and  his  capacity  was  of  a  very  moderate    phiUp's 
order.     In  religion  he  was  a  bigoted  Catholic,  but  was  not   Character, 
prepared  to  allow  his  religious  convictions  to  interfere  either  with  his  poli- 
tical schemes  or  his  private  life.   He  regarded  his  marriage  as  one  of  purely 
political  expediency,  designed  as  a  set-off  to  that  between  the  Dauphin 
and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.    If  he  could  acquire  real  power  in  England,  he 
was  prepared  to  stay  ;  if  not,  he  would  go  home  as  soon  as  possible. 


442  The  Tudors 


1554 


It  is  now  time  to  turn  to  ecclesiastical  matters.     On  Mary's  accession 

a  reaction  was  so  certain  that  most  of  the  foreign  clergy,  and  a  great 

Ecclesiasti-     many  of  the  English  divines  who  had  taken  a  prominent 

cai  Affairs.      ^^^^  during  the  last  reign — among  others,  Peter  Martyr  and 

John   Knox — immediately  left  the    country.       Others    like   Cranmer, 

Latimer^  and  Eidley,  remained  at  their  posts,  and  Cranmer  issued  a 

bold  letter  in  which  he  declared  his  adherence  to  the  new  views.     It  was 

soon  seen  how  far  the  measures  of  Edward  vi.'s  councillors  had  been  in 

The  Mass    advance  of  popular  opinion.     Without  any  orders  at  all,  the 

restored.       jj^^ss  was  practically  restored,  each  congregation  acting  for 

itself  in  this  matter.    When  parliament  met  in  October  it  repealed  the 

Ecclesias-      religious  acts  of  the  parliaments  of  Edward  vi.,  and  restored 

ticai  legisia-  « Such  divine  service  and  administration  of  the  sacraments 
tion  of 

Edward  VI.  as  were  most  commonly  used  m  England  in  the  last  year  of 

repealed.  j^^.^^  jj^^^^  ^^^^  , 

Meanwhile,  the  reforming  bishops  had  been  deprived  of  their  sees, 
and  their  places  taken  either  by  their  old  occupants,  such  as  Gardiner 
at  Winchester,  and  Bonner  at  London,  or  by  new  men  whom  the  govern- 
ment could  trust.  Thus  strengthened  in  the  House  of  Lords,  Gardiner, 
in  April  1554,  introduced  bills  to  restore  the  Six  Articles,  the  statutes 
against  Lollardy,  and  the  episcopal  jurisdiction  permitted  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  viii.  ;  but  Lord  Paget,  the  old  and  trusted  minister  of  Henry 
VIII.,  successfully  opposed  their  passing.  In  October  a  new  parliament 
met.  Great  pains  had  been  taken  to  influence  the  elections,  and  the 
result  was  shown  in  a  House  of  Commons  more  friendly  to  Mary 
than  any  of  her  parliaments.  By  this  time  Mary  ventured  to  bring 
back  Cardinal  Pole  as  papal  legate,  and  in  November  he  landed  in 
England.  In  spite,  however,  of  the  members'  goodwill  to  the  govern- 
ment, they  made  the  most  stringent  bargain  with  Pole,  and  insisted 
upon  having  the  whole  of  it  recorded  in  an  act  of  parliament.  On 
the  one  hand,  they  confessed  the  sin  of  which  they  had  been  guilty 
Ecclesias-  ^^  separating  from  Rome,  and  begged  to  be  again  received 
tical  legisia-  into  favour,  and  repealed  most  of  the  ecclesiastical  legislation 
Henry  VIII.  of  Henry  VIII.  On  the  other  hand,  they  insisted  that  the 
repeaie  .  ^^^^  should  in  the  fullest  manner  guarantee  the  possession 
of  the  abbey  and  other  church  lands  to  their  present  possessors. 

Similarly  they  bargained  that  the  restoration  of  the  church  courts  and 

of  the  Lollard  statutes  of  Henry  iv.  and  Henry  v.  should  be  bought  at  the 

price  of  the  clergy  declaring  that  they  had  no  right  to  the 

Statutes  lands  they  had  lost ;  and  they  retained  in  full  force  the  old 
Statute  of  Praemunire,  and  the  other  anti-papal  legislation 


1565  Mary  443 

which  dated  earlier  than  1529.     Also  in  repealing  Henry  viii.'s  legisla- 
tion they  were  careful  to  say,  in  respect  of  the  acts  of  succes-    Elizabeth's 
sion  on  which  Elizabeth's  title  depended,  that  they  repealed   title 
so  much  only  as  affected  the  see  of  Rome.    In  this  way  a   ^^^^^^^ 
formal  reconciliation  was  effected,  and  Pole  withdrew  the  interdict. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  it  was  announced  that  Mary  was  about  to  have 
a  child.  Provision  was  therefore  made  for  a  regency  in  case  of  her 
death  ;  but  parliament,  in  assigning  the  post  to  Philip,  An  heir 
enacted  that  the  marriage  articles  should  in  that  case  expected, 
remain  in  full  force  during  his  term  of  office.  The  birth  of  Mary's  child 
was  looked  forward  to  by  the  English  and  Spanish  courts  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm  :  a  boy  was  confidently  predicted,  and  every  prepara- 
tion was  made  for  the  celebration  of  so  auspicious  an  event. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  on  January  16,  and  within  a  fortnight  the 
work  of  burning  the  Protestants  began.  The  actual  initiative  was  taken 
by  Gardiner,  who,  it  is  not  improbable,  expected  that  the  Persecution 
terror  of  the  flames  would  produce  recantations  similar  to  ^'^sun. 
that  made  by  Northumberland,  and  do  great  discredit  to  the  Protestant 
cause.  But  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  real  inspirer  of  the  persecution 
was  Mary  herself,  and  after  her,  Pole.  The  first  victims  were  selected 
with  care.  Hooper,  bishop  of  Gloucester,  had  been  conspicuous  for  his 
devotion  as  a  prelate  ;  and  Rogers,  canon  of  St.  Paul's,  was  well  known 
as  a  translator  of  the  Bible  ;  both  were  burnt  early  in  February,  and 
before  the  end  of  March  Ferrar,  the  well-meaning  bishop  of  St.  David's, 
and  thirteen  other  persons  of  less  note,  also  suffered.  Of  seventeen  who 
had  been  brought  to  trial,  only  one  recanted ;  the  constancy  of  the 
others  was  received  by  the  spectators  with  admiring  reverence  ;  and  it 
was  soon  evident  to  unprejudiced  spectators  like  Renardthat  the  govern- 
ment was  defeating  its  own  ends. 

Mary's  child  was  expected  at  the  beginning  of  May,  but  it  did  not 
come  ;  and  Mary  in  a  passion  of  disappointment,  hoping  to  propitiate 
heaven,  sent  a  letter  to  the  bishops  to  enjoin  greater  activity 
in  persecution,  and  in  three  months  fifty  more  victims  were   ing?fom  a"' 
sent  to  the  stake.     Before  the  end  of  summer  it  was  evident   d^ggase.^^ 
to  everybody  that  the  unfortunate  queen  had  been  deceived 
by  the  symptoms  of  an  incurable  disease,  and  that  not  only  would  she 
never  have  a  child,  but  that  her  own  life  could  not  be  much  prolonged. 
In  August  a  further  blow  fell  upon  her.     Charles  v.  had  long  been 
contemplating    resignation,   and    wanted   his   son    at    home.      Philip, 
therefore,  gladly  made  this  an  excuse  to  leave  England.     In  leaving  he 
strongly  urged  upon  the  queen  the  policy  of  keeping  on  good  terms  with 


444  The  Tudors  1555 

Elizabeth,  whose  future  accession  might  now  be  regarded  as  certain. 
In  November  Mary  lost  her  best  English  adviser,  Gardiner,  the  last  of 
the  statesmen  whom  Wolsey  had  trained,  and  after  his  death  she  seems 
to  have  acted  almost  entirely  by  the  advice  of  Pole. 

Hitherto  the  only  bishops  who  had  been  put  to  death  were  Hooper 
and  Ferrar  ;  Coverdale  had  been  released  at  the  intercession  of  the 
Further  king  of  Denmark  ;  and  most  of  the  other  deposed  bishops, 

Persecution,  though  married  men,  had  not  been  remarkable  for  strong 
heretical  views.  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer,  however,  were  left ; 
and  in  September  1555  they  were  brought  up  for  trial  at  Oxford.  The 
point  upon  which  stress  was  laid  was  their  belief  with  regard  to  tran- 
substantiation  ;  and  upon  this  all  three  were  condemned  as  heretical. 
Cranmer's  case,  as  an  archbishop,  was  reserved  for  the  consideration  of 

the  pope.  Latimer  and  Ridley  were  burnt  together  at 
Ridley  Oxford  on  October  16.     Both  perished  at  the  same  stake  ; 

and  Latimer's  last  words  to  his  companion  were  :  '  Play  the 
man,  brother  Ridley  ;  we  shall  this  day  light  such  a  candle,  by  God's 
grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out.'  In  February 
authority  arrived  from  Rome  for  dealing  with  Cranmer,  and  on  February 
14,  1556  he  was  formally  divested  of  his  archiepiscopal  robes.  On  this 
occasion  Cranmer  put  forward  an  appeal  to  a  general  council.  Those 
wishful  to  spare  him,  founded  upon  this  act  a  hope  of  recantation. 
Every  effort  was,  therefore,  made  to  play  upon  his  natural  clinging  to 
life.  To  this  he  yielded,  and  signed  a  series  of  submissions,  finally 
describing  himself  as  the  real  cause  of  all  the  ills  that  had  taken  place. 
Nevertheless  Mary  and  Pole  were  determined  that  he  should  die  ;  but 
hoping  for  a  public  recantation,  which  would  have  been  an  even  greater 
scandal  to  Protestantism  than  that  of  Northumberland,  arranged  that  he 
should  profess  his  views  publicly  in  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Oxford.  But 
when  the  time  came  to  speak  the  archbishop  recovered  his  nerve,  with- 
drew all  his  recantations,  and  boldly  declared  that  he  would  die  a  Pro- 
testant. '  As  for  the  pope  I  utterly  refuse  him,  as  the  church's  enemy 
and  anti-Christ,  with  all  his  false  doctrine  :  and  as  for  the  sacraments,  I 
believe,  as  I  have  taught  in  my  book  against  the  bishop  of  Winchester.' 
Furious  with  disappointment,  his  persecutors  at  once  hurried  him  to 

the  stake,  where  he  showed  his  constancy  to  the  last  by 
burnt,  thrusting  into  the  flame  the  right  hand — *that  unworthy 

^^'  hand'— with  which  he  had  signed  his  recantations.  He  was 
immediately  succeeded  as  archbishop  by  Pole.  After  Cranmer's  death 
the  persecution  of  meaner  victims  went  on  as  before  ;  but  it  is  very  remark- 
able that  among  all  the  laity  put  to  death  there  was  no  one  of  distinction. 


1667  Mary  445 

Indeed,  of  the  whole  total  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  not  more 
than  a  dozen  could  be  described  as  in  any  way  notable.  For  the  most 
part,  indeed,  the  persecutors  shut  their  eyes  to  the  heresy  of  the  powerful, 
and  laid  their  hands  only  on  the  defenceless.  Equally  noteworthy  is  the 
small  area  in  which  persecution  was  carried  out.  In  the  diocese  of  London, 
Bonner  burnt  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight ;  in  that  of  Canterbury, 
Pole  was  responsible  for  fifty-five ;  in  Norwich,  Hopton  for  forty-six  ; 
and  all  the  other  dioceses  together  only  contributed  about  fifty.  Gardiner 
seems  to  have  taken  no  part  after  he  found  that  persecution  would  not 
produce  recantation.  As  a  statesman  he  probably  recognised  that 
persecution  was  defeating  its  own  ends,  and  that  by  showing  that  Pro- 
testantism was  a  faith  for  which  martyrs  would  die,  Mary  and  her 
advisers  were  doing  it  the  best  of  services. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Mary's  proceedings  were  not  viewed 
with  profound  disgust  by  the  mass  of  the  nation.      To  move,   how- 
ever, was  extremely  difficult.      Had  English  politics  been    Popular 
isolated  from  those  of  the  continent,  a  national  rising  would   ^^^'^^e* 
certainly  have  dethroned  Mary  and  placed   Elizabeth  on  the  throne. 
But  it  was  well  known  that  Philip  was  watching  for  any  excuse  to  throw 
Spanish  troops  into  England.     In  that  case  it  would  have  been  almost 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  France  ;  and  no  prudent  Englishman  could 
wish  to  see  a  French  army  on  English  soil  supporting  Elizabeth,  con- 
fronted by  a  Spanish  force  fighting  for  Mary.     In  these  circumstances 
the  wisest  Englishmen  decided  to  bide  their  time.     Mary's  life  could 
not  be  prolonged,  and  they  determined  to  wait  till  Elizabeth  succeeded 
in  natural  course.     This  prudent  resolve,  however,  was  not  respected  by 
a  number  of  young  Englishmen,  some  of  whom  in  1556    Abortive 
formed  a  plan  to  land  French  troops  in  the  Isle  of  Wight ;    risings, 
and  Thomas  Stafl'ord,  grandson  of  the  last  duke  of  Buckingham,  sailed 
from  France  and  seized  Scarborough  Castle  in  April   1557,  but   was 
immediately  taken  prisoner  and  put  to  death. 

These  ill-judged  schemes  were  only  serious  because  they  supplied 
Philip  with  an  excuse  for  urging  Mary  to  declare  war  against  France  ; 
and  accordingly  in  the  summer  of  1557  he  paid  a  short  visit  War  against 
to  England,  during  which  he  induced  her  to  declare  war.  F""^"*^^- 
For  such  an  undertaking  the  country  was  wholly  unprepared.  Mary 
had  been  spending  the  income  of  the  crown  on  the  restoration  of  abbeys 
and  churches,  while  the  ships  and  fortifications  had  been  falling  to 
ruin.  The  government  was  extremely  unpopular  ;  money  could  only  be 
collected  by  forced  loans  and  by  levying  illegal  customs  duties  ;  the  few 
councillors  who  still  attended  were  lor  the  most  part  as  incompetent  and 


446  The  Tudors  1557 

as  fanatical  as  Mary  herself,  and  nothing  but  disaster  could  be  expected. 
The  war,  however,  opened  with  a  slight  gleam  of  success.  An  English 
contingent  was  sent  to  the  Netherlands,  and  though  it  did  not  arrive  in 
time  to  take  part  in  Philip's  great  victory  at  St.  Quentin,  it  took  its 
share  in  the  storm  and  sack  of  the  town  itself.  Philip's  hesitation, 
however,  prevented  him  from  following  up  his  victory  ;  and  the  French 
were  able  to  recall  the  duke  of  Guise  from  Italy,  and  to  make  pre- 
parations for  a  counter-stroke,  at  the  English  expense,  by  attacking 
Calais. 

At  that  date  the  English  held  within  the  Pale  of  Calais  two  towns, 
Calais  and  Guisnes,  and  the  connecting  fortress  of  Hammes.     Of  these, 

Calais  Calais  and  Guisnes  were  both  strongly  defended.      The 

attacked,  governor  of  Calais  was  Lord  Wentworth,  and  of  Guisnes  Lord 
Grey,  the  hero  of  Pinkie,  both  excellent  soldiers.  They  had  long  been 
aware  that  Calais  was  likely  to  be  attacked,  and  had  in  vain  warned  the 
government  that  the  garrison  was  inadequate  to  its  defence  ;  but  the 
government  heeded  not.  The  provisions  were  allowed  to  dwindle  down 
to  a  supply  for  only  three  or  four  weeks  ;  the  sluices  upon  which  the 
water  defences  of  Calais  depended  were  unrepaired.  All  through  the 
month  of  December  Wentworth  wrote  again  and  again  urging  the  neces- 
sity of  reinforcements.  On  the  29th  he  announced  that  the  French 
might  be  expected  immediately.  No  effect,  however,  was  produced  ;  and 
on  the  31st  Mary  wrote  that  '  she  had  intelligence  that  no  enterprise 
was  intended  against  Calais  and  the  Pale,  and  that  the  reinforcements 
had  been  countermanded.'  The  very  next  morning  the  French  formed 
their  lines.  Wentworth  had  only  five  hundred  men  against  some  25,000, 
but  he  contrived  to  hold  out  till  the  6th,  when  he  was  forced  to  surrender. 
In  England  the  four  days  thus  gained  were  wasted.  Though  the  sea 
was  calm,  no  reinforcements  were  sent  over ;  and  when  at  length  on 
January  10  some  ships  and  men  were  ready,  a  south-westerly  gale 
dispersed  the  transports  ;  and  on  January  20,  Grey  too  was  forced  to 
Calais  surrender.    The  loss  of  Calais  came  upon  the  country  like  a 

surrendered,  thunder-clap,  and  completed  the  unpopularity  of  a  govern- 
ment who  were  so  entirely  responsible  for  the  disaster.  A  French 
invasion  even  seemed  imminent,  and  though  before  summer,  the  nation 
plucked  up  heart,  and  a  fleet  was  again  manned  and  at  sea,  and  even 
took  an  honourable  part  in  a  fight  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  French 
on  the  sea-coast  near  Gravelines,  the  self-respect  of  the  nation  suffered 
a  terrible  blow. 

By  no  one  in  the  country,  however,  was  the  disaster  more  felt  than  by 
the  queen.    She  now  knew  that  she  was  stricken  with  a  mortal  disease, 


1558 


Mary 


447 


and  that  in  a  few  months  her  sister  Elizabeth,  whose  very  beauty  was 
an  oflFence  to  her,  would  take  her  place  and  reverse  her  policy.     Her 
husband  had  again  left  her,  with  no  probability  of  return.    Mary's 
Her  best  friend,  Cardinal  Pole,  had  been  deprived  of  his   ^^^^  '^^y^- 
legatine  authority  by  the  pope,  and  was  labouring  under  a  charge  of 
heresy.     She  knew  that  she  was  hated  by  her  subjects,  who  were  wait- 
ing with  eagerness  the  hour  of  Elizabeth's  accession.     Still  she  adhered 
to  her  old  course  ;  the  burnings  went  on  ;  the  rebuilding  of  monasteries 
was  continued.      When  the  end  came,  she  faced  it  boldly,  recognised 
Elizabeth  as  her  successor,  and  died  on  the  17th  November  1558.     The 
same  day  died  Cardinal  Pole.     Of  Mary's  character  the  most  charitable 
explanation  is  that  her  mind  was  unhinged  by  the  strain  which  followed 
upon  her  accession  to  the  throne.     Her  relations  with  Philip  show  every 
sign  of  hysterical  mania,  and  the  extraordinary  harshness  with  which* 
she  persecuted  the  Protestants  points  also  to  the  same  conclusion. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Execution  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,    . 

1654 

Marriage  of  Mary  and  Philip,    . 

1654 

Latimer  and  Ridley  burnt, 

1666 

Cranmer  burnt, 

1556 

Loss  of  Calais, 

1668 

CHAPTER  V 

ELIZABETH:    1558-1603 
Born  1533. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES. 

Scotland.  France.  Spain. 

Mary,  deposed  1567.  Henry  u.,  d.  1559.  Philip  ii.,  1598. 

James  Vl.  Francis  ii.,  d.  1560.  Philip  in.,  d.  1621. 

Charles  ix.,  d.  1574. 

Henry  III.,  d.  1589. 

Henry  IV.,  d.  1610. 

Elizabeth's  Religious  Settlement— Foreign  Affairs — The  Reformation  in  Scotland 
— History  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  her  Flight  into  England — The  Civil 
Wars  in  France — The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands — Improvement  in  Eliza- 
beth's position — The  Rivalry  of  the  English  and  Spaniards  in  the  South 
Seas— Danger  from  Mary  Queen  of  Scots— Her  Execution — The  Spanish 
Armada— English  Command  of  the  Seas — Irish  Affairs — Essex's  Career  and 
Execution — The  Monopolies. 

Elizabeth  was  in  her  twenty-sixth  year  when  she  was  called  to  the  throne 
by  the  acclamation  of  all  Englishmen — Catholic  as  weU  as  Protestant.  Her 
,  only  serious  rival  was  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  who,  on  the  sup- 
Position  and  position  that  Elizabeth  was  illegitimate,  might  be  regarded 
haracter.  ^^  having  a  better  claim.  On  the  other  hand,  Elizabeth's 
right  rested  upon  an  act  of  parliament ;  and  she  had  the  further  advantage 
that  Mary's  position,  as  a  Scot  and  as  wife  of  the  Dauphin,  made  her  cause 
unpopular.  During  the  last  years  of  her  sister's  life  Elizabeth  had  lived 
in  retirement  at  Hatfield.  She  had  carefully  made  herself  acquainted  with 
the  problems  she  would  have  to  encounter  ;  and  when  she  came  to  the 
throne  was  quite  determined  on  the  general  line  of  policy,  both  foreign 
and  domestic,  which  she  meant  to  pursue.  For  details  she  cared  com- 
paratively little — perhaps  because  being  a  woman  she  had  no  experience 
of  practical  work — and  left  these  to  her  ministers.  Her  character  presents 
remarkable  contrasts,  and  shows  the  impress  both  of  her  father  and 


1558  Elizabeth  449 

mother.  From  her  father  she  inherited  her  masculine  will,  sound 
political  instincts,  and  sharp,  rude  way  of  expressing  herself ;  from  her 
mother  a  more  than  usual  thirst  for  admiration,  and  a  certain  freedom  in 
her  relations  to  her  admirers  which  was  often  little  short  of  scandalous. 
According  to  Henry  viii.'s  will,  the  next  occupant  of  the  throne  would 
be  Katharine,  the  younger  sister  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 

Elizabeth  immediately  gave  her  confidence  to  William  Cecil,  whom  she 
reappointed  secretary  of  state.  Cecil  was  born  in  1520  at  Bourn,  in 
Lincolnshire,  and  was  educated  at  Cambridge.  His  father  william 
being  an  officer  about  the  court,  young  Cecil  was  taken  into  Cecil, 
the  service  of  Henry  viii.  On  the  king's  death  he  became  private  secre- 
tary to  Somerset ;  and  under  Warwick  filled  the  post  of  secretary  of 
state.  Though  he  had  agreed  to  the  accession  of  Lady  Jane,  he  contrived 
to  make  his  peace  with  Mary,  and,  during  her  reign,  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, conforming  outwardly  to  the  old  religion,  though  in  reality  a 
Protestant ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Elizabeth's  judicious  conduct  during 
her  sister's  lifetime  was  regulated  by  his  advice.  Fortunately  Pole's 
death  had  rendered  the  archbishepric  of  Canterbury  vacant,  and  Eliza- 
beth named  to  it  Matthew  Parker.  Parker,  son  of  a  Matthew 
Norwich  tradesman,  was  born  in  1504,  and  was  educated  at  Parker. 
Cambridge ;  he  became  chaplain  to  Anne  Boleyn,  and  since  her  death 
had  spent  his  time  at  the  University,  where  he  was  master  of  Corpus 
Christi  College.  He  was  well  known  to  Cecil,  who  recommended  him 
for  the  post.  As  keeper  of  the  great  seal,  Elizabeth  named  Nicholas 
Bacon,  Cecil's  brother-in-law,  and  father  of  the  more  celebrated 
Francis.  Cecil  and  Parker  were  both  members  of  the  moderate  Pro- 
testant party.  •- 

England  had  now  had  experience  of  two  extremes  :   under  Edward  vi. 
she  had  seen  the  methods  of  the  extreme  Protestants,  and  under  Mary 
those  of  the  extreme  Catholics,"  and  the  persecutions  by 
the  latter  had  left  the  more  vivid  impression  upon  the    Religious 
popular  mind.     What  most  people  would  have  preferred,  *°"* 

therefore,  was  to  have  returned  to  the  policy  of  Henry  viii.,  but  without 
persecution,  A  position  of  absolute  neutrality,  however,  was  no  longer 
possible.  Elizabeth  and  her  advisers  were  perfectly  aware  that  she  must 
rest  either  upon  the  Eoman  Catholics  or  the  Protestants.  The  latter 
were  the  less  numerous,  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  more  energetic,  and  they 
were  also  the  growing  party,  and  the  party  most  interested  in  maintaining 
Elizabeth  on  the  throne.  In  ecclesiastical  matters  Elizabeth  was  no 
bigot.  She  had  little  personal  religion,  and  she  was  more  anxious  to  find 
the  settlement  which  would  meet  with  the  least  resistance,  than  to  force 

2f 


450  The  Tudors  1558 

her  own  particular  views  on  the  nation.  Accordingly  she  at  once  pro- 
claimed that  the  epistle  and  gospel  and  the  ten  commandments,  with  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Creed,  might  be  said  in  English,  and  forbade  con- 
troversial preaching  till  a  settlement  had  been  made  by  parliament. 
Meanwhile,  Parker,  Grindal,  and  others  were  appointed  to  revise  the 
prayer-book.  Early  in  1559  parliament  met,  and  by  May  had  placed 
the  religious  settlement  on  a  permanent  basis. 

In  the  first  place,  the  great  Act  of  1554  was  repealed,  so  that  the 
authority  of  the  pope  was  again  abolished,  and  the  ecclesiastical  legisla- 
Its  Settle-    *i^^  ^^  Henry  viii.  was  again  brought  into  force.     Secondly, 
ment.  ^^  Ji^q^  of  Supremacy  was  passed,  by  which   the  queen, 

instead  of  being  styled  the  supreme  head  of  the  church,  was  spoken 
of  as  being  '  over  all  persons  and  causes,  as  well  ecclesiastical  as  civil, 
within  these  dominions  supreme,'  and  allowing  her  to  exercise  her 
authority  through  commissioners.  Thirdly,  an  Act  of  Uniformity  was 
passed,  which  imposed  the  second  prayer-book  of  Edward  vi.,  but  with 
some  important  alterations  likely  to  make  it  more  acceptable  to  Roman 
Catholics,  and  to  those  Protestants  who,  like  Elizabeth  herself,  believed 
in  some  form  of  a  real  presence.  For  example,  a  passage  in  the  Litany 
which  spoke  of  'the  tyranny  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  and  all  his  de- 
testable enormities '  was  omitted,  and  in  the  words  in  which  the  bread 
and  wine  are  given  to  communicants  at  the  Sacrament,  the  phrases  from 
the  first  and  second  prayer-books  of  Edward  vi.,  one  of  which  could  be 
regarded  as  implying  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  and  the  other 
not,  were  joined  together.  As  for  vestments  of  the  clergy  and  the  orna- 
ments of  churches,  it  was  ordered  '  that  such  ornaments  of  the  church 
and  ministers,  at  all  times  of  their  ministration,  were  to  be  retained  and 
used,  as  were  in  the  Church  of  England,  by  the  authority  of  parliament 
in  the  second  year  of  King  Edward  vi.'  By  this  means,  Elizabeth  and 
her  advisers  hoped  to  devise  a  liturgy  which  should  meet  the  views  of 
moderate  men  of  all  parties.  From  the  ordinary  layman  no  pledge  or 
declaration  of  faith  was  exacted  ;  he  was  merely  required  to  show  his 
conformity  by  attendance  at  church.  Office-holders,  however,  were  re- 
quired to  take  the  Oath  of  Supremacy,  on  penalty  of  losing  their  places. 
The  fine  for  non-attendance  at  church  was  one  shilling,  afterwards 
altered  to  twenty  shillings  a  month  for  a  man  and  his  household,  and 
those  who  declined  to  attend  church  for  conscience'  sake  were  known 
as  Recusants.  The  forty-two  articles  of  Edward  vi.'s  reign  were 
reduced  to  thirty-nine.  This  arrangement  was  accepted  by  the  laity 
without  enthusiasm,  but  without  resistance.  Probably  a  majority 
would  have  preferred  to  keep  the    mass   with  as  many  of  the   old 


1559  Elizabeth  451 

ceremonies  as  possible;  and  as  late  as  1571,  Parker  wrote:  'The 
most  part  of  the  subjects  of  the  queen's  highness,  dislike  the  common 
bread  for  the  sacrament.'  But  as  no  persecution  was  attempted,  there 
was  little  glory  to  be  gained  by  resistance ;  and  though  the  mass  was 
undoubtedly  celebrated  in  country-houses  over  a  large  part  of  England 
— particularly  in  the  north — and  most  men  of  the  old  faith  sought  the 
services  of  a  Koman  Catholic  priest  on  their  death-bed,  the  bulk  of 
the  people  attended  their  parish  churches,  and  by  degrees  the  new 
service  gained  a  hold  on  their  affections.  Among  the  clergy,  how- 
ever, there  was  more  resistance,  especially  among  the  church  dignitaries. 
With  one  exception,  the  whole  of  the  existing  bishops,  most  of  whom 
had  been  appointed  by  Mary,  resigned,  and  about  two  hundred  ecclesi- 
astics, out  of  a  total  of  nine  thousand,  threw  up  their  posts.  This,  how- 
ever, was  rather  an  advantage  to  Elizabeth.  Their  places  were  taken 
partly  by  men  like  Bishops  Coverdale  or  Barlow,  who  had  been  in 
exile,  and  partly  by  new  men  of  Protestant  views,  who  were  elected 
under  the  revived  congS  dHlire.  In  this  way  the  upper  ranks  of  the 
Church  of  England  have  always  been  filled  by  men  who  were  in  sympathy 
with  the  government  of  the  time  ;  and  as  most  of  the  private  patronage  of 
the  church  is  also  in  lay  hands,  the  influence  of  the  laity  on  the  views  of 
the  official  clergy  has  always  been  much  greater  in  England  than  in 
other  countries. 

From  the  queen's  right  to  delegate  her  authority  to  commissioners 

there  came  into  being  the  Court  of  High  Commission.     At   „ 

•         1   i.  °  .         ,        .      Court  of 

first,  commissions  were  issued  from  time  to  time,  but  in    High  Com- 

1583  the  court  became  permanent.  It  consisted  of  forty  *"*^^*°"' 
persons,  twelve  of  whom  were  bishops,  and  was  empowered  to  inquire 
into  all  offences  against  the  existing  ecclesiastical  system  ;  to  punish 
persons  absenting  themselves  from  church  ;  to  reform  all  errors,  heresies, 
and  schisms  which  might  be  reformed  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
realm  ;  to  deprive  all  beneficed  clergy  who  held  opinions  contrary  to 
the  doctrinal  articles  ;  to  punish  all  immoralities  and  disorders  in  mar- 
riage, and  all  grievous  offences  punishable  by  the  ecclesiastical  laws. 

Elizabeth's  settlement,  being  a  compromise,  was  liable  to  be  opposed 
both  by  those  who  thought  it  went  too  far,  and  by  those  who  did  not  think 
it  went   far   enough ;   and  as   time  went   on  the    nation    opposition 
divided  itself  into  three  distinct  bodies.     First,  the  bulk  of  beth's^^" 
the  nation,  who  accepted  the  settlement  more  and  more    Plan, 
cordially  year  by  year  ;  second,  the  Koman  Catholics,  who  clung  to  the 
mass,  acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and  whose  most  extreme 
members  believed  that  he  had  a  right  to  depose  Elizabeth  ;  and  third. 


452  The  Tudors  1559 

Puritans  who  refused  to  accept  the  English  Reformation  as  adequate, 
and  wished  to  go  much  further.  Most  of  these  men  had  been  absent 
from  England  during  the  reign  of  Mary,  and  had  imbibed  their  ideas 
from  Calvin,  the  Genevan  reformer.  Though  discontented,  they  remained 
members  of  the  English  Church  ;  but  the  unwillingness  of  some  of  them 
to  conform  to  the  ceremonies  gave  them  the  name  of  Nonconformists. 
A  few  of  the  extreme  men  went  further.  Disregarding  Calvin's  advice 
not  to  secede,  they  formed  congregations  of  their  own,  and  were  there- 
fore called  Sectaries  or  Separatists. 

While  Elizabeth  had  been  engaged  in  religious  matters,  she  had  been 
compelled  to  devote  not  less  attention  to  foreign  aflfairs.  At  her 
Foreign  accession  England  was  a  much  weaker  power  than  either 
Affairs.  France  or  Spain.  She  had  no  standing  army,  and  no 
fortresses,  and  her  people,  though  brave  to  a  fault,  and  sufficiently 
disciplined  to  meet  the  Scots  on  equal  terms,  had  neither  the  training 
nor  experience  to  match  themselves  with  the  well-drilled  and  well-armed 
'  regulars '  of  France  and  Spain,  led  by  experienced  officers,  and  armed 
with  the  newest  weapons.  On  the  other  hand,  Wolsey  had  shown  that  in 
consequence  of  the  rivalry  between  France  and  Spain,  England  was 
capable  of  playing  a  part  far  beyond  her  strength  ;  and,  fortunately  for 
Elizabeth,  the  same  conditions  which  made  Wolsey  successful  were  still 
in  existence.  France  and  Spain  were  still  at  war,  and  each  had  a  great 
scheme  in  which  England  was  included.  On  the  one  side,  Henry  11.  of 
France  hoped  to  unite  on  the  heads  of  his  son  and  daughter  the  crowns 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  France,  and,  as  it  were,  to  cut  the  Spanish 
dominions  in  two  ;  while  Philip  who  since  his  father's  resignation  had 
been  ruler  of  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  and  a  great  part  of  Italy,  wished 
to  defeat  this  plan,  and  saw  that  to  do  so  it  would  be  necessary,  at  all 
hazards,  to  support  Elizabeth  on  the  English  throne.  So  confident  did 
Elizabeth  therefore  feel  of  his  support,  that  she  ventured  upon  a  religious 
settlement  which  she  knew  would  be  most  displeasing  to  him. 

At  first  Philip's  idea  was  that  he  should  himself  marry  Elizabeth  ;  and 

he  wrote  her  a  letter  to  that  effect,  in  which  he  frankly  confessed  that  he 

would  not  be  able  to  spend  much  time  in  England,  but 

Offer  of        would  como  over  and  see  her  as  often  as  he  could.     Eliza- 

Marnage.    -j^^^j^^   however,  knew   that   whether   she   would  willingly 

have  married  Philip  or  not,  there  was  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  her 

doing  so.     Philip  could  not  have  married  her  without  a  dispensation 

from  the  pope  ;  and  if  the  pope  could  grant  a  dispensation  to  a  man  to 

marry  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  it  followed  that  he  could  also  grant  one 

to  a  woman  to  marry  her  deceased  husband's  brother.     This  Elizabeth 


1559  Elizabeth  453 

could  not  acknowledge  without  giving  up  the  whole  case  for  Henry 
viii.'s  divorce,  and  making  herself  illegitimate.  Elizabeth,  therefore, 
while  keeping  on  good  terms  with  Philip,  left  his  proposal  unanswered. 
Her  marriage  in  fact  with  anybody  was  surrounded  with  the  greatest 
difficulties.  If  she  married  a  foreigner,  she  would  offend  her  English 
subjects.  If  she  took  an  English  nobleman,  she  would  rouse  the  jealousy 
of  the  rest.  If  she  married  a  Catholic,  the  Protestant  settlement  would 
seem  to  be  endangered  ;  if  a  Protestant,  she  would  throw  her  Catholic 
subjects  into  the  arms  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  These  considerations,  in 
the  end,  proved  fatal  to  her  marrying  at  aU  ;  but,  for  many  years,  no  one 
either  in  England  or  out  of  it  doubted  that  she  would  ultimately  marry. 
Accordingly,  her  hand  was  looked  upon  as  a  prize  to  be  wan,  and  of  this 
Elizabeth  took  full  advantage  for  political  pui'poses.  It  was  long  thought 
that  she  would  personally  have  wished  to  marry  Lord  Robert  Dudley, 
afterwards  earl  of  Leicester  ;  but  this  is  extremely  doubtful.  She  liked 
Leicester,  and  believed  that  his  admiration  for  her  would  make  him  a 
faithful  servant ;  but  she  probably,  throughout  all  her  life,  was  never  in 
love  with  anybody  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word. 

In  March  1559,  the  long  war  between  France  and  Spain  was  con- 
cluded by  the  Treaty  of  Cateau  Cambrt^sis.  By  this  important  treaty 
the  wars  of  mere  ambition,  inaugurated  by  Charles  viii.'s 
expedition  to  Italy,  came  to  a  close,  and  Europe  entered  cateau 
upon  a  new  period,  lasting  till  the  peace  of  Westphalia  ' 
in  1648,  in  which  religion  became  the  dominant  factor  in  deciding  the 
relations  between  states.  During  the  festivities  to  celebrate  its  con- 
clusion Henry  it.  was  accidentally  wounded  in  a  tournament.  He  died 
in  July,  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her  husband,  Francis  ii.,  ascended 
the  throne.  Francis  ii.,  however,  died  in  1561.  As  Francis  and  Mary 
had  no  issue,  this  dissolved  the  union  between  the  crowns  of  France  and 
Scotland,  and  shortly  afterwards  Mary  returned  home.  The  condition 
of  Scotland,  as  she  found  it,  was  very  different  from  what  it  had  been 
when  she  left  it  in  1549,  for  since  that  time  the  Reformation  had 
swept  over  it,  and  effected  a  complete  revolution.  The  Scottish  Church 
was  very  rich  and  very  corrupt.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Scottish  nobles 
retained  all  their  old  feudal  rights,  and  such  families  as  the   ^^    „ 

^       '  The  Scot- 

Hamiltons,  the  Huntlys,  and  the  Argylls  could  bring  into   tish  Refor- 
the  field  a  small  army  of  devoted  tenants.     In  these  cir-   '"^  *°"* 
cumstances  the  kings  had  for  years  relied  upon  the  bishops  against  the 
nobles,  and,  consequently,  when  the  Reformation  began,  it  was  taken 
up  by  the  nobles  as  being  the  best  method  of  breaking  the  power  both 
of  the  king  and  of  the  church.     For  a  long  time  the  clergy  fought  hard 


454  The  Tudor s  1559 

to  stop  the  spread  of  Protestant  doctrines,  and  among  their  victims  was 
the  celebrated  George  Wishart.  But  on  the  accession  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth the  Protestants  were  encouraged  to  declare  themselves  ;  and  a 
body  of  the  nobility,  calling  themselves  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation, 
signed  a  covenant,  and  demanded  the  introduction  of  the  English  Book 
of  Common  Prayer. 

Little  progress,  however,  was  made  till  1559,  when  John  Knox 
returned  to  Scotland.  Knox  was  now  fifty-four  years  of  age.  Taken 
prisoner  after  the  capture  of  St.  Andrews  Castle  (see  page 
423),  he  had  been  sent  to  the  French  galleys.  He  had, 
however,  escaped,  and  after  being  chaplain  to  Edward  vi.,  had  taken 
refuge  with  Calvin  at  Geneva.  There  he  adopted  Calvin's  views,  and 
also  made  himself  notorious  by  the  publication  of  a  book  called  The 
Monstrous  Regiment  of  Women,  directed  against  Mary  of  England. 
Immediately  on  his  arrival  in  Scotland  Knox  began  to  preach  against 
idolatry,  and  his  unrivalled  power  of  exciting  enthusiasm  roused  the 
people  to  frenzy.  After  one  of  his  sermons  at  Perth,  the  congregation 
rose  and  destroyed  all  the  pictures,  coloured  glass,  and  statuary  which 
had  adorned  the  cathedral,  and  their  example  was  soon  followed  all  over 
Scotland.  This  violence  resulted  in  open  war  between  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  and  the  Eegent.  She  appealed  to  France,  and  they  to 
England.  To  Elizabeth  they  proposed  that  she  should  marry  the  earl  of 
Arran,  the  eldest  son  of  the  duke  of  Chatelherault,  the  head  of  the 
Hamilton  family.  Arran  stood  next  in  succession  to  Mary  in  the 
Stuart  line,  and  if  Elizabeth  would  have  married  him  an  attempt  would 
have  been  made  to  depose  Mary  and  crown  Arran  king.  Elizabeth,  how- 
ever, thought  the  scheme  too  risky ;  and,  on  seeing  Arran  himself,  who 
was  weak  both  in  mind  and  body,  she  rejected  it  entirely.  She  agreed, 
however,  to  aid  the  Lords  to  expel  the  French  troops  from  Leith  on  con- 
dition that  they  remained  loyal  to  the  queen.  This  accordingly  was  done. 
The  upshot  of  the  religious  changes  was  that  the  Scots  became  ahnost 
entirely  devoted  to  Protestantism  of  an  extremely  strict  type,  Catholicism 
only  maintaining  its  hold  in  a  few  noble  families  and  among  the  High- 
landers. The  monasteries  were  entirely  abolished,  and  their  lands 
appropriated  by  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation.  Even  the  cathedrals  and 
parish  churches  were,  for  the  most  part,  dismantled. 

On  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland  she  was  a  widow  of  nineteen  years  of  age. 

Though  her  pictures  differ  very  much,  her  contemporaries  are  unanimous 

Mary  Queen  as  to  her  beauty.     She  had  abilities  of  a  very  high  order,  and 

of  Scots.        showed  herself  a  match  in  political  address  for  most  of  those 

with  whom  she  had  to  deal.     For  some  years  it  was  a  question  what 


1566 


Elizabeth  455 


would  be  the  relations  between  Elizabeth  and  Mary.  There  seemed  no 
overmastering  reason  why  they  should  not  be  friendly.  Though  unmar- 
ried herself,  Elizabeth  strongly  urged  marriage  upon  her  cousin,  and 
suggested  to  her  that  she  should  marry  Leicester.  Mary,  however, 
while  pretending  to  consider  the  proposal,  made  up  her  mind  to  marry 
Henry  Darnley,  the  son  of  her  father's  half-sister,  Margaret  Douglas  and 
the  earl  of  Lennox,  and  did  so  in  1565.  Darnley  had  been  born  in 
England  during  his  father's  exile,  and  was  well  known  to  Elizabeth. 
The  marriage  had  the  effect  of  uniting  the  two  lines  of  succession  from 
Margaret  Tudor  (see  page  374),  and  therefore  strengthened  Mary's  posi- 
tion. Unfortunately  for  Mary,  Darnley's  personal  qualifications  were  of 
a  very  low  order.  He  was  tall  and  fairly  handsome,  but  his  character 
was  weak  and  vicious,  and  he  had  no  capacity  for  politics.  She  found, 
therefore,  that  she  had  to  rely  upon  herself  as  before,  and  employed  the 
services  as  secretary  of  David  Rizzio,  an  Italian  singer  and  musician 
who  had  originally  come  over  with  the  ambassador  of  Savoy.  His 
knowledge  of  foreign  languages  made  him  useful  to  her,  and  he  soon 
became  her  confidential  adviser.  To  Darnley,  on  the  other  hand,  she 
refused  even  the  crown  matrimonial,  and  the  foolish  youth  immediately 
threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  Protestant  malcontents.  With  them 
he  entered  into  a  plot  to  murder  Rizzio,  and  to  get  the  government  into 
his  own  hands.  The  first  part  succeeded.  Rizzio  was  dragged  from 
the  room  where  he  was  at  supper  with  the  queen,  and  slain  in  the  ante- 
chamber. In  the  second,  however,  he  completely  failed.  Darnley  waa 
as  supple  as  wax  in  his  wife's  hands,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  James 
Hepburn,  earl  of  Bothwell,  she  completely  out-generalled  the  con- 
spirators, and  forced  them  to  fly  for  their  lives. 

On  June  19,  1566  was  born  Mary's  son,  James.     This  event  added 
very  much  to  her  strength,  for  the  claims  of  Katharine  Grey  had  been 
discredited  of  late.      In   1553   she  had  been  married  to     Birth  of 
Lord  Herbert,  but  the  marriage  had  been  annulled  ;  and  in     James. 
1561  she  had  clandestinely  married  Lord  Hertford,  son  of  the  Protector, 
Somerset.     By  him  she  had  a  son  ;  but  the  facts  of  her  marriage  having 
been  examined,  Archbishop  Parker  declared  the  union  invalid,  and  the 
result  was  to  discredit  both  Katharine's  claims  and  those  of  her  child. 
In  these  circumstances,  Englishmen  began  to  look  more  favourably  upon 
the  claims  of  Mary,  who  had  not  shown  herself  unreasonable  with  regard 
to  Scottish  Protestantism.    Mary  had  thus  again  secured  a  good  position 
and  a  strong  party  when  she  threw  away  all  her  chances     M^ry  and 
by  an  affair  of  the  heart.     Craving  for  a  husband  on  whom     Bothwell. 
she  could  lean  for  support,  and  completely  disillusioned  about  Darnley 


456  The  Tudors  1566 

she  thought  she  saw  everything  she  wanted  in  the  rude  Border  swords- 
man, Bothwell,  and  she  fell  passionately  in  love  with  him.  Bothwell 
does  not  appear  to  have  returned  her  affection,  for  he  had  a  wife  living, 
to  whom  he  was  attached  ;  but  he  was  prepared  to  take  full  advantage 
of  his  good  fortune,  encouraged  Mary,  and  entered  into  a  plot  for  the 
murder  of  Darnley.  That  unfortunate  man,  after  the  birth  of  his  son, 
had  fallen  completely  into  the  background.  In  December  1566  he  was 
attacked  with  small-pox  at  Glasgow.  From  this  he  recovered,  and  had 
been  brought  by  Mary  herself  to  a  lonely  house,  the  Kirk  o'  Field, 
situated  to  the  south  of  the  old  town  of  Edinburgh,  not  far  from 
Holyrood  Palace — a  place  selected  for  the  freshness  of  the  air — and 
was  there  from  time  to  time  visited  by  Mary.  On  the  night  of 
Murder  of  February  10  a  loud  explosion  was  heard,  and  it  was 
Darnley.  found  that  the  house  had  been  blown  up  ;  but  the  bodies 
of  Darnley  and  his  servant  were  found  untouched  by  fire,  and  apparently 
strangled,  lying  together  in  the  garden.  In  a  few  days  Bothwell  was 
universally  accused  of  the  murder,  and  Lennox,  Darnley's  father,  de- 
manded a  trial.  However,  on  April  12,  the  day  fixed  for  the  trial,  the 
streets  of  Edinburgh  were  crowded  with  BothweU's  retainers.  Lennox 
asserted  that  he  went  in  fear  of  his  life,  declined  to  prosecute,  and  upon 
this  Bothwell  was  declared  to  be  acquitted.  A  few  days  later  Bothwell 
seized  Mary  as  she  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  her  son,  and  carried  her 
off  to  the  castle  of  Dunbar  ;  and  on  May  15,  as  soon  as  Bothwell  had 
secured  a  divorce  from  his  own  wife,  they  were  married. 

This  marriage  was  Mary's  ruin.  Few  now  doubted  that  she  had  been 
privy  to  Darnley's  nmrder  ;  and  Bothwell  himself  was  so  hated  for  his 
Disposition  Overbearing  insolence,  that  by  marrying  him  she  set  against 
of  Mary.  herself  the  whole  of  the  Scottish  nobility.  In  face  of  such 
a  unanimous  outbreak  of  hostility,  Bothwell  in  vain  tried  to  make  head. 
Summoning  round  him  his  vassals,  Mary  and  he  attempted  to  reach 
Edinburgh  ;  but  on  June  15  they  encountered  the  forces  of  the  nobility 
at  Carberry  Hill,  five  miles  east  of  Edinburgh.  BothweU's  troops  began 
to  desert,  and,  recognising  his  cause  as  hopeless,  he  fled  ;  and  Mary  gave 
herself  up  to  secure  his  escape,  exactly  a  month  after  her  marriage. 
From  Carberry,  Bothwell  made  his  way  to  Dunbar,  and  thence  to 
Orkney,  and  after  a  wandering  life  was  seized  by  the  Danes  as  a  pirate, 
and  died  in  prison  in  1577.  From  Carberry  Mary  was  hurried  in  a 
disgraceful  procession  to  Edinburgh,  where  she  was  received  with  yells 
of  execration,  and  banners  were  displayed  on  which  her  infant  son  was 
depicted  calling  for  vengeance  on  the  murderers  of  his  father.  There 
she  met  with  no  mercy.     The  Lords,  headed  by  James  Douglas,  earl  of 


1568  '  Elizabeth  457 

Morton,  placed  her  in  confinement  in  Lochleven  Castle,  and  compelled 
her  by  threats  to  resign  her  crown  in  favour  of  her  infant  son,  with  her 
half-brother,  the  earl  of  Murray,  as  regent.  In  prison,  however,  Mary 
continued  her  intrigues,  and  succeeded  in  effecting  her  escape  to  the 
Hamiltons,  to  whom  she  trusted  to  raise  the  Catholics  in  her  favour. 
She  was  joined  by  a  considerable  force,  with  whom  marched  a  multitude 
of  deposed  bishops,  abbots,  and  priests.  Mary  hoped  to  secure  the 
strong  fortress  of  Dumbarton  ;  but  on  May  14,  1568,  near  Glasgow,  she 
was  met  at  Langside  by  the  regent  at  the  head  of  a  small  Battle  of 
force.  In  the  battle  that  followed,  Mary's  motley  soldiers  Langside. 
were  completely  routed,  and  she  herself  rode  sixty  miles  from  the  field  of 
battle  before  she  considered  herself  in  safety  near  the  Solway  Firth. 
There,  encouraged  by  some  verbal  support  which  Elizabeth  had  given 
her  in  her  previous  contests  with  her  nobility,  she  decided  to  appeal 
for  English  assistance,  and  on  May  16  landed  at  Workington,  in 
Cumberland,  with  a  few  followers,  and  made  her  way  thence  to  Carlisle, 
The  arrival  of  Mary  in  England  was  a  source  of  nmch  embarrassment 
to  Elizabeth.  She  did  not  come  in  the  least  as  a  dejected  fugitive,  but  as 
one  queen  calling  on  another  to  aid  her  against  her  re-  Marvin 
bellious  subjects,  and  she  fully  expected  that  Elizabeth  England, 
would  take  up  her  cause  at  once.  It  was  no  easy  task  for  Elizabeth  to 
decide  what  to  do.  Probably  the  best  course  would  have  been  to  hand 
Mary  over  to  the  regent,  who  would  have  placed  her  in  a  more  secure 
prison.  On  the  other  hand,  Elizabeth  did  not  wish  to  appear  in  league 
with  rebels,  and  she  therefore  attempted  to  gain  time  by  insisting  on 
holding  an  investigation  into  Mary's  connection  with  the  murder  of 
Darnley.  Till  this  could  be  held,  she  removed  Mary  to  Bolton  Castle,  in 
Yorkshire,  where  there  would  be  less  danger  of  escape  or  rescue  than  at 
Carlisle.  Accordingly  in  October,  Murray,  Morton,  and  others,  on 
behalf  of  the  Scots,  met  Elizabeth's  representatives,  headed  by  Thomas 
Howard,  duke  of  Norfolk,  at  York.  The  most  important  evidence  pro- 
duced by  the  Scots  were  some  letters,  said  to  be  written  by  Mary  to 
Bothwell,  which,  it  was  declared,  had  been  found  in  a  ^he  Casket 
silver  casket  accidentally  left  behind  by  Bothwell  at  Edin-  Letters, 
burgh  Castle.  Whether  these  were  forgeries  it  is  now  impossible  to 
say  ;  but  at  the  time  of  their  production  they  produced  a  great  sensation. 
It  was,  however,  no  part  of  Elizabeth's  plan  to  have  Mary  either  found 
guilty  of  murder  or  distinctly  acquitted  ;  and  as  she  found  that  Norfolk 
was  already  scheming  to  marry  the  fugitive,  she  found  means  to  break 
up  the  conference,  and  in  January  1569  Murray  returned  home,  while 
Mary  was  placed  in  confinement  at  Tutbury. 


458  The  Tudors  1568 

During  the  ten  years  which  had  elapsed  since  Elizabeth  ascended  the 
throne,  her  position  both  at  home  and  abroad  had  steadily  improved. 

At  home,  her  peaceful  and  economical  government  had 
nSnUrT"  given  time  for  the  country  to  recover  itself  from  the  dis- 
positio?^'^  orders   of  the  previous  reigns.      The   coinage   had  been 

renewed,  and  her  financial  credit  was  good.  The  navy  had 
been  refitted  and  the  fortresses  properly  manned.  Moreover,  Elizabeth's 
conciliatory  policy  towards  the  Catholic  nobility,  and  the  pains  she  had 
taken  to  drive  no  party  to  despair,  had  resulted  in  the  creation  of  a 
national  party  who  were  prepared  to  put  the  interest  of  the  country 
above  that  of  any  section  of  it.  Abroad,  it  had  become  increasingly 
evident  that  her  reliance  on  the  rivalry  of  France  and  Spain  to  prevent 
either  from  attacking  her  was  perfectly  justified  by  results  ;  and  in 
addition  to  this,  causes  were  at  work  which  materially  impaired  the 
actual  strength  both  of  France  and  Spain,  and,  therefore,  contributed  to 
make  England  relatively  stronger. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  outbreak  of  the  religious  wars  in  France. 
In  that  country  Protestantism  never  gained  a  hold  over  the  mass   of 

the  people.  It  was  taken  up  by  the  nobility  and  by  the 
Wars  in       middle  classes  of  the  districts  south  of  the  Loire,  of  which 

Eochelle  is  a  chief  town,  and  still  more  in  Gascony,  Beam, 
and  Languedoc.  There  the  Protestants  were  probably  in  a  majority,  but 
in  other  parts  of  France  they  were  quite  exceptional.  In  dying,  Henry  it. 
left  four  sons,  Francis,  Charles,  Henry,  and  a  second  Francis,  of  whom 
the  eldest  was  only  sixteen.  The  first  three  reigned  successively  as 
Francis  ii.,  Charles  ix.,  and  Henry  iii.,  but  for  many  years  the  real 
power  was  in  the  hands  of  their  mother,  Katharine  de  Medici.  As 
her  power  was  disputed  by  the  powerful  family  of  Guise,  headed  by 
Duke  Francis,  conqueror  of  Calais,  Katharine,  though  a  Catholic,  was 
frequently  obliged  to  ally  herself  with  the  Huguenots,  as  the  French 
Protestants  were  called,  the  leaders  of  whom  were  Coligny,  the  admiral, 
and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  brother  of  the  King  of  Navarre.  In  1562 
an  attempt  of  Katharine  to  give  legal  toleration  to  the  Huguenots 
resulted  in  open  war.  Cond^  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner ;  Guise 
was  assassinated,  and  the  contest  so  begun  w^as  carried  on  with 
great  bitterness.  For  Elizabeth  the  serious  danger  was  that  the 
Guises,  if  victorious,  might  use  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  against  her. 
She,  therefore,  cautiously  gave  some  assistance  to  the  Huguenots,  and 
accepted  from  them,  as  security,  the  town  of  Havre.  Katharine,  how- 
ever, soon  patched  up  a  peace,  and  the  English  were  compelled  to 
evacuate  Havre  and  make  peace.      Henceforward  Elizabeth  made  the 


1668'  Elizabeth  459 

preservation  of  peace  with  the  French  government  a  cardinal  point  in 
her  policy. 

At  the  same  time  Spain  was  weakened  by  Philip's  difficulties  with 
the  Netherlands.  This  district  consisted  of  seventeen  provinces,  each  of 
which  had  been  held  on  a  separate  title  by  the  House  of  . 

Burgundy,  and  had  now  descended  to  Philip  ii.  Generally 
speaking,  they  were  divided  into  two  parts,  between  which  a  line  drawn 
eastward  from  the  estuary  of  the  Scheldt  gives  a  rough  boundary.  The 
northern  states  were  Daitch  by  blood,  Protestant  in  religion,  and  poor. 
The  southern  were  Flemish  by  blood,  less  Protestant  in  religion,  but 
richer  than  the  northerners.  The  north  had  then  no  town  of  importance  : 
the  towns  of  the  south,  Brussels,  Antwerp,  Bruges,  Ghent,  were  reputed 
the  most  opulent  in  Europe.  For  many  years  the  Netherlanders  had 
been  accustomed  to  be  treated  with  great  deference  by  their  rulers,  in 
recognition  of  their  liberal  grants,  and  to  this  feeling  Charles  had  always 
paid  due  regard.  Philip,  however,  who,  unlike  his  father,  stayed  in 
Spain  instead  of  travelling  about,  and  tnisted  to  the  reports  of  his  officers 
instead  of  seeing  with  his  own  eyes,  failed  [to  recognise  the  strength  of 
the  Netherlandish  independence,  and  involved  himself  in  a  series  of 
disputes  which  ultimately  brought  on  an  armed  rebellion. 
This  conferred  a  double  advantage  on  Elizabeth.  First,  it  the  Nether- 
weakened  Philip  in  the  very  part  of  his  dominions  from 
which  an  attack  could  most  easily  be  made  upon  England.  Second,  the 
cruelties  of  Philip's  lieutenant  Alva  drove  no  less  than  thirty  thousand 
Protestant  weavers  from  their  homes  ;  and  these,  settling  in  the  south- 
eastern counties  of  England,  especially  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  brought 
with  them  their  skill  in  manufactures.  Henceforward  the  English,  in- 
stead of  despatching  their  raw  wool  to  the  Netherlands,  began  to  manu- 
fixcture  it  themselves,  and  the  growth  of  the  new  industry  did  much  to 
restore  the  balance  between  agriculture,  pasturage,  and  manufacture, 
which  had  been  endangered  by  the  wholesale  enclosures  of  the  preced- 
ing years. 

Nevertheless,  the  presence  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  could  not  fail  to 
give  Elizabeth  much  anxiety.  Even  during  the  proceedings  at  York 
it  had  been  suggested  that  she  should  marry  Norfolk.  As  Rebellion 
the  duke  was  the  leader  of  the  party  of  the  old  religion,  °^^569- 
such  a  marriage  would  have  given  widespread  satisfaction  in  England. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Protestants  would  have  been  driven  to  despair, 
so  Elizabeth  sternly  forbade  it  to  be  thought  of.  The  result  was  to  cause 
such  dissatisfaction  among  the  great  nobles  of  Norfolk's  party  that  plots 
were  entered  into  for  a  rising,  assisted  by  a  Spanish  force  which  Alva  was 


460  The  Tudors  1568 

to  despatcli  from  the  Netherlands.  Nothing,  however,  was  to  be  done 
by  Alva  till  the  English  Eoman  Catholics  had  shown  their  power  by- 
arresting  Cecil.  This  Norfolk  failed  to  do  ;  and  Elizabeth,  rightly 
regarding  him  as  of  little  danger,  left  him  alone,  while  she  ordered  the 
arrest  of  Thomas  Percy,  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  Charles  Neville, 
earl  of  Westmorland,  who,  being  each  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  rude 
Border  tenantry,  accustomed  to  fighting,  were  far  more  formidable  than 
the  southern  nobility.  At  the  order  for  their  arrest  Northumberland  and 
Neville  flew  to  arms,  seized  Durham,  had  the  mass  sung  for  the  last  time 
in  its  glorious  cathedral,  and  then  marched  south  to  secure  the  person  of 
Mary,  who  was  then  living  in  Tutbury  Castle.  Elizabeth,  however,  was 
too  quick  for  them.  Thomas  Eatcliffe,  earl  of  Sussex,  a  Catholic  noble- 
man on  whose  loyalty  she  could  rely,  was  hurried  to  the  front,  and  Mary 
was  transferred  to  Coventry,  where  she  would  have  Sussex's  army  between 
her  and  her  friends.  Finding  themselves  thus  out-manoeuvred,  the  earls 
retreated  north,  and  eventually  broke  up  their  forces  without  a  battle. 
Their  advance  had  shown  distinctly  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
new  faith  and  the  old,  for  in  Yorkshire  while  the  countrymen  were  almost 
to  a  man  for  the  earls,  the  towns  in  which  a  clothing  trade  was  beginning 
to  spring  up  were  for  the  queen.  Leeds  Bridge  was  held  against  the 
rebels,  and  Halifax  sent  a  contingent  to  join  the  army  of  Sussex.  This 
serious  rebellion,  the  first  and  last  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  seemed  to  the 
queen  to  require  measures  of  exceptional  severity.  Orders  were  there- 
fore sent  north  that  the  captured  rebels  were  to  be  hanged  in  batches  at 
every  market  town  and  considerable  village  between  the  Wharfe  and  the 
Tyne,  and  many  a  gallows-green  marks  to  this  day  the  memory  of  this 
stern  severity.  Altogether,  it  is  computed  that  three  hundred  and 
fourteen  persons  thus  perished.  Northumberland  and  Westmorland 
both  escaped  into  Scotland,  but  Northumberland  was  captured  by  the 
regent,  and  being  handed  over  to  Elizabeth  was  executed  in  1572,  while 
Westmorland,  after  sj^ending  some  time  in  hiding  on  the  Scottish  side  of 
the  border,  escaped  to  the  Netherlands  and  there  died. 

Hardly  was  this  formidable  rising  disposed  of,  when  it  was  known 
that  a  new  i)lot  was  on  foot.     Hitherto  various  reasons  had  prevented 

the  popes  from  excommunicating  Elizabeth;   but  in  1570 
Ridolfi       Pius  V.  published  a  bull  in  which  Elizabeth  was  declared 

to  be  excommunicate,  and  all  her  subjects  released  from  her 
allegiance.  The  natural  result  was  to  give  a  further  impetus  to  plotting, 
and  Norfolk  and  the  southern  lords  continued  their  treasonable  corre- 
spondence with  Spain.  Their  agent  was  a  certain  Ridolfi,  an  Italian 
banker  resident  in  London,  who  in  the  way  of  his  business  could  easily 


1672  Elizabeth  461 

visit  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  or  Italy.  Cecil,  however,  was  well  informed 
of  what  was  going  on,  and  eventually  full  proof  was  obtained  of  the 
existence  of  a  conspiracy  to  bring  over  a  Spanish  army,  in  which,  among 
others,  Norfolk,  Arundel,  and  Mary  herself  were  fully  implicated. 
Again  Elizabeth  felt  that  severity  was  needed,  and  in  1572  Norfolk  was 
beheaded. 

Though  Elizabeth  was  troubled  by  disaftection  and  indifference  among 
her  nobility,  she  was  amply  compensated  by  the  growing  devotion  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Here,  indeed,  her  chief  difficulty  Loyalty  of 
arose  from  excess  of  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  members.  Parliament. 
Since  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  had  been  enforced  on  all  office-holders,  no 
honest  Koman  Catholic  could  sit  in  the  house,  and  consequently  the 
members,  the  vast  majority  of  whom  represented  south  of  England 
boroughs,  where  Protestantism  was  strongest,  were  as  a  body  decidedly 
Protestant  and  even  Puritan  in  feeling.  This  was  a  great  source  of 
strength  to  the  queen  ;  and  whenever  she  wished  to  show  either  her 
own  nobles  or  foreign  powers  that  she  had  the  nation  at  her  back,  the 
simplest  plan  was  to  call  a  meeting  of  parliament.  Thus  the  parliament 
of  1572  not  only  petitioned  for  the  execution  of  Norfolk,  but  also  passed 
a  Bill  of  Attainder  against  the  Queen  of  Scots,  which,  had  the  members 
had  their  way,  would  have  been  carried  into  instant  execution. 
Elizabeth,  however,  was  quite  satisfied  with  the  moral  effect  of  their 
action,  and  declined  to  give  her  consent  to  the  bill.  The  only  point, 
indeed,  on  which  Elizabeth  and  her  parliament  were  at  variance  was 
that  of  her  marriage.  Reflecting  the  wishes  of  the  advanced  Protestants, 
the  members  again  and  again  petitioned  Elizabeth  to  marry,  as  they 
looked  to  the  birth  of  an  heir  as  needful  to  secure  them  against  the 
accession  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Elizabeth,  however,  had  good 
reasons  for  her  own  conduct,  and  roundly  bade  them  mind  their  own 
business. 

Indeed,  at  this  very  time  she  was  making  use  of  the  bait  of  her  hand 
to  secure  a  great  diplomatic  triumph.     As  it  became  clearer  that  Spain 
was  the  real  enemy  against  whom   open  war  might  be    prench 
anticipated,  it  became   essential  to  come  to  terms  with   Alliance 
France,   not   only  for  its   own  sake,   but  also  to  avoid 
difficulty  with  Scotland.     Accordingly,  she  expressed  herself  willing  to 
consider  the  possibility  of  a  match  between  herself  and  Henry  of  France, 
duke  of  Anjou.     Probably  she  never  meant  anything  serious,  but  the 
effect  was  to  re-establish  cordial  relations  with  the  French  court ;  and 
presently  a  treaty  was  made,  by  which  each  country  bound  itself  in  case 
other  was  attacked  for  any  cause  to  aid  the  other  with  6000  men. 


462  The  Tudors  1572 

Scotland  was  included  ;  and  it  was  specially  stipulated  that,  while 
neither  France  nor  England  should  interfere  in  Scottish  affairs,  no  other 
country  should  be  permitted  to  do  so.  Difficulties  had  been  raised 
about  the  Anjou  marriage  as  soon  as  a  decision  became  necessary,  but  it 
was  suggested  that  they  might  be  overcome  in  the  case  of  his  younger 
brother,  Francis,  duke  of  Alengon,  a  lad  of  seventeen,  and  for  eleven 
years  the  possibility  of  such  a  match,  absurd  as  it  was,  was  more  or  less 
seriously  considered.  From  time  to  time  Alencon  visited  England,  and 
though  he  was  an  ugly  little  man,  with  a  big  head  and  a  repulsive  nose, 
whom  Elizabeth  jocularly  termed  '  her  frog,'  she  pretended  to  fall  in 
love  with  him.  The  French  alliance  formed  the  keystone  of  Elizabeth's 
foreign  policy.  She  maintained  it  against  several  rude  shocks,  chief  of 
which  was  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  in  1572.  To  keep  on 
friendly ^terms  with  a  government  which  had  been  guilty  of  such  cruelty 
was  a  sore  trial  to  English  feeling,  but  Elizabeth  was  well  aware  that  to 
take  up  the  opposite  policy  would  drive  the  French  court  into  alliance  with 
Spain,  and  persistently  held  to  her  course  till  the  danger  passed  away. 

The  necessity  for  thus  securing  the  French  alliance  at  all  costs  was 
to  be  found  in  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  Spain.     To  crush 
^  ^    the   Dutch,   Philip   poured  thousands   of  Spanish   troops 

a  Spanish  into  the  Netherlands  under  his  best  generals,  and  their 
presence  constituted  a  standing  menace  of  invasion  to 
England.  Elizabeth  was  unwilling  openly  to  recognise  rebellious 
subjects  ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  adding  to  Philip's  difficulties,  she  allowed 
Englishmen  to  enlist  in  the  Dutch  service,  and  from  time  to  time  gave 
assistance  in  money.  However,  in  1577,  the  skill  of  Don  John  of 
Austria,  who  had  gained  a  world-wide  reputation  by  defeating  the  Turks 
at  Lepanto,  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  temporary  cessation  of 
hostilities,  and  he  immediately  set  himself  to  arrange  an  invasion  of 
England,  which  he  hoped  would  result  in  the  deposition  of  Elizabeth, 
and  a  marriage  between  himself  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Philip, 
however,  was  too  jealous  of  his  half-brother  to  allow  such  a  scheme  to 
succeed.  Escovedo,  Don  John's  agent  in  Spain,  was  murdered,  and  in 
1578  Don  John  also  died,  not  without  suspicion  of  poison.  He  was 
succeeded  in  the  Netherlands  by  Alexander  Farnese,  duke  of  Parma, 
probably  the  best  general  of  his  time,  who  rapidly  reduced  the  southern 
Netherlands  to  their  allegiance,  and  seemed  likely  also  to  bring  the 
Dutch  into  submission. 

Meanwhile,  the  condition  of  home  affairs  was  also  undergoing  a  change. 
During  the  first  ten  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  she  had  strengthened 
herself  by  her  judicious  attitude  on  religious  matters ;  but  during  the 


1681  Elizabeth  463 

second  ten  this  policy  became  increasingly  difficult  to  maintain.     The 
change  was  due  mainly  to  a  change  in  the  character  of  Koman  Catho- 
licism.    The  Protestant  movement  for  a  more  spiritual  re-  ^^^  English 
ligion  and  separation  from  Rome  had  been  followed  by  a  Roman 

.     .,  .  ,  .       .1        -.-»  -Ml         1         1-111  Catholics. 

similar  movement  within  the  Roman  Church  which  had 
resulted  in  what  is  known  as  the  Counter-Reformation.  The  effect  of 
this  was  to  purge  away  most  of  the  scandals  for  which  the  Roman 
Church  had  been  notorious  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  to 
replace  such  popes  as  Alexander  vi.  and  Leo  x.  by  men  like  Pius  v.  and 
Gregory  xiii.,  whose  zeal  for  their  religion  was  undoubted,  and  whose 
purity  of  life  quite  unquestioned.  These  popes  made  use  of  the  new 
religious  order  of  Jesuits,  formed  expressly  to  push  forward  the  Counter- 
Reformation,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Protestantism  in  Protestant 
countries.  In  England  the  chief  advocate  of  the  new  propaganda  was 
"William  Allen,  an  old  Oxford  man,  who  founded  for  that  purpose  a 
college  for  secular  clergy  at  Douai,  in  the  Netherlands,  from  which 
secular  priests  were  sent  across  the  Channel.  A  college  for  English  Jesuits 
was  set  up  at  St.  Omer,  also  within  Philip's  dominions.  By  law  the 
celebration  of  the  mass  and  speaking  against  the  supremacy  were 
treason  ;  but  the  government  had  hitherto  been  careful  that,  while  the 
law  was  preserved  in  terrorem,  it  should  not  be  carried  into  effect. 
However,  in  1581,  Campion,  one  of  the  purest-minded  and  Execution  of 
enthusiastic  of  the  English  Jesuits,  was  arrested  after  a  Campion, 
protracted  visit  to  England.  The  government  determined  to  make 
an  example  ;  and  he  was  condemned  and  executed  for  treason  on  the 
ground  that  he  refused  to  deny  the  pope's  right  to  depose  princes. 
From  this  time  forward  Roman  Catholic  priests  exercised  their  functions 
at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  and  frequent  executions  are  recorded  down  to 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  under  Charles  i.  At  the  same  time  the 
fines  of  the  recusants  were  raised  to  £20  a  month  for  non-attendance  at 
church.  This  persecution  had  the  effect  of  embittering  the  feeling 
between  the  two  religions,  and  did  much  to  check  the  gradual  extinction 
of  Roman  Catholicism  which  Elizabeth's  previous  policy  had  been 
bringing  about. 

Though  Elizabeth's  settlement  had  been  nominally  accepted  by  the 
great  body  of  the  clergy,  Parker  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  establish 
uniformity  of  practice.  This  was  due  partly  to  the  unwill-  fhe  Extreme 
ingness  of  many  of  the  bishops  to  enforce  practices  of  which  Protestants, 
they  did  not  whoUy  approve  themselves,  and  partly  to  the  difficulty  of 
finding  clergy  sufficiently  weU  educated  to  preach.  However,  Elizabeth 
insisted  that  uniformity  should  be  enforced,  and  in  1566  Parker  called 


464  The  Tudors 


1581 


the  London  clergy  before  him,  and  demanded  that  they  should  carry  out 
the  Act  of  Uniformity.  Over  thirty  refused  to  wear  the  surplice,  and 
were  deprived  of  their  livings.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  diocese  of 
Norwich,  Bishop  Parkhurst  made  no  attempt  to  enforce  uniformity, 
while  Pilkington  of  Durham  reduced  even  the  cathedral  service  to  the 
Puritan  ideal.  Beset  by  these  difficulties,  Parker  was  only  able  very 
imperfectly  to  enforce  the  prescribed  ceremonial,  while  the  number  of 
those  who,  while  remaining  in  the  church,  refused  to  conform,  steadily 
increased.  Parker  died  in  1575,  and  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Grindal, 
archbishop  of  York,  who  immediately  fell  into  disagreement  with  the 
court  on  the  question  of  prophesyings.  These  were  meetings  of  the 
clergy  and  laity,  held  for  the  purpose  of  debating  some  doctrinal  point, 
and  had  been  encouraged  by  the  bishops  as  tending  to  make  the  clergy 
thoughtful  and  well  informed.  Elizabeth,  however,  apparently  under 
the  impression  that  they  were  conducted  by  unlearned  persons,  ordered 
Grindal  to  put  a  stop  to  them.  Grindal  would  gladly  have  stopped  the 
laity,  but  wished  to  preserve  the  right  for  the  clergy ;  and  when  he 
refused  he  was  suspended  from  his  office  and  the  prophesyings  forbidden 
by  royal  proclamation.  Grindal  died  in  1583,  and  was  succeeded  by 
John  Whitgift,  bishop  of  Worcester.  Whitgift  was  just  the  man  for 
Elizabeth's  purpose  :  he  loved  order  for  its  own  sake,  and  was  deter- 
mined to  enforce  it  with  a  high  hand. 

The  task,  however,  had  now  become  very  difficult.     Originally  the 

quarrel  between  the  bishops  and  the  nonconforming  clergy  had  turned  upon 

.r^     ,       n    ceremonial ;  it  had  now  come  to  include  church  government 

Difficulty  of  .    . 

enforcing  as  well.  The  Nonconformists  also  had  come  to  be  divided 
ni  ormity.  .^^^  ^^^  bodies — first  the  sectarians,  sectaries  or  separa- 
tists, who  had  openly  left  the  church  ;  and  secondly,  those  who,  while 
they  remained  in  the  church,  did  their  best  to  get  its  practices  altered. 
Of  the  former  the  most  important  body  were  the  Brownists,  named  after 
Kobert  Brown,  a  relation  of  Cecil.  Brown  held  that  each  congregation 
of  Christians  ought  to  be  self-governing,  from  which  his  followers  came 
to  be  called  Independents.  In  doctrine  he  was  Calvinistic.  Another 
body  were  Anabaptists  or  Baptists. 

Of  those  who  remained  in  the  church  the  most  distinguished  was 
Thomas  Cartwright,  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  post  of  Lady  Margaret 
Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge.  His  views  were  enunci- 
'  ated  in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  which  advised  the  clergy  to 
form  themselves  into  groups  for  the  purpose  of  self-government,  ignoring 
as  far  as  possible  the  authority  of  the  bishops.  Cartwright's  views  were 
widely  accepted,  and  from  that  time  forward  there  existed  within  the 


1583  Etizabeih  465 

Church  of  England  a  large  body,  who  were  in  principle  Presbyterians. 
The  hope  of  the  Puritans  lay  in  the  support  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  they  were  strongest  in  the  south-eastern  counties.  Their 
weak  point  was  the  extreme  violence  of  some  of  their  members,  some  of 
whom  published  a  series  of  libellous  attacks  upon  the  bishops  known  as 
the  Mar-Prelate  tracts.  The  result  was  to  alienate  some  of  their  strongest 
supporters,  and  in  1593  parliament  passed  a  severe  act  against  seditious 
writings,  which  had  the  eflfect  of  keeping  controversy  within  bounds 
On  the  church  side  the  most  remarkable  writer  was  Richard  Hookel*, 
whose  Ecclesiastical  Polity  was  written  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
Episcopalian  government  could  be  defended  not  only  as  an  apostolical 
institution  but  on  grounds  of  general  utility. 

In  the  course  of  the  quarter  of  a  century  during  which  Elizabeth  had 
now  reigned,  she  had  also  strengthened  herself  by  using  her  charms  as  a 
woman  to  attach  to  her  cause  the  rising  generation  of  Eng-  Loyalty  to 
lishmen.  Such  men  as  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Spenser  the  poet,  Elizabeth, 
and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  talked  about  her  as  of  a  mistress  to  whose  service 
their  lives  were  devoted,  and  they  were  merely  typical  of  the  young 
Englishmen  of  the  day,  with  whom  devotion  to  their  virgin  queen  had 
come  to  be  almost  a  principle  of  life.  Throughout  her  reign  Elizabeth 
had  always  been  surrounded  by  two  classes  of  courtiers.  Men  like  Cecil, 
Walsingham,  and  Bacon,  who  served  her  in  the  cabinet,  and  with  whom 
she  discussed  political  affairs  on  a  footing  of  statesmanlike  equality. 
On  the  other  hand  there  was  her  old  friend,  Leicester,  who  had  loved 
her*  for  her  own  sake  when  she  was  a  girl,  and  in  whom,  though  not  a 
man  of  first-rate  ability,  she  could  always  trust  for  devoted  service. 
With  him  were  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  her  lively  lord  chancellor,  who 
was  said  to  have  won  his  position  by  his  skill  as  a  dancer,  and  a  crowd 
of  younger  men,  some  of  whom,  like  Raleigh,  were  at  court ;  others,  like 
Spenser,  merely  caught  the  reflection  of  court  life  at  a  distance,  but  all 
of  them  helped  in  their  several  ways  to  spread  the  feeling  of  personal 
loyalty  to  the  sovereign. 

Curiously  enough,  the  policies  of  Elizabeth  and  Philip  towards  each 
other  were  for  many  years  practically  the  same.  Neither  wished  for 
open  war,  though  both  probably  regarded  it  as  ultimately  Phiiip  and 
inevitable  ;  but  each  wished  to  do  the  other  as  much  harm  Elizabeth, 
as  possible  without  an  actual  declaration  of  hostilities.  Elizabeth 
encouraged  her  subjects  to  aid  the  Netherlanders  ;  Philiji  sent  Spaniards 
to  assist  the  rebellious  Irish,  while  each  kept  an  ambassador  at  the 
court  of  the  other,  and  their  diplomatic  intercourse  was  conducted  with 
every  expression  of  regard. 

2o 


466  The  Tudors  1583 

In  the  work  of  covert  hostility  Elizabeth  had 'no  more  useful  agents 
than  the  mariners  of  the  Devonshire  ports.     The  true  descendants  of 
Chaucer's  shipman,  they  had  always  been  equally  ready  for 
shire  Sea-      commerce  or  piracy,  and  in  seamanship  they  had  no  rivals. 
"^^"'  Nothing  could  have  suited  such  men  better  than  the  dis- 

covery of  the  New  World,  which  came  just  at  the  moment  when  the  rise 
of  strong  governments  made  piracy  a   dangerous   trade  in  European 
waters.     Until  the  Keformation,  however,  the  English  do  not  seem  to 
have  meddled  much  with  the  New  World,  which  was  regarded  as  having 
been  lawfully  divided  by  Pope  Alexander  vi.  betweeen  the  Spaniards 
and  the  Portuguese.     The  renunciation,  however,  of  the  papal  authority 
untied  their  hands,  and  a  series  of  bold  mariners  issued  forth,  some  to 
attempt  the  discovery  of  new  lands,  some  to  open  up  legitimate  trade, 
and  others  for  purposes  little  different  from  piratical.     Such  adventurers 
cared  little  for  the  political  relations  between  England  and  the  Spanish 
and  in  order  to  put  themselves,  as  it  were,  in  order,  invented  the  con- 
venient formula — 'No  Peace  beyond  the  Line.'     Of  those  who  sought 
new  countries,  the  most  notable  were  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby, 
who  perished  in  1554  in  an  attempt  to  reach  China  by  fol- 
lowing the  northern  coast  of  Asia ;  Martin  Frobisher,  who,  in  1676  and 
1577,   investigated   the   coast  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  with  a 
view  to  a  settlement ;  and  John  Davis,  the  first  Englishman 
Davis. ^        to  attempt  the  north-west  passage.      Better  known  than 
^^  ^    ■    these  is  the  brave  Sir  John  Hawkins,  who  first  exported 
negro   slaves  from  Africa  to  the  Spanish  settlements  in  America — a 
traffic  then  considered  honourable  and  even  praiseworthy,  as  it  brought 
the  negroes  under  the  influence  of  Christianity  ;  but  above  all  stands  in 
popular  estimation  the  name  of  the  greatest  of  Elizabethan  seamen.  Sir 
Francis  Drake. 

This  great  man  was  born  of  undistinguished  parents  in  1539,  and 
spent  almost  his  whole  life  at  sea.  First  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  after- 
Sir  Francis  wards  in  more  distant  voyages,  he  became  an  admirable 
Drake.  seaman.  In  1567  he  was  chosen  by  Hawkins,  who  is  said 
to  have  been  a  relation,  to  join  him  in  a  slave-trading  expedition  in  the 
West  Indies.  The  adventure,  however,  ]3roved  a  failure,  as  Hawkins 
rashly  involved  himself  in  a  fight  against  a  superior  force  of  Spaniards. 
In  1572  and  1573  Drake  was  again  in  the  West  Indies  attacking  Spanish 
vessels,  and  plundering  settlements  on  the  coast.  Having  landed  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  he  saw  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  conceived  the  idea 
of  rounding  South  America  and  attacking  the  Spaniards  in  their  fancied 
security.     Accordingly  in  November  1577,  with  five  vessels,  the  largest 


1584  Elizabeth  467 

of  which  was  only  one  hundred  tons,  and  with  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
tliree  men,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth,  made  his  way  to  South  America, 
and  passing  through  the  straits  of  Magelhaen,  appeared  unexpectedly  in 
the  Pacific.  Beginning  with  Valparaiso,  the  capital  of  Chili,  he  called 
at  every  important  Spanish  port  on  his  way  north,  everywhere  helping 
himself  almost  without  resistance  to  the  silver  and  gold  which  had  come 
down  from  the  mines  and  was  waiting  to  be  sent  to  Europe.  Then 
sailing  north,  he  reached  the  latitude  of  California,  and  after  some 
thoughts  of  attempting  a  passage  round  the  north,  made  his  way  to 
Java,  and  thence  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Plymouth,  arriving  there 
in  September  1581,  bringing  back  with  him  treasure  valued  at  i;800,000, 
and  the  immortal  reputation  of  being  the  first  Englishman  to  circum- 
navigate the  globe.  In  1585  he  and  Frobisher  were  together  in  the 
West  Indies  attacking  the  Spaniards,  and  on  their  way  home  they 
picked  up  the  survivors  of  a  colony  which  had  been  planted  in  1585  on 
the  coast  of  North  America. 

The  year  1584  forms  a  turning-point  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Hitherto  she  had  been  able  on  the  whole  to  maintain  peace,  and  to  avoid 
committing  herself  definitely  against  any  foreign  power,  Elizabeth's 
but  a  series  of  events  in  that  year  made  thLs  policy  no  Position 
longer  possible.  The  first  of  these  events  was  the  death,  in 
June,  of  Francis,  duke  of  Anjou,  fonnerly  duke  of  Alengon — Elizabeth's 
absurd  suitor — the  only  surviving  brother  of  Henry  in.  As  Henry  in.  had 
no  sons,  the  crown  of  France  woiUd  go  by  inheritance,  after  his  death,  to 
Henry,  king  of  Navarre,  a  representative  of  the  Bourbon  line,  and  head 
of  the  rising  party  of  French  Huguenots.  This  prospect  filled  the  French 
Catholics,  and  especially  the  Parisians,  with  alann  ;  and  a  Catholic 
league  was  formed,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Guises,  to  prevent 
Henry's  accession  to  the  throne.  At  first  Henry  in.  acknowledged  the 
king  of  Navarre  as  his  heir,  but  was  afterwards  obliged  to  throw  in  his 
lot  with  the  Guises.  Civil  war  immediately  broke  out,  and  Elizabeth 
found  she  could  no  longer  rely  upon  the  French  alliance,  or  the  6000 
troops  which  were  to  be  sent  to  her  in  case  of  invasion. 

A  month  after  the  death  of  Alengon,  William  of  Orange  was  murdered 
by  Balthazar  Gerard  ;  and  the  Dutch,  after  in  vain  asking  the  assistance 
of  Henry  in.,  were  advised  by  him  to  apply  to  England,  ^he 
Accordingly  they  asked  Elizabeth  to  become  their  pro-  Netherlands, 
tector.  This  position,  however,  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  accept, 
for,  in  the  first  place,  she  would  have  given  her  sanction  to  the 
lawful  subjects  of  one  sovereign  transferring  their  allegiance  to 
•another ;  and,  secondly,  because  she  had  never  wished  to  set  herself 


468  The  Tudors  1584 

up  in  any  way  as  the  head  of  a  Protestant  league.  Nevertheless, 
the  loss  of  her  French  alliance  compelled  her  to  make  terms  informally 
with  the  Dutch ;  and  in  1585  she  despatched  an  English  force  to 
the  States.  At  the  head  of  this  she  placed  the  earl  of  Leicester, 
but  he  betrayed  her  confidence  by  accepting  the  powers  and  title  of 
governor-general,  by  which  the  States  tried  to  compel  Elizabeth  to 
become  their  over-lord.  Elizabeth  was  extremely  angry,  and  ordered 
Leicester  to  resign  the  post — by  which,  at  the  cost  of  ofi'ending  the 
Netherlanders,  she  maintained  her  position  as  friend  only.  In  military 
matters  Leicester  proved  no  match  for  the  duke  of  Parma.  The  chief 
event  of  the  war  was  the  battle  of  Zutphen,  where  perished  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  author  of  the  Arcadia,  who,  though  only  thirty-two  years  of 
age,  had  been  recognised  by  his  contemporaries  as  typical  of  the  best 
English  character  of  the  time — a  man  who  already  had  distinguished 
himself  as  a  diplomatist,  a  courtier,  a  soldier,  and  an  author.  After  the 
battle  of  Zutphen  the  war  languished.  Leicester  came  home  in  1586, 
and  Parma's  energies  were  soon  turned  in  another  direction. 

The  year  1584  was  also  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  ;  up  to  this  time  she  had  been  treated  more  as  a  guest  than  as 
Mary  Queen  a  prisoner,  and  had  been  allowed  considerable  freedom  of 
of  Scots.  action.  Such  treatment  had  long  been  thought  too  lenient 
by  the  Commons,  who,  as  early  as  1572,  had  petitioned  for  her  attainder  ; 
and  when,  in  1584,  a  plot  was  discovered  for  the  assassination  of 
Elizabeth,  contrived  between  Francis  Throgmorton,  a  Cheshire  gentle- 
man, and  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  parliament  again  took  up 
the  question.  There  was  no  doubt  that,  so  long  as  Mary  lived,  the 
temptation  to  assassinate  Elizabeth  would  be  very  great ;  and  also 
that,  in  such  an  event,  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  for  the  Protestants 
to  prevent  Mary's  accession,  as  they  had  no  candidate  immediately 
available,  and  no  organisation.  Accordingly  an  Act  of  Parliament  was 
passed,  enacting,  first,  that  if  the  country  were  invaded,  or  the  queen 
murdered,  or  a  plot  formed  for  that  purpose,  with  the  'privity'  of 
any  one  that  pretended  a  title  to  the  realm,  such  a  person  could  be  tried 
by  royal  commission  ;  and,  secondly,  that,  if  the  queen  were  murdered, 
the  lords  of  the  privy  council,  with  the  other  magnates,  should 
j)rosecute  such  a  pretender  to  the  death.  At  the  same  time  an 
association  was  formed,  binding  the  members,  in  case  of  the  queen's 
murder,  to  '  prosecute  to  death '  any  person  by  whom  or  for  whom  the 
deed  had  been  done. 

Before  long  there  was  ample  evidence  that  Mary  had  brought  herself 
within  the  scope  of  this  Act.     A  plot  against  Elizabeth's  life  was  formed 


1587  Elizabeth  469 

by  Anthony  Babington  and  a  number  of  young  Catholic  gentlemen, 
some  of  whom  were  about  the  court — for  Elizabeth  made  no  dis- 
tinction of  religion  in  her  service.  Meanwhile,  Sir  Francis  Babington's 
Walsingham  had  arranged  a  plan  by  which  all  Mary's  P^°^- 
correspondence  passed  through  his  hands,  and  before  long  he  had 
intercepted  two  letters  from  Mary  to  Babington,  encouraging  his  scheme. 
The  conspirators  were  then  arrested,  convicted,  and  put  to  death  ;  and 
in  October,  1586,  a  special  commission,  as  provided  by  the  Act,  sat  to 
try  Mary,  and  found  her  guilty  of  complicity.  A  few  days  afterwards 
parliament  assembled,  and  demanded  that  the  sentence  should  be  put 
into  execution,  and  there  can  be  no  question  that  they  spoke  the  voice  of 
the  nation  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  Elizabeth  was  exceedingly 
averse  to  act.  As  in  1568,  she  probably  hoped  that  the  disgrace  of 
exposure  would  be  sufficient ;  but  at  length,  urged  by  her  ministers,  she 
signed  the  warrant,  and  handed  it  to  Davison,  Walsingham's  co-secretary 
of  state.  Probably  she  hoped  that  they  would  put  it  into  execution, 
but  in  such  a  way  that  they  might  be  disavowed  and  punished.  The 
secretaries,  however,  caUed  a  meeting  of  those  of  the  privy  council  within 
reach,  and  ten  of  them,  including  Burleigh,  Leicester,  Lord  Howard  of 
Effingham,  Walsingham  and  Davison,  signed  an  order  to  the  earls  of 
Kent  and  Shrewsbury,  directing  them  to  carry  out  the  Mary  Stuart 
execution.  This  was  done  at  Fotheringay  Castle  on  beheaded. 
February  8.  When  the  news  reached  London,  Elizabeth  found  it 
impossible  to  punish  an  act  which  had  been  carried  out  perfectly 
legally  by  her  leading  ministers  ;  but  a  scapegoat  was  made  of  Davison, 
who  was  deprived  of  his  secretaryship  and  fined.  By  the  nation  at 
large  the  news  was  accepted  as  a  relief ;  bonfires  were  lighted  and  bells 
were  rung,  as  for  a  victory ;  for  men  felt  that,  let  the  Spaniard  come 
when  he  would,  there  was  now  no  chance  of  a  Roman  Catholic  rebellion 
to  aid  the  foreign  invader. 

In  dying,  Mary  left  her  claims  to  the  throne,  not  to  her  son,  who  had 
turned  out  a  strong  Protestant,  but  to  a  daughter  of  Philip  by  his 
third  wife,  a  princess  of  Portugal,  who  was  a  descendant  of  -vv^r  with 
John  of  Gaunt.  Philip  accepted  the  legacy,  and  immedi-  Spain, 
ately  began  to  prepare  for  a  great  invasion  of  England.  From  that 
time,  though  no  open  declaration  of  war  took  place,  England  and  Spain 
may  be  regarded  as  hostile  powers.  Drake  was  at  once  despatched  to 
the  Spanish  coast ;  and  in  April,  with  an  audacity  that  astonished 
Europe,  he  sailed,  with  twenty-four  ships  only,  into  the  harbour  of 
Cadiz,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  Spanish  forts  and  war-galleys  could  do, 
destroyed  no  less  than  a  hundred  sail  of  shipping  and  vast  quantities  of 


470  The  Tudors 


1587 


stores,  which  were  being  collected  for  Philip's  expedition.  Then  sailing 
back,  he  endeavoured,  unsuccessfully,  to  penetrate  into  the  mouth  of  the 
Tagus,  where  other  preparations  were  going  forward.  The  result  of 
his  exploits  was  to  delay  the  expedition  for  a  year.  This,  however,  was 
a  very  serious  matter  for  Philip,  because  the  duke  of  Parma  had 
collected  in  the  Netherlands  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men,  which, 
being  kept  together  through  the  winter,  was  reduced  to  seventeen 
thousand  by  the  time  the  Armada  actually  sailed.  These  exploits  Drake 
called  '  singeing  the  king  of  Spain's  beard.' 

At  last,  in  the  summer  of  1688,  everything  was  in  readiness,  and  the 
Armada,  numbering  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  ships,  left  the  Spanish 
The  Armada  ports  under  the  command  of  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia. 
sails.  Its  orders  were,  on  reaching  the  English  Channel,  to  keep 

along  the  French  coast  to  Dunkirk,  and  thence  to  escort  the  duke  of 
Parma,  in  a  fleet  of  flat-bottomed  transports  which  had  been  prepared, 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Thames.  Meanwhile,  the  English  had  been  by  no 
means  idle.  Thirty-four  ships  of  the  royal  navy,  almost  all  of  which  had 
been  built  by  Elizabeth's  orders,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  armed 
merchant  vessels,  had  been  divided  into  two  squadrons  :  one,  under  Lord 
Howard  of  Effingham,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  and  Martin 
Frobisher,  was  at  Plymouth ;  the  other,  under  Lord  Henry  Seymour, 
was  blockading  the  Netherland  ports.  An  army  of  seventy-three 
thousand  men  had  been  collected  at  London,  most  of  whom  seem  to 
have  had  firearms,  and  were  led  by  officers  who  had  had  experience  in 
fighting  in  France  and  elsewhere,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  the  earl  of 
Leicester.  It  w^as  also  arranged  that,  when  the  beacon-fires  showed 
the  arrival  of  the  Armada,  every  county  should  call  out  its  militia, 
and  confront  the  Spaniards  with  what  was  practically  a  levee  en 
masse. 

Contrary  to  his  orders,  Sidonia  sailed  close  to  Plymouth,  which  he 
passed  on  the  20th  July,  and  was  immediately  followed  by  the  English 

The  Fi  ht    ^^^^'      ^^^    English   commanders,   who   had  the   utmost 

in  the  confidence  in  the  seamanship  of  their  men,  and  regarded 

the  tonnage  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  which  was  twice  as  large 
as  that  of  the  English,  and  their  superiority  in  cannon,  which  was  four- 
fold, as  quite  compensated  by  the  greater  handiness  of  their  own  ships, 
and  the  much  larger  proportion  of  sailors  which  each  contained,  had 
decided  to  follow  close  behind.  By  this  means,  as  the  wind  was  south- 
west, they  had  the  weather-gauge  of  the  Armada,  and  were  able  to 
approach  it  or  stop  at  will,  while  the  Spaniards  were  unable  to  turn 
upon  their  pursuers.     In  this  way  the  two  fleets  moved  slowly  up  the 


1588  Elizabeth  471 

Channel,  and,  a  week  after  they  passed  Plymouth,  the  Spaniards 
anchored  off  Calais.  Both  sides  had  expended  a  great  amount  of 
ammunition,  of  which  the  English  were  beginning  to  run  short.  The 
loss,  however,  was  almost  entirely  on  the  side  of  the  Spanish  ;  for  the 
Spanish  guns,  fired  from  their  huge  castles,  could  not  touch  the  small 
English  craft,  while  the  English  were  able  to  do  terrible  execution 
among  the  crowded  soldiery  on  the  Spanish  decks. 

On  arriving  at  Calais,  Sidonia  expected  to  find  Parma  at  Dunkirk, 
with  his  men  all  ready  to  embark  ;  instead  of  which  Parma  was  still  at 
Bruges,  and  nothing  whatever  was  ready.  The  English,  The  Armada 
however,  were  determined  to  bring  matters  to  extremities,  ^^f^^^^d' 
as  a  change  in  the  wind  might  alter  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs  ;  so,  on 
the  29th,  they  sent  fire-ships,  full  of  combustibles,  driving  among  the 
Spanish  ships.  Panic-stricken,  the  crews  cut  their  anchors  and  fell  into 
confusion,  and  when  morning  broke  were  again  attacked  by  the  English 
fleet.  In  this  day's  fighting,  victory  distinctly  declared  for  the  English  ; 
and,  when  night  fell,  a  strong  north-east  wind  was  driving  the  Spanish 
vessels  on  the  shoals  of  Flanders.  Had  it  continued,  hardly  a  ship  could 
have  escaped  ;  but,  luckily  for  them,  the  wind  again  shifted  to  the 
south-west,  and  enabled  them  to  make  their  way  north  into  the  open 
sea.  Return,  however,  to  the  Channel  was  impossible,  and  there  was 
nothing  left  for  them  but  to  make  the  best  of  their  way  round  the  north 
of  Scotland.  From  that  moment,  however,  ill-luck  pursued  them  ;  a 
series  of  gales  drove  some  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  others  on  the  rock- 
bound  coasts  of  Scotland  and  Ireland.  No  less  than  two  thousand 
coi*pses  were  counted  on  the  beach  of  Sligo  Bay  ;  and,  eventually,  only 
fifty-three  vessels  made  their  way  back  to  Spain.  Philip  met  his 
misfortune  with  a  magnanimity  that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  better 
man :  '  I  sent  you  out,'  he  said,  *  to  war  with  men,  and  not  with  the 
elements.'  Philip,  however,  was  wrong.  Up  to  the  fight  at  Dunkirk, 
the  elements  had  been  all  the  Spaniards  could  wish  ;  the  north-east 
gale  which  blew  on  the  night  of  that  fight  was  their  first  piece  of 
misfortune  due  to  the  elements.  The  real  causes  of  the  disaster 
were  to  be  found,  partly  in  the  superior  seamanship  of  the  English, 
partly  in  the  fact  that,  at  the  critical  moment,  Parma  and  his  men 
were  not  ready.  Had  Parma  effected  a  landing,  it  is  probable  that 
he  might  have  won  a  battle  :  that  he  would  have  conquered  the 
country,  or  even  effected  a  lengthy  settlement,  is  most  improbable  ; 
and  he  himself  never  underrated  for  a  moment  the  difficulty  of  the 
undertaking. 

In  other  respects  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  formed  the  turning-point 


472       '  The  Tudors  1588 

in  the  reign.     Before  the  close  of  1588  Leicester  died.     In  1590  he  was 

followed  by  Walsingham ;    and  in  1591  by  Christopher  Hatton.     Sir 

„  ,      Nicholas  Bacon  had  died  in   1579,  so  that  of  the  great 

Personal  '  ^ 

changes       men  who  stood  round  the  throne  at  the  accession,  Bur- 

leigh  alone  was  left,  and  he  was  now  an  old  man  verging 

op.  seventy.     New  men,  therefore,  began  to  come  into  prominence,  of 

whom  the  most  noticeable  were  Robert  Cecil,  Walter  Raleigh,  and  the 

earl  of  Essex.     Robert  Cecil  was  Burleigh's  second  son,  and  had  been 

born  in  1563.     From  his  earliest  youth  he  had  been  trained  by  his  father 

Robert         ^^  ^^^  successor  ;  he  inherited  many  of  his  father's  qualities, 

Cecil.  'but  -^as  not  so  distinguished  a  statesman.     Nevertheless, 

his  knowledge  of  business  and  of  his  father's  secrets  made  him  a  most 
useful   minister.      Walter  Raleigh  stood  in  a  very  different  position. 

Walter         Born  in  Devonshire  in  1553,  he  soon  made  his  way  to  court. 

Raleigh.  Being  a  man  of  fine  presence  and  good  wit,  he  had  early 
attracted  the  attention  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  rewarded  her  favourite 
with  large  grants  of  land  and  money.  She  even  made  him  captain  of  the 
guard ;  but  he  had  no  place  in  the  privy  council,  and  no  influence  in 
political  matters.  Raleigh  was  essentially  a  man  of  action,  but  he  was 
extremely  deficient  in  the  capacity  for  dealing  either  with  his  equals  or 
liis  superiors.  He  had  had  great  experience  of  affairs,  had  fought  in 
France,  the  West  Indies,  and  in  Ireland,  and  had  about  him  a  certain 
genius  which  has  gained  for  him  a  much  larger  recognition  in  later  times 
than  he  received  in  his  own. 

Robert  Devereux,  earl  of  Essex,  was  born  in  1568,  and  was  conse- 
quently twenty  at  the  time  of  the  Armada.      He  was,  therefore,  fifteen 

Robert         years  younger  than  Raleigh,  who  regarded  him  as  a  younger 

Devereux.  rival  in  the  good  graces  of  the  queen.  Essex's  character 
seems  to  have  been  essentially  showy,  and,  unlike  Raleigh,  he  seems  to 
have  acquired  a  reputation  among  his  contemporaries  quite  out  of  pro- 
portion to  his  real  capacity.  He  courted  popularity  ;  and  Lord  Burleigh 
on  one  occasion,  in  advising  a  young  man  against  either  neglecting  or 
over-courting  popularity,  told  him  to  be  '  neither  an  Essex  nor  a  Raleigh.' 

For  the  next  ten  years  after  the  Armada,  the  contest  between  Eliza- 
beth and  Philip  was  continued  in  full  activity.  In  1589  Henry  iii.  of 
France  was  assassinated  by  Jacques  Clement ;  and  conse- 
quently, Henry  of  Navarre  became  legitimate  king  of 
France.  He  was,  however,  opposed  by  the  Guises,  with  the  support  of 
Spain ;  so  Elizabeth,  now  no  longer  troubled  by  the  thought  that  she 
was  aiding  rebels,  was  able  to  throw  her  whole  force  into  Henry's 
scale  ;  and  a  contingent  of  some  six  thousand  troops,  usually  under  the 


1596  Elizabeth  473 

command  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  fought  regularly  under  Henry's  banner 
till  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 

Besides  thus  indirectly  aiding  to  check  Philip,  a  series  of  expeditions 
were  sent  out  from  England  against  Spain.     In  1589,  Sir  Francis  Drake 
and  Sir  John  Norris  commanded  an  expedition  to  Portugal,    ^j^^  ^^^^ 
under  the  pretext  of  aiding  Don  Antonio,  one  of  the  Portu- 
guese royal  family,  to  recover  the  crown  of  Portugal,  which    P°*^"S*^' 
had  been  worn  by  Philip,  in  right  of  his  wife,  since  1580.      They  were, 
however,  able  to  effect  little ;  for  after  taking  Corunna,  and  marching 
from  Peniche  to  Lisbon,  they  found  that  the  Portuguese  would  do 
nothing  to  aid  them.      In  1590,  Lord  Thomas  Howard  and  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  with  seven  ships,  were  sent  to  intercept  the  Plate  fleet  off  the 
Azores.     There,  however,  they  were  attacked  by  a  fleet  of  fifty  Spaniards. 
Lord  Thomas  and  six  ships  retreated  ;  but  Sir  Richard  Grenville  in  the 
Revenge^  having  waited  to  bring  off  some  sick  men,  was   T^g 
attacked  by  the  whole  Spanish  fleet ;  and  after  a  desperate   '  Revenge.' 
combat  was  forced  to  surrender.     In  1592  another  expedition  was  sent 
to  the  Azores  under  Sir  Martin  Frobisher.     In  1594,  Drake  and  Hawkins 
sailed  to  the  West  Indies  ;  but  the  expedition  was  unfortunate.     The 
Spaniards  were  found  prepared,  and  both  commanders  perished  of  sick- 
ness at  sea.     By  this  time  it  was  rumoured  that  another  Armada  was 
being  prepared  in  Cadiz  harbour  ;  so  in  1596,  Lord  Howard  of  Eflingham, 
the    earl  of  Essex,   and  Raleigh,   repeated   Drake's   exploit  of  1587. 
Entering  the  harbour,  the  fleet  destroyed  the  Spanish  ships 
at  their  moorings,  while  the  soldiers,  under  Essex,  stonned 
the  town  and  destroyed  the  fortifications,  bringing  away  with  them  much 
booty.     The  action  excited  the  admiration  of  all  Europe. 

War  with  Spain  naturally  led  to  English  schemes   of  colonisation. 

As  early  as  1579  a  half-brother  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Humphrey 

Gilbert,  who  ought  to  be  regarded  as  the  real  founder  ^  . 

»  '         ,      .  f   ^       .  ,  ,    .       ,  n  ,      Colonisation, 

of    our    Colonial    Empire,    obtained    a    grant    from    the 

queen  authorising  him  to  make  settlements  in  unoccupied  territory. 

Accordingly  in  1583   he  attempted   to  make  a  colony  in   ^.,. 
XX       /.       ^,       n  ,      ^        ,       ,V         ,  ,  ,    ,    Gilbert. 

Jn  ewtoundland  ;   and  after  landing  the  settlers,  proceeded 

south  to  make   a  further  voyage  of  discovery.     Unfortunately  on  his 

homeward  passage,  the  crazy  vessel  of  ten  tons  in  which  he  was  crossing 

the  Atlantic  foundered  near  the  Azores,  and  all  on  board  perished. 

After    Gilbert's   death,    his   patent   was   regranted  to   Raleigh ;    and, 

his  brother's  colonists  having  perished,  Raleigh   decided   p  ,  .  . 

to  make  a  fresh   attempt  in  a  more  genial  clime.      In 

1584,  an  expedition  sent    out  by  him  explored  the  coast  north  of 


474  The  Tudors  1596 

Florida,  and  reported  so  well  of  the  climate  that  Raleigh  decided  to 
choose  it  for  his  settlement ;  while  the  queen  honoured  his  intention  by 
permitting  the  country  to  be  called  Virginia.  Accordingly, 
^^^  *  *  in  1585,  a  body  of  colonists  were  sent  out  under  the  escort 
of  Sir  Richard  Grenville.  Next  year  Grenville  took  out  another  body, 
but  found  that  the  first  batch  had  just  returned  home  with  Drake  (see 
page  467),  after  a  sojourn  of  ten  months.  For  some  unexplained  reason, 
Grenville's  new  colonists  perished — probably  from  being  led  away  into 
the  interior  by  the  thirst  for  gold,  or  through  giving  insufficient  attention 
to  crops.     Another  body  sent  out  in  1587  shared  the  same  fate. 

Raleigh's  efforts,  therefore,  were  unsuccessful ;  and  after  spending 
about    £40,000    on   the   enterprise,   he  handed   over   his   rights   to   a 

Raleigh  in    company  of  merchants  ;  and  nothing  more  was  effected  in 

Guiana.  Virginia  until  the  next  reign.  Raleigh,  however,  devoted 
his  attention  to  a  new  sphere  of  action.  Having  heard  of  the  wealth  of 
Guiana,  he  sent  out  an  expedition  in  1594  to  explore  the  coast  ;  and  in 
1595  followed  himself.  Having  made  his  way  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Orinoco,  he  ascended  the  river  in  small  boats  for  a  considerable  distance. 
He  was  well  received  by  the  natives,  between  whose  chief  and  the  queen 
of  England  he  established  a  somewhat  shadowy  treaty,  and  returned 
home  satisfied  as  to  the  wealth  of  the  country,  and  thoroughly  believing 
in  the  existence  of  a  gold  mine  a  little  farther  inland  than  he  had  been 
able  to  penetrate.  Circumstances,  however,  prevented  him  from 
returning ;  but  he  sent  out  two  subsequent  expeditions  under  his 
friend  Captain  Laurence  Keymis. 

Besides  these  attempts  at  colonisation,  the  latter  years  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  saw  a  great  extension  in  our  commerce.  The  practice  of 
fitting  out  expeditions  such  as  those  of  Drake  and  Raleigh 
at  the  expense  of  private  individuals,  though  sometimes 
with  government  assistance,  had  trained  Englishmen  in  one  of  our  most 
important  national  characteristics — viz.  that  of  doing  by  individual 
effort  what  elsewhere  is  done  by  government  alone.  Trade  with 
distant  countries  was  then  a  dangerous  and  expensive  undertaking  ;  and 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  it  on,  companies  were  formed  exactly 
analogous  to  our  great  railway  companies  or  South  African  companies 
of  the  present  day.  Such  companies  received  a  charter  from  the  govern- 
ment and  special  privileges,  and  many  such  were  granted  by  Queen 
Elizabeth.     Of  these,  the  most  famous  was  the  East  India 

India  Company,  incorporated  in  1600.     For  a  long  time  the  trade 

ompany.    ^^  ^-^^  -g^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  carried  on  by  the  Portuguese  with 

such  secrecy,  that  it  was  not  till  1587,  when  Drake  on  his  return  from 


1699  Elizabeth  475 

Cadiz  captured  a  Portuguese  East  Indiaman,  that  the  English  realised 
its  value.  From  that  time  forward,  however,  efforts  were  made  both  by 
the  English  and  Dutch  to  break  down  the  Portuguese  monopoly.  The 
first  voyage  of  an  English  East  Indiaman  was  made  in  1601,  and  in 
that  year  an  English  trading  station  or  factory  was  established  at 
Calicut.  Other  companies  traded  with  Russia  and  the  Levant ;  and 
the  impetus  thus  given  to  English  commercial  enterprise  was  never  lost. 

After  1596  the  war  against  Spain  gradually  died  out.     In  France, 
Philip  had  completely  failed  to  prevent  Henry  of  Navarre  from  becoming 
king.     In  1590  Henry  defeated  the  league  and  their  Spanish 
allies  at  the  battle  of  Ivry.     In  1592  Parma,  Philip's  best 
general,  died  during  an  attempt  to  raise  the  siege  of  Rouen.     Next 
year  Henry  made  success  secure  by  formally  joining  the  Catholic  Church. 
This  step,  which  he  justified  on  the  ground  that  '  France  is  worth  a  mass,' 
made  him  king  not  merely  of  a  faction  but  of  the  French  nation,  and 
from  that  time  forward  resistance  gradually  died  away.     In  1598  he  put 
the  religious  affairs  of  France  on  a  firm  footing  by  the  Edict      Edict  of 
of  Nantes,  which  granted  toleration  to  the  Huguenots.    And      Nantes, 
the  same  year  the  Peace  of  Vervins  brought  his   long  struggle  with 
Spain  to  a  close.     Within  a  month  or  two  Philip  himself  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  peaceful  son  Philip  iii. 

We  must  now  return  to  events  in  Ireland.    The  Tudors  had  never 
lost  sight  of  the  policy,  initiated  by  Henry  vii.,  of  bringing  the  island 
completely  under  English  rule  ;  and  though  tlie  progress 
made  had  been  fitful,  a   considerable  amount  had  been 
accomplished.     During  the  reign  of  Henry  viii.,  as  in  that  of  his  pre- 
decessor, the  great  difficulty  had  been  caused  by  the  over- 
weening power  of  the  earls  of  Kildare  ;  and  when  Henry's      ^^^ 
quarrel  with  Rome  began,  this  turbulent  family,  of  course,  took  the 
opportunity  to  declare  for  the  pope,  and  added  religious   warfare  to 
the  horrors   of  the   country.      The   danger,   however,   was  so   serious 
that  the  government  took  most  energetic  measures  to  restore  peace  : 
every  leader  who  fell  into  Henry's  hands  was  hanged,  and  only  a  single 
boy  remained  to  represent  the  Geraldines  of  Kildare. 

The  Reformation  in  Ireland  was  quite  different  from  that  in  England. 
The  pre-reformation  church  of  Ireland  was  in  an  extremely  lax  condi- 
tion :  authority  was  divided  among  no  less  than  eight  arch-  The  Refor- 
bishops,  no  one  of  whom  was  supreme  ;  and  the  bishops,  "^at^o"- 
instead  of  having  regular  spheres  of  work,  were  attached  to  monastic 
houses.  Accordingly,  when  the  religious  houses  were  swept  away,  the 
church  fell  into  complete  confusion.     The  Act  of  Supremacy  was  passed 


476 


The  Tudors 


1599 


by  the  Irish  parliament  in  1538  and  generally  accepted  by  the  chiefs  ; 
and  orders  were  given,  though  not  apparently  carried  out,  for  the  trans- 
lation of  the  English  service-book  into  Irish.     The  Reformation,  how- 


ever, on  its  spiritual  side  was  wholly  foreign  to  the  Irish  character ;  the 
people  still  clung  to  the  old  faith,  and  to  the  ministrations  of  the 
itinerant  friars  ;  and  it  is  from  the  friars  and  their  preaching  that  the 


1599  Elizabeth  477 

Irish  Catholic  Church  has  received  the  national  and  popular  character 
which  distinguishes  it  at  the  present  day.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  the  conduct  of  the  Irish  chiefs  towards  the  English 
government  was  dictated  by  religious  motives.  Mary  restored  the 
Eoman  Catholic  religion,  but  the  chiefs  rebelled  against  her  just  the 
same  ;  and  the  names  of  Queen's  County  and  Maryborough,  King's 
Oounty  and  Philipstown  still  remain  to  show  how  far  English  rule  was 
advanced  in  her  time. 

The  system,  however,  of  annexing  the  territories  of  the  chiefs  and 
organising  them  as  English  shires,  brought  the  government  face  to  face 
with  a  new  and  most  serious  difficulty.  In  the  history  of 
land-tenure,  ownership  of  land  by  the  nation,  the  tribe,  the  Land 
family  or  community,  and  the  individual,  mark  four  sue-  ^^  ^"^* 
cessive  stages  of  civilisation.  The  English  had  reached  the  stage  of 
individual  ownership  before  they  arrived  in  Britain  ;  but  the  Celts  were 
between  the  tribal  and  family  stages,  and  their  customs  appeared, 
to  the  English  of  the  sixteenth  century,  perfectly  barbarous.  The 
whole  nation  was  divided  into  groups,  each  of  whom  acknowledged  the 
authority  of  a  chief,  who  held  certain  demesne  lands  in  his  own  hands, 
and  whose  household  was  provided  for  by  contributions  due  from  all  the 
inhabitants.  Under  him  were  secondary  groups,  called  Septs,  all  the 
members  of  whom  had  one  surname  and  had  a  particular  chieftain  or 
Tanist,  who  had  likewise  his  demesnes  and  dues.  At  the  death  of  a 
chief  or  chieftain,  his  land  went  as  a  whole  to  the  next  heir ;  but 
all  other  lands,  held  by  the  inferior  inhabitants,  were  divided  by 
'gavelkindy  in  which  all  the  children,  legitimate  or  illegitimate,  shared 
;alike.  The  consequence  was  to  make  agriculture  and  progress  almost 
impossible,  for  'almost  every  acre  of  land  hath  a  several  owner, 
which  termeth  himself  a  lord,  and  his  portion  of  land  his  country.' 
Moreover,  the  Irish  regarded  the  lands  of  the  chief  or  chieftain  not 
as  belonging  to  him,  but  as  belonging  to  his  followers  collectively, 
and  therefore  looked  upon  the  confiscation  of  the  property  of  the 
•chief  as  robbery  of  themselves.  Confronted  with  this  land-system, 
lihe  English  attempted  to  introduce  the  English  system.  They  created 
ithe  chiefs  earls,  and  regarded  the  dues  paid  as  rents.  From  this  it 
followed  that,  when  an  Irish  chief  committed  treason,  his  property  was 
■confiscated  as  in  England,  and  probably  redivided  among  English 
«,dventurers,  without  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  chieftains.  Thus  one 
Rebellion  led  the  way  to  another. 

Early  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  her  authority  was  defied  by  Shan  O'Neal, 
•earl  of  Tyrone.      Like    the  other    Irish  chieftains,   Shan   had  made 


478  The  Tudors  1599 

an  excellent  impression  at  the  English  court,  but  immediately  on  his 
return  he  began  disturbances  ;  and  he  maintained  his  independence,  more 
Shan         or  less,  till  in  1586  he  was  assassinated  in  a  fray.     Troubles 
O'Neal,     tj-^e^   broke   out   in  the   south-west,   owing  to   a   quarrel 
of  the  queen  with  the  Ormonds  and  the  Desmonds  ;  but  nothing  very 
The  serious  happened  till  1579,  when  the  Desmonds  of  Munster 

Desmonds,  broke  into  rebellion,  assisted  by  a  Spanish  force.  The 
Irish,  however,  again  proved  too  weak  to  resist  the  English  when  fau'ly 
roused :  the  Desmonds  were  routed,  and  the  Spanish  and  Italian  soldiers, 
sent  by  the  pope,  were  forced  to  surrender  and  then  brutally  massacred  at 
Smerwick.  The  most  formidable  insurrection  of  all,  however,  broke  out 
after  the  Armada.  The  defeat  of  the  Desmonds  was  followed  by  a  whole- 
sale confiscation  of  their  lands,  which  were  divided  out  among  the  English 
colonists.  Among  others,  the  poet  Spenser,  who  had  acted  as  secretary  to 
the  lord-lieutenant,  and  whose  View  of  the  Present  State  of  Ireland  is  a 
most  valuable  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  the  time,  received 
Kilcolman  Castle  ;  and  another  large  share  was  given  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh.  Spenser  went  and  resided  on  his  estate,  and  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  made  a  genuine  effort  to  people  his  lands  with  English  settlers  ; 
but,  in  most  cases,  the  adventurers  did  little  or  nothing  to  make  good 
their  hold  on  their  grants.  The  result  was  to  drive  the  Irish  chieftains 
to  despair.  Accordingly,  a  most  formidable  insurrection  broke  out,  in 
which  Spenser  barely  escaped  with  his  life  ;  and  the  English  colonists  in 
Munster  were  practically  swept  away.  This  insurrection,  however, 
though  terrible  in  its  immediate  consequences,  would  have  been  short- 
Hugh  lived  had  not  Hugh  O'Neal,  earl  of  Tyrone,  who  was  a 
O'Neal.  relative  of  Shan  O'Neal,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
movement.  Tyrone  was  probably  the  best  general  the  Irish  had  yet  had. 
He  was  a  master  of  the  art  of  irregular  warfare,  and  knew  exactly  how 
to  train  his  soldiers  enough  to  stand  up  against  regular  troops  without 
destroying  their  aptitude  for  the  irregular  forays  to  which  they  had  been 
accustomed.  He  proved  himself,  therefore,  a  most  formidable  antago- 
Norris.  iiist.  Sir  John  Norris,  One  of  the  best  English  soldiers  of 
the  day,  was  worn  out  in  pursuing  him.  His  successor.  Sir 
Bagnal.  Henry  Bagnal,  was  led  into  an  ambush,  by  the  Blackwater, 
and  slain  with  most  of  his  soldiers.  In  these  circumstances,  the  council 
determined  to  enlist  the  services  of  the  earl  of  Essex. 

Essex  was,  on  the  whole,  the  best  man  to  send.  He  had  had  much 
experience  in  fighting,  and  was  believed  to  be  capable  of  great  deeds.  At 
the  same  time,  the  courtiers  saw  him  depart  with  mixed  feelings.  He 
was  hated  by  the  Cecils,  and  by  his   personal  rivals,   Raleigh  and 


1599  Elizabeth  479 

Cobham,  to  whom  his  failure,  even  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  could  not 
fail  to  be  grateful.   On  the  other  hand,  he  received  a  letter  of  sound  advice 
from  Francis  Bacon.   Arrived  in  Ireland,  Essex  entirely  for-    Essex's 
got,  or  was  unable  to  carry  out,  the  policy  he  had  advocated    Expedition, 
in  England.     Instead  of  attacking  Tyrone  in  his  Ulster  headquarters,  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  beguiled  into  a  ruinous  campaign  in  the  desolated 
regions  of  the  south.     Here,  without  any  commensurate  result,  he  lost 
half  his  forces,  and,  when  he  finally  confronted  Tyrone,  found  himself  too 
weak  to  engage  him  with  any  prospect  of  success.     In  these 
circumstances,  he  entered  into  a  treaty  by  which  he  agreed 
that  some  great  lord  should  be  sent  as  viceroy,  and  that  only  Irishmen 
should  be  appointed  to  offices.     To  such  an  arrangement  Essex  must 
have  been  perfectly  aware  that  Elizabeth  would  never  agree. 

For  some  time  he  was  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  At  one  time  he  thought 
of  bringing  his  army  over  to  England  and  dictating  his  own  terms  ; 
eventually  he  left  it  under  the  command  of  Lord  Mountjoy,  Return  to 
and,  without  any  leave  of  absence,  returned  to  London.  England. 
On  his  arrival,  without  even  waiting  to  change  his  travel-stained  clothes, 
he  rushed  into  the  queen's  apartments,  and  claimed  an  audience.  Eliza- 
beth indignantly  ordered  him  out ;  and,  though  she  granted  him  a  private 
interview,  ordered  his  case  to  be  investigated  by  the  council.  The 
members,  however,  being  unaware  of  Essex's  treasonable  designs,  merely 
ordered  him  to  be  confined  to  his  house  ;  and,  after  a  short  time,  even 
this  restriction  was  removed.  Nevertheless,  the  earl  was  not  permitted 
to  appear  at  court ;  and,  chafing  at  the  triumph  which  his  own  folly  had 

given  to  his  enemies,  he  entered  into  a  treasonable  corre-    ,,. 

His  treason, 
spondence  with  the  king  of  Scots  ;    collected  round  him 

soldiers,  and  desperate  men  such  as  Catesby  and  others,  who  afterwards 

took  part  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot.     He  had  also  behind  him  a  number  of 

noblemen,  such  as  Lords   Southampton  and   Monteagle  ;   and,   by  an 

expression  he  had  let  fall,  that,  if  he  were  in  power,  no  one  should  sufier 

for  his  religious  opinions,  had  secured  some  support  from  both  Koman 

Catholics  and   Puritans.      Such  a   combination   was,   obviously,   most 

dangerous  to  the  government,  and  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers,  though 

they  did  not  know  the  full  extent  of  Essex's  schemes,  were  aware  of  their 

general  import.     Orders  were,  therefore,  given  for  his  arrest.      Essex, 

however,  cleverly  evaded  the  officei-s,  and,  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt 

to  raise  the  Londoners,  defended  Essex  House  against  the   Essex's 

queen's  troops.     Such  conduct  was,  obviously,  intolerable.    Death. 

His  conviction  for  treason  followed  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  he  was 

beheaded  in  1601.     His  death  left  Cecil  in  secure  possession  of  power. 


480  The  Tudors  leoi 

The  last  parliamentary  event  of  Elizabeth's  reign  was  the  question  of 

monopolies.      During  the   first  thirty   years   of  her  reign  only  eight 

„    ,.  subsidies  had  been  voted.    This  remarkable  economy,  which 

Parliament.  ^    ,  ,  ,  .  .,  , 

was  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  country,  was  impossible 

after  the  Spanish  war  ;  and,  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  Elizabeth  had 
had  to  raise  fifteen  subsidies  and  to  sell  crown  lands  to  the  value  of  more 
than  two  more.  In  spite  of  this  she  was  in  great  difficulties  for  money. 
During  her  earlier  years  she  had  paid  off  the  debts  of  her  father  and  her 
brother  and  sister,  but  during  the  years  of  war  she  had  great  difficulty 
in  providing  both  for  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  country,  and  the  extra 
charges  entailed  by  the  war  and  by  her  alliances  with  the  Dutch  and 
French.  As  a  means  of  raising  money,  therefore,  she  had  used  largely 
her  right  of  granting  monopolies,  for  which  an  annual  charge 
was  made  to  the  state.  These  created  a  good  deal  of  dis- 
content ;  and  the  parliament  of  1601  having  raised  the  question,  the 
queen  consented  to  a  revision.  On  the  whole,  the  relations  between 
Elizabeth  and  her  parliaments  were  extremely  friendly,  the'only  difficulty 
arising  from  the  fact  that  the  Commons  wished  to  go  farther  than  the 
queen ;  and  though  on  several  occasions  Elizabeth  arrested  members  for 
their  conduct  in  the  house,  no  serious  exception  seems  to  have  been 
taken  at  the  time. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth  saw  a  most  marked  change  in  the  economical 
condition  of  the  country.     The  rise  of  sheep-farming,  the  disendowment 
Social  of  the  guilds,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  had 

Changes,  proved  fatal  to  the  old  system  of  life,  both  in  town  and 
country.  That  system,  which  depended  upon  the  organisation  of  the 
individual  in  some  recognised  community  such  as  the  manor  or  the 
guild,  had  been  almost  replaced  by  the  new  system,  in  which  the 
relation  between  employer  and  employed  is  simply  a  matter  of  wages. 
The  introduction  of  the  new  system  was  inevitable,  but  it  brought  with 
it  its  drawbacks.  First,  because  it  substituted  for  a  fixed  relation  and 
a  fixed  remuneration  a  temporary  connection  and  a  fiuctuating  income  ; 
and  secondly,  because  it  brought  with  it  the  problem  of  the  unemployed. 
These  difficulties  were  met  by  statesmen  by  an  attempt  to  fix  wages 
by  law,  and  by  the  provision  of  a  regular  system  of  Poor  Law  relief. 
The  rate  of  wages  was  regulated  by  the  Apprenticeship  Act  of  1564, 
generally  known  as  the  Fifth  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Chapter  4.  Its  scope 
was  twofold.  First,  it  attempted  to  limit  the  number  of  skilled 
labourers  by  enacting  that  each  artisan  must  have  served  a  seven  years' 
apprenticeship  in  the  trade  which  he  followed.  Secondly,  it  empowered 
the  magistrates  at  quarter  sessions  to  fix  the  wages  payable  in  their 


1603  Elizabeth  481 

district.  It  also  placed  restrictions  on  the  practice  of  labourers  removing 
from  one  district  to  another  in  search  of  higher  wages.  In  the  time  of 
Edward  vi.  the  clergy  were  ordered  to  exhort  their  parishioners  to  provide 
by  their  liberality  for  the  maintenance  of  their  own  poor.  This  not 
proving  efficient,  officers  were  appointed  to  assess  the  in-  The  Poor 
habitants  of  the  parish,  and  to  demand  the  payment  on  ^^^* 
pain  of  being  censured  by  the  magistrates  ;  and  finally,  compulsion  being 
found  necessary,  the  law  was  consolidated  into  the  great  Poor  Law  of 
1601,  which  provided  that  in  every  parish  the  churchwarden,  and  from 
two  to  four  householders  should  be  nominated  by  the  justices  of  the 
peace  as  overseers  of  the  poor.  These  persons  might  levy  a  rate  on  land 
and  use  it :  first,  to  set  to  work  indigent  children,  and  able-bodied  men 
out  of  work  ;  second,  to  relieve  people  who  could  not  work  and  had  no 
near  relatives  to  support  them  ;  and  third,  to  erect  houses  of  correction 
for  vagabonds,  and  to  put  out  pauper  children  as  apprentices.  This 
Act  formed  the  basis  of  the  Poor  Law  till  1834. 

The  last  two  years  of  Elizabeth's  life  were  marked  by  no  political 
event  of  first-rate  importance.  The  war  with  Spain  still  dragged  on,  but 
took  mainly  the  form  of  privateering.  In  Ireland  Essex's  Conclusion 
successor,  Mountjoy,  distinguished  himself  by  defeating  o^ the  reign. 
Tyrone,  who  was  pardoned.  At  court  the  chief  attention  of  statesmen 
was  given  to  securing  their  own  fortunes  under  Elizabeth's  successor. 
That  successor,  it  was  now  quite  understood,  would  be  James  of  Scotland, 
for  the  claim  of  the  Suffolk  family  was  forgotten,  and  the  advantage  of 
uniting  England  and  Scotland  under  one  crown  was  obvious  to  every- 
body. Until  1602  Elizabeth  had  preserved  her  regular  health  ;  but 
during  the  autumn  of  that  year  she  failed  fast,  and  in  March  1603  her 
long  and  successful  reign  came  to  a  close.  In  estimating  the  merits  of  a 
sovereign  it  is  always  difficult  to  apportion  praise  and  blame  between  the 
crown  and  its  ministers ;  but  in  Elizabeth's  case  it  may  fairly  be  said 
that  where  she  differed  from  her  ministers,  events  almost  invariably 
showed  that  she  was  right,  and,  what  is  still  more  remarkable,  she  con- 
trived that  even  the  very  weaknesses  of  her  character  should  play  their 
part  in  the  attainment  of  what  she  considered  the  national  good. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Treaty  of  C^teaux  Cambr^sis 1569 

Many  London  Clergy  leave  the  Churcli,    .        .  1B64 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  comes  to  England, .        .  1668 

2h 


482 


The  Tudors 


CHIEF  DA  TE8  {continued). 

Rising  of  the  North,  .... 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day, 
Execution  of  Campion  the  Jesuit,  . 
High  Commission  Court  put  on  a  permanent 

basis, 

Execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  . 
Defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada, 
Tyrone's  Rebellion  in  Ireland,  . 

Execution  of  Essex, 

The  Great  Poor  Law,        .... 


A.D. 
1569 
1672 
1581 

1583 
1587 
1588 
1599 
1601 
1601 


Book  VII 
THE   STUARTS 


XVII.— THE   STUARTS. 


James  I.  ==  Anne  of  Denmark, 
1603-1625  d.  1619. 


Henry, 
d.  1612. 


Charles  I., 

1625-1649. 

I 


Elizabeth 
a.  1662. 


Charles  II. 
1660-1685. 


James  II., 

1685-1688, 

d.  1701. 


Mary    =  William 


d.  1660. 


James 
(the  Old 
Pretender), 
h.  1688, 
d.  1765. 


Anne, 
1702-1714. 


of 

Orange, 

d.  1650, 


Mary= William  III., 

1688-1694.     1688-1702. 


Frederick 

of  the 
Palatinate. 


Prince  Rupert, 
d.  1682. 


Prince  Maurice, 
d.  1652. 


Sophia 
d.  1714. 


Elector  of  Hanover. 


George  i., 
1714-1727. 

George  ii. 


XVIII.— BOURBON  KINGS   OF  FRANCE,  1589-1715. 

Henry  IV.,  1589-1610. 

Louis  XIII.,  1610-1643. 

I 
Louis  XIV.,  1643-1715. 


481 


CHAPTER  I 

JAMES  I.:  1603-1625 
Bom  1566  ;  married  1589,  Anne  of  Denmark. 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY  SOVEREIGNS 

France.  Spain.  Emperors.  Dcnimirk. 

Henry  iv.,  cl.  1610.    Philip  in.,  d.  1621.    Rudolph,  d.  1612.     Christian  iv., 
Louis  XIII. ,  d.  1643.    Philip  iv.,  1665.         Matthias,  d.  1619.     1588  to  1608. 

Ferdinand,  d.  1637. 

The  Main  and  Bye  Plots— The  religious  question— Parliament— The  Gunpowder 
Plot— Financial  and  constitutional  difDculties  of  James— Death  of  Raleigh — 
The  Thirty  Years'  War— Buckingham- the  Spanish  Match. 

On  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  James  vi.  of  Scotland  became  king  of 
England  and  Ireland  by  right  of  descent  from  his  great-grandmother, 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  vii.  According  to  the  will  of  The  Acces- 
Henry  viii.  (see  p.  426),  Elizabeth  should  have  been  sue-  *'°"* 
ceeded  by  William  Seymour,  the  son  of  the  earl  of  Hertford,  and  of 
Katharine  Grey,  younger  sister  of  Lady  Jane ;  but  the  legitimacy  of 
their  marriage  was  in  dispute,  and  he  had  no  party  behind  him.  Indeed, 
had  Elizabeth  been  willing,  parliament  would  gladly  have  named  James 
heir-apparent,  but  Elizabeth  resented  the  mention  of  the  subject,  and 
only  on  her  deathbed  had  indicated  'her  cousin  of  Scotland'  as  her 
heir. 

At  his  accession  James  was  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  He  had  been 
king  from  babyhood,  and  had  most  exaggerated  ideas  of  the  rights  of 
sovereigns.  Great  as  had  been  the  personal  respect  exacted  The  King's 
by  the  Tudors,  and  high-handed  as  had  been  their  conduct,  Character, 
the  Tudor  sovereigns  had  never  troubled  themselves  much  about  the 
theory  of  government.  Absolute  monarchs,  indeed,  they  claimed  to  be— - 
that  is,  free  froiu  the  control  of  jwpe  or  emperor,  or  of  any  external 

4b5 


486  The  Stuarts  1603 

power — but  they  had  never  advanced  the  theory  that  their  prerogative 
was  above  the  law.  James,  on  the  contrary,  was  wanting  in  the  Tudor 
art  of  winning  personal  respect.  His  slovenly  and  gluttonous  habits 
contrasted  ill  with  the  dignity  of  his  predecessors,  and  in  consequence  he 
received  less  credit  than  was  due  to  him  for  the  many  good  qualities 
which  he  undeniably  possessed.  He  was  both  good-humoured  and  good- 
natured,  gifted  with  the  power  of  vigorous  and  decisive  speech,  and, 
thanks  to  the  good  education  given  to  him  by  his  tutor,  the  learned 
George  Buchanan,  he  was  better  versed  in  history  and  in  religious  con- 
troversy, and  knew  more  of  foreign  countries,  than  the  majority  of 
contemporary  statesmen.  Unfortunately,  however,  his  learning  was 
greater  than  his  practical  wisdom,  while  his  conscious  intellectual 
superiority  led  him  to  make  errors  which  a  more  stupid  man  would 
probably  have  avoided.  Indeed,  the  contrast  between  his  great  learning 
and  his  real  ineffectiveness  caused  Henry  iv.  to  describe  him  as  'the 
wisest  fool  in  Christendom.'  It  is  but  just,  however,  to  say  that  the 
conditions  under  which  he  lived  were  calculated  to  bring  his  faults  to  the 
front,  and  prevent  his  abilities  from  being  noticed. 

James'  initial  error  was  a  failure  to  remark  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween English  and  Scottish  politics.  He  regarded  the  bishops  as  having 
the  same  influence  in  England  as  the  Scottish  ministers  had  across  the 
border,  and  as  forming  a  power  which  could  be  played  off  against  that  of 
the  nobility.  This  was  a  double  mistake  ;  for  in  England  the  nobles,  as 
such,  had  little  power,  and  the  strength  of  the  Puritan  feeling  in  the 
middle  classes  caused  the  opinion  of  the  bishops  to  be  regarded  with  the 
strongest  suspicion.  Moreover,  the  Scottish  parliament  contained  nothing 
so  independent  and  powerful  as  the  English  House  of  Commons,  which 
had  already  begun  to  show  itself  restive  under  the  popular  and  judicious 
rule  of  Elizabeth.  On  the  other  hand,  it  could  not  be  expected  that  the 
new  sovereign  would  readily  surrender  rights  which  had  been  exercised 
by  his  predecessors,  so  that  a  struggle  between  king  and  parliament  was 
inevitable.  On  his  way  from  Scotland  James  hanged,  without  form  of 
trial,  a  man  who  was  caught  pocket-picking  ;  and  this  action,  which 
violated  a  cardinal  maxim  of  the  constitution,  may  be  taken  as  typical 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  regarded  his  prerogative  as  overriding  the  law 
and  customs  of  his  new  kingdom. 

After  a  leisurely  journey,  spent  in  visiting  the  houses  of  the  leading 
nobility,  James  reached  London  in  May.  He  found  the  leading  men 
divided  into  two  parties,  according  as  they  preferred  war  with  Spain  or 
peace,  the  latter  headed  by  the  secretary  of  state.  Sir  Eobert  Cecil ; 
the  other  by  the  captain  of  the  late  queen's  guard.  Sir  Walter  Kaleigh. 


1603  James  L  487 

Of  these,  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh,  who  was  then  fifty-one  years  of  age,  was 
the  greatest  surviving  representative  of  the  active  spirits  of  the  late 
reign  ;  and  succeeding  ages  have  recognised  him  as  a  man     p  ,  .  . 
of  genius,  great  as  well  in  thought  as  in  action,  and  as 
one   of  the  founders  of  our  Colonial  Empire.      His   contemporaries, 
however,  thought  very  difierently.      Though  a  few,  such  as   Spenser 
the  poet,  estimated  his   powers  highly,  the  mass  of  his  countrymen 
regarded  him  as  at  once  insolent  and  intriguing,  and  Queen  Elizabeth 
would  never  admit  him  into  her  privy  council.      During   Elizabeth's 
reign,  Raleigh,  as  a  supporter  of  the  war  policy,  had  been  kept  in  the 
background,  but  he  hoped  to  find  employment  and  influence  under  the 
new  king.     Cecil,  on  the  other  hand,  had  not  a  spark  of  genius  ;  but  he 
was  diligent,  methodical,  and  safe.    He  represented  the  peaceful  policy  of 
Elizabeth's  later  years,  had  behind  him  the  reputation  of  his  father,  was 
perfectly  disinterested,  and  had  the  invaluable  quality  of  a  conciliatory 
manner.     James,  however,  had  learned  while  in  Scotland  to  appreciate 
Cecil's  good  qualities,  while  his  repugnance  to  war  alienated  him  from 
Raleigh  ;  so  Cecil  was  continued  in  his  post  of  secretary,  while  Raleigh 
was  dismissed,  and  his  office  given  to  Sir  Thomas  Erskine,  a  Scotsman. 
Though  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  regard  Raleigh's  chance  of  displacing 
Cecil  as  having  ever  been  serious,  there  is  no  doubt  that  this  rebuff 
was  a  sore  disappointment  to  him  and  to  his  friend.  Lord   Cobham. 
Their  anger  led  them  to  discuss  a  plan  for  getting  rid  of  Cecil  by  force. 
Cobham  also  certainly  thought  of  dethroning  James,  and  of  placing 
Arabella  Stuart,  a  daughter  of  Damley's  younger  brother,    The  Main 
on  the  throne.     It  was  said,  too,  that  there  was  wild  talk  of   ^^°*' 
getting  assistance   from  Spain ;   but   that   is  most  unlikely.      These 
plans  of  Raleigh  and  Cobham  were  consequently  spoken  of  as  the  Main 
Plot. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  a  movement  among  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics, who  were  disappointed  at  finding  that  James  did  not  at  once 
put  a  stop  to  their  grievances.  These  were  undoubtedly  The  Bye 
great.  The  celebration  of  mass  was  not  only  forbidden  by  ^^°** 
law,  but  both  the  priest  who  said  it  and  the  congregation  who  heard  him 
were  alike  subject  to  the  terrible  penalties  of  treason  ;  and  although  so 
far  as  laymen  were  concerned,  the  strict  letter  of  the  law  was  rarely 
enforced,  the  fines  for  non-attendance  at  church  were  vigorously  col- 
lected. Language  had  been  used  by  James,  while  in  Scotland,  which 
created  a  belief  among  the  Roman  Catholics  that  these  would  be  remitted  ; 
but  the  council  dared  not  face  the  financial  difl&culty  that  would  be  caused 
by  the  loss  of  such  a  source  of  revenue,  and  it  was  soon  found  that  the 


488  The  Stuarts  leos 

fines  would  be  collected  as  before.  Accordingly,  William  Watson,  a 
priest,  who  had  visited  James  in  Edinburgh  ;  George  Brooke,  a  brother 
of  Sir  Walter  Kaleigh's  friend  Lord  Cobham  ;  and  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton, 
a  Puritan  who  had  been  associated  with  Roman  Catholics  in  Essex's  plot^ 
talked  over  a  plan  for  seizing  the  king  and  forcing  him  by  threats  to 
grant  toleration.  This  scheme  became  known  as  the  Bye.  Cecil  heard 
of  both  schemes;  and,  arresting  all  concerned,  tried  the  prisoners  as  though 
both  plots  were  the  same,  as  indeed  was  suggested  by  Brooke's  connec- 
tion with  both.  The  evidence  against  all  the  prisoners,  especially  against 
Raleigh,  was  very  slight ;  but  the  dread  of  revolution  was  great.  Treason, 
as  Shakespeare  defined  it,  was  '  to  labour  in  one's  country's  wrack,'  and 
of  that  the  population  was  perfectly  prepared  to  hear  that  Raleigh 
was  guilty.  Accordingly,  Brooke  and  Watson  were  hanged  ;  Raleigh, 
Cobham,  and  Grey  were  found  guilty,  but  respited  and  consigned  to 
the  Tower.  Throughout  the  whole  transaction  popular  feeling  was 
altogether  on  the  side  of  Cecil,  and  Raleigh  passed  through  the  streets 
on  his  way  to  the  Tower  amid  the  execrations  of  the  mob.  Had  it 
not  been  for  James,  he  and  the  rest  would  certainly  have  suffered 
death. 

Both   Puritans  and   Roman   Catholics  hoped   to  find  favour  with 

James.     The  former  relied  on  his  Presbyterian  education,  the  latter 

The  Re-       ^^  ^^^  descent  from  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  ;  but  it  was  the 

Hgious         lot  of  both  to  be  disappointed,  for  partly  from  preference, 

partly  from  stress   of   circumstances,   James   decided    to 

maintain  the  religious  settlement   of  Queen  Elizabeth.       The   views 

_,  .         of  the  Puritans  Avere   stated  in  a  document  called  the 

The  Puritans.  T-^.-,  i-v     •  •         i  •  .  -,    •,  ^         -         -, 

Millenary  Petition,  because  it  was  intended  to  be  signed 

by  one  thousand  ministers.  The  position  taken  up  was  decidedly  more 
moderate  than  that  held  by  the  Puritan  leaders  under  Elizabeth. 
Instead  of  asking  for  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy,  as  had  been  advo- 
cated by  Cartwright  and  by  the  authors  of  the  Mar-prelate  tracts,  the 
question  of  church  government  was  waived,  and  changes  in  doctrine 
and  ceremonial  were  alone  demanded.  The  petitioners,  however, 
showed  little  idea  of  toleration  :  they  asked  for  the  most  part  that 
the  changes  desired  by  themselves  should  be  not  only  allowed  but 
enforced  on  others.  Their  chief  requests  were  that  the  cross  should 
not  be  allowed  in  baptism ;  that  the  bestowal  of  the  ring  should  not 
form  part  of  the  marriage  ceremony ;  and  that  the  terms  '  priest ' 
and  '  absolution '  should  be  '  corrected.'  They  were  also  desirous  that 
pains  should  be  taken  to  secure  better  preachers ;  and  that  Sunday 
should  be  more  strictly  observed.     The  petition  was  loudly  condemned 


1604  James  I.  489 

by  the  universities  ;  but  James  consented  to  receive  it,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1604  a  conference  between  the  bishops  and  four  of  the  leading  peti- 
tioners was  held  at  Hampton  Coiu:t.  The  most  active  representative 
of  the  church  was  Bancroft,  bishop  of  London ;  and 
of  the  Puritans,  Keynolds,  president  of  Corpus  Christi  ton  Court 
College,  Oxford,  and  Chaderton,  master  of  Emmanuel  o^troversy. 
College,  Cambridge.  Reynolds'  first  demands  were  that  the  Lambeth 
Articles,  a  strongly  Calvinistic  formula,  should  be  incorporated  with  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles.  This  James  refused  ;  but  he  agreed  to  Reynolds' 
next  suggestion  that  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  should  be  made.  The 
third  subject  raised  was  that  of  *  Prophesy ings,'  or  meetings  of  clergy  for 
debate,  to  which  Elizabeth  had  entertained  so  strong  an  objection,  and 
this  led  to  the  introduction  of  the  word  '  Presbytery.'  On  hearing  it, 
James  fired  up,  and  assuming  that  the  real  aim  of  the  petitioners  was 
the  establishment  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterian  system,  he  abused  them 
roundly,  took  up  the  position  enunciated  in  his  favourite  maxim,  *  No 
Bishop,  no  King,'  and  broke  up  the  meeting.  *  If  this  be  all  they  have  to 
say,'  said  the  king,  '  I  will  harry  them  out  of  the  land,  or  else  do  worse.' 
His  declaration  amounted  to  open  war  between  the  bishops  and  the 
Puritans.  Within  the  year  Bancroft  succeeded  Whitgift  as  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  some  new  canons,  conceived  in  a  high  church  sense, 
having  been  drawn  up  by  convocation  under  his  direction,  about  three 
hundred  clergy  who  refused  to  accept  them  were  driven  from  their 
livings,  and  were  thus  forced  to  become  Nonconformists.  Happily  these 
dift'erences  did  not  impede  the  joint  action  of  both  parties  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible.  Forty-seven  revisers,  selected  impartially  from  the 
most  learned  men  of  both  parties,  participated  in  the  work,  of  whom  the 
most  notable  were  Andre wes,  bishop  of  Winchester,  Sir  Henry  Savile, 
warden  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  Chaderton.  The  new  transla- 
tion, which  is  still  known  as  the  Authorised  Version,  was  completed  and 
published  in  1611.  Founded  as  it  was  upon  the  best  wording  of  earlier 
translations,  and  carefully  corrected  according  to  the  best  scholarship  of 
the  time,  it  represents  both  in  style  and  accuracy  not  only  the  best  that  the 
age  could  produce,  but  probably  the  best  of  which  the  English  language 
is  capable. 

With  the  Roman  Catholics  James  had  more  sympathy  ;  but  it  was  not 
easy  for  him  to  carry  his  good  wishes  into  action.     The  importance  of 
the  fines  paid  by  the  recusants  as  a  source  of  revenue  made   The  Roman 
it  hard  to  dispense  with  them,  and  the  Puritan  feeling  of  catholics, 
the  House  of  Commons  was  fatal  to  any  changes  in  the  law.   James'  great 
hope,  however,  was  to  devise  some  oath  of  allegiance  which  the  Roman 


490  The  Stuarts  1604 

Catholics  would  be  willing  to  take,  and  so  give  a  guarantee  of  loyalty 
to  the  existing  government ;  but  though  he  worked  hard  and  dis- 
played great  ingenuity,  he  failed,  and  before  long  the  recklessness  of 
some  of  the  more  violent  Koman  Catholics  made  their  position  worse 
than  ever. 

James'  first  parliament  met  in  March  1604.      In  calling  it,  he  took 
the  unusual  course  of  advising  the  electors  as  to  their  choice  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  warned  them  against  the  election  of  outlaws 
Parliament.  *  .  .         ,,.     , 

or  bankrupts,  of  men  '  noted  for  superstitious  blindness  one 

way,'  or  for  their  'turbulent  humours'  on  the  other.  This  advice, 
though  unconstitutional,  was  sound  ;  but  the  sting  of  the  proclama- 
tion lay  in  its  tail.  All  returns  of  elections  were  to  be  made  into 
the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  if  any  'should  be  found  to  be  made 
contrary  to  the  proclamation,'  they  were  '  to  be  rejected  as  unlawful 
and  insufficient.' 

When  the  returns  came  in,  it  was  found  that  Sir  Francis  Goodwin, 
one  of  the  members  for  Buckinghamshire,  was  an  outlaw.     The  Court  of 

Goodwin's   Chancery  cancelled  the  return,  and  ordered  a  new  election. 

Case.  jjj  ^j^^g  g^j,  John  Fortescue  was  chosen.     However,  when 

parliament  met,  Goodwin  claimed  the  seat,  and  his  right  was  allowed  by 
the  House.  A  dispute  followed,  and  in  it  James  made  the  astounding 
statement  that  '  all  matters  of  privilege  were  derived  from  his  grant.' 
The  Commons,  however,  held  their  ground  ;  and  while  they  brought  in  a 
bill  to  disable  outlaws  from  sitting  in  the  future,  firmly  asserted  that 
all  questions  touching  election  disputes  ought  to  be  decided  by  the 
Commons'  House.  Eventually,  James  gave  way.  Both  candidates  were 
withdrawn,  and  a  third  chosen ;  but  the  fruits  of  victory  lay  with 
parliament.  Had  James  carried  his  point,  he  would,  in  reality,  have 
secured  the  right  to  nominate  members,  and  make  election  a  sham.  In 
this  matter  the  Commons  were  guided  by  the  advice  of  Sir  Francis 
Bacon.      Immediately  afterwards,  the  Commons  won  another  victory  by 

Shirley's      asserting,  in  the  case  of  Sir  Thomas  Shirley  who  had  been 

Case.  arrested  for  debt   since   the  election,   the  right  of  their 

members  to  immunity  from  arrest  during  the  sitting  of  the  House  except 
for  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace.  Though  victorious  in  both 
cases,  the  members  were  seriously  alarmed  by  James'  remark  about  their 
privileges  ;  and  before  they  separated  they  placed  on  record  their  opinion 
'  that  the  privileges  of  their  House,  and  therein  the  liberties  and  stability 
of  the  whole  kingdom,  had  been  more  universally  and  dangerously 
impugned  than  ever,  as  they  supposed,  since  the  beginning  of  parlia- 
ments.'     The  prerogatives   of  the   princes,   they   declared,   were  ever 


1604  James  T.  491 

growing,   but  the  privileges  of  subjects,  if  once  lost,  were  'not  to  be 
recovered  but  with  much  disquiet.' 

On  matters  of  general  politics  the  Commons  agreed  with  the  king  no 
better  than  on  matters  of  privilege.  James,  who  in  this  respect  was 
ahead  of  his  subjects,  pressed  hard  for  a  union  of  England  and  union  with 
Scotland,  and  so  far  prevailed  that  commissioners  met  to  Scotland, 
discuss  the  matter,  and  their  report  was  presented  in  1606.  Considering 
the  times,  its  proposals  were  most  reasonable.  The  hostile  border  laws 
were  to  be  abolished,  and  each  kingdom  was  to  cease  from  being  an 
asylum  for  the  criminals  of  the  other.  English  fanners  were  not  to 
send  wool  to  Scotland,  nor  Scottish 'farmers  cattle  to  England  ;  but  in 
other  respects  trade  was  to  be  free,  and  natives  of  either  country  were 
to  be  allowed  to  trade  in  the  other.  A  more  difficult  question  was 
that  of  the  naturalisation  of  Scotchmen  in  England.  The  commissioners 
proposed  that  the  Ante-nati — i.e.  Scots  born  during  the  reign  The  Ante- 
of  Elizabeth — should  be  naturalised  by  an  Act  of  Parliament,  "^^*" 
and  that  the  Post-nati,  born  under  the  reign  of  James,  should  be 
declared  naturalised  from  birth.  But  difficulties  arose  about  the  king's 
prerogative ;  merchants  feared  for  their  trade ;  officials  dreaded  to  see 
Scotsmen  in  all  the  best  posts ;  and  as  few  except  James  appreciated 
the  inestimable  advantage  to  both  countries  of  complete  amalgamation, 
the  design  was  frustrated,  and  parliament  did  nothing  but  abolish  the 
hostile  border  laws,  and  the  Post-nati  were  declared  naturalised  by  the 
judges.  Incidentally  the  Commons,  when  asked  to  punish  a  member 
who  had  described  the  Scots  as  '  rebels,  beggars,  and  traitors,'  recorded 
their  view  that,  being  a  member  of  the  House,  he  was  not  liable  to  be 
called  in  question  elsewhere.  They  then  expelled  him  from  the  House, 
and  sent  him  to  the  Tower. 

On  religious  matters  the  king  and  the  parliament  were  also  of  different 

minds.     The  majority  of  the  Commons  were  desirous  of  carrying  into 

effect  some  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Puritan  divines.    „    . 

T3M1  1  ,  ,        .     .  -     ,        Puntamsm. 

rSms  were  passed  to  make  subscription  to  some  of  the 

articles  optional,  to  forbid  all  pluralities  and  non-residence,  to  require 

guarantees  of  ability  to  preach  from  candidates  for  ordination,  and  to 

forbid  any  one  to  be  deprived  of  a  living  for  objecting  to  the  use  of 

the  surplice  or  cross.     The  bills  fell  through  in  the  House  of  Lords  ; 

but,  nevertheless,  they  serve  to  show  how  thoroughly  antagonistic  was 

the  attitude  of  the  laity  to  that  taken  up  by  Bancroft  and  James. 

To  any  relaxation  of  the  disabilities  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  parliament, 

in  its  first  session,  showed  itself  distinctly  hostile. 

The  manifest  hostility  of  parliament  spread  consternation  among  the 


492  The  Stuarts  1604 

Roman  Catholics,  and  the  more  desj)erate  men  were  ready  to  take  up 

any  rash  plan.     Of  these  the  leader  was  Robert  Catesby,  who  has  been 

^,     ^  described  as  '  a  born  leader  of  men.'     By  birth  a  country 

The  Gun-  ^  „  „_         .  ,    ,  .         ,  .         ,.    .  •     .  •,      i 

powder        gentleman  of  Warwickshire,  his  religious  convictions  had 

°  *  engaged  him  deep  in  politics,  and  he  had  already  shared 

in  Essex's  conspiracy.  He  was  over  head  and  ears  in  debt,  and  no 
resource  seemed  too  desperate  to  his  mind.  Accordingly,  he  conceived  a 
plan  for  sweeping  away  the  established  government  by  blowing  up  the 
House  of  Lords  at  a  time  when  both  the  king  and  the  Commons  would  be 
assembled  there  for  the  formal  opening  of  parliament ;  and  he  associated 
with  himself  Thomas  Percy,  a  connection  of  the  earl  of  Northumber- 
land ;  Thomas  Winter,  who  had  already  been  urging  a  Spanish  inva- 
sion ;  Guy  Fawkes,  a  Yorkshireman  who  had  fought  on  the  Spanish 
side  in  the  Netherlands,  and  others.  The  plan  was  well  laid,  and 
the  conspirators  hired  some  cellars  under  the  House  of  Lords,  where 
they  stored  their  gunpowder.  However,  the  date  of  the  meeting 
of  parliament  was  again  and  again  put  oflf,  their  funds  ran  short, 
and  they  had  to  let  some  rich  men  into  the  secret,  among  others 
Francis  Tresham.  This  gentleman,  who  had  already  done  much  for 
the  cause,  had  many  friends  and  connections  among  the  peers,  and 
it  is  believed  that  his  anxiety  to  save  these  led  to  the  discovery 
of  the  plot.  The  exact  method  of  its  betrayal — an  anonymous  letter 
to  his  brother-in-law.  Lord  Monteagle — was  well  calculated  both  to 
warn  the  conspirators  that  their  secret  was  out  and  to  conceal  the 
betrayer ;  but  Catesby  and  his  friends  were  taken  in  by  the  determina- 
tion of  the  ministers  not  to  act  till  the  last  minute.  Parliament  was 
to  assemble  on  November  6,  1605,  and  everything  was  in  readiness, 
when  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  the  cellars  were  searched,  and  Fawkes 
and  his  gunpowder  were  discovered.  Meanwhile,  the  other  conspirators 
were  assembling  at  D unchurch,  in  Warwickshire,  intending,  as  soon 
as  they  heard  of  the  catastrophe,  to  raise  the  country,  and  to  seize 
the  person  of  James'  eldest  daughter,  Elizabeth.  .However,  when 
they  were  warned  by  their  friends  of  Fawkes'  fate,  they  fled  into 
Worcestershire,  and  fought  desperately  for  their  lives  at  Holbeach 
House.  By  accident,  however,  their  gunpowder  exploded,  and  ruined 
all  hopes  of  resistance.  Catesby  and  Percy  were  killed  by  a  single 
shot.  Winter  and  other  wounded  men  were  taken  to  London,  and 
having  been  tried  with  Fawkes,  were  put  to  death  with  all  the 
barbarity  of  the  time.  For  the  Roman  Catholics,  the 
failure  of  these  enthusiastic  but  misguided  men  was  far 
better   than  their   success   could  have  been.      Even  as  it  was,    the 


1605  James  L  493 

exasperation  of  the  country,  which  drew  little  distinction  between  the 
action  of  a  handful  of  fanatics  and  the  feelings  of  their  peaceable 
co-religionists,  demanded  severe  measures.  Accordingly,  penal  laws 
were  passed,  by  which,  in  addition  to  their  old  disabilities,  Koman 
Catholics  were  forbidden  to  appear  at  court,  to  live  in  London  unless 
engaged  in  trade,  or  to  travel  more  than  five  miles  from  home.  No 
Roman  Catholic  was  to  practise  at  the  bar,  or  become  an  attorney  or 
physician ;  all  Roman  Catholic  books  were  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  houses 
of  all  Roman  Catholics  were  to  be  always  open  for  inspection.  The 
severity  of  these  enactments  is  a  proof  of  the  terror  that  prevailed  ;  but 
it  is  characteristic  of  the  coolness  of  the  English  race  that  parliament  met 
at  the  time  appointed,  and  went  on  with  its  ordinary  business  in  the  most 
formal  manner,  as  though  nothing  out  of  the  common  had  happened. 
How  far  these  restrictions,  over  and  above  the  fines,  were  enforced 
sufficiently  to  be  really  a  burden,  it  is  difficult  to  say ;  the  law  did  not 
act  unless  it  was  set  in  motion  by  a  private  prosecutor,  and  against 
quiet  and  well-disposed  persons  their  neighbours  were  not  ready  to 
inform.  It  was  more  serious  that,  for  years  after  the  Gunpowder  Plot, 
the  mass  of  Englishmen  regarded  the  Roman  Catholics  as  capable  of 
any  crime,  however  atrocious  or  silly,  and  that  to  propose  any  ameliora- 
tion in  their  condition  was  a  certtiin  road  to  unpopularity. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  reign,  the  disproportion  between  the 
revenue    and  the    expenditure   of  the  crown  had   been  a  source  of 

grave  anxiety.     The  non-parliamentary  sources  of  revenue    ^. 

Finances. 
— the  crown  lands,  feudal  dues,  nnes  from  the  law-courts 

and  from  the  recusants — with  the  piirliamentary  grant  of  tonnage  and 
poundage  for  life,  had  given  Elizabeth  an  income  of  about  ^£300,000 
a  year  ;  but,  economical  as  she  was,  she  had  been  obliged,  during  her  last 
years,  to  sell  land  to  the  value  of  ^£372,000  to  pay  off  liabilities,  and, 
even  then,  left  behind  i!400,000  of  debts.  The  journey  from  Scotland, 
the  funeral  of  Elizabeth  and  his  own  coronation,  cost  the  new  king 
.£100,000  ;  so,  had  James  been  the  beau -ideal  of  a  careful  financier,  he 
would  have  had  hard  work  to  make  both  ends  meet.  As  it  was,  James 
made  the  initial  mistake  of  thinking  that  because  he  was  leaving  a  poor 
country  for  a  rich  one,  he  would,  therefore,  be  a  wealthy  king.  He  gave 
presents  with  a  lavish  hand,  allowed  his  household  expenditure  to  grow 
unchecked,  and  omitted  to  keep  a  careful  eye  upon  the  ever-increasing 
expenditure  of  the  various  government  departments.  In  his  second  year 
he  spent  ^426,000,  and  incurred  debts  to  the  amount  of  .£735,000,  and 
gave  presents  to  the  value  of  £40,000,  and  this  '  needless  and  unreason- 
able '  expenditure,  as  he  himself  described  it,  soon  brought  the  finances 


494  The  Stuarts  1605 

into  hopeless  confusion.  At  length  in  1608  Cecil  himself  undertook 
their  management. 

Two  methods  of  increasing  the  revenue  occurred  to  the  new  treasurer : 
one  to  increase  the  duties  levied  as  tonnage  and  poundage,  the  other  to 
Increased  exchange  the  fluctuating  and  irregular  income  from  feudal 
Taxation,  ^^gg  ^^(j  purveyance  for  a  fixed  tax.  His  right  to  raise  the 
duties  depended  upon  a  decision  of  the  judges  made  in  1606  in  the  case 
Bate's  ^^  ^  merchant  named  Bate.      The  trial  arose  out  of  the 

Case.  refusal  of  Bate  to  pay  a  duty  on  currants,  levied  in  lieu  of 

a  payment  of  ^4000  a  year,  formerly  paid  by  the  Levant  Company.  The 
Commons  supported  the  merchants,  and  also  objected  to  a  duty  of  6s.  8d. 
a  pound  on  tobacco,  which  James  had  imposed  to  check  the  practice  of 
smoking.  However,  when  the  case  was  tried  in  the  Exchequer  Court, 
the  judges,  relying  on  precedents  in  the  reigns  of  both  Mary  and  Eliza- 
beth, decided  that  it  was  the  king's  prerogative  to  levy  duties  on  exports 
and  imports.  Fortified  by  this  decision,  Cecil  issued  a  new  book  of  rates, 
by  which,  though  some  duties  were  lowered  and  others  raised,  he 
expected  in  the  aggregate  to  produce  an  additional  £70,000.  Against 
this  action  the  Commons,  relying  on  the  Confirmatio  Chartarum,  and 
on  Edward  iii.'s  concession  in  1340,  loudly  protested,  but  the  right 
declared  lawful  in  Bate's  case  was  acted  upon  till  1641. 

Purveyance  and  the  feudal  dues  had  also  been  under  discussion  in 
parliament.  Purveyance,  or  the  right  of  the  king  to  requisition 
The  Great  carts  for  his  baggage  and  provisions  for  his  followers, 
Contract,  j^g^^  -^^^^  ^  source  of  complaint  at  least  since  the  Norman 
Conquest.  Nominally,  everything  had  to  be  paid  for  at  the  market 
price  ;  in  reality,  it  was  hard  to  get  payment  at  all,  and  the  purveyors 
were  stigmatised  as  'Harpies.'  The  cart-takers  were  mentioned  as 
specially  exorbitant ;  and  the  purveyors  would  cut  trees  in  a  man's 
garden  to  supply  themselves  with  firewood.  However,  it  was  not  easy 
to  remove  the  grievance,  as  the  Lords  were  in  favour  of  compensation, 
which  the  Commons  refused  to  pay  ;  and  no  settlement  was  arrived  at. 
With  regard  to  the  feudal  dues  and  the  court  wards,  Cecil  was  not 
more  successful.  Wardship  had  always  been  a  grievance  ;  and,  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  military  obligations  of  land  ownership,  all  excuse 
for  it  had  ceased.  The  three  regular  aids  of  Magna  Charta  (see  page 
177)  had  not  been  levied  since  the  days  of  Henry  vii.,  but  the  collec- 
tion of  an  aid  on  the  knighting  of  James'  eldest  son  Henry  recalled 
them  to  mind.  Accordingly,  the  Commons  were  willing  to  treat 
for  a  commutation,  and  the  sum  of  .£200,000  a  year  had  actually 
been   agreed    on,   when    a  dispute   on  details   caused  the   failure   of 


1612  James  I.  495 

the  plan  ;   and  the  Great  Contract,  as  it  was  called,  was  finally  aban- 
doned in  1611. 

On  foreign  politics  James  was  no  more  in  accord  with  his  subjects 
than  in  other  matters.  At  his  accession,  Barneveldt  the  Dutchman,  and 
Kosny,  afterwards  duke  of  Sully,  the  illustrious  minister  Foreign 
of  Henry  iv.,  had  come  over  with  a  view  to  persuading  him  Politics, 
to  follow  the  policy  of  Elizabeth ;  but  James,  who  had  never  felt  his 
pulse  beat  higher  with  the  joy  of  victory  over  the  Armada,  was  bent  on 
making  peace  as  soon  as  possible  ;  and,  unluckily,  his  idea  of  peace  was 
not  the  maintenance  of  English  independence,  after  the  manner  of 
Wolsey  and  of  Elizabeth,  but  a  complete  alliance  with  Spain.  . 

This  policy  was  most  unpopular,  for  many  Englishmen 
regarded  war  with  the  Spaniards  almost  as  a  Christian  duty,  and  seamen 
habitually  made  money  by  sacking  Spanish  towns  and  plundering 
Spanish  treasure-ships.  James,  however,  was  bent  on  having  his  own 
way,  and  peace  was  made  in  1604.  'God  preserve  our  good  neighbours 
in  Holland  and  Zealand ! '  was  the  cry  with  which  it  was  received  in 
London.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  treaty  itself  was  favourable  to 
England,  and  the  Dutch  were  strong  enough  to  hold  their  own,  till  they, 
too,  made  peace  in  1608.  So  long  as  Cecil,  who  had  been  created  earl 
of  Salisbury,  lived,  a  fairly  independent  policy  was  followed,  and 
friendly  relations  were  maintained  with  France  and  the  Protestant 
powers. 

After  the  war  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Dutch  was  concluded, 
the  attention  of  Europe  began  to  be  directed  to  Germany.  There,  in 
accordance  with  the  treaty  of  Augsburg,  concluded  in 
1555,  each  district  followed  the  religion  of  its  ruler;  and,  *""*  ^* 
consequently,  Germany  was  checkered  with  Lutheran,  Catholic,  and 
Calvinist  states.  Moreover,  of  late  years,  Catholicism,  aided  by  the 
Jesuits,  and  supported  by  Austria  and  Spain,  had  been  steadily  gaining 
ground  ;  and  it  was  believed  that  war  between  the  Catholics  and 
Protestants  was  merely  a  question  of  time.  In  1609,  difficulty  arose 
about  the  succession  to  the  duchies  of  Juliers  and  Cleves,  and  war  was 
on  the  point  of  breaking  out,  when  the  assassination  of  Henry  iv.  of 
France  postponed  the  conflict  for  a  season.  James,  on  the  whole, 
inclined  to  the  Protestants.  His  eldest  son  Henry  was  eager  on  their 
side  ;  and,  in  1612,  a  marriage  was  arranged  between  the  English 
Princess  Elizabeth  and  Frederick,  Elector  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  the 
head  of  the  German  Protestants. 

However,  before  the  marriage  was  performed,  in  1613,  both  Cecil  and 
Prince  Henry  were  dead.     Cecil  died  in  1612,  worn  out  by  his  official 


496  The  Stuarts  leit 

work.     He  was  the  last  of  Elizabeth's  ministers,  and  though  his  con- 
nection with  the  impositions  had  lately  made  him  unpopular,  his  loss 
Death  of       was  deeply  felt.      The  death  of  Prince  Henry  the  same 
Prince^"'^  °^  y^^^  ^^s  ^  g^^^''  ^^^^  *o  *^6  Court.     Though  only  nine- 
Henry,  teen,  he  had  already  made  himself  beloved  by  his  genial  talk 
and  active  habits.     His  saying  about  Raleigh  :  *  My  father  is  the  only 
sovereign  in  Europe  who  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  a  cage,'  had  passed 
from  mouth    to  mouth ;    and  his    friendliness  to   the    Puritans  had 
provoked  the  doggerel  rhyme : 

*  Henry  viii.  put  down  the  monks  and  their  cells. 
But  Henry  ix.  shall  put  down  bishops  and  bells.' 

Unfortunately,  the  liberties  he  took  during  an  attack  of  typhoid  fever 
aggravated  the  malady,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1612  he  died.  After  the 
deaths  of  Cecil  and  Prince  Henry,  James  felt  himself  free  to  direct  his 
policy  as  he  chose.  Accordingly,  he  made  further  advances  to  Spain, 
and  for  many  years  looked  forward  to  a  marriage  between  his  surviving 
son  Charles  and  a  Spanish  princess  as  the  thing  of  all  others  to  be 
desired.  He  believed  that  such  an  alliance  would  enable  him  to 
arbitrate  between  Spain  and  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  and 
also  that  he  would  be  able  to  pay  his  debts  out  of  the  large  dowry 
which  he  anticipated  from  the  Spanish  king. 

Meanwhile,  the  energy  of  the  country  was  finding  new  outlets.     After 

the  failure  of  Essex,  Charles  Blount,  Lord  Mountjoy,  had  become  deputy 

Ireland.       of  Ireland.     He  belonged  to  a  family  of  soldiers,  and  was  a 

Mountjoy.   thoughtful  and  persevering  man.     Accordingly,  instead  of 

following  Essex's  mistake,  he  adopted  a  plan  suggested  by  the  poet 

Spenser  in  his  View  of  the  Present  State  of  Ireland,  and  erected  a  series  of 

forts  in  all  the  strategical  points  from  Carrickfergus,  on  Belfast  Lough, 

to  Ballyshannon,  on  Sligo  Bay.      These  forts  were  small,  but  strong, 

well  garrisoned,  and  provisioned  to  stand  a  siege.      They  completely 

fulfilled  their  purpose  of  preventing  the   Ulstermen  from  gathering 

together  for  war;    and  presently  Tyrone   submitted,   and  O'Donnell 

died.     Mountjoy  was  succeeded  by  Arthur  Chichester,  an 

experienced   officer,  who  had  fought  against  the  Armada 

and  at  Cadiz,  and  had  been  one  of  Mountjoy's  best  men.     Chichester 

was  a  man  of  high  character  and  broad  views.     His  great  object  was  to 

present  the  English  government  to  the  Irish  in  the  light  of  a  strong  and 

impartial  power,  capable  of  securing  justice  for  the  poor  and  the  weak, 

and  of  curbing  the  lawlessness  and  avarice  of  the  chiefs  and  of  their 

high-handed  followers ;  and  in  this  he,  to  a  great  extent,  succeeded. 


1606  James  L  497 

Hitherto,  no  serious  attempt  had  been  made  to  convert  the  Irish  to 
Protestantism,  the  doctrines  of  which  had  nominally  been  adopted  by 
the  church.  The  Protestant  bishops  were,  as  a  rule, 
absolutely  unfitted  for  their  posts ;  the  archbishop  of 
Cashel  held  three  bishoprics  and  seventy-seven  benefices  ;  the  Bible  and 
prayer-book  had  not  been  translated  into  Irish  ;  only  the  devotion  of 
the  dispossessed  priests  had  prevented  the  country  population  from 
relapsing  into  heathenism.  Chichester,  however,  had  the  Bible  and 
prayer-book  translated,  did  something  to  reform  the  church,  and 
allowed  practical  toleration  to  the  Catholics.  Unhappily,  Chichester's 
policy  was  disliked  by  the  chiefs,  who  preferred  their  old  method  of 
collecting  irregular  contributions  to  the  English  system  of  regular  rents  ; 
but  when  Tyrone  demanded  tribute  as  of  old,  the  clansmen  at  once 
appealed  to  the  government.  Tyrone  also  refused  to  permit  the  presence 
in  his  country  of  a  sheriff,  and  began  to  prepare  for  war.  However, 
Chichester  was  too  strong  for  him  ;  and,  in  1609,  he  left  the  country. 

This  offered  a  great  opportunity  for  a  permanent  settlement ;  and 
Chichester  proposed  that,  after  the  followers  of  the  earls  and  their 
dependants  had  received  ample  grants  of  good  land,  the  re.  The  Ulster  * 
mainder  of  the  forfeited  estates  should  be  given  to  a  Settlement, 
carefully  selected  body  of  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen,  who  had  deserved 
well  by  their  services  to  the  state.  Unfortunately  for  both  countries, 
the  very  reverse  was  done.  The  best  lands  were  given  to  the  new 
settlers,  and  the  refuse  to  the  ancient  Irish.  As  every  man  in  an  Irish 
sept  held  himself  to  be  joint  owner  with  his  chief,  this  was  regarded  by 
them  as  the  grossest  injustice.  The  new  settlers  showed  themselves 
men  of  energy,  and  in  their  hands  Ulster,  which  had  been  the  wildest, 
became  the  most  prosperous  district  in  Ireland  :  but  the  wrongs  of  the 
dispossessed  Irish  have  never  been  forgotten. 

After  the  imprisonment  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the  project  of  colonising 
Virginia  was  taken  up  by  a  corporation  of  merchants  and  others,  styled 
the  Virginia  Company,  and  in  1607  a  body  of  colonists  was  .  . 

despatched  to  America.  Among  these  was  John  Smith,  a 
man  distinguished,  even  in  that  age  of  adventure,  by  the  variety  of  his 
experiences.  Son  of  a  Lincolnshire  farmer,  he  early  made  his  way  to 
sea.  He  fought  against  the  Spaniards  in  the  Netherlands,  and  against 
the  Turks  in  Hungary  ;  had  been  tossed  overboard  in  the  Mediterranean 
by  his  French  fellow-sailors  ;  had  been  a  prisoner  among  the  Turks,  and 
a  slave  among  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don.  Smith,  though  not  in  command, 
was  in  reality  the  life  and  soul  of  the  enterprise,  and  the  credit  of  its 
success  was  almost  entirely  due  to  him.     Landing  near  the  mouth  of  the 

2i 


498  The  Stuarts  leoe 

Chesapeake,  the  settlers  complimented  the  royal  family  by  naming  the 
headlands  at  its  mouth  CajDe  Henry  and  Cape  Charles,  and  the  site  of 
their  settlement  Jamestown.  Their  difficulties  were  enormous,  and  were 
aggravated  by  the  incompetence  of  their  nominal  leaders.  Meanwhile, 
Smith's  talent  for  adventure  had  not  deserted  him.  Captured  by  the 
Indians,  he  first  gained  time  by  displaying  to  them  the  wonders  of  a 
compass,  and  afterwards  was  rescued  from  imminent  execution  by  the 
entreaties  of  Pocahontas,  the  daughter  of  the  savage  chief.  At  length 
Smith  was  made  governor,  and  things  were  going  well,  when  the  Com- 
pany, ignorant  of  the  improvement,  sent  Lord  de  la  Warr  to  act  as 
president.  However,  before  he  reached  Virginia,  Smith  had  met  with 
an  accident  and  returned  home.  Deprived  of  his  guidance,  the  colony  fell 
into  complete  disorder  ;  provisions  failed  ;  the  barbarity  of  the  settlers 
provoked  the  Indians  to  hostilities,  and  within  six  months  sixty  colonists 
alone  were  left  alive.  These  were  on  the  point  of  abandoning  the  place 
when  Lord  de  la  Warr  arrived  with  provisions,  and  the  settlement  was 
re-established.  From  that  date  the  prosperity  of  the  colony  was 
secure.  While  Smith  and  his  followers  were  struggling  on  the 
mainland,  another  body  of  Englishmen  were  establishing 
themselves  in  the  Barbados,  so  that  the  year  1607  may  be 
taken  as  the  real  commencement  of  our  Colonial  Empire.  For  some  time 
an  attempt  was  made  to  rule  the  colonies  from  London,  but  by  degrees 
the  necessity  for  local  government  made  itself  felt,  and  in  1619  the  first 
regular  Virginian  parliament  assembled.  (See  map  for  the  year  1756.) 
The  next  settlers  on  the  mainland  were  a  very  difi'erent  set  of  men 
from  the  gentlemen  whose  descendants  long  described  themselves  as  the 
New  '  first  families  of  Virginia.'    The  attempts  of  successive  arch- 

England.  l)isliops  of  Canterbury  to  enforce  uniformity  created 
widespread  discontent  among  the  Separatists,  and  so  early  as  1606  a 
congregation  of  Independents  from  Gainsborough  had  removed  in  a  body 
to  Holland.  In  1608  their  example  was  followed  by  another  congrega- 
tion at  Scrooby  in  Nottinghamshire ;  but  these,  dissatisfied  with  the 
town  life  of  Leyden,  their  first  refuge,  made  terms  with  the  Virginia 
Company,  and  in  1620  sailed  for  America  in  the  Mayflower.  Accident 
led  them  to  disembark  near  Cape  Cod,  and  they  called  their  settlement 
New  Plymouth.  Fortunately  the  Indians,  who  had  been  alarmed  by  an 
outbreak  of  small-pox,  which  followed  close  upon  some  outrages  on 
previous  settlers,  were  friendly,  and  by  their  aid  the  Englishmen  were 
enabled  to  pass  through  the  trials  of  the  first  winter. 

From  the  outset  the  New  England  Colony,  as  it  was  called,  was  in 
marked  contrast  to  Virginia.     The  southerners  were  gentlemen,  desirous 


1612  Jwmes  L  499 

of  reproducing  in  America  the  easy  country  life  to  which  they  had  been 

accustomed  at  home.     They  carved  the  country  into  large  estates,  and 

to  supply  labour  for  these,  negroes  were  imported  from  Northerners. 

Africa.     Tobacco  was  their  chief  article  of  commerce,  and  Southerners. 

a  thriving  trade  soon    secured  the  prosperity  of  the   colony.      The 

northerners,  on  the  other  hand,  were  men  of  middling  estate,  farmers, 

shopkeepers,  and  craftsmen,  accustomed  to  work  with  their  own  hands. 

They  reproduced  in  New  England  not  the  life  of  the  hall  but  that  of  the 

village.     The  lands  held  by  each  were  small,  their  houses  clustered  round 

the  chapel,  their  manners  were  plain  and  manly,  but  their  Puritanism 

caused  refinement  and  culture  to  be  somewhat  despised.     For  slaves  they 

had  little  need,  though  as  yet  they  had  no  conscientious  scruples  against 

holding  them  ;  but  from  the  first  the  seeds  of  antagonism  between  north 

and  south  were  deeply  laid.     As  yet,  however,  there  lay  between  the 

two  settlements  not  only  much  unoccupied  territory,  but  also  a  Dutch 

settlement  at  New  Amsterdam  on  the  Hudson  River. 

The  flourishing  trade  which  had  grown  up  under  Queen  Elizabeth 

with  India,  Africa,  and  the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean,  increased  rapidly 

under  her  successor.      In  those  days  few  private  persons   ^ 

11  11  1  n  1-1  .11.1      Commerce. 

had  wealth  enough  to  fit  out  a  ship  and  to  provide  her  with 

the  armament  necessary  to  hold  her  own  against  such  hostile  men-of-war 
or  pirates  as  she  was  likely  to  meet,  so  companies  were  formed  to  carry 
on  special  branches  of  trade.  Of  these  the  most  notable  were  the  East 
India  Company,  the  Smyrna  Company,  the  Turkey  Company,  the  Levant 
Company,  the  Muscovy  Company  for  Russia,  and  the  Eastland  for  the 
Baltic,  and  the  Merchant  Adventurers  for  Holland  and  Flanders  and 
Germany.  The  rights  of  these  companies  were  regarded  with  jealousy  as 
monopolies,  and  also  as  concentrating  too  much  of  the  national  trade  in 
London.  In  1604,  for  example,  the  customs  of  the  port  of  London  were 
worth  ^110,000,  while  those  of  the  rest  of  the  country  only  produced 
c£  17,000.  The  consequent  increase  in  the  size  of  London  was  looked 
on  with  apprehension  by  the  court ;  but,  the  merchants  being  as  a  rule 
in  opposition,  it  was  a  source  of  strength  to  the  parliament.  Never- 
theless, the  Commons,  in  the  interests  of  their  constituents,  would  gladly 
have  thrown  trade  open  by  abolishing  the  monopoly  of  the  London 
companies,  but  the  hostility  of  the  Lords  prevented  them  from  carrying 
out  their  design. 

Throughout  his  life  James  had  been  prone  to  prefer  the  society  of 
ill-educated,  if  amusing,  favourites  to  that  of  wise  statesmen,    Royal 
and  one  result  of  the  death  of  Salisbury  was  that   such    Favourites, 
men,  whose  influence  the  treasurer  had  restrained,  gained  almost  complete 


500  The  Stuarts  mn 

possession  of  the  king's  ear.     In  1612  the  leading  favourite  was  Robert 

Carr,  a  young  Scotchman  of  handsome  figure,   to  whom  James  had 

^^  been  attracted  by  his  having  the  good  fortune  to  break  his 

leg  at  one  of  the  court  tilting  matches.    Though  Carr  knew 

nothing  of  politics  James  gave  him  his  confidence  and  made  him  earl  of 

Rochester,  and  as  it  became  known  that  nothing  was  to  be  got  from 

James  except  on  Carr's  recommendation,  the  favourite  was  soon  loaded 

with  presents.     By-and-by  Rochester  fell  in  love  with  the  countess  of 

Essex,  the  girl-bride  of  the  heir  of  Elizabeth's  favourite.     Essex  was  a 

young  man  of  good  character  and  severe  manners,  and  the  countess, 

eager  to  marry  Carr,  brought  a  petition  of  a  very  disgraceful  character 

for  the  dissolution  of  her  marriage.     James  was  foolish  enough  to  aid  his 

favourite,  and,  under  the  court's  influence,  the  countess's  prayer  was 

granted.     After  her  divorce  she  married  Carr,  who  at  the  same  time  was 

made    earl   of  Somerset.       In  politics    Carr  had   few  ideas,  but   his 

influence  was  fatal  to  economy,  and  within  a  year  of  Salisbury's  death 

James'  finances  were  more  involved  than  ever. 

At  length  the  advisability  of  calling  another  parliament  began  to  be 

discussed.    In  regard  to  the  functions  of  parliament  there  was  at  this  time 

much  difference  of  opinion.    Some  regarded  it  as  an  assembly 

useful  only  for  granting  money,  and  never  to  be   called 

except  in  extreme  necessity.     Others,  like  Bacon,  held  parliament  to  be  a 

necessary  part  of  the  machinery  of  government,  from  which  alone  the 

sovereign  could  learn  authoritatively  the  wants  of  his  subjects  and  so  fit 

himself  for  exercising  with  success  the  duties  of  chief  executive  oflScer. 

Few,  if  any,  looked  to  parliament  for  the  initiation  of  policy,  still  less  as 

an  assembly  capable  of  exercising  a  dominant  influence  in  the  nomination 

of  the  king's  ministers,   as  had  been  somewhat  vaguely  understood 

under    the    Lancastrian   kings.      However,   as    the   king's    necessities 

brooked  no  delay,  and  as  certain  of  his  friends  *  undertook '  to  secure  the 

^,  election  of  members  favourable  to  the  court,  James  was 

The 

'  Under-      encouraged  to  issue  the  writs.     When  parliament  met  in 

ta  ers.  \Q\4,  it  was  found  that  the  attempts  of  the  'undertakers' 
had  done  more  harm  than  good,  and  that  the  Commons,  though  three 
hundred  new  members  had  been  chosen,  were  as  sturdy  defenders  of 
privilege  as  their  predecessors.  The  chief  point  on  which  debate  turned 
was  the  question  of  the  impositions,  and  here  the  Commons  were 
positive  that  '  redress  of  grievances '  must  precede  the  voting  of  supply. 
Their  persistence  in  this  matter  irritated  James ;  their  outspoken 
language  alarmed  the  couft ;  the  Spanish  party  feared  that  any  recon- 
ciliation between  the  king  and  the  Commons  would  necessarily  strengthen 


1615  James  I.  501 

the  Protestant  party  ;  and  James,  losing  patience,  dismissed  the  Houses 
before  a  single  Act  had  been  passed.  This  parliament  was  The  Addled 
called  in  derision  the  Addled  Parliament.  Parliament. 

The  same  year  James  took  a  fancy  to  a  young  English  gentleman, 
George  Villiers,  a  well-disposed  young  fellow  of  two-and-twenty,  whom 
his  mother  had  trained  in  all  graceful  accomplishments  with  yjjj.gj.g 
a  view  to  his  success  at  court.  The  education  of  his  mind 
she  had  neglected  as  unimportant.  Villiers  was  befriended  by  those 
who  disliked  Somerset  and  the  Scots,  and  was  pushed  on  to  be  Somerset's 
rival.  Bacon  thought  well  of  him,  and  hoped  to  see  him  raise  the 
executive  government  to  be  as  efficient  as  he  wished  it  to  be.  Before 
long  the  new  favourite  had  a  party  at  his  back  ;  but  before  the  rivalry 
had  become  intense,  Somerset  was  overthrown  by  a  blow  from  an 
altogether  unexpected  quarter.  At  the  time  of  the  Essex  Fall  of 
divorce  Somerset  had  been  the  friend  of  Sir  Thomas  Somerset. 
Overbury,  a  gentleman  still  famous  as  the  author  of  a  book  in  which 
various  typical  characters  are  wittily  described.  He  had  aided  Carr 
in  writing  letters  to  the  countess  of  Essex,  but  was  opposed  to  the 
divorce,  and  as  he  probably  knew  so  much  of  the  countess's  secrets  as 
to  have  her  in  his  power,  she  became  his  bitter  enemy.  At  the  same 
time  James,  annoyed  by  hearing  that  it  was  said  that  *if  Rochester 
ruled  the  king,  Overbury  ruled  Rochester,'  offered  Overbury  a  jK)st 
abroad,  and  on  his  refusal  sent  him  to  the  Tower.  While  there  he 
was  poisoned  by  an  emissary  of  the  countess.  For  two  years  no 
suspicions  were  raised,  but  at  length  the  story  leaked  out.  The  earl  and 
countess  of  Somerset  and  her  agents  were  all  tried  and  convicted  ;  and 
though  he  was  probably  innocent,  there  is  no  doubt  of  her  guilt.  The 
disgraceful  circumstances  connected  with  the  whole  affair  inflicted  a 
great  blow  on  the  reputation  of  the  court,  and  did  much  to  alienate  from 
the  crown  the  goodwill  of  the  Puritan  party. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  Addled  Parliament,  James  remodelled 
the  government  according  to  his  own  ideas.  One  of  his  first  steps  was 
to  dismiss  Edward  Coke  from  the  post  of  chief  justice  pacon  and 
of  the  king's  bench.  Coke,  who  had  no  rival  in  knowledge  Coke, 
of  the  details  of  the  common  law,  for  which  he  had  an  intense  respect, 
was  neither  a  statesman  nor  a  man  of  broad  views  on  any  subject ;  but 
at  this  moment,  when  James'  notions  of  high  prerogative  made  any 
barrier  valuable,  his  sturdy  insistance  on  the  sanctity  of  the  law  was  of 
the  highest  importance.  His  views  on  the  impositions  had  already 
brought  him  into  opposition  to  the  king  ;  and  in  1615  he  was  dismissed 
from  his  post  in  order  to  prove  to  the  judges  that  they  held  their  posts 


502  TTie  Stuarts 


1616 


at  the  king's  pleasure,  not  in  name  merely  but  in  reality.  Throughout 
his  life  the  rival  of  Coke  had  been  Francis  Bacon,  author  of  the  Essays 
and  of  the  Advancement  of  Learning  ;  and  the  one  man  was  the  antithesis 
of  the  other.  While  Coke  was  a  stickler  for  technicalities,  Bacon  cared 
nothing  for  forms  ;  while  Coke  was  always  resting  on  the  letter,  Bacon 
searched  for  the  spirit ;  and  while  in  general  questions  Coke  was  quite 
incompetent.  Bacon  was  the  most  statesmanlike  man  of  his  time.  Like 
most  of  the  chancery  lawyers  who  had  been  trained  in  the  maxims  of 
the  Roman  law,  Bacon  had  a  very  high  idea  of  the  king's  power  ;  and 
he  believed  that  the  executive  officers  of  the  king  were  much  better 
judges  of  what  should  be  done  than  an  ill-informed  House  of  Commons. 
James,  however,  was  too  self-satisfied  to  yield  to  Bacon's  advice  ;  Bacon 
was  too  courtly  to  press  his  views  on  unwilling  ears,  and,  in  consequence, 
his  advice  was  set  aside  for  that  of  ignorant  youths  like  Villiers, 
or  mere  time-servers  without  a  tithe  of  Bacon's  ability.  The  diff'erences 
between  Coke  and  Bacon  were  accentuated  by  a  very  ancient  contest  as 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  king's  bench  and  chancery,  each  of 
which  aimed  at  getting  as  many  cases  as  possible  for  itself,  and  resented 
the  interference  of  the  other.  For  example,  the  common  law  courts 
refused  to  enforce  the  duties  of  trustees,  which  were  recognised  in  the 
court  of  chancery  ;  so  that  little  love  was  lost  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  law.  Coke's  fall  was  taken  as  success  for  Bacon  ;  and  when,  in 
1618,  Bacon  became  lord-chancellor,  his  triumph  was  complete.  His 
new  position,  however,  did  not  add  much  to  his  political  influence  ;  he 
was  rarely  consulted  by  the  king,  while  he  was  expected  to  use  his  legal 
position  for  the  advancement  of  the  royal  prerogative. 

Meanwhile,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the  last  of  the  Elizabethan  heroes, 
was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  writing  a  history  of  the  world,  and  amusing 
himself  with  chemical  experiments.  However,  in  1616,  he 
was  released  in  order  that  he  might  take  command  of  an 
expedition  to  Guiana.  This  country  had  been  visited  by  him  in  1595 
(see  p.  474),  and  he  had  then  learned  from  the  Indians,  whose  favour 
he  won  by  kindly  treatment,  the  existence,  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco, 
of  a  mountain  said  to  contain  rich  stores  of  gold.  The  need  of  joining 
the  expedition  against  Cadiz,  and  other  employments,  prevented  Raleigh 
from  returning,  but  the  present  miserable  state  of  the  royal  finances  had 
suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  using  the  prospects  of  obtaining  gold  as  a 
means  of  securing  his  release.  The  plan  succeeded  ;  but  James,  though  he 
longed  for  the  gold,  dreaded  war  with  Spain,  and  Raleigh  was  carefully 
instructed  to  avoid  hostilities  with  the  Spaniards.  This  he  had  some 
hope  of  doing,  because,  when  he  was  in  Guiana,  no  Spanish  settlement 


1617  Jamefi  L  503 

lay  between  the  gold  mountain  and  the  sea.  However,  ill-luck  attended 
the  expedition  from  the  first ;  and  on  its  arrival  in  America,  the  crews 
refused  to  ascend  the  river  unless  Raleigh  himself  promised  to  await 
their  return.  Accordingly,  the  exploring  party  was  placed  under 
Captain  Keymis,  the  old  comrade  of  Sir  Walter,  and  young  Walter 
Raleigh  went  with  him.  On  their  way,  they  learned  that  the  Spaniards 
had  moved  their  settlement,  and  that  the  route  up  the  river  was  now 
blocked  by  the  town  of  S.  Thomt^.  Instead  of  making  a  circuit  in 
order  to  avoid  the  town,  Keymis  stormed  it,  and  in  the  assault  young 
Walter  was  killed.  Keymis  then  became  aware  that  an  advance  through 
the  forest  in  face  of  the  enemy  was  impracticable,  and  returned  to 
the  ships,  where,  overwhelmed  by  Raleigh's  reproaches,  he  put  an  end 
to  his  life.  Anxious  not  to  return  empty-handed,  Raleigh  then  proposed 
to  attack  the  Spanish  treasure-ship  ;  but  his  captains  refused  to  follow 
him,  and  Raleigh  was  compelled  to  return  straight  to  England. 
Immediately  on  landing,  he  was  arrested  by  the  king's  order.  His 
action  had,  in  fact,  put  James  in  a  very  awkward  position.  How  James 
had  ever  hoped  to  avoid  hostilities  with  the  Spaniards,  it  is  difficult  to 
see ;  but,  apparently,  he  had  hoped  to  keep  what  profit  there  was  for 
himself,  and  to  throw  the  blame,  if  any,  on  Raleigh.  As  it  was,  he  had 
to  choose  between  a  declaration  of  war  and  the  punishment  of  Raleigh, 
and  his  anxiety  for  peace  at  any  price  with  Spain  made  him  choose  the 
latter.  At  first  he  offered  to  hand  Raleigh  over  to  the  Spaniards,  but, 
eventually,  the  case  was  investigated  in  England  ;  and  as  Raleigh,  being 
technically  a  dead  man  (for  he  was  still  under  sentence  of  death),  could 
not  be  tried  on  a  second  charge,  the  sentence  pronounced  on  him  fifteen 
years  before  was  carried  into  effect.  There  was  no  doubt  that  Raleigh's 
attack  on  the  Spaniards  was  a  violation  of  modern  international  law  ;  but 
the  theory  of  Elizabeth's  sea-captains  was,  that  'there  was  no  peace 
beyond  the  line.'  His  action  was  merely  a  repetition  of  conduct  for 
which  Drake  and  Hawkins  had  been  rewarded  ;  but  times  had  changed, 
and  he  had  to  pay  with  his  life  for  errors  committed  in  a  course  of  action 
upon  which  he  ought  never  to  have  been  allowed  to  enter,  and  for  which 
the  real  blame  lay  with  the  king.  Though  a  man  of  genius,  great  both 
in  thought  and  in  action,  Raleigh's  character  was  by  no  means  perfect. 
In  regard  to  truth  he  was  perfectly  reckless :  but  his  faults  were 
forgotten  in  the  '  tragedy  of  his  death.' 

The  disgraceful  sacrifice  of  Raleigh,  the  extravagance  of  the  court,  the 
Overbury   scandal,  and  the  persecution  of  Puritans,  had    ^he  Thirty 
made  James'  government  both  hated  and  despised,  when.   Years'  War. 
in  1621,  an  opportunity  offered  itself  to  the  king  to  set  himself  right 


504  The  Stuarts  I617 

with  his  subjects  by  espousing  the  cause  of  the  German  Protestants. 
Since  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Elector  Palatine,  the  Catholics 
and  Protestants  of  Germany  had  become  more  and  more  clearly  divided 
into  two  hostile  camps  ;  and  a  small  spark  only  was  needed  to  set  the 
accumulated  fuel  in  a  blaze.  The  spark  came  from  Bohemia.  In  that 
country — in  which,  so  far  back  as  the  days  of  Huss,  the  party  of  reform 
had  found  a  stronghold — Protestantism  was  very  strong.  It  had  for 
years  been  the  practice  of  the  Bohemians  to  elect  the  head  of  the  house 
of  Austria  their  king,  in  spite  of  his  being  a  Catholic  ;  but  the  Emperor 
Matthias  compelled  the  Bohemian  assembly  to  declare  the  throne 
hereditary  in  the  Austrian  family,  and,  in  spite  of  his  being  celebrated 
as  a  persecutor  of  the  Protestants,  to  take  Ferdinand  of  Styria  as  his 
successor.  However,  on  Matthias'  death,  the  Bohemians  altered  their 
own  minds,  and  offered  the  crown  to  the  Elector  Palatine,  by  whom  it 
was  accepted.  Ferdinand,  who  had  been  chosen  emperor,  fought  for 
his  rights  in  Bohemia,  and  called  on  the  Catholics  to  aid  him,  while 
Frederick  appealed  to  the  Protestant  powers.  The  illegality,  however, 
of  his  position  in  Bohemia  made  many  hang  back,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  Catholic  troops  were  able,  not  only  to  turn  him  out  of  Bohemia, 
but  even  out  of  the  Palatinate  itself.  As  James  was  Frederick's 
father-in-law,  he  was  naturally  expected  to  have  English  support,  and 
also  that  of  the  Danes  and  Swedes,  while  Spain  came  to  the  assistance 
of  the  emperor.  These  events  revived  in  England  all  the  old  hatred 
against  Spain ;  and  those  who  believed  that  the  best  way  to  aid 
Frederick  was  to  fight  Spain,  were  eager  for  a  declaration  of  war ; 
while  hundreds  of  Englishmen  hurried  off  to  Germany  to  fight  for 
their  popular  princess — 'the  queen  of  hearts.'  James,  however,  still 
believed  in  negotiation,  and  was  desirous,  by  the  Spanish  marriage,  to 
connect  himself  with  both  parties.  Nevertheless,  in  order  that  he 
might  show  himself  capable  of  armed  interference,  he  called  a  parliament 
in  1621. 

When  parliament  met,  James  did  his  best  to  conciliate  the  members 
by  denouncing  the  'Undertakers'  of  1614  ;  and  he  declared  plainly  his 
intention,  if  negotiations  failed,  of  sjDcnding  his  blood  for 
the  defence  of  his  son-in-law's  territory  and  the  Protestant 
religion.  In  consequence,  a  considerable  supply  was  voted  ;  but,  as  there 
was  no  immediate  prospect  of  action,  the  members  soon  turned  aside  to 
the  consideration  of  domestic  grievances.  In  this  they  were  led  by 
Coke,  who,  since  his  dismissal  from  the  bench,  had  resumed  practice  as 
a  barrister,  and  had  been  returned  to  parliament  as  an  opponent  of  the 
court.     Their  chief  complaint  was  directed  against  the  abuses  connected 


1621  James  L  505 

with  monopolies.  Under  Elizabeth  these  had  been  checked,  but  under 
her  successor  their  number  had  increased  to  about  forty  of  various  kinds. 
Some,  like  our  patents,  were  for  the  protection  of  inven- 
tions ;  others,  to  encourage  the  introduction  of  new  forms  of 
manufacture  ;  others  were  designed  for  the  benefit  of  the  state.  Ac- 
cording to  the  notions  of  the  time,  monopolies  were  defensible  enough  ; 
but,  in  a  court  like  that  of  James  i.,  every  institution  was  tainted  with 
corruption,  and  both  oppression  and  peculation  were  rife.  The  mono- 
polies specially  singled  out  for  attack  were  those  of  licensing  inns, 
and  of  manufacturing  gold  and  silver  thread — which,  in  reality,  was 
carried  on  by  the  king  himself.  Evidence  of  abuses  was  plentiful ;  and 
as  the  country  magistrates  were  aggrieved  by  the  licences,  and  the 
wealthy  goldsmiths  by  the  prohibition  to  make  thread,  the  country 
members  of  parliament  and  the  London  merchants  made  common  cause 
against  the  court.  The  evidence  pointed  specially  to  Sir  Giles  Mom- 
pesson  and  to  Sir  Francis  Michell,  and  the  cases  of  both  were  referred 
by  the  Commons  to  the  House  of  Lords  after  the  manner  of  an 
impeachment. 

An  even  more  serious  case  was  that  of  Lord-Chancellor  Bacon.     The 
monopoly  question  had  brought  his  name  into  notice  ;  and,  presently, 

various    suitors   in   the    chancery   court    accused   him   of      „ 

•^  Bacon. 

receiving  bribes.     It  did  not  appear  that  his  justice  had 

ever  been  perverted,  but  it  was  shown  that  he  had  received  sums  of 
£100,  £300,  and  even  £700,  from  suitors,  both  before  and  after  their 
cases  had  been  decided.  In  those  days  of  small  salaries  and  high  fees, 
public  opinion  was  by  no  means  clear  as  to  what  a  judge  might  or 
might  not  receive  with  jiropriety ;  and  Bacon  himself,  ever  careless  of 
money  matters,  and  inattentive  to  detail,  had  been  guilty  of  great 
laxity :  but  the  integrity  of  his  judgments  was  unchallenged.  The 
accusations,  preferred  by  the  Commons,  were  carefully  investigated  by 
the  Lords ;  and  Bacon  himself  admitted  the  truth  of  the  facts.  The 
sentence  of  the  Lords  ordered  Bacon  to  be  confined  in  the  Tower  during 
the  king's  pleasure,  to  be  incapable  of  holding  office  or  of  coming  to 
court,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  £40,000.  The  actual  punishment  was  soon 
remitted  by  the  king ;  but  the  twofold  value  of  the  sentence  was 
unaff'ected  by  this.  In  the  first  place,  a  good  stout  blow  had  been 
struck  at  the  system  of  corruption,  which  had  lately  flourished  un- 
checked ;  in  the  second,  the  doctrine  of  the  responsibility  of  the  king's 
ministers  to  parliament  had  been  placed  above  question.  During  the 
reigns  of  the  Yorkists  and  the  Tudors,  this  theory  had  practically  been 
in  abeyance.     Never  since  the  impeachment  of  Suffolk,  in  1450,  had  it 


506  The  Stuarts  i62i 

been  enforced.  But  now  that  the  practice  had  been  revived,  there  was 
little  chance  of  its  falling  into  desuetude  ;  and,  for  one  hundred  years, 
there  was  hardly  a  parliament  in  which  a  bill  of  impeachment  was  not 
introduced. 

After  the  prosecution  of  Bacon  and  Michell  parliament  separated  for 
a  short  adjournment,  and  when  it  met  again  the  whole  attention  of  the 
Foreign  House  was  given  to  foreign  afiiiirs.  The  great  object  of  the 
Affairs.  members  was  to  hold  James  to  his  declaration,  that  if 
negotiations  failed  he  would  risk  blood  and  treasure  for  the  Protestant 
cause,  and  many  members  were  in  favour  of  an  open  declaration  of  war. 
Such  were  not  the  views  of  James.  His  desire  was  for  a  marriage 
between  Prince  Charles  and  the  Infanta  of  Spain  ;  his  mind 
Spanish  was  powerfully  influenced  by  the  Spanish  ambassador 
Gondomar,  and  he  knew  that  unless  he  could  secure  tolera- 
tion for  the  Roman  Catholics  such  a  match  was  impossible.  The  temper  of 
the  Commons,  on  the  other  hand,  was  shown  by  their  decision  that  towards 
the  war  subsidy  recusants  should  pay  a  double  share,  by  a  petition  for 
putting  the  laws  against  recusants  into  full  force,  and  by  another  for  the 
marriage  of  the  prince  to  a  Protestant.  What  the  Commons  feared  was 
that  toleration  for  recusants  would  prove  to  be  merely  the  thin  end  of  the 
wedge  towards  a  re-establishment  of  Roman  Catholicism.  As  a  young 
member,  John  Pym,  put  it :  *If  the  Papists  once  obtain  a  connivance,  they 
will  press  for  a  toleration  ;  from  thence  to  an  equality  ;  from  an  equality 
to  a  superiority ;  from  a  superiority  to  an  extirpation  of  all  contrary 
religions.'  Under  the  influence  of  Gondomar  and  Buckingham  James 
roundly  bade  the  members  not  to  interfere  in  *  mysteries  of  state,'  and 
attacked  their  privilege  of  free  speech  by  declaring  his  ability,  whether 
in  or  out  of  session,  to  punish  members  for  their  conduct  in  the  House. 
This  brought  matters  to  a  crisis  ;  and  the  House,  led  by  Coke  and  Thomas 
Wentworth,  member  for  Yorkshire  (afterwards  the  famous  earl  of 
Straff'ord),  enrolled  on  their  journals  their  opinion,  '  That  the  liberties, 
franchises,  privileges,  and  jurisdictions  of  parliament  are  the  ancient  and 
undoubted  birthright  and  inheritance  of  the  subjects  of  England,'  and 
that  '  in  the  handling  and  proceeding  of  these  businesses  every  member 
of  the  House  hath,  and  of  right  ought  to  have,  freedom  of  speech.' 
When  the  Commons  sent  their  first  petition  James  showed  his  apprecia- 
tion of  the  position  by  ordering  seats  to  be  set  for  '  the  ambassadors,' 
as  though  the  House  of  Commons  were  a  sovereign  power.  After  ten 
days'  reflection  he  sent  for  the  journals  of  the  House,  and  tore  out  the 
obnoxious  protest  with  his  own  hand.  Parliament  was  then  dissolved, 
without  even  passing  a  subsidy  bill ;  Coke,  Phelips,  and  Mallory  were 


1624  James  L  507 

sent  to  the  Tower,  and  Pym  was  ordered  to  confine  himself  to  his  house, 
Gondomar  took  James'  action  as  '  a  resohition  to  leave  all 
and  to  attach  himself  to  Spain.'     All  hope  of  England   mentof 
giving  effective  aid  to  the  German  Protestants  was  now       ^"^  ^^^' 
at  an  end. 

James,  however,  by  no  means  despaired  of  effecting  something  by 
negotiations,  and  his  idea  of  bringing  about  a  general  reconciliation 
between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  powers,  for  which  the 
keynote  was  to  be  given  by  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of  Spanish 
Wales  to  the  Infanta,  was  not  without  a  certain  nobility. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  hostility  of  parliament  to  the  Catholics, 
the  determination  of  the  emperor  to  punish  Frederick  for  taking 
Bohemia,  and  the  fixed  principle  of  the  Spaniards  not  to  make  war 
upon  the  House  of  Austria,  were  facts  which  could  not  be  overcome. 
Nevertheless,  so  sanguine  was  the  prince,  and  so  overweening  was  the 
belief  of  Buckingham  in  his  own  powers,  that  the  two  young  men  set  off 
on  a  romantic  journey  to  Madrid,  where  they  hoped  to  The  Madrid 
conclude  the  marriage  treaty  and  bring  back  the  Infimta  in  Journey* 
triumph.  This  was  quite  a  false  step.  No  sooner  was  Charles  at 
Madrid  than  he  found  himself  compelled  by  fear  of  failure  to  make  one 
concession  after  another,  and  finally  swore,  on  behalf  of  his  father  and 
himself,  to  give  full  immunity  to  the  English  Catholics,  and  to  get 
parliament  to  confirm  his  action  within  three  years.  Finding,  however, 
that  the  Infanta  would  not  be  allowed  to  return  with  him,  even  if  he 
married  her,  Charles  left  a  form  of  process  to  authorise  someone  else  to 
represent  him  at  the  marriage  ceremony,  and  then  hurried  home.  When 
he  reached  England  without  his  bride  the  joy  of  the  nation  knew  no 
bounds  ;  but  cautious  men  saw  that  by  going  as  far  as  he  had  there  was 
no  choice  between  concluding  the  marriage  and  open  war.  Charles* 
honour  seemed  to  be  bound  up  in  the  completion  of  the  match,  for  which 
elaborate  preparations  were  going  forward  at  Madrid  ;  but  three  days 
before  the  ceremony  Bristol,  the  English  ambassador,  was  ordered  to 
make  fresh  demands,  and  the  marriage  was  indefinitely  postponed. 
Subsequent  knowledge  places  the  conduct  of  Charles  in  a  very  bad  light, 
but  at  the  time  his  popularity  was  great ;  and  James,  having  seen  the 
fjiilure  of  his  negotiations,  practically  withdrew  from  public  affairs,  and 
allowed  Buckingham  and  Charles  to  take  charge  of  the  preparations  for 
an  attempt  to  recover  the  Palatinate  by  arms.  Accordingly,  a  parlia- 
ment elected  when  the  hostility  to  Spain  was  at  its  height  assembled  in 
1624.  Hardly  a  voice  was  raised  for  peace  ;  the  one  question  was 
whether  it  was  better  to  attack  the  Palatinate  directly,  or  to  bring  our 


508  The  Stuarts  1624 

main  force  to  bear  upon  Spain.  Finally  it  was  decided  to  begin  by  an 
attack  on  the  Palatinate,  and  twelve  thousand  Englishmen  were  placed 
for  the  purpose  under  Count  Mansfeld,  a  clever  but  unscrupulous 
soldier  of  fortune,  who  was  acting  for  Frederick.  The  affair  was 
terribly  mismanaged  ;  the  English,  who  would  have  fought  readily 
The  German  against  Spain,  showed  little  inclination  to  enter  upon  a 
Expedition,  -wild-goose  chase  in  Germany ;  the  soldiers,  when  they 
arrived  in  Holland,  were  sent  up  the  Rhine  in  open  boats,  half-starved 
and  wretchedly  clad.  Numbers  died,  and  the  chief  result  was  to  fill 
the  country  with  the  conviction  that  Charles  and  Buckingham  had 
no  skill  in  administration. 

Meanwhile,  the  earl  of  Middlesex,  better  known  as  Lionel  Cranfield, 

the  clever  and  economical  lord-treasurer,  was  impeached  and  punished — 

nominally  for  malversation,  really  because  he  opposed  the 

me  nt  of  war — a  proceeding  in  which  Charles,  with  inconceivable  folly, 
took  a  leading  part.  Monopolies,  except  for  new  inventions, 
were  abolished,  and  a  request  made  by  parliament  for  the  enforcement 
of  the  laws  against  recusants,  at  the  very  time  when  a  secret  agreement 
was  being  made  by  James  and  Charles  to  suspend  these  laws  as  a 
condition  of  a  marriage  between  Charles  and  Henrietta  Maria,  sister  of 
the  French  king,  Louis  xiii. 

The  death  of  James  i.  followed  soon  on  his  retirement  from  active 
political  life.  Worn  out  by  repeated  attacks  of  gout  and  ague,  his  mind 
and  body  had  long  been  giving  way  ;  but  at  times  the  old  wit  flashed 
forth,  and  not  long  before  his  death  he  is  said  to  have  told  Charles, 
a  propos  of  the  impeachment  of  Middlesex,  that  '  he  would  live  to  have 
his  bellyful  of  impeachments.'     He  died  in  March  1625. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Hampton  Court  Conference,        ....        1604 


Gunpowder  Plot,  ...... 

Death  of  Robert  Cecil,        .... 

The  Addled  Parliament,      .... 

Commencement  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
Impeachment  of  Bacon,       .... 

Charles  and  Buckingham  visit  Spain, 
Monopolies  declared  Illegal, 


1606 
1612 
1614 
1618 
1621 
1623 
1624 


CHAPTER  II 

PART  I 

CHARLES  I.:    1625-1649 

Born  1600;  married,  1625,  Henrietta  Maria ;  beheaded  1649. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Spain,  Emperors. 

Louis  xrii.,  d.  1643.  Philip  in.,  d.  1631.  Ferdinand  ii.,  d.  1637. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.  Philip  iv.,  d.  1665.  Ferdinand  ui.,  d.  1657. 

Quarrels  with  his  first  Parliament— The  Petition  of  Right— The  Rise  of  Laud  and 
Weutworth — Imprisonment  of  Eliot — Arbitrary  Rule— Wentworth  in  Ireland 
—Religious  Diflficulties  in  Scotland— First  Bishops'  War— The  Short  Parlia- 
ment— Second  Bishops'  War. 

At  his  accession  Charles  was  twenty-five  years  old,  and  his  character 
was  fully  formed.  In  all  that  concerned  the  externals  of  royalty  he  was 
admirable.  Unlike  his  father,  his  look  and  deportment  charies' 
were  regal ;  but  he  had  little  of  James'  good-nature,  Character, 
and  his  reserve,  which  was  largely  the  effect  of  shyness,  prevented 
him  from  mixing  with  his  subjects  on  such  terms  as  to  learn  their  true 
opinions,  as  Elizabeth  and  Henry  vm.  had  always  been  able  to  do. 
Unfortunately,  the  delicacy  of  his  constitution  as  a  child  had  caused  his 
lessons  to  be  excused,  and  consequently  he  had  none  of  the  solid  fund  of 
information  in  history,  politics,  and  religion  for  which  his  father  had 
been  distinguished.  James,  in  fact,  had  been  learned  but  ineflective  ; 
Charles  was  ill-informed  and  obstinate  through  being  able  to  see  only  one 
side  of  a  question.  Charles,  too,  had  been  brought  up  as  a  spoilt  child, 
always  expecting  to  have  his  own  way  ;  and  Sir  Ferdinand  Fairfax  said 
of  him,  '  The  king  in  his  own  nature  is  very  stiff.'  WouBe  than  all  these 
faults,  which  in  many  ways  were  rather  to  be  counted  misfortunes, 
Charles  was  wanting  in  ingenuousness.     This  arose  largely  from  his  lack 


510  The  Stuarts  1625 

of  imagination,  which  prevented  him  from  seeing  what  his  promises  really- 
meant,  or  what  they  would  seem  to  mean  in  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom 
they  were  made.  Almost  the  only  thing  Charles  derived  from  his  father 
was  his  overweening  belief  in  the  power  and  prerogatives  of  a  king. 
He  held  himself  entitled  to  exercise  all  the  powers  of  the  Tudors, 
without  regard  either  to  the  changes  in  the  times  which  he  might  have 
observed,  or  to  differences  in  character  of  which  he  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  be  a  fair  judge.  At  the  date  of  Buckingham's  arrival  at  court 
Charles  had  been  fifteen,  and  as  by  the  folly  of  James  the  two  young 
men  had  been  thrown  together,  Charles  had  learned  to  look  on  the 
ignorant  and  self-confident  Buckingham  as  a  model  of  all  that  was 
excellent,  and  nothing  had  since  been  able  to  dissipate  the  illusion. 
Nor  was  Buckingham  by  any  means  a  mere  darling  of  the 
court.  There  was  in  him  a  certain  magnificence  which 
differentiates  him  altogether  from  favourites  of  the  Gaveston  type,  and 
places  him  more  on  a  level  with  Elizabeth's  Leicester.  He  was  eager 
after  great  things,  and  dreamed  of  renewing  in  his  own  time  the  glories 
of  Elizabeth ;  but  had  no  idea  of  taking  efficient  means  to  turn  his 
dreams  into  realities. 

Charles  began  his  reign  by  a  fatal  mistake.  In  the  negotiations  for 
a  marriage  with  Henrietta  Maria  it  had  been  found  that  the  French 
The  Roman  would  not  accept  less  favourable  terms  for  the  Eoman 
Catholics.  Catholics  than  had  been  granted  at  the  demand  of  Spain, 
so  it  had  been  agreed  that  the  Roman  Catholic  disabilities  should 
be  suspended.  As  he  had  distinctly  promised  the  parliament  of  1624 
that  favour  to  the  Roman  Catholics  should  form  no  part  of  the 
marriage  contract  with  France,  this  act  put  him  in  an  utterly  false 
position,  and  compelled  him  either  to  break  his  word  to  parliament 
or  to  the  king  of  France.  This  double-dealing,  however,  was  charac- 
teristic of  Charles'  method,  and  goes  a  long  way  to  explain  his  sub- 
sequent disasters.  Charles,  blind  to  his  mistake,  and  hoping  to  win 
advantages  from  France,  completed  his  marriage,  declared  war  on  Spain, 
and  summoned  a  parliament  to  vote  the  necessary  supplies.  When 
First  parliament   met,  the  lead  in   the  Commons  was  taken  by 

Parhament.  p^elips,  who  had  already  played  a  large  part  in  the  later 
parliaments  of  James  i.,  and  he  was  supported  by  Edward  Coke,  Sir 
John  Eliot,  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  and  John  Pym.  It  was  soon  per- 
ceived that  between  king  and  parliament  the  seeds  of  disagreement  were 
many.  While  Charles  was  bound  by  his  promise  to  France  to  suspend 
the  Roman  Catholic  disabilities,  the  Commons  petitioned  that  the  laws 
■against  recusants  might  be  strictly  enforced.     While  Charles   eagerly 


1625  Charles  I.  611 

demanded  a  liberal  war  grant,  the  Commons  held  back  till  they  knew  on 
what  it  was  going  to  be  spent  and  who  would  direct  the  expenditure. 
While  Charles  was  promoting  Montague,  a  clergyman  who  had  written 
against  Calvinism,  the  Commons  were  preparing  to  impeach  him.  An- 
other trouble  was  added  by  the  action  of  the  Commons,  who,  anxious  to 
have  the  question  of  impositions  settled,  voted  tonnage  and  poundage 
for  one  year  only,  instead  of  for  life  as  had  been  usual  since  the  days 
of  Henry  vi.  Even  this  vote  was  not  completed,  for  a  hasty  prorogation 
caused  it  to  fall  through  in  the  Lords. 

The  prorogation  was  due  to  the  plague,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the 
Houses  reassembled  at  Oxford  ;  but  the  interval  had  brought  fresh 
troubles.  As  part  of  the  plan  for  joint  operations  against  The  Oxford 
Spain,  England  had  lent  one  man-of-war  and  seven  merchant  ^^^^'"E- 
ships  to  France.  It  was,  however,  shrewdly  suspected  that  the  vessels 
would  be  used  not  against  Spain,  but  against  the  Huguenots  of  Lji 
Rochelle ;  for  Richelieu,  the  French  minister,  was  keenly  alive  to  the 
danger  to  France  caused  by  the  semi-independence  enjoyed  by  the 
fortified  Huguenot  towns,  and  it  was  believed  that  he  would  not  enter 
actively  on  a  foreign  war  till  he  had  made  all  secure  at  home.  In 
reality  Richelieu  had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  the  rights  of  ivor- 
shij)  granted  by  treaty  to  the  French  Protestants.  In  England,  however, 
he  was  generally  thought  to  be  a  bigoted  persecutor.  The  sailors  abso- 
lutely refused  to  serve  in  their  vessels,  and,  with  one  exception,  they  all 
came  home.  At  the  same  time  rumours  about  the  marriage  treaty  leaked 
out,  and  when  it  was  found  that  Henriettii  Maria  was  enjoying  full 
liberty  of  worship,  and  that  convicted  Catholic  priests  were  being  par- 
doned and  released,  the  indignation  of  the  country  knew  no  bounds. 
Accordingly,  the  meeting  of  parliament  witnessed  a  fresh  attack  on  the 
policy  of  the  government ;  and  though  Buckingham  wished  to  quarrel 
with  France  by  repudiating  Charles'  promise  of  indulgence  to  the 
Roman  Catholics,  the  Commons  were  going  on  to  an  impeachment  of 
the  all-powerful  minister  when  Charles  stopped  the  proceedings  by  a 
dissolution. 

The  dissolution  of  parliament,  without  making  any  further  grant, 
placed  Charles  in  a  very  awkward  position,  as  he  was  unable  to  fulfil  his 
promises  of  subsidies  to  Mansfeld  or  to  Christian  of  Den-  Expedition 
mark,  his  uncle,  who  was  now  leading  the  North  German  Pro-  *°  Cadiz, 
testants,  or  even  to  properly  equip  his  own  fleet.  However,  Buckingham — 
always  hopeful  and  confident — inspired  him  with  the  belief  that  if,  before 
the  next  meeting  of  parliament,  a  successful  expedition  could  rival  the 
great   exploit  of  1596   by  sacking  Cadiz   and   capturing  the   Spanish 


512  The  Stuarts  1625 

treasure  fleet,  the  nation  would  recognise  that  he  had  been  right,  and  that 
parliament  had  been  wrong.  Accordingly,  all  the  resources  of  the  court 
were  devoted  to  fitting  out  a  fleet,  the  command  of  which  was  entrusted 
to  Sir  Edward  Cecil,  a  grandson  of  the  great  Lord  Burleigh.  Cecil 
had  seen  much  service  in  the  Dutch  army,  and,  in  anticipation  of  his 
triumphs,  he  was  created  Viscount  Wimbledon.  The  second  in  command 
was  the  earl  of  Essex.  Wimbledon,  however,  had  had  no  experience  of 
independent  command  ;  and  if  he  had,  little  difference  would  have  been 
made,  for  his  ships  were  ill-found  and  .ill- victualled,  and  his  pressed 
soldiers  were  unwilling  to  fight.  Only  a  commander  of  the  greatest 
genius  could  have  effected  much  with  such  materials,  and  Wimbledon 
failed  utterly.  A  delay  in  the  attack  enabled  the  Spaniards  to  secure 
their  ships  in  the  inner  harbour  ;  the  soldiers,  being  landed  without  pro- 
visions, drank  themselves  drunk  ;  the  treasure  fleet  eluded  their  grasp  ; 
and  the  expedition  returned  stricken  with  disease,  as  complete  a  failure 
by  sea  as  that  of  Mansfeld  had  been  by  land. 

This  disaster  destroyed  the  castle  in  the  air  on  which  Charles  and 
Buckingham  had  so  long  been  gazing,  and  when  parliament  was  called 
Failure  of  they  had  nothing  whatever  to  show  to  excuse  the  illegalities 
the  Court.  ^£  which  they  had  been  guilty.  Moreover,  the  trick  which 
had  been  played  on  the  French  king  in  the  matter  of  the  Catholics  had 
estranged  the  two  courts  ;  Henrietta  Maria  was  not  happy  in  her  relations 
with  the  king  ;  Kichelieu  was  pushing  on  his  measures  against  the 
Huguenots ;  and  as  his  attempts  to  effect  a  compromise  had  come  to 
nought,  he  was  preparing  for  a  regular  siege  of  La  Rochelle.  This 
Charles  regarded  as  a  slight  upon  himself,  for  he  had  attempted  to 
mediate  between  Louis  and  his  Protestant  subjects,  so  the  two  allies 
against  Spain  were  rapidly  drifting  into  open  war. 

Conscious  of  his  difficulties,  but  believing  that  the  disagreement  with 
his  first  parliament  had  been  due  to  the  wrongheadedness  of  a  few  indi- 
The  Second  viduals,  Charles  resorted  to  trickery.  Before  issuing  the 
Parhament.  ^j-jts,  he  made  Phelips,  Coke,  Wentworth  and  others 
sheriffs  of  their  respective  counties,  so  that  they  were  ineligible  for 
election ;  but  their  place  was  taken  by  others  who,  if  less  able,  were 
equally  indignant  with  Buckingham's  management  of  affairs.  Besides, 
even  in  selecting  sheriffs,  the  name  of  one  man  had  been  omitted  who, 

„,.  more  than  all  the  rest,  was  to  be  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 

Eliot. 

Charles.      That  man  was  Sir  John  Eliot.      Eliot  was  a 

Cornish  squire,  who  owed  his  exemption  to  the  fact  that  in  old  days  he 

had  been  a  friend  of  Buckingham,  and  had  been  his  vice-admiral  in 

Devonshire  ;  but  he  bad  seen  enough  to  convince  him  that  Buckingham 


Charles  I.  513 

was  ruining  the  country,  and  there  was  now  no  stouter  opponent  of  the 
government  than  he.  Moreover,  Eliot  was  a  born  leader  of  men,  and  his 
recorded  speeches  prove  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  parliamentary 
orators.  When  parliament  met,  Eliot  took  the  lead,  and  was  supported 
by  Pym,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  and  others.  They  directed  their  attacks 
on  Buckingham  as  the  '  grievance  of  grievances,'  and  finally 
articles  of  impeachment  were  drawn  up  against  him.  These  ment  of 
articles,  as  was  likely  enough,  contained  much  that  was  "'^  *"^  **"' 
false  and  exaggerated.  Buckingham  had  made  mistakes,  but  he  had 
not  robbed  the  state  to  serve  his  own  ends,  or  sacrificed  English  in- 
terests for  his  own  profit.  Charles  at  once  sent  Eliot  and  Digges  to  the 
Tower ;  but  the  Commons  were  determined  to  have  them  out  again  or 
'  proceed  to  no  business,'  and  the  king,  anxious  for  his  subsidies,  was 
compelled  to  give  way.  Similarly  the  House  of  Lords  insisted  on  the 
release  of  the  earl  of  Arundel,  so  that  Charles  met  with  no  more  encour- 
agement in  one  House  than  in  the  other.  So  ignorant  was  Charles  of  the 
feeling  of  the  nation  that  he  took  the  opportunity  to  press  the  election  of 
Buckingham  as  chancellor  of  Cambridge  University.  The  Commons 
retaliated  by  drawing  up  a  general  remonstrance  in  which  the  whole 
policy  of  the  government  was  attacked,  and  by  pressing  on  the  pro- 
secution of  Buckingham.  Their  action  marks  a  decisive  period  in 
English  history.  If  their  claim  to  have  Buckingham  dismissed  were 
granted,  it  would  mean  that  henceforth  ministers  would  be  respon- 
sible to  parliament  and  not  to  the  king.  It  had  not  been  so  under 
Elizabeth,  and  Charles  was  determined  that  it  should  not  be  so  under 
him.  In  his  eyes  the  function  of  parliament  was  '  to  counsel,  not  to 
control ' ;  and  to  put  a  stop  to  the  proceedings  he  again  dissolved 
parliament.  If  the  reverse  were  granted,  it  would  follow  that  the 
king  reigned,  but  did  not  govern ;  and  Charles  was  the  last  man  to 
admit  this. 

As  no  grant  had  been  made  to  him  by  parliament,  Charles  now 
attempted  to  raise  a  revenue  by  demanding  from  each  county  a  *  free 
gift.'  This  was  to  be  collected  in  each  shire  by  the  justices  The  Free 
of  the  peace,  and  to  secure  their  co-operation  he  dismissed  ^*^** 
from  office  Eliot,  Phelips,  Digges,  Wentworth,  and  all  others  from  whom 
resistance  might  be  feared.  At  first  the  measure  was  fairly  successful ; 
but  by  degrees  the  spirit  of  resistance  awoke,  and  from  county  after 
county  news  of  refusals  came  in.  Indignant  with  this,  Charles  attempted 
a  forced  loan  ;  but  this  the  judges  at  once  refused  to  accept  as  legal,  and 
Chief  Justice  Crew  was  dismissed  for  his  independence  just  as  Coke  had 
been  before  him.     The  objections  of  the  judges,  however,  were  a  signal 

2k 


514  The  Stuarts  1626 

for  general  resistance,  and  Charles,  furious  at  his  discomfiture,   sum- 
moned the    leaders  before   the  council,   and  committed  them  to  the 
Tower.     His  action  soon  produced  a  fresh  crisis,  for  it  was 
Imprison-    naturally  asked  whether  the  king  had  a  right  to  imprison  a 
man  without  trial  before  his  peers,  and  Magna  Carta  was 
quoted  against  him.     To  test  the  case,  five  knights,  who  had  been  im- 
prisoned for  refusing  to  contribute  to  the  loan,  joined  in  appealing  to 
the  court  of  king's  bench  for  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  with  a  view  of 
obtaining  their  release,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  committed  no 
offence  which  would  justify  their  imprisonment.     The  gaoler  returned 
answer  that  they  were  imprisoned  by  the  king's  special  command.     On 
the  ground  of  precedent,  there  was  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  council 
had  frequently  sent  dangerous  persons  to  prison,  and  kept  them  there 
without  trial ;  but  the  lawyers  who  appeared  for  the  knights  appealed 
against  the  precedents  of  later  years  to  the  ancient  principles  of  the 
constitution.     On  the  main  question  the  judges  gave  no  decision,  but 
they  re-committed  the  prisoners  to  wait  till  the  king's  charges  were 
Billeting      ready.     With  poorer  men  Charles  dealt  even  more  harshly. 
Soldiers.      gome   were   threatened  with  impressment   for  the  war  ; 
others  were  eaten  out  of  house  and  home  by  having  the  hungry  and 
unpaid  soldiers  billeted  in  their  houses.     There  was  no  class  which  had 
not  taken  part  in  the  resistance,  and  no  class  escaped  the  attacks  of 
the  court. 

Meanwhile,  as  had  been  long  foreseen,  the  relations  between  England 
and  France  had  developed  into  open  war,  partly  from  the  causes  men- 
War  with    tioned   above   and  partly  because  the  English  had  seized 
France.        Erench  vessels  on  the  plea  that  they  were  carrying   *  con- 
traband of  war '  to  the  Spanish  Netherlands ;   for  which  the  French 
had  retaliated  by  seizing  the  English  wine  fleet  as  it  was  clearing  out 
of  Bordeaux  harbour  after  paying  the  ordinary  dues.     Obviously  the 
easiest  way  to  injure  France  was  to  aid  the  Rochellese,  whom  Richelieu 
The  Isle  of  "^^^  besieging  ;  and  for  this  purpose  an  expedition  was  sent 
^^^'  to  the  Isle  of  Rhe,  which  commanded  the  entrance  to  the 

harbour  of  La  Rochelle.  Buckingham  took  the  command  in  person  ;  but 
though  he  showed  many  of  the  qualities  of  a  great  commander,  the 
expedition  had  been  so  badly  organised,  and  the  pressed  men  were  so 
unwilling  to  fight,  that  the  affair  was  a  failure,  and  the  troops  came  back 
to  England  in  complete  disgrace.  '  Since  England  was  England,'  men 
said,  '  it  received  not  so  dishonourable  a  blow.'  This,  of  course,  was  an 
exaggeration,  as  each  generation  is  prone  to  magnify  both  its  successes 
and  its  defeats  ;  but  the  bitter  feeling  aroused  was  very  great. 


1628  Charles  I.  515 

Still,  unless  Charles  was  to  abandon  all  attempt  to  be  a  power  on  the 
continent,  money  and  troops  must  be  had  somehow  ;  and  every  sugges- 
tion of  the  council  having  failed,  nothing  remained  but  to  The  Third 
summon  a  parliament.  As  a  measure  of  conciliation,  the  Parliament, 
political  prisoners  were  released,  and  this  time  no  attempt  was  made  to 
interfere  with  the  election.  Consequently  all  the  old  opposition  members 
regained  their  seats,  and  the  array  of  talent  which  the  courtiers  had 
against  them  was  stronger  than  ever.  Before  parliament  met,  the  leaders 
decided  not  to  renew  the  impeachment  of  Buckingham,  but  to  give  their 
whole  attention  to  the  illegalities  which  had  been  perpetrated  since  the 
last  dissolution.  Accordingly,  Coke  attacked  the  arbitrary  imprison- 
ments, Eliot  the  forced  loan,  Wentworth  the  general  lawlessness  of  the 
agents  of  the  court.  The  gist  of  the  matter  clearly  lay  in  the  question 
of  arbitrary  imprisonment ;  and  Coke  formulated  the  inquiry,  '  Whether 
a  freeman  could  be  imprisoned  by  the  king  without  setting  down  the 
cause.'  Under  the  lead  of  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  who  cared  little 
about  the  past  provided  suitable  arrangements  could  be  made  for  the 
future,  a  bill  was  drawn  up  by  a  committee  consisting  of  himself,  Eliot, 
Coke,  Pym,  and  Phelips,  to  lay  down  the  law  afresh  ;  but  Charles,  hear- 
ing of  their  intention,  sent  to  inquire  whether  it  would  not  be  sufficient 
for  them  to  rely  on  his  '  royal  word  and  promise.'  In  reply,  the  Com- 
mons, giving  up  their  bill,  drew  up  a  Petition  of  Right,  to  petition  of 
which,  unlike  a  bill  which  would  receive  the  royal  consent  Right, 
at  the  end  of  the  session,  they  would  get  an  immediate  answer,  so  that 
they  might  know  how  to  act  with  regard  to  a  grant  of  five  subsidies 
which  they  had  under  consideration.  On  the  other  hand,  the  petition 
simply  stated  the  law  as  it  was,  and  made  no  allowance  for  the  case  of 
exceptionally  dangerous  times,  when  special  powers  might  be  needful. 
The  petition  was  accepted  by  the  House  of  Lords,  and  formally  pre- 
sented to  Charles.  After  appealing  to  the  de  Tallagio  non  Concedendo 
(see  page  223)  and  Magna  Carta,  it  proceeded  to  ask  :  *  That  no  man 
hereafter  be  compelled  to  make  or  yield  any  gift,  loan,  benevolence, 
tax,  or  such  like  charge,  without  common  consent  by  act  of  parlia- 
ment .  .  .  and  that  no  freeman  be  imprisoned  or  detained ;  and  that 
your  majesty  would  be  pleased  to  remove  the  said  soldiers  and  mariners  ; 
and  that  the  aforesaid  commissions  for  proceeding  by  martial  law  may 
be  revoked,  and  that  no  commissions  of  like  nature  may  issue  forth,  lest 
by  colour  of  them  any  of  your  majesty's  subjects  be  destroyed  or  put  to 
death,  contrary  to  the  laws  and  franchise  of  the  land.'  It  was  only  after 
long  hesitation  that  Charles  was  brought  to  give  his  consent ;  but  at 
length  he  yielded,  and  the  five  subsidies  were  granted  him  as  the  price 


516  The  Stuarts  1628 

of  his  consent.  The  Commons  fondly  hoped  that  their  victory  was 
decisive. 

However,  they  did  not  abandon  their  policy  of  placing  on  record 
their  opinion  of  the  proceedings  of  the  government ;  and  for  this  purpose 

„  ,.  .  drew  up  a  *  remonstrance,'  in  which  the  evils  in  the  church 

Religion.  .  ' 

were  laid  to  the  charge  of  Laud,  and  those  in  the  state 
to  Buckingham,  whom  the  king  was  plainly  asked  to  dismiss  from  his 
service.  Buckingham  would  gladly  have  met  his  accusers,  for  he  com- 
pletely believed  in  his  own  infallibility,  but  Charles  gave  a  simple 
refusal.  Checked  in  this  direction,  the  Commons  gave  their  attention  to 
the  old  question  of  tonnage  and  poundage  ;  but  as  they  designed  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  customs,  which  would  take  much  time,  it 
was  proposed  to  pass  a  temporary  measure,  allowing  them  to  be  collected 
till  next  session.  To  this  Charles  refused  to  agree  ;  and  the  Commons, 
accordingly,  taking  up  new  ground,  declared  that  the  collection  of  ton- 
nage and  poundage  without  grant  of  parliament  was  contrary  to  the 
Petition  of  Right.     Charles'  reply  was  an  instant  prorogation. 

During  the  recess  several  events  of  importance  happened.  The  first 
was  the  translation  of  Bishop  Laud  from  the  remote  diocese  of  Bath 
'William  and  Wells  to  the  important  see  of  London.  William  Laud 
Laud.  ^g^g  hovn  in  1573.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Reading  clothier, 
and  was  educated  at  St.  John's  CoUege,  Oxlbrd.  When  he  reached 
Oxford  he  found  that  the  theological  views  of  the  university  were 
strongly  Calvinist.  His  own  were  Arminian — that  is  to  say,  he  belonged 
to  the  party  who,  while  as  Protestants  they  denounced  the  errors  of 
Rome,  refused  to  accept  the  doctrines  of  Calvin  as  the  only  alternative, 
and  laid  stress  upon  Freewill  as  opposed  to  the  Calvinist  doctrine  of 
Predestination.  In  ceremonies  Laud  tried  to  adhere  to  the  old  practices 
of  the  Church  of  England,  testing  their  authority  by  what  was  known  of 
the  habits  and  ideas  of  the  primitive  fathers  of  the  church,  who 
lived  in  the  days  which  followed  the  death  of  the  apostles.  As  was 
natural,  such  men  were  disliked  and  distrusted  both  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  by  the  Puritans  ;  by  the  former  because  they  rejected  the 
authority  of  the  pope,  by  the  latter  because  they  still  retained  much  of 
the  ceremonial  of  the  ancient  church.  Laud,  however,  succeeded  in 
winning  over  Oxford  to  his  way  of  thinking,  and  as  his  views  were 
approved  at  court,  he  was  made  dean  of  Gloucester,  bishop  of  St. 
David's,  and  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  in  rapid  succession.  Under 
James,  who  appreciated  his  abilities  but  feared  trouble  from  his  activity, 
his  preferments  were  all  at  a  distance  from  court ;  but  Charles,  with 
less  caution,  made  him  bishop  of  London,  ^nd    accepted  him  as  his 


1628  Charles  I.  617 

ecclesiastical  adviser.  Laud  was  a  pious  and  earnest  man,  thoroughly- 
convinced  that  he  was  right  and  that  the  Puritans  were  wrong.  More- 
over, he  was  out  of  touch  with  the  earnest  men  of  that  party,  and  failed 
to  give  them  due  credit  for  their  zeal  after  godliness  and  morality.  On 
the  other  hand,  his  virtues  were  equally  unappreciated  by  them  ;  so  that 
the  breach  between  the  Puritans  and  the  court  clergy  rapidly  grew 
wider. 

London  being  a  Puritan  stronghold,  the  new  bishop  soon  found  him- 
self at  variance  with  many  of  his  clergy,  and  came  to  be  regarded  by  the 
mass  of  the  nation  as  a  bigoted  persecutor.  Charles,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  complete  faith  in  him,  and  was  foolish  enough  to  allow  his  name  to 
be  identified  with  Laud's  most  unpopular  measures.  The  points  around 
which  strife  was  most  bitter  were  the  position  of  the  communion  table 
or  altar,  and  the  rights  of  itinerant  preachers.  In  regard  to  the  former, 
the  name  itself  was  a  matter  of  dispute  ;  and  while  Laud  thought  it  should 
be  placed  at  the  east  end  of  churches  and  treated  with  great  reverence, 
the  Puritans  liked  to  have  it  in  the  nave  near  the  pulpit,  and  did  not  treat 
it  with  any  special  respect.  Of  late  years  the  Puritan  arrangement  had 
been  generally  adopted,  even  in  cathedrals.  So  Laud's  attempt  to  compel 
the  clergy  to  adopt  his  views  caused  bitter  strife  in  many  places.  In  regard 
to  the  question  of  itinerant  preachers  and  lecturers,  the  Puritans  laid 
great  stress  on  their  value,  and  many  of  their  best  ministers  travelled 
from  place  to  place.  Laud,  on  the  other  hand,  wished  to  compel  the 
clergy  to  preach  only  in  their  own  churches,  or  where  they  were  specially 
licensed  by  their  bishop.  Not  only  did  Charles  favour  Laud,  but  he 
gave  all  the  crown  patronage  to  men  of  Laud's  school.  Cosin  was  made 
bishop  of  Durham  ;  Neile,  bishop  of  Winchester  ;  Juxon,  bishop  of  Lon- 
don ;  Montague,  bishop  of  Chichester ;  Mainwaring  received  a  good 
living ;  while  their  opponents  were  left  unpromoted.  In  return,  Laud 
and  his  friends  were  indefatigable  in  preaching  and  writing  in  favour  of 
the  royal  prerogative  ;  while  the  persecuted  Calvinists  made  common 
cause  with  the  opposition.  In  this  way  the  parties  of  political  and 
religious  discontent  became  identified. 

About  the  same  time  that  Laud  became  bishop  of  London,  Went- 
worth  separated  himself  from  the  leaders  of  the  Commons.  Wentworth 
belonged  to  an  ancient  Yorkshire  family,  and  was  bom  in  „,    ^ 

^  "^ '  Wentworth. 

1593.     He  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  after  foreign 
travel  settled  down  at  Wentworth  Woodhouse,  his  country  seat  near 
Rotherham,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  county  business,  and  to  the 
chase  and  other  field  sports,  in  all  of  which  he  was  an  adept.     He  sat  in 
several  parliaments  of  James',  but  did  little  till  Buckingham's  inefl&ciency 


518  The  Stuarts  1628 

roused  him.  All  along  his  main  idea  had  been  to  secure  good  and 
efficient  government ;  he  cared  nothing  about  Puritanism,  and,  like 
Bacon,  he  expected  more  good  to  come  from  the  intelligent  government 
of  well-informed  ministers  than  from  the  interference  in  business  of  an 
ill-informed  House  of  Commons.  Apparently  he  thought  that  the 
Petition  of  Right  would  put  a  stop  to  illegality  in  the  future,  and  was 
now  willing  to  give  Charles  a  fresh  trial.  Accordingly  he  retired  to 
the  north,  accepted  a  peerage  as  Baron  Wentworth,  and  presently 
took  office  as  president  of  the  council  of  the  north,  where  his  great 
administrative  powers  had  scope  to  display  themselves.  Wentworth 
could  never  have  worked  with  Buckingham,  whose  abilities  he  de- 
Murder  of  spised,  and  whose  foreign  policy  he  detested;  but  in 
Buckingham.  1629  Buckingham  was  assassinated  at  Portsmouth  by 
John  Felton. 

Meanwhile  the  king,  who  strongly  believed  that  the  Petition  of  Right 
had  never  been  meant  to  forbid  the  collection  of  tonnage  and  poundage. 
Tonnage  and  which  amounted  to  a  fourth  of  his  revenue,  had  been 
Poundage,  taking  the  duties  as  before.  Resistance,  however,  was 
made  ;  and  Alderman  Chambers,  when  brought  before  the  Exchequer 
Court,  asserted  that  '  in  no  part  of  the  world  were  merchants  so  screwed 
and  wrung  as  in  England,  and  that  in  Turkey  they  have  more  encourage- 
ment than  in  England.'  For  these  words  he  was  brought  before  the 
court  of  Star  Chamber,  which  fined  him  £2000,  and  sent  him  to  prison 
till  he  should  acknowledge  his  fault.  To  his  honour,  Chambers  refused 
to  do  anything  of  the  kind. 

When  parliament  met  for  the  session  of  1629,  the  attention  of  the 
members  was  at  once  given  to  the  question  of  tonnage  and  poundage. 
What  stood  in  the  way  of  their  making  the  usual  grant 
was  the  vexed  question  of  the  impositions,  which  had  been 
in  dispute  for  twenty  years.     Had  the  tonnage  and  poundage  question 
stood  alone,  the  obvious  compromise  was  to  accept  the  duties  as  they 
stood  ;  but,  hoping  for  better  terms,  the  members  would  not  give  way, 
and  soon  left  it  for  the  even  more  pressing  question  of 
religion.     In  this,  led  by  Eliot,   the  house   adopted  an 
extreme  position,  and  acted  as  though  an  attack  was  being  organised 
against  the  Reformation.      Their   main  assault  was   directed  against 
a  declaration  put  forth  by  Charles,  which  proclaimed  silence  on  dis- 
puted points,  and  enjoined  all  men  to   accept   without   question  the 
interpretation  of  the  Articles  which  was  set  forth  by  the  bishops.     It 
had  really,  however,  under  a  show  of  fairness,  played  into  the  hands  of 
the  Arminians.     Against  this  Eliot  loudly  protested,  and  thundered 


1629  Charles  I.  519 

against  the  proposal  to  take  as  final  the  opinion  of  such  partisans  as 
Montague  and  Laud.  Unfortunately,  the  House  of  Commons  was 
equally  unfitted  to  be  a  final  authority  on  matters  of  faith  ;  and  tolera- 
tion of  opponents  was  equally  foreign  to  the  thoughts  both  of  the 
bishops  and  of  the  Puritans.  Actuated  by  exactly  the  same  feeling 
which  made  Laud  hale  the  Calvinist  preachers  before  the  court  of 
high  commission,  the  Commons  demanded  that  '  the  authors  and  abettors 
of  Popish  and  Arminian  innovations '  should  be  punished,  and  preferment 
given  to  their  opponents.  Every  day  the  completeness  of  the  gulf 
which  divided  Charles  from  the  mass  of  the  nation  was  becoming  more 
apparent. 

When  the  Conmions  returned  to  tonnage  and  poundage,  avoiding- 
direct  attack,  they  summoned  to  the  bar  the  custom-house  officers.  The 
plan  failed  ;  for  Charles  assumed  complete  responsibility  for  Tonnage  and 
the  acts  of  his  officers.  He  ordered  the  Commons  to  adjourn  Poundage, 
for  a  week,  and  when  the  House  re-assembled,  another  adjournment  was 
ordered.  This  Eliot  refused  to  accept,  and  was  followed  by  other  mem- 
bers. Holies  and  Valentine  held  the  Speaker  by  force  in  his  chair,  and 
insisted  on  Eliot's  right  to  speak.  Then,  amidst  a  scene  of  tremendous 
excitement,  while  the  king's  messenger  was  knocking,  three  resolutions 
were  carried,  which  coupled  together  the  views  of  the  House  on  the  two 
great  questions  of  the  day.     They  ran  thus  : — 

1.  *  Whosoever  shall  bring  in  innovation  in  religion,  or  by  favour  seek 
to  extend  or  introduce  Popery  or  Arminianism,  or  other  opinions  dis- 
agreeing from  the  true  and  orthodox  church,  shall  be  reputed  a  capital 
enemy  to  the  kingdom  and  this  commonwealth.' 

2.  '  Whosoever  shall  counsel  or  advise  the  taking  and  levying  of  the 
subsidies  of  tonnage  and  poundage,  not  being  granted  by  parliament,  or 
shall  be  an  actor  or  an  instrument  therein,  shall  be  likewise  reputed  an 
innovator  in  the  government,  and  a  capital  enemy  to  this  kingdom  and 
commonwealth.' 

3.  *If  any  merchant  or  other  person  whatsoever  shall  voluntarily 
yield  or  pay  the  said  subsidies  of  tonnage  and  poundage,  not  being 
granted  by  parliament,  he  shall  likewise  be  reputed  a  betrayer  of 
the  liberty  of  England,  and  an  enemy  to  the  same.' 

The  House  then  adjourned.  The  resolutions  show  the  Commons  at 
their  best  and  their  worst.  If  their  first  resolution  had  been  carried  out 
religious  freedom  would  have  been  as  impossible  under  their  rule  as  it 
was  under  that  of  Laud  ;  the  second  and  third  closed  the  loophole  for 
arbitrary  taxation  which  had  been  left  open  by  the  Petition  of  Right. 
It  was  not,  however,  to  be  expected  that  Charles  would  accept  either. 


520  The  Stuarts  1629 

He  would  not  throw  over  Laud ;  he  could  not  give  up  without  a 
struggle  a  source  of  income  which  had  been  granted  as  a  matter  of 
course  to  his  predecessors.  He  therefore  dissolved  parliament,  and  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  moulding  the  nation  to  his  own  view.  His 
first  action  was  to  arrest  Eliot,  Holies,  Valentine,  Strode,  Selden,  and 
five  other  members  of  the  lower  house.  When  questioned  by  the 
council,  some  prevaricated  and  some  gave  way  ;  but  Eliot, 
Eliot  and  supported  by  Strode  and  Valentine,  took  the  bold  course 
of  replying,  'I  refuse  to  answer,  because  I  hold  that  it  is 
against  the  privilege  of  the  House  of  Parliament  to  speak  of  anything 
which  was  done  in  the  house.'  Charles  was  furious,  and  spoke  of  him  as 
'  an  outlawed  man,  desperate  in  mind  and  fortune.'  In  due  course  the 
prisoners  applied  for  bail ;  but  the  decision  was  put  off"  till  after  the  long 
vacation,  and  meanwhile  they  remained  in  the  Tower.  Eventually  the 
court  of  king's  bench  fined  Eliot  J2000,  Holies  1000  marks,  and 
Valentine  ;£500.  Some  gave  way,  but  Eliot,  Valentine,  and  Strode 
persisted.  Charles  would  show  no  mercy.  His  chief  displeasure  fell  on 
Eliot  as  leader.  One  by  one  the  indulgences  of  a  state  prisoner  were 
cut  ofi^.  His  health  sank  ;  but  a  request  for  country  air  was  refused,  and 
when  he  died  it  was  by  the  express  orders  of  Charles  that  his  remains 
were  laid,  not  in  his  family  burying-place,  but  in  the  graveyard  of  the 
Tower.  Strode  and  Valentine  persisted  in  their  refusal,  and  were  not 
released  till  1640,  on  the  eve  of  the  meeting  of  the  Short  Parliament. 
Few  among  their  contemporaries  saw  the  significance  of  the  stand  they 
made  ;  but  by  after  ages  Eliot  has  been  recognised  as  pre-eminently  a 
martyr,  and  Strode  and  Valentine  as  confessors  for  freedom  of  speech  and 
freedom  of  action  in  the  House  of  Parliament.  Charles  had  now  for  the 
time  given  up  the  idea  of  working  with  a  parliament ;  it  remained  to  be 
seen  whether  his  abilities  were  equal  to  the  task  of  reconciling  his 
subjects  to  arbitrary  power  by  the  efficiency  of  his  administration,  and 
whether  the  force  of  circumstances  would  not  inevitably  drive  him  to 
acts  of  tyranny,  of  which,  when  he  set  out,  he  had  no  conception. 

Eleven  years  of  arbitrary  government  followed  the  dissolution  of 
parliament  in  1629.  During  the  early  part  of  this  period  Charles'  chief 
Peace  adviser  was  Richard,  Lord  Weston,  afterwards  earl  of 
Policy.  Portland,  who  was  lord-treasurer  till  his  death  in  1635. 
Weston  had  been  raised  to  power  by  Buckingham ;  but  had  no 
sympathy  with  his  ambitious  schemes.  Like  Middlesex,  he  preferred 
peace,  and  was  desirous  of  bringing  the  finances  into  order  by  a  rigid 
economy.  His  manners  were  rough  and  overbearing,  and  he  had  few 
friends.     Laud  directed  the  king's  conscience,  but  so  long  as  Abbot  lived 


1633  Charles  I.  521 

had  no  official  authority  except  in  his  own  diocese  of  London  ;  Went- 
worth  was  chiefly  occupied  by  the  affairs  of  the  north.  By  the  advice 
of  Weston  and  Wentworth  peace  was  made  with  France  in  April  1630, 
and  with  Spain  in  November  of  the  same  year.  After  this,  Charles 
still  clung  to  the  idea  of  a  restoration  of  the  Palatinate  to  Frederick, 
and  hoped  to  effect  it  sometimes  by  allying  with  Spain,  and  sometimes 
by  common  action  with  France,  but  as  he  took  no  active  part  in  the 
hostilities  of  the  continent,  his  approaches  were  regarded  by  both  sides 
with  equal  contempt. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  Weston's  economies,  the  treasury  was  still 
unfilled.  It  is  true  that  tonnage  and  poundage  began  again  to  be  paid, 
for  the  merchants  feared  bankruptcy  and  saw  no  hope  of  Financial 
assistance  from  parliament.  The  conclusion  of  peace  was  ^^^culties. 
also  a  great  relief  to  the  expenditure  ;  but  Charles  himself  was  far  from 
economical,  and  Henrietta  Maria,  as  her  husband  said,  'was  a  bad 
housekeeper,'  so  in  everything  that  was  done  the  need  of  bringing  money 
into  the  exchequer  was  constantly  kept  in  view.  It  is  well  to  divide 
Charles'  attempts  to  raise  money  under  three  heads  :  (1)  those  under- 
taken solely  to  get  money ;  (2)  those  in  which  public  advantage  was 
the  ostensible  object ;  and  (3)  those  primarily  designed  for  the 
benefit  of  trade.  In  the  first  class,  the  collection  of  tonnage  and 
poundage  stands  first.  At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Charles  might 
defend  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  was  only  doing  what  James  i.  had 
done  between  the  death  of  Elizabeth  and  the  formal  grant  of  tonnage 
and  poundage  by  parliament ;  but  the  resolution  passed  before  the  last 
dissolution  had  deprived  him  of  this  excuse.  Distraint  of  knighthood 
stands  next.  There  was  no  question  that,  according  to  the  letter  of 
the  law  as  it  stood,  the  king  had  a  perfect  right  to  compel  every  land- 
owner to  the  value  of  £40  a  year  to  be  knighted,  or  to  pay  a  fine. 
Nevertheless,  as  the  right  had  not  been  enforced  for  one  hundred  years, 
the  gentry  were  naturally  irritated  when  Charles  insisted  on  his  powers. 
Next  stands  the  inquisition  on  the  boundaries  of  the  forests.  These 
had  been  fixed  by  Edward  i.  just  after  the  confirmation  of  the  charters  ; 
but  Charles'  lawyers  insisted  that  large  tracts  which  had  been  forest 
under  Henry  ii.  had  then  been  omitted,  and  insisted  on  their  resump- 
tion, and  those  landowners  in  whose  hands  these  were  had  to  pay  fines  to 
secure  their  titles.  This  touched  the  landowners  on  all  the  great  forests, 
and  Rockingham  forest,  for  example,  was  extended  from  six  miles  to 
sixty.  It  is  true  that  the  fines  were  small,  and  that  no  one  was  stripped 
of  his  property  ;  but  the  irritation  was  excessive,  and  as  in  the  case  of 
distraint  of  knighthood,  it  affected  a  class  who  had  been  untouched 


522  The  Stuarts  1633 

by  tonnage  and  poundage,  and  who  had  little  connection  with  the 
Puritanism  of  the  towns.  The  second  class  of  measures  might  have 
been  defended  according  to  the  ideas  of  the  age,  on  the  ground  that  their 
object  was  good,  and  that  the  making  of  money  was  only  a  secondary 
object.  The  depopulation  of  the  country,  and  the  rush  of  population  to 
the  towns,  was  as  much  a  subject  of  solicitude  then  as  it  is  now  ;  and  on 
the  one  hand.  Sir  Antony  Roper  and  others  were  fined  for  pulling  down 
houses  on  their  estates  and  letting  arable  land  go  out  of  cultivation ; 
and  on  the  other,  London  builders  were  mulcted  by  the  court  of  Star 
Chamber  for  building  houses  in  town,  and  householders  for  overcrowd- 
ing their  houses  with  lodgers. 

In  those  days  no  one  doubted  that  one  of  the  functions  of  government 
was  the  regulation  of  trade.  Monopolies  to  individual  courtiers  were  so 
Regulation  unpopular  that  they  had  been  forbidden  in  1624,  but  the 
of  Trade,  practice  of  handing  over  a  special  trade  to  an  incor- 
porated company  does  not  appear  to  have  been  reckoned  the  same 
thing.  The  view  was,  that  goods  would  be  better  supplied  by  an  autho- 
rised body  than  by  private  competition ;  but  as  such  corporations  were 
ready  to  pay  for  their  privileges,  a  ready  way  of  raising  money  was  also 
presented.  Accordingly,  the  right  of  supplying  London  with  coal  was 
reserved  to  a  corporation  of  shipowners,  who  were  to  pay  Charles  one 
shilling  a  chaldron,  and  to  charge  the  public  seventeen  shillings  a  chaldron 
in  summer  and  nineteen  shillings  in  winter.  The  manufacture  of  soap 
was  restricted  to  another  company,  who  paid  a  royalty  of  £8  per  ton  ; 
starch  to  another  ;  and  the  trade  in  bricks,  beer,  wine,  and  other  articles 
was  similarly  regulated.  Generally  speaking,  more  harm  than  good  was 
done  by  the  regulation,  and  it  caused  great  irritation  among  the  trading 
classes. 

In  the  winter  of  1631  Wentworth  was  appointed  lord-deputy  of 
Ireland.  Since  Chichester's  retirement  in  1615,  Ireland  had  been  ruled 
by  Sir  Oliver  St.  John  and  by  Henry  Cary,  Lord  Falkland. 
These  men  had  adopted  the  system  of  Chichester,  and  had 
followed  up  the  plantation  of  Ulster  by  settling  Englishmen  in  the 
counties  of  Wexford,  Longford,  Westmeath,  and  Leitrim.  Their  great 
difficulties  had  arisen  from  the  insufficiency  of  the  revenue  for  the 
expenses  of  the  army,  and  Falkland  had  been  obliged  to  bargain  for 
some  concessions  from  Charles  in  return  for  a  grant  of  .£4000  a  year  for 
three  years.  These  concessions  were  known  in  Ireland  as  '  the  graces,' 
and  the  chief  points  were  :  (1)  The  substitution  of  an  oath  of  allegiance 
for  the  oath  of  supremacy  ;  (2)  the  abolition  of  the  one  shilling  fine  for 
non-attendance  at  church ;   and   (3)  the  recognition  of  a  sixty  years' 


1633  Charles  L  523 

title  to  the  possession  of  land  as  good  even  against  the  claims  of  the 
king.  It  was  understood  that  these  were  to  be  confirmed  by  act 
of  parliament,  but  when  Wentworth  took  office  no  parliament  had  met. 

In  accepting  the  post,  Wentworth  desired  to  show  what  an  excellent 
thing  absolute  power  was  in  the  hands  of  an  able  man.  He  believed 
that  all  private  interests  ought  to  give  way  to  the  good  of  «,  ^  ^j^ 
the  state ;  that  all  men  should  work  with  a  single  eye  to 
the  attainment  of  efficiency,  and  that  neither  rank  nor  wealth  should  secure 
offenders  from  punishment.  This  system  he  called  '  Thorough.'  Went- 
worth could  hardly  have  gone  to  any  country  where  such  a  system  would  be 
more  out  of  harmony  with  the  habits  of  the  officials  with  whom  he  had  to 
deal.  Since  Falkland's  departure  the  government  had  been  General 
carried  on  by  a  committee  of  officials,  men,  as  he  said,  *  intent  Corruption, 
upon  their  own  ends,'  typical  of  whom  was  Kobert  Boyle,  who,  having 
landed  in  1588  with  £27  in  his  pocket,  had  contrived  in  the  service  of  the 
state  to  become  the  largest  landowner  in  Ireland,  and  to  secure  the  dignity 
of  earl  of  Cork.  Under  them  disorder  reigned  supreme.  The  finances 
were  in  a  complete  confusion,  the  anny  existed  '  rather  in  name  than  in 
deed,'  and  the  civil  service  had  become  a  byword  for  peculation  and 
jobbery.  Wentworth  set  himself  at  once  to  the  work  of  reforming  the 
instruments  with  which  he  was  to  carry  out  his  policy.  That  policy,  as 
in  the  case  of  all  Englishmen  of  the  time,  was  based  on  a  belief  that  the 
one  salvation  for  Ireland  lay  in  forcing  the  Catholic  and  Celtic  population 
of  the  country  to  adopt  the  religion  and  habits  of  Protestant  Englishmen. 
The  only  difterence  between  Wentworth  and  his  fellows  was  that  while 
they  entered  upon  the  work  with  selfish  motives  and  with  their  eyes 
fixed  on  their  own  interests,  he  devoted  himself  heart  and  soul  to  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  interests  of  the  state.  His  general  aims  were  to 
raise  the  material  condition  of  the  mass  of  the  Irish  by  showing  them 
the  road  to  material  prosperity  ;  and  to  improve  their  moral  and  political 
condition  by  the  diff'usion  of  education  and  the  propagation  of  the 
Protestant  religion.  He  hoped  that  a  few  years  of  his  rule  would  make 
such  a  change  in  the  condition  of  Ireland  that  no  one  would  wish  to  go 
back  to  the  old  state  of  things. 

Wentworth's  first  care  was  to  reorganise  the  army.     He  saw  every 

soldier  himself,  arranged  for  their  regular  pay,  and  enforced  discipline  on 

both  officers  and  men.      He  found  the  seas  infested  with   „, 

Went- 
pirates,  so  he  fitted  out  two  warships  of  his  own  and  soon   worth's       i 

made  navigation  safe.     He  introduced  flax  from  Holland,      ^  °  "^^* 

and  Dutch  flax-spinners  and  weavers  to  teach  its  use  ;  and  he  advanced 

money  of  his  own  to  start  a  cannon  foundry.     His  great  hope  was  to 


524  The  Stuarts  1688 

make  England  and  Ireland  interdependent,  so  that  each  might  feel  itself 
more  prosperous  for  its  connection  with  the  other.  Ireland  was  to  buy 
England's  cloth  ;  England,  Ireland's  linen  ;  the  English  traders  were  to 
victual  their  ships  with  meat  grown  on  Irish  pastures,  and  pickled  with 
Cheshire  salt  ;  while  the  king  was  to  benefit  by  a  salt  duty  paid  by  the 
Irish  farmers. 

For  moral  improvement  Wentworth  trusted  to  a  reform  of  the 
church.  On  his  arrival  he  had  found  the  condition  of  the  Irish 
Reforming  Protestant  Church  as  bad  as  it  could  be.  Churches  were 
the  Church,  {n  ruins ;  while  the  land  which  should  have  supported 
them  was  in  the  hands  of  men  like  the  earl  of  Cork,  who  was  getting 
^1000  a  year  from  lands  belonging  to  the  cathedral  of  Lismore,  the 
right  over  which  he  had  contrived  to  acquire  for  the  sum  of  J20. 
Numbers  of  livings  had  to  be  thrown  together  to  make  up  a  miserable 
pittance  for  a  single  clergyman  ;  while  tithes  had  been  filched  right  and 
left  by  the  laity  and  the  crown.  Few  of  the  clergy  could  speak  Irish, 
and  fewer  still  had  the  slightest  sympathy  with  the  feelings  of  their 
nominal  parishioners.  One  church  in  Dublin  was  used  as  a  stable, 
another  as  a  dwelling-house,  and  the  earl  of  Cork  had  just  placed  a  huge 
monument  to  his  wife  on  the  site  of  the  high  altar  of  Dublin  Cathedral. 
BedeU  alone  among  the  Irish  bishops  could  talk  Irish  ;  and  the  conditions 
of  his  cathedral,  where  the  prayers  were  read  in  the  native  tongue,  and 
of  his  diocese,  where  alone  Protestantism  was  spreading,  only  served  to 
throw  into  darker  shadow  the  rest  of  the  island.  To  clean  such  an 
Augean  stable  as  this  was  too  much  for  one  man's  lifetime  ;  but  what 
he  could  do  Wentworth  did.  He  restored  the  Dublin  churches  to  their 
proper  uses,  drove  out  the  tobacconists  whose  shops  occupied  the  vaults 
of  the  cathedral,  and  compelled  the  earl  to  remove  his  wife's  tomb 
to  another  part  of  the  building.  He  gave  up  the  tithes  belonging  to 
the  crown,  encouraged  Bedell  in  his  work  of  completing  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  which  Chichester  had  initiated,  and  even  compelled  con- 
vocation to  make  the  articles  and  canons  of  the  church  a  little  less 
obtrusively  Protestant. 

His  dealings  with  parliament  were  less  satisfactory.  In  those  days 
the  Irish  parliament  made  no  pretence  of  representing  the  nation.  Its 
The  Irish  members  were  the  representatives  of  the  dominant  caste 
Parliament.  Q^ly,  and,  moreover,  were  sharply  divided  into  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  corresponding,  roughly  speaking,  to  the  old  and  the 
new  settlers.  When  it  met,  Wentworth  used  the  Protestant  majority 
to  vote  a  large  subsidy  to  the  crown,  and  then  informed  them  that  the 
*  graces '  would  not  be  conformed  till  next  session.     When  that  came,  it 


1636  Charles  I.  525 

was  announced  that  the  '  graces '  would  only  be  passed  in  a  mutilated 
form,  and  in  particular  that  that  which  referred  to  titles  would  be 
omitted.  The  discontent  was  great,  but  Wentworth  would  take  no 
'  nay/  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  Protestant  majority,  passed  through  a 
series  of  laws  of  his  own  devising,  which  were  well  calculated  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  country. 

Unfortunately  for  Wentworth,  his  proceedings  had  deeply  angered 
the  old  officials,  such  as  Cork,  while  his  next  step  prevented  him 
gaining  any  credit.  His  more  than  brutal  conduct  to  Lord 
Mountmorris  —who  had  been  condemned  to  death  by  court-  Connaught 
martial  in  order  to  drive  him  from  office — raised  powerful  P^^"*^^^°"- 
enemies  to  his  remedial  measures  among  the  Irish  population.  It  was 
now  seen  that  the  real  object  of  omitting  the  title  'grace'  was  to  enable 
Wentworth  to  carry  out  a  plantation  in  Connaught,  over  which  the 
crown  had  an  ancient  claim.  Without  doubt,  Wentworth  believed  that 
to  take  away  a  portion  of  the  land  and  give  it  to  English  settlers, 
and  to  apportion  the  rest  among  individual  owners,  would  be  more 
conducive  to  progress  than  the  existing  system  of  common  ownership  ; 
but  he  did  not  take  account  of  the  fact  that  conmion  ownership  was 
dear  to  the  Celts,  and  that  the  Irish  preferred  the  casual  though  often 
exorbitant  demands  of  their  chiefs  to  the  regularly  recurring  rent-day 
of  an  English  landlord.  Moreover,  the  attack  on  the  Connaught  titles 
was  in  direct  violation  of  Charles'  own  word,  in  face  of  which  no  land- 
owner could  feel  secure.  Wentworth,  however,  was  pushing  forward 
his  scheme,  when,  in  1639,  his  attention  was  called  otf  by  other  events. 

While  Wentworth  had  been  carrying  out  his  system  of  *  thorough '  in 
Ireland,  Charles  and  Laud  had  held  on  their  English  policy,  undeterred 
by  any  doubt  about  its  ultimate  success.    The  public  expres-    Domestic 
sion  of  opinion,  both  on  politics  and  religion,  was  sternly    Policy- 
repressed.     The  means  of  doing  this  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  crown  by  the  constitution  of  the  courts  of  Star 
Star  Chamber  and  High  Commission.     So  long  as  the  Star 
Chamber  was  dealing  either  with  the  ill  deeds  of  turbulent  subjects  or 
with  suits  between  private  individuals,  its  members,  who  were  made  up 
of  privy  councillors  and  of  the  two  chief  justices  of  king's  bench  and 
common  pleas,   did  their  work  both   quickly   and  well.      The   legal 
knowledge  of  the  judges,  combined  with  the  common  sense  of  the  privy 
councillors,  was  a  security  for  substantial  justice,  and  many  preferred  to 
have  their  cases  tried  before  it  rather  than  before  the  ordinary  courts  ; 
but  so  soon  as  it  had  to  deal  with  cases  in  which  the  defendants  were 
charged  with  attacking  the  policy  of  the  king's  ministers,  its  members 


626  The  Stuarts  1633 

ceased  to  be  judges  and  became  partisans.  Similarly,  the  court  of  High 
Commission  did  very  well  sd  long  as  it  was  dealing  with  the  moral 
High  Com-  errors  of  clergymen,  or  with  the  matrimonial  delinquencies 
mission.  ^f  j^q  laity,  but  changed  its  character  as  soon  as  it  had 
before  it  a  Puritan  clergyman  or  writer  whose  views  were  antagonistic 
to  those  of  the  bench  of  bishops.  Then,  too,  the  special  powers  of  these 
courts — their  right  to  put  questions  to  the  accused,  and  the  practice  of 
trying  cases  without  a  jury — became  simply  engines  of  tyranny.  In 
justice  to  the  members,  however,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  such 
cases  formed  a  very  small  proportion  among  those  brought  before  them, 
though,  naturally,  they  are  those  which  are  best  remembered. 

Of  this  type,  that  of  Alderman  Chambers  was  one,  and  another  was 

that  of  Dr.  Leighton.      Leighton  was  a  Scottish  Presby- 

and  terian,  settled  in  London  as  a  physician,  who,  in  1628,  had 

eig    on.     g^^  ^p  ^  petition  to  the  parliament  in  favour  of  the  abolition 

of  Episcopacy.     This  he  had  elaborated  into  a  book  called  Zion's  Plea 

against  Prelacy.    This  attacked  the  bishops  in  no  measured  terms,  spoke 

of  Buckingham  as  Goliath,  and  of  Henrietta  Maria  as  'a  daughter  of 

Heth,'  a  '  Canaanite,'  and  an  '  idolatress.'     The  only  defence  capable  of 

being  pleaded  for  him  is,  that  in  the  long  run  even  the  abuse  of  free 

expression  of  opinion  is  better  than  its  repression — a  doctrine  far  in 

advance  of  the  time — and  Leighton  was  ordered  to  be  flogged,  X3illoried, 

and  deprived  of  his  ears.      In  1634  the  court  had  before  it 

Prynne. 

William  Prynne,  a  barrister  of  great  learning  but  little 
humour,  who  had  published  a  book  called  HistriomastiXy  or  the  Player's 
Scourge.  For  many  years  a  controversy  had  been  raging  about  the 
morality  of  stage  plays,  which  had  undoubtedly  deteriorated  since  the 
days  of  Shakespeare  ;  and  Prynne  was  merely  representing  the  views  of 
his  party  when  he  denounced  the  drama  as  utterly  pernicious.  The  king 
and  queen,  however,  were  constant  playgoers ;  and  Henrietta's  taking 
part  in  a  masque  made  Prynne's  strictures  on  the  characters  of  female 
actors  particularly  galling.  Prynne  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for 
life,  expelled  from  Lincoln's  Inn  and  from  the  bar,  deprived  of  his 
university  degree,  to  be  set  in  the  pillory,  and  to  have  both  his  ears  cut 
off.  The  sentence,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  caused  much 
excitement.  Prynne's  language  had  been  outrageous ;  and  even  John 
Milton,  Puritan  as  he  was,  wrote  Comus,  and  introduced  into  it  a  female 
part,  to  show  that  the  drama  was  as  capable  of  giving  instruction  in 
good  morality  as  in  bad. 

In  1 633  Laud  became  archbishop  of  Canterbury.    His  elevation  to  power 
gave  him  a  larger  sphere  for  activity ;  and  as  see  after  see  fell  vacant 


1637 


Charles  I.  527 


his  friends  were  raised  to  the  bench  of  bishops.  Neile  was  made  arch- 
bishop of  York  ;  Wren  became  bishop  of  Norwich,  and  a  few  years  later 
of  Ely  ;  Juxon  succeeded  Laud  at  London.  Soon,  Williams  Laud's 
of  Lincoln,  the  old  friend  of  James  i.,  was  the  only  bishop  of  Policy. 
Puritan  leanings.  Laud's  activity  was  endless.  With  the  High  Com- 
mission court  at  his  back,  he  rigidly  enforced  his  own  system  on  Puritan 
rectors  and  vicars.  To  the  horror  of  the  Puritan  party,  he  took  up  the 
cause  of  those  who  saw  no  harm  in  giving  up  Sunday  afternoon  to 
recreation,  and  republished  James'  book  of  sports — which  permitted 
archery,  dancing,  and  other  athletic  exercises  on  Sunday  afternoons — 
and  ordered  it  to  be  read  by  the  clergy,  whether  they  approved  of  it  or 
not.  Of  Laud's  personal  character,  and  of  the  integrity  of  his  motives, 
it  is  impossible  to  speak  too  highly  ;  but  his  zeal  was  wholly  untempered 
either  by  sympathy  or  by  discretion.  It  was  right  that  he  should  be  no 
respecter  of  persons,  and  that  immorality  should  be  as  severely  censured 
in  the  noble  as  in  the  peasant ;  and  few  can  object  to  the  archbishop's 
efforts  to  restore  order  and  decency  in  the  churches ;  but  Laud  forgot 
that  such  severity  can  only  be  maintained  if  it  falls  in  with  public 
opinion,  and  that,  by  setting  against  him  the  Puritan  clergy — who, 
though  they  disagreed  with  him  on  external  ceremonial,  were  as  eager 
as  himself  for  reformation  in  morality — he  was  not  only  estranging 
valuable  allies,  but  paving  the  way  for  his  own  overthrow  by  an  alliance 
of  the  discontented  parties.  If  he  had  struck  at  irregularity  of  conduct 
and  left  doctrine  alone,  or  if  he  had  struck  at  doctrine  but  been  blind 
to  irregularity,  he  might  have  succeeded.  To  do  both  was  fatal  to  his 
hopes,  for  it  made  Laud's  system  unpopular  with  so  many  that  any 
attack  upon  it  was  sure  to  find  numerous  sympathisers. 

Among  other  means  of  repression,  Laud's  hand  had  been  heavy  on  the 
press,  and  no  book  opposed  to  his  view  had  a  chance  of  obtaining  a 
licence  to  be  printed.     In  consequence,  secret  presses  were 
set  up,  and  books  were  sent  to  be  printed  in  Holland. 
Among  the  leaders  in  this  paper-war  were  Prynne,  Henry  Burton,  a 
London  clergyman,  who  had  been  a  court  chaplain,  and  Bast- 
wick,  a  Colchester  physician — all  university  men.     In  1637   Burton,' and 
all  of  them  appeared  before  the  Star  Chamber.     Prynne's      ^^*^**^  • 
offence  was  the  writing  of  two  books — one,  A  Divine  Tragedy  Lately 
Acted,  in  which  he  had  collected  all  the  examples  he  could  find  of  sudden 
death  or  accident  overtaking  Sabbath-breakers,  which  he  connected  with 
the  king's  *  declaration  of  sports '  ;  and  another.  News  from  Ipswich,  in 
which  the  bishops  were  charged  with  deliberately  paving  the  way  for  a 
reintroduction  of  Popery.     Burton  had  published  two  sermons  entitled 


528  The  Stuarts  1637 

For  God  and  the  King,  in  which  he  had  fiercely  attacked  Laud's  most 
cherished  ceremonies  ;  and  John  Bastwick's  Litany  of  John  Bastivick 
contained  the  prayer,  '  From  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  good  Lord, 
deliver  us.'  No  wonder  the  court  was  angry,  and  its  sentence  savage. 
The  three  were  ordered  to  lose  their  ears  (some  relics  of  Prynne's  yet  re- 
mained *to  him),  to  stand  in  the  pillory,  to  be  fined,  and  to  be  imprisoned 
far  from  their  friends  at  Carnarvon,  Lancaster,  and  Launceston.  When 
Prynne  had  been  sentenced  before,  he  had  met  with  little  sympathy,  but 
now  the  three  were  regarded  as  popular  martyrs  ;  100,000  men  went  out 
to  escort  Burton  to  Highgate.  Even  in  these  distant  prisons  friends  were 
found,  and  eventually  Charles  had  to  transfer  his  prisoners  to  the 
Channel  Islands,  to  be  still  further  out  of  reach  of  their  supporters. 
It  was  not  only  the  views  of  the  men  which  excited  sympathy.  The 
fact  that  the  degradation  of  the  pillory  was  inflicted  on  men  of  position 
and  learning  roused  indignation  in  quarters  where  Puritan  feeling  was 
practically  unknown. 

Meanwhile,  the  financial  measures  of  the  government  were  irritating  a 

class  of  persons  more  numerous  even  than  those  who  were  alienated  by 

Laud's  religious  policy.     From  ancient  times  it  had  been  the 

Ship-money.  ^,  ,        ,        .  „  ,        , 

custom  of  the  country  that  m  tmie  of  war  the  ships  needed 
to  supplement  the  royal  fleet  should  be  supplied  by  the  seaport  towns. 
Inland  towns  had  as  a  rule  been  exempted,  but  Elizabeth  had  required 
Leeds,  Halifax,  and  Wakefield  to  join  with  the  port  of  Hull  in  con- 
tributing a  ship.  No  requisition  had  ever  been  made  except  in  the 
time  of  actual  war.  However,  in  1634,  Charles  and  his  advisers 
decided  that,  though  the  country  was  at  peace,  there  were  good 
grounds  for  increasing  the  strength  of  the  navy.  In  this  they  were 
probably  perfectly  right,  for  the  growth  of  the  Dutch  navy  was  be- 
coming a  menace  to  our  trade,  and  piracy  was  also  common  ;  but  if  so, 
it  was  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  constitution  that  the  state 

of  the  case  should  be  explained  to  parliament.     The  adviser 

of  the  measure  was  Noy,  the  attorney-general,  a  man  said 
by  Clarendon  to  have  prided  himself  'on  making  that  law  which  all 
other  men  believed  not  to  be  so.'  At  the  moment,  Charles  was  seriously 
thinking  of  allying  himself  with  the  Spaniards  in  a  war  against  the 
Dutch  ;  but  as  he  dared  not  disclose  his  design  even  to  the  privy  council, 
he  put  forward  the  excuse  that  the  money  was  wanted  to  provide  defence 
against  pirates,  who  undoubtedly  infested  the  coast,  and  had  just 
.      -^  .       plundered  the  vessel  in  which  Wentworth's  luggage  was 

being  taken  from  Chester  to  Dublin.  The  writs  were 
addressed   only  to  seaport  towns.      The  London  mp.rchants  grumbled, 


1637  Charles  I.  529 

and  other  places  followed  their  example.      Meanwhile,  Noy  had  died, 
and  early  in  1635  he  was  followed  by  Weston,  earl  of  Portland.     The 
treasury  was  then  placed  under  a  board,  of  which  Laud  was  the  leading 
spirit,  and  presently  Juxon  became   treasurer.      The  readiness  with 
which  ship-money  had   been  paid  suggested  the  idea  of  a  second  im- 
position ;    and  in   1635   a  second   set   of  writs  was  sent   second 
out,  this  time  addressed  to  inland  as  well  as  seaport  towns,    ^^"ts. 
and  suggesting  no  special  reason  for  the  call,  except  the  general  need 
of  preparations  in  which   it  was  obviously  the  duty  of  every  one  to 
take  his  share.      The  sum  asked   for  was  not  large  ;    but  men  now 
began  to  see  that  if  it  were  paid,  a  precedent  would  be  created,  by 
which   the   king  might  free  himself  from   the  necessity  of  calling  a 
]^)arliament,  and  might  thus  become  as  free  from  control,  and  as  much 
the  master  of  the  property  of  his  subjects,  as  a  king  of  France.     Though 
the  money  was  paid,  the  grumbling  increased,  and  men  began  to  talk  of 
the  king's  conduct  as  a  violation  of  the  *  fundamental  laws  of  England.' 
Meanwhile,  the  issue  of  a  new  book   of  rates,  in  which    a  new  Book 
the  duties  were  raised  to  produce  an  additional  £10,000,   °f^^^«s* 
showed  that   Charles  was  rapidly  getting  complete  control  over  the 
purses  of  his  subjects  ;  and  when  next  year  a  third  set  of 
ship-money  writs  came  out,  the  tide  of  indignation  swelled   Ship-money 
apace.      Nobility,   gentry,   and  commonalty  were  united 
against  the  tax,  and  Robert  Rich,  earl  of  Warwick,  wrote  that  the  men  of 
Essex  would  not  consent  to  '  so  notable  a  prejudice  to  the  liberties  of 
the  people.'    Lord  Saye  and  Sele  and  John  Hampden,  a  young  Bucking- 
hamshire squire,  determined  to  test  the  legality  of  the  levy  in  a  court  of 
law.     The  king,  however,  was  blind  to  the  danger,  and — relying  on  an 
opinion  given  by  the  judges  that  when  the  kingdom  was  in  danger  the 
king  might  levy  ship-money — went  on  with  the  collection,  and  prepared 
to  recover  the  Palatinate  by  attacking  Spain  at  se;i,  while  the  French 
forces  acted  by  land.     Up  to  this  time  Wentworth,  though  he  had  been 
in  constant  correspondence  with  Laud,  had  not  been  consulted  by 
Charles.     His  opinion  was  now  sought.      His  reply  adopted  the  ship- 
money  policy,  and,  indeed,  expressed  a  desire  that  Charles  would  extend 
the  system  so  as  to  provide  an  army.     His  answer,  therefore,  thoroughly 
identified  him  with  the  system  of  Charles  and  Laud.      Though  his  letter 
was  a  secret,  popular  instinct,  therefore,  was  right  when  it  coupled  the 
names  of  Wentworth  and  Laud  as  the  representatives  of  the  new  policy, 
both  in  church  and  state. 

In  December  1637  Hampden's  case  was  argued  before  the  court  of 
exchequer.     His  lawyers,  St.  John  and  Holborne,  argued  that  though 

2  L 


530  The  Stuarts  1637 

in  an  emergency  the  king  could  judge  of  the  amount  of  the  danger  which 
justified  the  collection  of  ship-money,  yet  that  the  proper  mode  of  pro- 
Hampden's  ceeding  was  through  parliament ;  and  that  in  the  present 
Trial.  q^^q  ^q  emergency  existed  to  justify  any  other  method.     Of 

the  twelve  judges,  seven  decided  for  the  king  ;  Croke,  Button,  and 
Denham  gave  their  voices  for  Hampden  on  the  merits  of  the  case  ;  and 
two  voted  for  Hampden  on  technical  grounds.  Charles,  therefore,  won 
by  a  bare  majority  ;  but  though  victory  rested  with  the  court,  men  felt 
that  Hampden's  advocates  had  had  the  best  of  the  argument.  Finch's 
judgment,  that  *all  Acts  of  Parliament  binding  the  king  not  to 
command  the  subjects,  their  persons  and  goods,  and  I  say  their  money, 
too,  are  void,'  is  said  by  Lord  Clarendon  to  have  made  ship-money  more 
'abhorred  and  formidable  than  all  the  commandments  by  the  council 
table,  and  all  the  distresses  taken  by  the  sheriffs ' ;  while  Berkeley's 
phrase,  *  The  law  knows  no  such  king-yoking  policy,'  was  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth.  Charles,  however,  was  delighted.  The  danger  of 
meeting  parliament  was  now  removed ;  Laud's  policy  was  safe ;  there 
was  no  fear  of  a  deficit  in  the  revenue,  and  he  insisted  that  all  arrears 
must  be  paid  up  at  once.  For  a  moment  it  looked  as  if  parliamentary 
government  were  really  at  an  end. 

During  the  trying  times  which  followed  the  dissolution  of  1629,  the 
settlement  in  America  had  made  rapid  strides.     The  New  Plymouth 
^jjg  colonists  had  been  men  of  low  estate ;  but  in  1629  a  number 

Colonies.  Qf  Independents  of  good  position,  headed  by  John  Win- 
throp,  a  Suffolk  squire,  and  Eaton,  who  had  been  English  ambassador  at 
the  Danish  court,  determined  to  found  a  new  settlement  where  they  could 
enjoy  greater  freedom,  both  in  religion  and  politics,  than  seemed  possible 
in  England.  They  settled  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  made 
New  Salem  their  capital.  Winthrop  was  a  man  of  the  highest  character, 
and  the  influence  of  his  name  led  to  a  large  emigration  from  the  eastern 
counties.  But  though  the  exiles  had  fled  from  persecution  in  England, 
they  had  no  thought  of  establishing  toleration  in  their  new  home.  Two 
brothers,  who  showed  a  preference  for  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
were  shipped  home  at  once  ;  and  it  was  resolved  that  no  one  who  was 
not  a  member  of  an  Independent  church  should  have  any  voice  in  the 
affairs  of  the  colony.  One  who  ventured  to  criticise  the  proceedings  of 
the  rulers  was  whipped,  had  his  ears  cropped,  and  was  fined  .£40 — exactly 
as  though  a  Puritan  branch  of  the  Star  Chamber  had  been  established 
Question  of  ^^  ^^^  England.  When  news  of  these  proceedings  came  to 
Toleration,  ^he  ears  of  Laud,  he  at  once  obtained  authority  from  the 
king  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  with  the  result  that  an  order  of  council 


1637  Charles  I.  531 

was  issued  forbidding  any  nobleman  or  gentleman  to  leave  the  country 
without  the  royal  licence,  and  any  of  lower  rank  without  a  certificate  of 
conformity.  Yet  in  spite  of  these  precautions  three  thousand  new 
settlers  went  out  in  1635  alone,  and  the  colonists  prepared  to  ofi'er  armed 
resistance  to  any  attempt  on  Laud's  part  to  compel  conformity  by  force. 
Still,  even  in  the  colony,  voices  were  raised  for  freedom  of  worship  and 
thought.  In  1631,  Koger  Williams  joined  the  emigrants, 
and  eventually  became  pastor  of  a  church  at  Salem.  His 
view  was  that  matters  of  religion  were  almost  wholly  outside  the  sphere 
of  the  civil  government,  and  his  preaching  of  this  doctrine  brought  him 
into  collision  with  the  authorities.  His  banishment  was  ordered  ;  and  in 
1636  Williams  and  five  others  made  their  way  in  a  canoe  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  there  founded  a  new  colony  of  their  own.  In  1635  another 
friend  of  liberty  arrived  in  Sir  Harry  Vane,  son  of  Sir  Harry  Vane,  a 
member  of  the  English  privy  council.  Vane  was  then 
twenty-three,  and  had  already  made  a  reputation  for  great 
ability  and  for  unflinching  attachment  to  principle.  Accordingly,  in 
1636,  the  colonists  elected  him  governor ;  but  his  views  on  religious 
liberty  did  not  square  with  those  of  Winthrop,  and,  having  carefully  con- 
sidered his  position.  Vane  enunciated  the  famous  sentiment  that  religious 
intolerance,  wherever  it  might  be  found,  'was  fatal  both  to  religious 
vitality  and  to  political  life.'  Finding,  however,  that  his  views  met 
with  little  acceptance,  and  that  he  was  not  re-elected,  he  returned 
home. 

Meanwhile,  the  practical  question  of  toleration  had  been  solved  by  the 
little  colony  of  Maryland.  The  founders  of  this  colony  were  the 
Calverts,  the  head  of  whose  family  was  Lord  Baltimore.  Toleration 
They  were  more  or  less  declared  recusants,  and  by  favour  *"  Maryland, 
of  Charles  their  charter  was  so  drawn  as  to  admit  of  the  introduction 
of  religious  liberty.  They  called  their  settlement  after  Queen  Henrietta 
Maria.  From  the  first,  the  settlers  in  Maryland  included  both  Pro- 
testants and  Roman  Catholics  ;  and,  each  finding  the  necessity  of  the  aid 
of  the  other,  questions  of  religious  difterence  were  carefully  ignored,  and 
in  the  first  free  assembly  complete  freedom  of  worship  and  perfect 
political  equality  were  secured  to  members  of  all  religions  by  law.  To 
Maryland,  therefore,  belongs  the  honour  of  being  the  first  of  modern 
states  to  solve  the  thorny  question  of  the  true  attitude  of  the  state 
towards  the  religious  difi'erences  of  the  community,  which  was  equally 
an  enigma  to  Eliot  and  to  Laud. 

In  face  of  the  resistance  of  the  New  England  colonists,  Laud  drew 
back  from  his  designed  interference  ;  but  in  Scotland  he  was  not  so  easilv 


532  The  Stuarts  1637 

diverted  from  his  purpose.  Since  the  accession  of  James,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Scottish  Presbyterian  Church,  as  established  by  Knox,  had 
Laud  in  been  considerably  modified.  According  to  the  original  de- 
Scotland,  gjgjj^  ^^g  government  was  to  be  strictly  republican,  and  was 
to  be  carried  on  by  kirk  sessions,  presbyteries,  and  provincial  synods,  the 
affairs  of  the  whole  being  regulated  by  a  general  assembly  of  elected 
clergy  and  laymen.  Over  this,  James  had  succeeded  in  establishing 
bishops,  but  they  had  no  jurisdiction  and  were  not  even  episcopally 
consecrated.  He  had  also  secured  the  nominal  acceptance  by  a  General 
Assembly  of  the  Articles  of  Perth,  the  chief  of  which  enjoined  kneeling 
to  receive  the  communion,  and  the  observance  of  Christmas  Day,  Good 
Friday,  Easter  Day,  and  Whitsunday.  These  changes,  however,  were 
disliked  by  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  the  Scottish  ministers  still 
used  extempore  prayers,  and  denounced  Catholics  and  Arminians  as  much 
as  they  liked.  This  state  of  affairs  did  not  commend  itself  to  Charles  or 
to  Laud,  who  had  accompanied  him  to  Scotland  in  1633.  Accordingly 
A  new  the  Scottish  bishops  were  ordered  to  prepare  a  liturgy  based 
Liturgy.  Qjj  ^^^^  ^f  England,  and  when  it  had  been  revised  by  Laud 
and  Wren,  each  parish  in  Scotland  was  ordered  to  provide  itself  with 
two  copies.  Such  a  proceeding  was  certain  to  rouse  the  bitterest 
hostility  in  Scotland.  The  Scots  fully  believed  that  the  whole  scheme 
was  designed  as  a  step  towards  the  re -introduction  of  popery  ;  and 
they  hated  the  prayer-book,  partly  because  it  was  the  work  of  the 
bishops,  much  more  because  it  was  an  importation  from  England. 
Charles  had,  in  fact,  contrived  to  wound  in  their  tenderest  points  both 
the  religious  and  national  susceptibilities  of  his  Scottish  subjects. 
Of  this,  however,  he  had  no  idea.  The  new  state  of  things  would 
be  more  orderly  than  the  old,  and  that  seemed  to  him  sufficient 
argument.  Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of  1636,  at  the  time  when 
Hampden  and  Saye  were  preparing  their  case  against  ship-money,  the 
Riot  in  I16W  Hturgy  was  for  the  first  time  read  in  St.  Giles'  Church, 
Edinburgh.  Edinburgh,  and  the  result  was  such  a  riot  that  the  reader 
was  thankful  to  have  escaped  with  his  life.  In  this  resistance  all  classes 
were  engaged  ;  and  nobles,  like  the  earl  of  Montrose,  ministers,  like  Alex- 
ander Henderson,  and  lawyers,  like  Johnstone  of  Warriston,  stood  side  by 
side  with  the  people  in  resisting  the  innovations.  DuriDg  1637  petitions 
and  replies  went  backwards  and  forwards  between  Scotland  and  London  ; 
but  no  conclusion  was  arrived  at,  though  the  resistance  grew  stronger 
The  through  the    creation   of    a  body   of   ten   commissioners, 

'  Tables.'      known  as  '  the  tables,'  who  were  appointed  by  the  malcon- 
tents to  look  after  their  interests,  and  who   formed  the  germ  of  a 


1638  Charles  I.  533 

popular  and  national  government  independent  of  Charles.     At  length, 
in   1638,  it  became  clear  that  nothing  but  the  united  efforts   of  all 
classes  could  secure  the  Scots  against  Charles'  obstinacy ;  and,  by  the 
advice  of  Johnstone,  a  covenant  was  drawn  up  by  himself  and  Henderson 
which  bound  all  who  signed  it  to   'defend  the  aforesaid 
(true  reformed)  religion,  and  to  labour  by  all  means  lawful   National 
to  recover  the  purity  and  liberty  of  the  gospel,  as  it  was 
established  and    professed    before   the   aforesaid  innovations     .     .     . 
which  have  no  warrant  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  do  sensibly  tend  to 
the  re-establishing  of  the  popish  religion  and  tyranny.'     This  document 
was  signed  by  all  classes  amidst  the  utmost  enthusiasm ;  and,  indeed, 
it  required  a  bold  man  to  refuse  his  assent :  *  for  such  as  refused  to 
subscribe  were  accounted  by  the  rest  who  subscribed  as  no  better  than 
papists.' 

Charles,  therefore,  saw  that  he  must  either  fight  or  yield  ;  but  the 
former  was  difficult,  for  the  Scottish  nobility,  unlike  the  English  peers, 
were  at  the  head  of  a  tenantry  bound  to  fight  in  their   weakness 
defence,  and  Scotland  was  full  of  able  officers  like  Alexander   °^  Charles. 
Leslie,  who  had  learned  their  business  fighting  in  the  Protestant  cause 
in  Germany  and  Flanders.     Against  them  Charles  had  no  military  force 
whatever  ;  and  his  commissioner  in  Scotland,  the  marquess  of  Hamilton, 
pointed  out  that  for  a  time,  at  any  rate,  concession  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary.    Accordingly,  an  assembly  of  the  Scottish  church  was  permitted 
to  meet  at  Glasgow  in  November,  1639.    Contrary  to  Charles'  intention, 
the  assembly  was  composed  largely  of  lay  members,  and  its  temper  was 
shown  by  the   election  of   Alexander  Henderson  as  its  moderator  or 
president,  and   of  Johnstone   of  Warriston  as   its   clerk  or  secretary. 
To  this  body  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh  referred  the  cases  of  the 
bishops.      In  vain   the  bishops   protested  against  the   claim  of   the 
assembly  to  act  as  their  judges.     The  assembly  was  so  clearly  against 
them,  that   Hamilton   used   his  authority  as  royal   commissioner  and 
declared  that   body  dissolved.      The  assembly,   however,    encouraged 
by  the  earl  of  Argyll,  continued  its  sittings,  and  without 
further  ado   episcopacy  and  the   service-book  were  alike   and^h?^^^ 
abolished.     That  Charles  would  consent  to  these  changes   abolffiied 
without  resistance  was   incredible,  and   both  parties  pre- 
pared for  war.     In  Scotland,  however,  Charles'  friends,  except  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Aberdeen,  were  completely  outnumbered,  and  it  was 
plain  that  if  the  Scots  were  to  be  subdued  English  soldiers  must  be 
raised  to  do  it.     By  the  summer  of  1639  Charles  had  collected  on  the 
Scottish  border  a  force  of  some  20,000  men,  partly  impressed  from  the 


534  The  Stuarts  1638 

northern  counties,  partly  composed  of  noblemen  called  to  do  service 

under  their  feudal  tenure;  but  it  was  a  mere  shadow  of  an  army — ill-led, 

ill-drilled,  ill-paid,  and  utterly  without  heart  for  its  work ; 

tions  for      while  on  the  Scottish  side  of  the  Tweed  there  lay,  under 

War  . 

Leslie,  16,000  Scots  of  good  fighting  quality,  well  armed, 
and  officered  by  men  who  had  learnt  their  work  in  Germany  and 
Flanders.  However,  after  the  two  armies  had  faced  one  another  for 
a  few  weeks,  Charles  saw  that  whatever  he  might  effect  ultimately 
he  had  no  course  now  but  to  yield  ;  and  though  he  refused  to  recognise 
the  legality  of  the  late  assembly,  he  assented  to  the  holding  of  a  new 
one,  the  acts  of  which  were  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Scottish  parliament. 
The  new  assembly  simply  re-enacted  the  acts  of  its  predecessor,  and  the 
parliament,  in  which  the  exclusion  of  the  bishops  had  destroyed  the 
king's  influence,  was  on  the  point  of  confirming  the  acts  of  the  assembly, 
when  Charles,  who  perhaps  had  hardly  realised  that  he  was  expected  to 
give  his  consent  to  a  foregone  conclusion,  attempted  to  stop  its  proceed- 
ings by  a  forced  adjournment  till  the  summer  of  1640.  The  Scots  took 
_,     -  his   action   as   a  new  declaration   of  war,  and   spent  the 

The  first        .  •  mi         f  i 

Bishops'  interval  m  perfectmg  their  preparations.  The  short  and 
bloodless  campaign  on  the  Tweed  became  known  as  the 
first  bishops'  war. 

Meanwhile  Charles,  urged  by  Laud,  had  summoned  to  his  side  by  far 
the  ablest  councillor  at  his  disposal ;  for  in  September,  1639,  Wentworth 
'Wentworth  came  over  from  Ireland,  and  at  once  took  his  place  as 
in  England,  leading  minister.  Hitherto  he  had  had  little  or  no  share 
in  English  affairs.  Wentworth  was  as  clear  as  Charles  that  Scotland 
must  be  coerced,  but  for  that  he  saw  that  extraordinary  exertions  would 
be  necessary.  He,  therefore,  persuaded  Charles  to  summon  a  parlia- 
ment. If  that  body  supported  the  king,  well  and  good ;  if  not,  the 
king  must  take  his  own  way,  and  the  blame  would  rest,  not  on  him,  but 
on  his  undutiful  subjects.  To  show  how  heartily  the  privy  councillors 
were  with  Charles,  Wentworth  advanced  J20,000  to  the  king,  others  did 
the  like,  and  in  this  way  J150,000  was  raised.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
proposal  that  London  should  do  the  like  met  with  no  response.  To 
show  Wentworth's  new  influence  and  the  king's  approval  of  his  work  in 
Ireland,  Wentworth  was  made  earl  of  Strafford.  About  the  same  time 
Finch,  the  speaker  of  1629,  and  the  most  violent  supporter  of  ship- 
money,  was  made  lord  keeper  of  the  great  seal.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
a  conciliatory  measure.  Strode  and  Valentine  were  released  from  the 
Tower. 

Charles'  fourth  parliament,  known  as  the  Short  Parliament,  met  in 


1640  Charles  I.  535 

April,  1640.  The  king's  hope  was  to  play  off  the  English  against 
the  Scots.  Great  stress  was  laid  by  his  friends  on  the  danger  likely 
to  arise  to  England  from  a  Scottish  invasion  ;  attention  The  Short 
was  also  drawn  to  a  letter  addressed  by  the  Cove-  Parliament, 
nanters  to  the  king  of  France,  and  it  was  asserted  that  when  a  tonnage 
and  poundage  bill  had  been  passed,  and  a  subsidy  voted,  there  would 
be  plenty  of  time  for  the  members  to  consider  their  special  grievances. 
Had  the  discontent  of  England  been  as  slight  as  Charles  and  Strafford 
believed,  their  plan  might  have  succeeded  ;  but  the  attitude  of  parlia- 
ment soon  undeceived  those  who  were  sanguine  of  an  easy  session. 
When  parliament  was  not  sitting  the  men  of  each  county  knew  little  of 
what  was  going  on  in  another ;  the  clergy  of  each  diocese  had  little  to 
do  with  their  neighbours ;  and  consequently  there  was  no  widespread 
public  opinion  ;  but  when  parliament  met  a  public  opinion  soon  sprang 
into  existence,  leaders  and  spokesmen  were  found,  and  the  nation 
became  once  more  articulate. 

The  task  of  putting  into  words  the  grievances  of  the  nation  fell  to  John 
Pym,  who  stepped  into  the  place  left  vacant  by  the  deaths  of  Eliot, 

Coke,  and  Phelips,  and  by  the  defection  of  Wentworth.  Pym 

ni..        .  «.  ,  ^     ,  .        ,,     ,  John  Pym. 

was  now  nfty-six  years  of  age,  and  had  sat  m  all  the  par- 
liaments summoned  since  1621.  Pym  was  a  Somerset  squire  who  had 
studied  the  law,  and  had  also  held  a  post  in  the  exchequer.  Conse- 
quently he  had  more  acquaintance  with  the  business  of  state  than 
most  of  the  Puritan  party.  He  owed  his  seat  in  the  House  to  the 
influence  of  the  earl  of  Bedford,  and  so  had  the  ear  both  of  the 
House  of  Commons  and  of  the  small  group  of  Puritan  peers,  of  whom 
Bedford,  Essex,  Saye  and  Sele,  and  Brooke  were  the  chief.  Pym's  speech, 
while  moderate  in  tone,  placed  in  clear  relief  the  real  facts  of  the 
political  situation.  Parliament,  he  said,  was  to  *the  body  politic 
as  the  rational  faculties  of  the  soul  are  to  a  man,'  and  he  traced  the 
whole  of  the  grievances,  both  in  church  and  state,  to  *  the  intromission  of 
parliaments.'  He  proposed  that  the  two  Houses  should  join  in  petitioning 
the  king  for  a  redress  of  grievances.  This  raised  the  old  question 
whether  votes  of  supply  should  or  should  not  precede  the  redress  of 
grievances,  and  in  it  Charles  and  his  parliament  were  completely  at 
variance.  By  Strafford's  advice  the  king  appealed  to  the  Lords ;  but 
though  that  House  voted  that  supply  ought  to  come  first,  the  Commons 
maintained  their  ground.  Strafford  then  persuaded  Charles  to  give  up 
ship-money,  to  ask  only  for  a  moderate  supply.  Charles,  however, 
insisted  on  asking  for  twelve  subsidies,  and  this  the  Commons  would  not 
vote  until  they  learned  whether  Charles  would  also  abandon  the  practice 


536  The  Stuarts  1640 

of  calling  on  the  counties  to  provide  '  coat  and  conduct  money '  for  the 

men  levied  from  each  county.     As  it  happened,  ship-money  had  fallen 

most  heavily  on  the  southern  shires  ;  but  the  new  demand  had  pressed 

most  on  the  northern  counties  ;  and  Yorkshire,  whose  contribution  to  the 

last  levy  of  ship-money  had  only  been  ,£12,000,  had  had  to  pay  ^40,000 

in  provisions  and  equipments  for  its  levies  in  the  newly-raised  army. 

Charles,  however,  pressed  for  twelve  subsidies,  and  the  Commons  pro- 

Diss  lution  P^^®^  *^  m^^t  his  demand  by  a  petition  that  he  would  come 

of  Pariia-     to  terms  with  the  Scots.    This,  doubtless,  seemed  to  Charles 

little  less  than  a  demand  that  parliament,  and  not  he,  should 

direct  the  policy  of  the  country,  and  before  the  petition  could  be  voted 

parliament  was  dissolved.     Convocation,  however,  sat  a  few 
Convocation.    .         -  i    ,      -i  •  -,.-,      \  «   ,    . 

days  longer,  and,  besides  voting  a  liberal  grant  out  of  their 

own  pockets,  drew  up  a  body  of  canons  for  the  regulation  of  the  church. 
It  was  now  Straflford's  turn  to  try  whether  he  could  be  more  successful 
than  Charles.      In  the  council  he  declared  his  view  that  parliament 
Strafford's   having  failed,  the  king  must  assume  a  practical  dictator- 
Views.         g}jip^     Half  measures  would  never  do.     Charles'  one  hope 
lay  in  success  against  the  Scots.     '  Go  on  vigorously,'  said  Strafford,  '  or 
let  them  alone.  .  .  .  G-o  on  with  a  vigorous  war  as  you  first  designed, 
loose  and  absolved  from  all  rules  of  government.  .  .  .  You  have  an  army 
in  Ireland  you  may  employ  here  to  reduce  the  kingdom.'    In  these  views 
he  was  fully  supported  by  Laud.     Strafford,  however,  soon  found  that 
it  was  easier  to  speak  than  to  act.     Neither  the  characters  of  Charles  or 
his  ministers   fitted  them   to  carry  out  his  ideas  of  'thorough.'     The 
Londoners  refused  to  pay  a  loan,  and  though  Strafford  declared  that  no 
good  would  be  done  with  the  Londoners  till  some  of  them  were  hanged. 
Foreign  Aid  ^^^  ^^^^  ^f  the  privy  council  held  back.     Charles'  idea  was 
solicited.       ^Q  apply  to  foreign  courts  for  aid.     Solicitations  were  made 
to  Denmark,  Holland,  Spain,  and  even  to  the  pope,  but  he  had  no  idea 
of  vigorous  action  for  himself.     Worst  of  all,  Strafford  himself  fell  ill, 
and  while  he  was  incapacitated,  confusion  grew  worse  confounded. 

In   August  the   Scots,  led   by  Alexander  Leslie,  took  the   decisive 
measure  of  crossing  the  Tweed.    Before  their  well-drilled  troops  Charles' 

^.-    o        J     mutinous  levies  retreated  in  confusion  at  Newburn  on  the 

The  Second 

Bishops'         Tyne.    An  attempt  was  made  to  dispute  the  passage,  but  the 

military  measures  were  badly  taken,  and  the  Scots  poured 
into  Yorkshire.  The  whole  plan  of  defence  seemed  to  have  given  way, 
and  Strafford  confided  to  his  friend,  Radcliffe,  that  'never  man  saw- 
so  lost  a  business  ...  a  universal  affright  of  all ;  a  general  disaffection 
to  the  kind's  service  :   none  sensible  of  his  dishonour.     In  one  word 


1640  Charles  I.  537 

(I  am)  here  alone  to  fight  with  all  these  evils,  without  any  one  to  help. 
Charles'  great  hope  had  been  that  the  advance  of  the  Scots  would  rouse 
the  national  spirit ;  but  for  the  first  time  Englishmen  regarded  a  victory- 
won  by  foreign  troops  on  English  soil  as  a  triumph  for  themselves  and 
took  advantage  of  Charles'  misfortune  to  press  for  a  new  parliament.  In 
reply  Charles  fell  back  on  a  precedent  of  Edward  i.,  and  called  a  meeting 
of  the  Magnum  Concilium^  or  council  of  peers.  This  assembly  met  at 
York,  but  while  the  members  pledged  their  credit  to  raise  ^         „    ,. 

'  ^        °  Long  Parha- 

money,  they  reiterated  the  demand  for  a  parliament.     The  ment  sum- 
king,  seeing  no  other  course  open  to  him,  made  a  truce  with 
the  Scots,  agreed  to  pay  them  £25,000  a  month,   and  summoned  a 
parliament  to  meet  on  November  3,  1640. 

Between  the  issue  of  the  writs  and  the  meeting  of  parliament,  meet- 
ings were  held  at  Ripon  between  English  and  Scottish  commissioners, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  till  a  full  treaty  were  signed,  the  Treaty  of 
Scots  should  occupy  Northumberland  and  Durham,  and  ^*P°"- 
that  £25,000  a  month  should  be  paid  for  their  maintenance.  One 
month's  instalment  was  arranged  for  ;  the  second  would  come  due  after 
parliament  met ;  so  that  unless  Charles  could  persuade  parliament  to  find 
the  money,  an  immediate  advance  of  the  Scots  might  be  looked  for.  The 
existence  of  the  Scottish  army  was,  therefore,  a  complete  guarantee 
afjainst  an  immediate  dissolution. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Petition  of  Right, 1628 

Murder  of  Buckingliam, 1629 

Laud  becomes  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  1633 

Wentworth  becomes  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  1633 

Scottish  troubles  begin, 1637 


Hampden's  Trial, 
First  Bishops'  War,    . 
Short  Parliament, 
Second  Bishops'  War, 


1637 
1639 
1640 
1640 


CHAPTER    III 

CHARLES   I. 

PART  II 

The  Composition  of  the  Long  Parliament— The  Trial  and  Death  of  Strafford— 
Reforming  Measures— The  Religious  Question  and  Division  of  Parties- 
Impeachment  of  the  five  Memljers— Opening  of  the  War— First  Civil  War — 
Imprisonment  of  the  King— Second  Civil  War— Trial  of  Charles. 

On  November  3  the  members  of  the  celebrated  Long  Parliament  met 
at  Westminster.  Among  the  Lords  the  most  noticeable  figures  werr 
Archbishop  Laud,  with  his  friends  Juxon,  Mainwaring,  The  Long 
Wren,  and  Montague,  and  his  old  opponent,  Williams,  Parliament, 
bishop  of  Lincoln.  Strafford  was  not  present  at  the  opening  of  parlia- 
ment, so  the  most  conspicuous  personages  among  the  lay  Leading 
peers  were  the  earl  of  Bristol,  anxious  to  find  some  means  of  °*^  ^' 
preserving  an  efficient  monarchy  ;  Lord  Finch,  fonner  speaker  and  sup- 
porter of  ship-money  ;  the  earl  of  Bedford,  titular  leader  of  the  Puritans 
and  patron  of  Pym,  with  his  friends  the  earls  of  Essex  and  Warwick ; 
Viscount  Saye  and  Sele,  whose  talent  of  intrigue  had  gained  him  the 
title  of  '  old  subtlety ' ;  Edward  Montagu,  Lord  Kimbolton  (afterwards 
earl  of  Manchester) ;  and  Robert  Greville,  Lord  Brooke.  Leading 
Among  the  Commons  the  leaders  were  John  Pym,  John  Commoners. 
Hampden,  and  John  Selden,  abeady  well  known ;  Denzil  HoUis,  and 
William  Strode,  who  had  held  Finch  in  his  chair  in  1629  ;  Oliver  St. 
John,  Hampden's  counsel  in  the  ship-money  trial ;  Sir  Arthur  Hazelrig, 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  Sir  Harry  Vane,  all  stout  Puritans ;  Bristol's 
eldest  son.  Lord  Digby,  clever  but  ostentatious  ;  Edward  Hyde,  formal, 
painstaking,  and  church-loving  ;  Lucius  Carey,  Viscount  Falkland,  most 
thoughtful  of  those  who  admired  neither  Laudism  nor  Puritanism  ; 
Edmund  Waller,  the  poet — all  of  whom  were  one  day  to  be  royalists  ; 
William  Waller,  Ralph  Hopton,  and  Ferdinand,  Lord  Fairfax,  who, 
with  Essex,  Cromwell,  and  Manchester,  were  to  be  the  leaders  in 
the  war ;  and  Sir  Simon  d'Ewes,  from  whose  painstaking  note-books 


540  The  Stuarts  1640 

we  learn  most  of  what  is  known  of  the  daily  life  of  the  great  assembly. 

The  mass  of  the  members  were  country  gentlemen  and  lawyers.     The 

merchants  were  few  ;  and  most  members  were  university  men,  in  no  way 

disposed  to  violent  reforms,  and  by  no  means  sympathetic  with  persons 

whose  rank  and  habits  differed  from  their  own. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  regular  parties,  and  men  sat  as  they 

liked  in  different  parts  of  the  house,  and  consequently  it  was  some  time 

.  before  the  members  found  their  level.     From  the  first,  how- 

Appearance  ' 

of  the  ever,  the  most  conspicuous  man  was  John  Pynl.     Pym's 

strong  point  was  his  excellent  debating  power,  and  consum- 
mate prudence,  with  which  he  united  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  what 
the  bulk  of  his  party  reaUy  desired.  He  shared  aU  their  weaknesses 
and  prejudices  ;  and  consequently  he  was  always  in  touch  with  his  fol- 
lowers, and  never  lived  in  a  region  apart.  For  instance,  Pym  was  quite 
of  opinion  that  Laud  and  Strafford  had  been  engaged  in  a  systematic 
plot — the  one  to  overthrow  Protestantism,  the  other  parliamentary 
government ;  and  he  also  believed  that  self-seeking  ambition  was  the 
jnainspring  of  Strafford's  conduct.  This  is  now  known  to  be  a  caricature 
of  Strafford's  real  position ;  but  it  was  then  the  universally  accepted 
explanation  of  his  conduct,  and  Pym  merely  shared  the  belief  of  others. 
This  added  to  his  influence,  and  he  soon  became  so  powerful  in  the  House 
that  his  enemies  called  him  King  Pym. 

So  universal  was  the  above-mentioned  belief,  that  the  policy  of 
Strafford  and  Laud  was  without  supporters  ;  and  the  house,  with 
practical  unanimity,  agreed  to  impeach  Strafford  and  Laud, 
and  those  of  the  judges  and  bishops  who  had  been  their 
chief  allies.  A  committee  was  named  to  inquire  into  the  results  of 
their  government.  By  this  time  Pym  had  in  his  possession  a  cojDy 
of  the  notes  of  Strafford's  speech  to  the  privy  council  (see  page  536), 
which  had  been  taken  by  the  elder  Vane.  The  younger  Vane  had  found 
them  among  his  father's  papers,  and  had  given  a  copy  to  Pym  and  kept 
one  himself ;  and  on  this  Pym  was  preparing  to  charge  Strafford  with 
high  treason.  Meanwhile,  Strafford  himself  had  reached  London.  His 
safest  place  was  at  the  head  either  of  the  English  or  Irish  army  ;  but 
Charles  had  implored  him  to  come,  and  had  given  his  kingly  word  that 
he  *  should  not  suffer  in  his  person,  honour,  or  fortune.'  On  his  arrival, 
Strafford  at  once  gave  his  voice  for  a  policy  of  counter-attack, 
and  argued  that  Charles  should  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
country  by  himself  impeaching  the  Puritan  leaders  of  treasonable  corre- 
spondence with  the  Scots.  Warned  of  what  was  in  store,  Pym  struck 
first;    and,  on  November  11,  the  earl  was  accused,  on  behalf  of  the 


1640  Charles  L  541 

commons  of  England,  of  the  crime  of  high  treason,  and  sent  to  the 
Tower. 

In  December  he  was  followed  by  Laud,  on  a  charge  which  amounted 
to  '  endeavouring  to  subvert  the  laws,  and  the  religion  by  those  laws 
established.'  In  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries,  Laud  was 
almost,  if  not  quite,  as  important  as  Strafibrd.  Since 
Buckingham's  death  he  had  been  the  king's  chief  confidential  adviser, 
and  all  Charles'  measures  had  received  his  hearty  approval.  He  had 
been  an  energetic  member  of  the  courts  of  Star  Chamber  and  High 
Commission  ;  the  power  he  wielded  in  the  church  was  immense,  not 
only  through  his  personal  influence,  but  because  he  had  filled  the  bench 
of  bishops  with  his  own  friends ;  and,  the  reversal  of  his  policy  was, 
therefore,  considered  by  the  Puritan  members  as  of  the  first  importance. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  many  members  who  drew  a  distinction 
between  the  existing  bishops  and  the  principle  of  Episcopal  government. 
These  were  wishful  for  church  reform,  but  wished  also  to  p^  church 
preserve  the  existing  church  system,  partly  because  they  Party, 
liked  the  order  and  regularity  of  the  church,  partly  because  they 
feared  that  a  church  governed  by  presbytery  would  be,  at  least,  as  in- 
tolerant as  one  ruled  by  bishops.  Among  these  defenders  of  Episcopacy 
were  Hyde,  Falkland,  Digby,  and  Selden  ;  and  it  began  to  be  plain  that, 
though  there  was,  so  far,  unanimity  in  politics,  the  house  would,  in  eccle- 
siastical matters,  be  divided  into  Episcopalians  and  anti- Episcopalians. 

With  Laud  and  Strafford,  the  Commons  also  proceeded  against  Chief 
Justice  Finch,  who,  at  the  ship-money  trial,  had  declared  that  '  acts  of 
parliament  made  no  difference ' ;   Berkeley,  who  had  said 
'that  the  law  knows  no  such  king-yoking  policy' ;   Secre-    Ministers 
tary   Windebank    and    others.      Finch    and    Windebank 
made  their  escape   to    the    continent,   and    the    proceedings    against 
the  rest  came  to  nothing.     While  punishing  Charles'  ministers,  parlia- 
ment was  not  altogether  oblivious  of  their  victims.     Prynne,  Bastwick, 
Burton,  Chambers,  and  Lilburne,   who  had  been  imprisoned  by  the 
unpopular  Star  Chamber,  were  released.     An  immense  throng  of  sympa- 
thisers welcomed  their  return  to  London,  and  some  reparation  was  made 
for  their  sufferings. 

It  is  certain  that  nothing  had  done  so  much  to  encourage  Charles  and 
his  friends  as  the  uncertainty  whether  a  parliament  would  ever  sit  to 
inquire  into  their  acts.      To  remove   this   doubt  for  the 
future,  a  Triennial  Act  was  passed,  by  which  it  was  ordered   Triennial 
that  more  than  three  years  should  never  elapse  without  a 
parliament  being  summoned ;   and,   to   ensure  its  meeting,  provision 


542  The  Stuarts  1640 

was  made  for  the  holding  of  the  elections  even  if  no  summons  was  issued 
by  the  king.  It  was  also  provided  that,  when  parliament  had  met,  it 
should  sit  at  least  fifty  days  before  it  was  dissolved.  The  second  read- 
ing of  this  Act  was  moved  by  Oliver  Cromwell. 

These  measures  occupied  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1640  and  1641  ; 
and  in  March  the  trial  of  Strafford  began  in  Westminster  Hall, 
Trial  of  Pym  himself  acting  as  chief  of  the  managers  for  the 
Strafford.  Commons.  Their  real  difficulty  was  to  prove  that  Strafford 
had  been  guilty  of  treason.  It  was  easy  to  show  that  Strafford  had  been 
guilty  of  some  violations  of  the  law  and  of  numerous  high-handed  acts, 
but,  against  this  line  of  argument,  Strafford's  defence  that  no  number  of 
misdemeanours  amounted  to  one  treason  was  conclusive.  Strafford,  in 
fact,  was  being  tried  not  for  treason  against  the  king,  but  for  treason 
against  the  state — two  ideas  which,  when  treason  had  been  defined  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  iii.,  had  admitted  of  no  distinction.  All  along, 
Pym  felt  that  his  best  course  was  to  rely  on  Strafford's  speech  in  the 
council  chamber,  that  '  you  have  an  army  in  Ireland  you  may  employ 
here  to  reduce  this  kingdom,'  because  if  '  this  kingdom '  were  England 
the  words  might  be  twisted  to  mean  'levying  war  against  the  king.' 
Vane,  however,  refused  to  admit  that  '  this  kingdom '  meant  England, 
and  other  privy  councillors  declared  that  they  did  not  remember  the 
words  at  all.  Then  Strafford's  threat  to  hang  the  London  aldermen  was 
inquired  into,  but  that  clearly  was  not  treason.  Strafford's  commission 
as  general  was  shown  to  empower  him  to  put  down  rebellion  ;  but  it  was 
replied  that  the  same  words  occurred  as  a  matter  of  course  in  such  a  com- 
mission. The  case  of  the  Commons  was,  therefore,  breaking  down,  and  they 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  put  in  additional  evidence.  Strafford,  of  course, 
asked  leave  to  do  the  same.     The  trial  was,  therefore,  adjourned. 

Pym  now  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  reinforce  the  elder  Vane's 
evidence  by  his  son's  notes,  and  the  same  day  they  were  produced  in  the 
Strafford's  House  of  Commons.  Questioned  as  to  what  had  become  of 
Attainder.  ^^^  original,  the  elder  Vane  explained  that  it  had  been  burnt 
by  the  king's  orders.  Upon  this  the  more  violent  section  of  the  Puritans, 
among  whom  Sir  Arthur  Hazebig  was  prominent,  brought  in  a  Bill  of 
Attainder,  and  it  was  at  once  read  a  first  time.  Next  day  the  Lords 
called  on  Strafford  to  make  his  defence  at  once.  Strafford's  arguments, 
as  before,  were  that  that  could  not  be  treason  as  a  whole  which  was  not 
treason  in  any  separate  part,  and  that  it  was  unjust  to  punish  a  man  for  a 
crime  not  provided  for  in  law.  Pym  replied  that  arbitrary  rule 
invariably  degraded  the  subject,  and  asked  whether  it  were  not  greater 
treason  to  '  embase  the  spirits  of  the  king's  subjects,  than  to  embase  the 


1641  Charles  I.  543 

king's  coin.'  Meanwhile,  the  extreme  men  were  pressing  on  the  Attainder 
Bill,  on  the  ground  that  Strafford  had  *  endeavoured  to  subvert  the 
fundamental  laws  of  England.'  In  spite  of  this,  Pym  and  Hampden 
still  wished  to  carry  through  the  impeachment,  but  eventually  both 
houses  decided  that  Strafford's  fate  should  be  determined  by  the 
Attainder  Bill.  That  bill  passed  the  Commons  by  204  votes  to  59  ; 
Digby  and  Selden,  both  of  whom  had  been  managers  for  the  Commons 
in  the  impeachment,  voting  in  the  minority.  On  this  Charles  wrote  to 
Strafford,  again  assuring  him  that,  *  upon  the  word  of  a  king,  he  should 
not  suffer  in  life,  honour,  or  fortune.'  In  the  House  of  Lords  parties" 
were  more  evenly  divided,  the  real  question  being  whether  anything 
short  of  Strafford's  death  would  prevent  Charles  from  again  employing 
him.  Many  agreed  with  Essex  that  *  stone  dead  hath  no  fellow ' ;  others, 
like  Bristol  and  Bedford,  would  have  been  satisfied  with  his  perpetual 
imprisonment.  Pym,  however,  had  an  argument,  which  he  believed 
would  convince  the  Lords.  He  had  known  for  some  time  that  both 
Charles  and  Henrietta  Maria  had  been  in  correspondence  with  members 
of  the  English  army  in  the  north,  with  a  view  to  a  march  The  Army 
on  London  and  the  rescue  of  Strafford  from  the  Tower,  and  ^^°*- 
he  determined  to  use  this  information  to  frighten  the  reluctant  Lords. 
Accordingly,  on  May  5,  Pym  made  a  statement  to  the  House  of 
Commons  in  which  he  not  only  showed  that  an  army  plot  was  in 
existence,  but  also  hinted  that  a  French  force  was  on  its  way  to  attack 
Portsmouth,  where  it  was  to  be  met  by  the  queen.  The  excitement  was 
intense.  The  members  were  ordered  to  find  out  what  arms  were 
possessed  by  their  constituents  ;  the  city  trained  bands  turned  out ; 
Charles  was  requested  to  detain  his  courtiers,  and  to  prevent  the  queen 
from  going  to  Portsmouth.  In  London  a  petition  for  Straflbrd's  death 
was  signed  by  20,000  persons,  and  the  names  of  those  who  had  voted 
for  Strafford  were  printed  and  circulated  as  *  Straffordians.'  Amidst 
this  excitement  the  bill  passed  the  House  of  Lords.  Even  Bristol 
withdrew  his  resistance,  and  Bedford,  had  he  wished  to  be  present,  was 
dying  of  small  pox.  Strafford's  fate  now  rested  with  Charles,  strafford 
For  more  than  two  days  he  hesitated.  On  one  side  was  beheaded, 
honour,  on  the  other  the  fear  that  refusal  would  be  visited  on  his 
queen  and  children.  Strafford  himself,  true  even  now  to  his  own 
policy  of  *  thorough,'  wrote  that  '  he  would  willingly  forgive  Charles  for 
his  death  if  it  would  lead  to  better  times,  and  that  his  consent  would 
more  acquit  him  therein  to  God  than  all  the  world  could  do  beside.' 
At  length,  worn  out  with  anxiety,  and  comforted  by  a  distinction  made 
by  Bishop  Williams  between  his  public  and  private  conscience,  Charles 


544  The  Stuarts  16« 

gave  his  consent,  and  on  May  12,  in  the  presence  of  200,000  persons, 
Strafford's  head  was  struck  off  on  Tower  Hill.  Strafford  died,  not  so 
much  for  what  he  had  done,  but  for  what  he  might  do.  His  own 
maxim,  that  'the  safety  of  the  state  is  the  highest  law,'  was  turned 
against  himself,  and  when  he  died,  the  popular  leaders  felt  that  their 
greatest  and  most  dangerous  opponent  was  gone. 

On  the   same  day  when  the  royal  consent  was  given  to  Strafford's 

death,  Charles  also  agreed  to  a  bill  by  which  it  was  provided  that  the 

Parliament  ^^i^^i^g  parliament  should  not  be  dissolved  without  its  own 

not  to  be     assent.     This  measure,  the  gravity  of  which  was  hardly 

dissolved  .-,,,!        .•  -,       f  •  i  -,  •    n      •  -,    -, 

against  noticed  at  the  time,  and  which  was  chieiiy  intended  to 
Its  wi  .  induce  men  of  money  to  lend  with  greater  confidence  on 
the  credit  of  parliament,  was  in  reality  of  the  highest  constitutional 
importance,  for  on  it  rested  the  legal  position  of  the  parliament  during 
the  civil  war.  By  it  the  king  was  debarred,  not  only  from  dissolving 
parliament  with  a  view  to  another  lease  of  arbitrary  power,  as  in  1629, 
but  also  from  testing  the  feeling  of  the  country  by  a  general  election. 
It,  therefore,  elevated  the  existing  parliament  into  an  oligarchy,  indepen- 
dent not  only  of  the  caprices  of  the  king  but  also  of  the  opinions  of  the 
electors ;  and  it  further  entailed  the  consequence  that,  as  neither 
parliament  nor  king  had  any  legal  power  of  ridding  itself  of  the  other, 
in  event  of  a  quarrel  between  them  nothing  would  remain  but  to  resort 
to  arms.  Shortly  afterwards  a  grant  of  tonnage  and  poundage  was 
made,  followed  by  a  poU-tax  graduated  from  £100  to  6d.  ;  and  terms 
were  arranged  with  the  Scottish  army  in  August,  and  both  it  and  the 
English  forces  in  the  north  were  disbanded. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1641,  both  Episcopalians  and  anti- 
Episcopalians  vied  with  each  other  in  their  eagerness  to  rid  the  country 

of  all  the  abuses  and  weapons  of  arbitrary  power.     The 

Legislation.  „  _,  ^,        ,  _    ^^.   ^     ^  .     .  -,       .  , 

courts  of  Star  Chamber  and  High  Commission,  and  with 

them  the  councils  of  Wales  and  the  north,  were  abolished.  Under  Falk- 
land's lead  the  House  condemned  the  ship-money  judgment  as  unconsti- 
tutional, and  an  Act,  introduced  by  Selden,  declared  ship-money  illegal. 
Selden,  too,  had  been  the  introducer  of  Acts,  by  which  distraint  of  knight- 
hood had  been  abolished,  and  the  forests  restored  to  the  limits  which 
existed  before  Holland's  commission.  Those  who  had  collected  tonnage 
and  poundage  duties,  which  had  not  been  voted  by  parliament,  were  de- 
clared delinquents.  These  measures  were  passed  with  virtual  unanimity, 
for  as  yet  Charles  had  no  party  in  the  House  ;  but  the  least  attempt  to 
deal  with  ecclesiastical  affairs  brought  the  hostility  of  the  two  parties 
into  clear  relief. 


1641  Charles  I.  545 

This  divergence  showed  itself  first  in  a  debate  held  in  February  on  a 
petition  signed  by  15,000  Londoners,  and  asking  for  the  abolition  of 
Episcopacy  '  root  and  branch.'  This  contrasted  with  a  ^^^  .  ^^ 
petition  of  700  clergymen,  who  asked  for  its  reform.  In  and  Branch ' 
this  debate  Falkland,  Hyde,  Digby,  and  Selden  separated 
themselves  from  their  usual  friends  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  bill  to 
exclude  the  bishops  from  the  House  of  Lords,  and  from  the  fulfilment  of 
secular  duties,  passed  the  Commons  readily,  for  the  existing  bishops  had 
few  friends,  and  were  regarded  as  the  authors  of  the  Scottish  war.  It 
was,  however,  rejected  by  the  Lords,  who  disliked  the  interference  of  the 
Commons  in  the  constitution  of  the  upper  house.  After  Strafi'ord's 
death,  Oliver  CromweU,  the  younger  Vane  and  Sir  Arthur  Hazelrig 
procured  the  introduction  of  a  bill  based  on  the  London  petition  and 
called  the  Root  and  Branch  Bill,  for  the  total  abolition  of  Episcopacy 
and  for  appointing  a  mixed  commission  of  laity  and  clergy  to  exer- 
cise ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  in  each  diocese,  but  it  was  vigorously 
opposed  by  the  Episcopalians.  The  Lords,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
appointed  a  strong  committee,  with  Williams  at  its  head,  to  consider 
'  all  innovations  in  the  church  concerning  religion,'  and  had  endeavoured 
to  secure  temporary  peace  by  ordering  the  bishops  to  see  that  the  Lord's 
table  should  '  stand  decently  in  the  ancient  place  .  .  .  where  it  hath 
done  for  the  greater  part  of  these  three  score  years  last  past.'  It  was 
expected  that  Williams'  commission  would  report  against  Laud's  innova- 
tions, and  in  favour  of  an  Episcopacy  of  limited  powers. 

The  controversy  was  by  no  means  confined  to  parliament.  Both 
sides  appealed  for  popular  support.  Bishop  Hall,  of  Exeter,  pub- 
lished a  Humble  Remonstrance  to  the  High  Co^lH  of  Farlia-  popular 
ment  by  a  Dutiful  Son  of  the  Church.  On  the  other  side  '^^'^^^s. 
appeared  An  Answer  to  a  Humble  Remonstrance,  by  Smectymnuus,  a 
name  composed  out  of  the  initials  of  five  Puritan  divines — Stephen 
Marshall,  Edward  Calamy,  Thomas  Young,  Matthew  Newcomen,  and 
William  Spurstow.  Usher,  archbishop  of  Armagh,  too,  was  in  the  field 
with  a  plan  for  making  the  bishops  into  chairmen  of  councils  of  pres- 
byters, without  whose  advice  they  were  not  to  act.  Last,  but  not  least, 
John  Milton  contributed  a  tract  entitled  Of  Reformation  touching 
Church  Discipline  in  England,  and  the  Causes  that  have  hitherto  hindered 
it,  in  which  he  denounced  the  bishops  without  mercy,  and  held  up 
Episcopacy  as  the  real  cause  why  the  Reformation  had  not  accomplished 
all  that  zealous  Protestants  desired,  and  he  followed  it  up  with  other 
pamphlets  in  the  same  strain.  The  consequence  of  all  this  violent 
recrimination  was  to  make  the  ecclesiastical  question  assume  larger  pro- 

2  M 


546  The  Stuarts  1641 

portions  in  the  popular  mind  than  that  of  constitutional  reform,  and 
to  make  religion  and  not  politics  the  dominant  factor  in  deciding  to 
which  party  men  should  ally  themselves. 

In  August  Charles  somewhat  hurriedly  decided  that  his  presence  was 
required  in  Scotland  ;    and  on  August  10  he  set  out  for  Edinburgh, 

Charles  in    followed  by  a  committee  appointed  by  parliament,  of  which 

Scotland.  Hampden  and  Fiennes  were  the  chief,  ostensibly  to  attend 
the  king,  in  reality  to  watch  his  proceedings,  and  report  to  the  houses 
at  Westminster.  In  Scotland  Charles'  great  desire  was  to  secure  such  a 
pacification  as  to  leave  him  free  to  deal  with  England,  possibly  even  to 
make  Scotland  a  basis  of  operations  against  the  English  parliament. 
Accordingly  he  agreed  to  all  the  Scottish  demands,  laid  himself  out  to 
secure  popularity,  and  was  studiously  polite  to  Argyll,  Henderson  and 
the  other  popular  leaders.  In  Scotland,  however,  as  in  England,  Charles' 
court  was  a  centre  of  intrigue,  and  some  of  the  violent  nobles,  headed  by 
the  earl  of  Crawford,  irritated  by  the  new-found  power  of  the  gentry 
and  commonalty,  formed  a  wild  scheme  for  arresting  Argyll,  Hamilton, 
and  Lanark,  who  were  now  making  common  cause,  and  possibly  of 
putting  them  to  death.  This  affair  is  called  the  '  Incident,'  and  though 
Charles'  share  in  it,  if  any,  is  obscure,  the  effect  was  to  ruin  his  popu- 
larity, and  to  add  to  the  power  of  Argyll,  who  became  little  less  than  an 
uncrowned  king  of  Scotland.  To  the  last,  however,  Charles  clung  to 
the  hope  of  finding  aid  in  Scotland,  and  before  he  left  made  Argyll  a 
marquess  ;  Leslie  a  peer,  under  the  title  of  earl  of  Leven  ;  and  Johnstone 
of  Warriston  a  knight. 

During  Charles'  visit  to  Edinburgh,  he  had  never  ceased  to  busy  him- 
self in  collecting  evidence  of  collusion  between  the  leaders  of  parliament 
Hopefulness  ^nd  the  Scottish  invaders.  By  this  means  he  hoped  to 
of  Charles.  strike  a  fatal  blow  at  Pym  and  his  friends.  His  spirits 
also  were  raised  by  the  obvious  growth  of  the  Ej^iscopalian  party,  at 
the  head  of  which  he  decided  to  place  himself,  and  despatched  home 
a  manifesto  to  the  Lords,  stating  that  '  he  was  constant  to  the  discipline 
and  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  established  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  his  father,  and  that  he  was  resolved — by  the  grace  of  God — to  die 
in  the  maintenance  of  it.' 

After  Charles'  departure,  the  Root  and  Branch  Bill  was  dropped,  and 
parliament  occupied  itself  chiefly  about  the  practical  business  of  carrying 
Practical  OH  the  government,  which  Charles  had  of  late  wholly 
Government,  neglected.  By  an  '  ordinance,'  agreed  to  between  the  two 
Houses,  the  weapons  of  the  northern  army  were  stored  in  Hull,  and  the 
Tower  of  London  was  carefully  guarded.     There  was  less  unanimity  in 


1641  Charles  I.  547 

deciding  on  the  steps  to  be  taken  to  secure  order  in  public  worship  until 
a  final  settlement  should  be  made.  Some  wished  to  sanction  alterations 
in  the  Book  of  Conmion  Prayer  ;  others  opposed  them.  Eventually  an 
appeal  was  issued  to  worshippers  '  to  quietly  attend  (await)  the  reforma- 
tion intended,  without  any  tumultuous  disturbance  of  the  worship  of 
God  and  the  peace  of  the  kingdom.'  On  September  9  both  Houses 
adjourned  till  October  20,  leaving  Pym  as  head  of  a  committee  which 
was  to  sit  in  London  and  watch  events.  During  the  recess  it  is  probable 
that  a  party  took  shape  which  believed  Charles  had  granted  enough,  and 
that  a  free  hand  should  now  be  given  to  him  to  show,  if  he  chose,  that  he 
had  separated  himself  from  the  days  of  Strafford.  The  great  obstacle  to 
the  growth  of  such  a  party  lay  in  the  difficulty  of  trusting  Charles  ;  for 
those  who  knew  him  best  were  most  sure  that,  if  he  had  the  means,  he 
would  take  the  first  opportunity  to  go  back  to  his  old  ways.  Still,  if 
Charles  could  contrive  to  effect  a  junction  between  this  party  and  the 
Episcopalians,  he  might  again  hope  to  have  a  majority  ;  and  his  chances 
of  doing  so  were  increased  by  the  fact  that  many  who  cared  little  about 
religion  were  disgusted  by  the  claims  of  ignorant  and  uncultivated  men 
to  dictate  the  religion  of  their  superiors  in  rank  and  education. 

Meanwhile,  that  solution  of  the  religious  question  which  was  ultimately 
to  be  accepted  had  been  proposed.    Henry  Burton,  the  old  victim  of  the 
Star  Chamber,  had  published  his  Protestation  Protested,  in 
which   he  put  forward  the  scheme  of  a  national  church   ligious 
recognised  by  the  state,  with  perfect  toleration  for  Non-  *°"' 

conformists  ;  and  Lord  Brooke,  in  A  Discourse  opening  the  nature  of  that 
Episcopacy  which  is  exercised  in  England,  had  pleaded  for  complete 
freedom  of  speech  and  thought.  Unluckily,  the  views  of  Burton  and 
Brooke  were  held  by  a  mere  fraction  of  their  contemporaries. 

Hardly  had  Parliament  resumed  business  when  terrible  news  came 
from  Ireland.  For  years  nothing  had  stood  between  Ireland  and 
rebellion  but  the  knowledge  of  England's  strength  ;  and  fhe  Irish 
now  that  Strafford  was  gone,  and  it  was  known  in  Ireland  Rebellion, 
that  there  was  no  goodwill  between  king  and  parliament  in  England, 
Ireland's  opportunity  seemed  to  have  come.  Circumstances  had  for  a 
moment  combined  together  two  parties  long  opposed — the  old  Anglo- 
Norman  settlers,  who  were  mostly  Roman  Catholics,  and  who  wanted 
toleration  for  their  religion,  and  the  dispossessed  Celtic  landowners,  who 
wanted  the  restoration  of  their  lands.  Accordingly,  preparations  were 
made  for  a  widespread  revolt,  which  w?is  to  take  place  on  October  23. 
Its  leaders  were  Roger  More,  a  man  of  good  character  and  high  motives  ; 
Sir  Phelim  O'Neal,  who  claimed  to  be  the  representative  of  the  O'Neals 


548  The  Stuarts  I64i 

of  Ulster,  and  Lord  Maguire.  Of  this  plot  the  authorities  at  Dublin 
were  in  ignorance  till  the  night  of  October  22,  when  they  learned  from 
an  informer  the  plans  of  the  rebels,  and  had  barely  time  to  arrest  Lord 
Maguire  and  to  throw  a  garrison  into  the  castle.  The  next  day  all 
the  north  of  Ireland  was  in  a  blaze.  The  idea  of  a  deliberate  massacre 
had  been  rejected  by  the  rebels,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  promiscuous  slaughter,  and  that  much  barbarous  ill-usage 
was  suffered  by  the  English  settlers,  who,  without  warning  and  in  bitter 
weather,  were  turned  out  of  house  and  home  by  the  triumphant  Irish. 
For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  if  England's  hold  over  the  country  was 
irretrievably  lost,  and  it  was  certain  that,  if  it  were  to  be  maintained  at 
all,  instantaneous  action  must  be  taken. 

The  first  result  of  the  reception  of  the  news  at  Westminster  was  to 
compel  Pym  and  his  friends  to  decide  whether  they  would  prefer  to 
The  Army  n^^ke  Sure  of  Ireland — at  the  risk  of  providing  Charles 
question.  ^ffii\\  an  army  which  might  be  used  against  themselves — 
or  whether  they  would  risk  the  loss  of  Ireland  till  they  had  made  sure 
of  the  rights  of  England.  Eventually  it  was  decided  to  ask  for  a  large 
contingent  from  Scotland,  which  might  balance  any  force  ultimately 
entrusted  to  Charles.  The  army  for  Ireland  was  to  consist  of  ten 
thousand  English  and  ten  thousand  Scots. 

The  growth  of  the  Episcopalian  party,  the  appearance  of  another  party 
which  looked  with  suspicion  on  further  encroachments  on  the  royal 
prerogative,  coupled  with  the  fresh  difficulty  caused  by 
Remon-  the  Irish  rebellion,  and  the  apprehension  of  further  court 
s  ranee.  intrigues,  determined  Pym  and  Hampden  to  appeal  to  the 
nation  to  support  parliament  against  the  king.  This  they  did  in  the  Grand 
Remonstrance.  This  famous  document  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  six 
clauses.  It  began  by  accusing  the  Papists,  the  king's  evil  counsellors, 
and  the  bishops,  of  a  set  design  to  subvert  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
kingdom,  and  to  bring  in  Popery  :  and  as  proof  of  this,  it  recounted  all  the 
arbitrary  acts  and  mistakes  of  the  king  since  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
both  in  politics  and  religion.  Against  these  were  set  in  contrast  a  list 
of  the  good  deeds  of  the  parliament,  and  a  statement  of  the  future 
policy  of  the  parliament  in  politics  and  in  religion,  the  chief  points  of 
which  were  proposals  that  the  king's  counsellors  should  for  the  future  be 
named  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  parliament ;  and  in  religion,  the 
assembly  of  a  synod,  consisting  of  English  and  foreign  divines  of  the 
Protestant  faith, '  to  consider  all  things  necessary  for  the  peace  and  good 
government  of  the  church.'  The  scheme  drawn  up  by  this  synod  was 
to  be  confirmed  by  parliament,  and  then  enforced  on  the  nation  at  large. 


1641  Charles  I.  549 

To  the  political  part  of  this  manifesto  even  Hyde  and  Falkland  did  not 
demur ;  but  the  religious  clauses  met  with  the  fiercest  opposition,  for 
they  foreshadowed  a  state  of  things  in  which  those  who  did  not  happen 
to  agree  with  the  views  of  the  parliamentary  majority  would  be  subjected 
to  a  persecution  exactly  analogous  to  that  carried  on  by  Laud  in 
England  and  by  Winthrop  in  America.  The  whole  of  the  Episcopalian 
and  royalist  parties  allied  against  them,  and,  eventually,  they  were 
carried  by  only  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  votes  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight.  The  majority  at  once  clinched  their  victory  by  ordering 
the  Remonstrance  to  be  printed.  Thus  they  appealed  to  the  nation 
against  the  king ;  but,  in  doing  so,  they  published  a  declaration  of 
policy  which  all  supporters  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  lovers  of  the 
liturgy,  would  certainly  take  as  a  threat  of  persecution. 

The  Grand  Remonstrance  passed  the  Commons  at  four  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  November  23 ;  and  on  the  25th,  Charles  re-entered 
London.    He  was  well  received,  and  in  high  spirits.    Never     „ 

Charles 

since  the  assembly  of  parliament  had  his  aflfairs  looked  so  again  in 
hopeful ;  and  when  he  assured  the  citizens  that  he  would  °"  °°* 
govern  according  to  the  laws,  and  repeated  his  message  that  he  would 
maintain  the  Protestant  religion  as  it  had  been  established  in  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  his  father,  to  the  hazard  of  his  life  and  all  that 
was  dear  to  him,  there  seemed  a  fair  prospect  that  he  would  not  be 
left  unsupported.  Even  in  the  city  there  had  been  a  reaction  in  his 
favour  among  the  richer  citizens,  stimulated  partly  by  the  heavy  taxation 
levied  by  parliament  for  the  payment  of  the  Scots,  partly  by  a  feeling  of 
annoyance  at  the  violence  of  the  sectarians.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
feeling  of  apprehension  exhibited  itself  at  Westminster,  which  was 
increased  when  Charles  removed  the  guard  which  Essex  had  placed 
round  the  Houses,  and  substituted  one  commanded  by  the  earl  of 
Dorset,  a  zealous  opponent  of  Puritanism.  Dorset  and  his  men  soon 
came  into  collision  with  the  crowds  of  Puritan  sympathisers  who 
swarmed  in  Palace  Yard,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  bloodshed  was 
prevented.  Dorset's  men  were  then  withdrawn,  and  the  Westminster 
magistrates  provided  a  guard.  It  was  not  without  reason  that  the 
Commons  were  apprehensive,  for  the  wildest  schemes  were  being 
discussed  at  court,  and  projects  for  seizing  the  Puritan  leaders  were 
already  in  agitation.  As  usual,  the  queen's  household  was  the  centre  of 
intrigue.  On  December  21,  Balfour,  the  trusty  lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  who  had  refused  to  connive  at  the  escape  of  Strafford,  was 
removed,  and  Lunsford,  a  debauched  and  desperate  man,  appointed  in 
his  stead.     Again,  as  in  the  case  of  Dorset,  Charles  drew  back  before 


550  The  Stuarts  I64i 

the  storm  this  appointment  had  raised,  and  Lunsford  was  soon  dismissed. 
The  removal  of  Dorset  and  Lunsford,  however,  was  not  enough  to  restore 
the  confidence  of  the  Houses.  Day  after  day  saw  scuffles  between  the 
officers  who  crowded  round  Whitehall  and  the  apprentices  whom  curio- 
sity attracted  to  Westminster ;  and  it  was  in  these  that  the  famous 
names  of  Cavalier  and  Eoundhead  were  first  heard. 

Meanwhile,  the  best  chance  for  Charles  to  regain  power  in  a  constitu- 
tional manner  lay  in  a  disagreement  between  the  two  Houses.  Of  this 
Secession  of  there  had  lately  been  some  symptoms ;  for  the  majority  of 
the  Bishops,  ^he  peers  were  Episcopalians,  and,  even  in  politics,  many 
members  were  not  prepared  to  follow  Pym  in  any  further  curtailments 
of  the  royal  authority.  But  any  hopes  of  this  were  frustrated  by  an 
ill-judged  act  of  the  bishops.  The  Puritan  apprentices  had  been  speci- 
ally outspoken  in  their  attacks  on  the  bishops.  On  December  27, 
Williams,  who  had  lately  been  made  archbishop  of  York,  tried  to  arrest 
with  his  own  hands  one  of  the  noisy  lads.  They  then  proceeded  from 
words  to  blows.  Terrified  by  this  violence,  only  two  bishops  ventured 
to  the  House  ;  and  on  the  28th,  twelve  of  them,  with  Williams  at  their 
head,  drew  up  a  protest  against  the  legality  of  all  proceedings  entered 
upon  in  their  absence.  The  Lords  took  this  protest  as  an  insult,  and 
readily  joined  the  Commons  in  an  attack  on  the  bishops.  Pym  pressed 
for  their  impeachment,  and  before  night  Williams  and  his  fellows  were 
in  custody,  and  the  two  Houses  were  once  more  united. 

Meanwhile,  Charles  was  the  victim  of  his  old  tendency  to  vacillation. 
On  January  1  he  thought  of  making  terms  with  the  popular  leaders,  and 
sent  for  Pym  to  ofi'er  him  the  chancellorship  of  the  ex- 
mentofPym  chequer.  Two  hours  later,  the  post  was  ofiered  to  and 
accepted  by  Culpepper,  while  Falkland  became  secretary  of 
state.  Hyde  also  might  have  had  office,  but  he  believed  that  he  could 
serve  the  king  better  as  an  independent  man.  Hardly  had  Charles 
taken  this  step,  when  he  heard  that  the  Commons  were  considering  the 
desirability  of  impeaching  the  queen  of  treason.  If  the  truth  about  the 
queen's  intrigues  with  the  pope  and  the  Irish  rebels,  or  even  about  her 
share  in  the  army  plots,  were  once  known,  there  could  be  no  possible 
doubt  of  her  guilt ;  and  to  save  her,  if  possible,  Charles,  urged  by  her 
and  Digby,  fell  back  on  Straff'ord's  advice — to  carry  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  country  by  impeaching  the  leaders  of  the  opposition.  It  was 
decided,  therefore,  to  impeach  for  treason  Pym,  Hampden,  Holies, 
Hazelrig,  and  Strode,  and  eventually  the  name  of  Lord  Kimbolton,  a 
peer  and  eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Manchester,  was  added  to  the  list. 

Accordingly,  on  January  3,  1642,  the  attorney-general.  Sir  Edward 


1642  Charles  I.  551 

Herbert,  came  down  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  in  the  king's  name 
accused  the  six  leaders  (1)  of  endeavouring  to  subvert  the  fundamental 
laws  and  government ;  (2)  of  inviting  a  foreign  power  charges  of 
to  invade  England  ;  (3)  of  having  raised  and  counten-  'treason, 
anced  tumults  against  king  and  parliament ;  (4)  of  levying  war  upon  the 
king.  There  was  no  doubt  that  each  of  these  charges  might  be  con- 
strued as  treason ;  and  in  the  strict  legal  sense  (1)  was  true,  for  if 
Strafford  had  conspired  to  alter  the  Elizabethan  constitution  by  diminish- 
ing the  power  of  the  parliament,  Pym  had  equally  conspired  to  alter  it 
by  diminishing  the  power  of  the  king.  When  his  charge  had  been 
made,  Herbert  asked  for  the  arrest  of  the  accused  ;  but  already  Charles' 
action  had  produced  the  opposite  of  what  he  intended.  The  Lords 
parried  his  attack  by  appointing  a  committee  to  examine  Herbert's 
procedure  ;  and  so  clear  did  the  mistake  seem  to  Digby  that  he  at  once 
left  the  House.  Meanwhile,  the  Commons  had  learned  that  the  studies 
of  the  accused  had  been  sealed  up  by  Charles'  order,  and  while  this  was 
under  debate,  the  sergeant-at-arms  arrived  to  demand  the  accused 
members  in  the  king's  name.  As  the  arrest  of  impeached  persons  was  a 
matter  for  the  Lords,  the  Commons  claimed  privilege  of  parliament,  so 
Charles'  scheme  was  completely  baffled.  Had  Charles  had  the  courage 
needful  for  a  revolutionist,  he  would  have  seized  the  members  in  their 
beds,  but  his  desire  to  keep  within  the  letter  of  the  law  prevented  his 
doing  this  ;  and  next  day,  after  a  morning  of  hesitation,  he  decided  to 
make  the  arrest  himself  at  the  House.  It  is  said  that  Attempt  to 
he  was  stung  to  do  this  by  the  reproaches  of  his  queen,  fiv?  Mem- 
who  urged  him  '  to  pull  out  the  rogues  by  the  ears.'  How-  bers. 
ever  this  may  be,  about  three  o'clock  Charles  set  out  from  Whitehall, 
accompanied  by  at  least  three  hundred  cavaliers.  His  resolution,  how- 
ever, was  well  known  and  his  march  was  slow  ;  the  Commons  had  not 
only  heard  of  his  intention  but  were  warned  when  he  left  Whitehall, 
so  that  the  accused  were  taking  boat  for  the  city  at  Westminster  stairs 
as  Charles  was  arriving  in  Palace  Yard.  Leaving  the  greater  part  of  his 
men  drawn  up  in  Westminster  Hall,  Charles  and  a  number  of  the  officers 
made  their  way  to  the  members'  lobby,  where  the  officers  stayed,  while 
Charles  himself  entered  the  House.  Finding  the  accused  absent,  he  en- 
quired from  the  Speaker  '  where  they  were ' ;  but  Lenthall,  falling  on  his 
knees,  assured  him  that  *  he  had  neither  eyes  to  see  nor  tongue  to  speak, 
but  as  the  House  was  pleased  to  direct  him';  and  Charles,  again  baffled, 
retired  from  the  House,  with  loud  shouts  of '  Privilege  of  parliament '  ring- 
ing in  his  ears.  Meanwhile,  the  officers  in  the  lobby  had  been  divesting 
themselves  of  their  cloaks  and  cocking  their  pistols,  evidently  bent  on  a 


552  The  Stuarts  1642 

resort  to  force,  from  the  odium  of  which  Charles  had  only  been  saved  by 

the  timely  flight  of  Pym  and  his  comrades.     '  They  are  gone  ! '  was  the 

cry  of  the  soldiers  ;  *  and  now  we  are  never  the  better  for  our  coming.' 

Next  day,  Charles  was  in  the  city,  demanding  from  the  common  council 

of  London  the  arrest  of  the  traitors  ;  but  the  councillors  were  as  firm  as 

the  Commons  ;  and  inside  and  outside  the  Guildhall,  the  shout  of  the 

citizens  was  for  privilege  of  parliament. 

Meanwhile,  parliament  had  formally  adjourned  till  the  eleventh,  but 

daily  held  an  informal  sitting  in  the  city,  in  which  they  declared  that  it 

was  the  law  of  the  land  that  '  the  king  cannot  arrest  for 
Result  of  ,        T     ,  1     1  .     .  ?     1        .  1 

Charles'       treason,'  and  also  accepted  the  principle  that  'a  member 

action.  cannot  be  arrested  unless  parliament  was  satisfied  of  the 

truth  of  the  charge.'  Charles,  on  his  side,  was  resolute,  and  had  the  five 
members  of  the  Commons  publicly  proclaimed  traitors  in  front  of  White- 
hall. In  response,  the  London  trained  bands  were  called  out  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  Philip  Skippon,  a  strong  Puritan  and  a  practical 
soldier.  The  sailors  on  the  Thames  volunteered  to  defend  the  Houses  on 
the  river-side.  The  result,  therefore,  of  Charles'  attempt  on  the  members 
was  not  only  to  unite  both  Houses  against  him,  but  to  make  the  five 
members  into  the  heroes  of  the  day.  There  could  be  no  doubt  that  the 
eleventh  would  witness  their  triumphal  return  to  Westminster,  and  that 
in  all  probability  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  arrest  the  queen.  To 
save  his  wife,  and  to  avoid  being  a  witness  of  his  own  humiliation, 
Charles  left  Whitehall  on  January  10,  never  to  return  to  it  till  he  came 
back  to  die. 

On  leaving  London,  the  king  and  queen  betook  themselves  to  Hampton 
Court,  and  thence  in  turn  to  Windsor,  Canterbury,  and  Dover.  On 
The  Queen  February  23,  the  queen  sailed  to  Holland,  taking  with 
goes  abroad,  j^^j.  j^^j.  ^j^^g^  daughter  Mary,  who  had  been  formally 
married  to  William  of  Orange  in  the  preceding  May.  She  took  also 
with  her  the  magnificent  crown  jewels  which  were  intended  to  be 
pawned  in  Holland  for  money  which  was  to  pay  a  foreign  army  to  land 
on  English  soil.  Digby  also  crossed  the  seas,  and  the  queen's  hopes 
were  high  that  she  might  soon  return  with  an  overwhelming  force  at  her 
back.  From  Dover  Charles  made  his  way  to  Greenwich,  where  he 
secured  the  person  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  at  the  beginning  of 
March  he  was  at  Newmarket.  Meanwhile,  constant  mes- 
between**°"^  sengers  had  passed  to  and  fro  between  the  king  and  the 
King  and  parliament.  Both  houses  were  now  in  accord,  as  was  shown 
when  a  new  bill  for  excluding  the  bishops  from  the  House 
of  Lords  was  passed  without  difficulty,  and  to   it  Charles,  willing  to 


1642  Charles  L  553 

sacrifice  the  prelates,  consented.  Parliament  then  took  in  hand  the 
Irish  war,  and  despatched  3400  troops  to  that  country.  To  raise  money, 
parliament,  which  was  as  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  the  Irish  Celts 
as  ever  Straiford  had  been,  devised  the  ingenious  plan  of  apportioning 
2,500,000  acres,  which  were  to  be  forfeited  by  the  rebels,  among  a  body 
of  adventurers  who  should  contribute  among  them  ^1,000,000.  To  this 
also  Charles  consented,  though  he  seems  to  have  been  aware  that  such  a 
proceeding  would  only  make  the  reconquest  of  the  rebels  more  arduous, 
by  giving  them  the  courage  of  despair. 

In  ordinary  circumstances,  the  king  would  himself  have  taken  com- 
mand of  the  troops  for  Ireland  ;  but  so  little  did  parliament  trust 
Charles,  that  it  not  only  kept  the  Irish  war  in  its  own 
hands,  but  also  took  into  consideration  a  plan  for  depriving  Militia 
Charles  of  any  hold  over  the  armed  forces  of  England.  *  * 
Since  the  reign  of  Edward  vi.  the  county  militia  had  been  in  the 
hands  of  lords-lieutenant  named  by  the  king,  and  from  time  immemorial 
the  governors  of  all  the  fortresses  of  the  kingdom  had  been  appointed 
by  the  sovereign  ;  but  now  parliament  passed  a  militia  bill,  by  which  it 
transferred  both  these  appointments  to  itself,  naming  Lord  Saye  and 
Sele,  for  example,  lord-lieutenant  of  Oxfordshire,  and  Sir  John  Hotham 
governor  of  HulL  On  March  i),  the  consent  of  the  king  was  asked  to 
this  bill.  Charles  flatly  declined,  saying,  '  you  have  asked  that  of  me  in 
this,  which  was  never  asked  of  a  king,  and  with  which  I  will  not  trust  my 
wife  and  children.'  Parliament  then  decided  to  make  the  mUitia  bill  an 
'  ordinance  of  parliament,'  and  to  enforce  it  without  the  king's  consent, 
and  the  parliamentary  lords-lieutenant  were  directed  to  enter  upon  the 
duties  of  their  ofl&ce.  This  action  of  the  Houses  was  distinctly  both 
illegal  and  unconstitutional,  and  gave  the  king  the  advantage  of  stand- 
ing up  as  the  champion  of  legality  ;  but  at  first  he  got  little  advantage 
from  it,  for  on  political  grounds  he  had  as  yet  no  party,  and  when  he 
reached  York,  on  March  19,  he  met  with  but  a  cold  reception. 

About  this  time,  however,  a  change  occurred.  Ever  since  the  attempt 
to  seize  the  five  members  the  religious  question  had  been  in  the  back- 
ground.    It  now  came  to  the  front,  and  with  it  Charles'   ^        ^    , 

*  '  Growth  of 

hopes  of  support.  The  chief  cause  of  this  was  the  pre-  a  Royalist 
sentation  to  parliament  of  a  petition  from  the  gentlemen  ^^  ^' 
of  Kent,  which  embodied  the  ideas  of  the  Episcopalian  party.  The 
petitioners  asked  (1)  that  'the  solemn  liturgy  of  the  church  might  have 
freedom  from  interruptions,  scorns,  profanations,  threats,  and  force  of 
such  men  as  do  daily  deprave  it ;  and  (2)  that  Episcopal  government  be 
preserved.'     With  these  desires  Charles  was  in  full  sympathy,  and  if  he 


554  The  Stuarts  1642 

could  only  convince  those  who  held  them  that  he  had  really  broken 
with  his  political  past,  and  would  for  the  future  keep  strictly  within  the 
lines  of  the  constitution,  he  might  still  lead  a  party.  This  service  was 
done  for  him  by  Hyde.  Edward  Hyde  represented  in  his  own  person 
exactly  the  idea  which  Charles  wished  to  present  to  the  country.  He 
had  voted  for  the  death  of  StraJSbrd,  but  against  the  abolition  of 
Episcopacy.  He  had  taken  an  active  part  in  removing  all  the  old  abuses, 
but  he  had  opposed  the  new-fangled  militia  bill.  He  now  stood  forth  as 
the  champion  of  legality,  and  Charles  accepted  him  as  his  constitutional 
adviser.  As  if  to  play  into  the  king's  hands,  parliament  emphasised  its 
hostility  to  the  old  religious  settlement  by  taking  proceedings  against 
the  Kentish  jDctitioners.  From  that  moment  men  were  forced  to  side 
definitely  either  with  king  or  parliament,  even  though  they  did  not  fully 
agree  with  either.  Lovers  of  Episcopacy  and  of  the  prayer-book  saw 
their  only  chance  of  keeping  these  in  the  success  of  the  king  ;  men  who 
preferred  any  other  form  of  religious  worshij)  or  of  church  government 
were  equally  forced  to  side  with  the  parliament.  The  idea  of  toleration 
for  all  religions  had  not  as  yet  any  supporters. 

Still  the  formation  of  these  parties,  bringing  the  nation  face  to  face 
with  civil  war,  made  both  sides  pause,  and  for  a  moment  a  compromise 
seemed  possible,  when  an  ill-considered  act  of  Charles 
refused  revived  and  intensified  the  suspicions  of  the  parliament, 
to 'huh""  ■^■'^^^  ^^^  ^^^  attempt  on  Hull.  Immediately  on  the  de- 
parture of  the  king  from  London  attention  had  been 
attracted  by  the  importance  of  Portsmouth  and  Hull,  in  which,  with  the 
Tower,  the  chief  stores  of  arms  were  kept.  Hull  was  especially 
valuable,  because  in  it  were  accoutrements  for  16,000  men  which  had  lain 
there  since  the  disbanding  of  the  northern  army,  and  also  because  it  was 
the  most  convenient  port  for  the  landing  of  Dutch  or  Danish  troops. 
Accordingly,  Charles  ordered  the  earl  of  Newcastle  to  secure  it ;  but 
parliament  was  beforehand  with  him,  and  sent  Sir  John  Hothani  to  hold 
the  place.  After  the  passing  of  the  militia  ordinance,  his  position  was 
confirmed,  and  he  was  ordered  not  to  deliver  it  up  except  by  '  the  king's 
authority,  signified  unto  him  by  the  Lords  and  Commons  now  assembled 
in  parliament.'  This  order  was  obviously  illegal,  and  Charles,  urged  by 
the  qiieen,  determined  himself  to  demand  admission  into  Hull.  Accord- 
ingly, on  April  23,  he  appeared  before  the  gates  ;  but  Hotham  was  true 
to  his  trust,  and  Charles,  having  had  the  parliamentary  governor 
proclaimed  a  traitor,  returned  discomfited  to  York.  This  clear  attempt 
to  secure  arms  destroyed  all  chance  of  accommodation  ;  and  parliament 
had  the  stores  removed  to  London.     So  inevitable  had  war  become,  that 


1642  Charles  I.  555 

both  sides  devoted  their  main  attention  to  making  the  other  appear  the 
aggressor. 

On  June  2,  parliament  despatched  to  the  king  nineteen  propositions, 
in  which  he  was  asked  lo  allow  parliament  to  name  his  council,  officers 
of  state,  governors  of  fortresses,  and  judges  ;  to  confirm  the 
militia  ordinance ;  and  to  permit  a  reformation  of  the  Nineteen 
church  to  be  carried  out  in  accordance  with  the  views  ^°P°^^  '°"^' 
of  parliament.  Of  course  he  refused ;  and  on  June  15,  a  cleverly- 
worded  counter-manifesto  was  issued  at  York,  in  which  his  chief 
adherents  declared  their  belief  that  the  king  had  no  intention  of  making 
war  on  the  parliament,  and  that  all  his  efforts  were  directed  to  the  firm 
and  constant  settlement  of  the  true  Protestant  religion ;  the  just 
privileges  of  parliament ;  the  liberty  of  the  subject ;  the  law,  peace,  and 
prosperity  of  this  kingdom.  Hitherto  the  great  obstacle  to  Charles' 
gaining  a  party  had  been  his  unceasing  efforts  to  secure  foreign  aid 
against  his  own  subjects.  Fortunately,  however,  for  him,  they  had  all 
failed,  and  the  protestation  of  York  was  the  firstfruits  of  a  determination 
to  api^eal  to  the  loyalty  of  Englishmen.  Encouraged  by  his  success, 
Charles  next  day  issued  '  commissions  of  array,'  giving  authority  to  his 

friends  in  each  county  to  call  out  the  trained  bands,  and   ^ 

'  Commis- 

though  in  the  south-eastern  shires  the  population  stood  by   sions  of 

the  parliamentary  lords-lieutenant,  in  the  north  and  west  ^^^^' 
the  orders  of  the  commissioners  were  accepted.  Hitherto,  also,  want 
of  money  had  put  him  at  a  decided  disadvantage,  but  at  this  crisis  the 
Catholic  marquess  of  Worcester  and  his  son  Lord  Herbert  came  to  his 
assistance,  and  furnished  him  with  no  less  than  £95,000,  raised  on  their 
own  security.  The  queen,  too,  had  succeeded  in  raising  a  further  sum 
by  pledging  the  crown  jewels. 

The  process  of  drifting  into  war  then  went  on  apace.  On  July  4  a 
committee  of  safety  was  appointed,  of  which  the  leading  members  were 
Essex,  Saye  and  Sele,  Pym,  Hampden,  Fiennes,  Holies,  and  Drifting 
Sir  William  Waller,  and  a  few  days  later  it  was  decided  to  *"^°  ^^'"' 
levy  10,000  men  for  active  service.  On  July  11  the  Houses  declared  that 
Charles  had  begun  the  war.  On  July  12  Essex  was  named  commander- 
in-chief.  On  July  15  the  first  blood  was  shed  at  Manchester  in  a  conflict 
between  Lord  Strange  (afterwards  earl  of  Derby)  and  some  townsmen 
who  were  trying  to  carry  out  the  militia  ordinance.  On  July  17  there 
was  fighting  in  Charles'  presence  before  the  walls  of  Hull.  In  August 
parliament  borrowed  £100,000  from  the  sum  voted  for  the  Irish  war. 
On  August  18  the  adherents  of  the  king  were  declared  by  parlia- 
ment to  be  traitors,  and   on  August  22   Charles  unfurled  the  royal 


556  The  Stuarts  1642 

standard  at  Nottingham.  Such  were  the  steps  by  which  Englishmen 
found  themselves  divided  into  two  bodies,  each  ready  for  war,  but  each 
declaring  that  they  entered  on  it  with  reluctance,and  that  the  responsibility 
for  bloodshed  lay  with  the  other  side.  Even  after  his  standard  had 
been  raised,  Charles  made  two  more  efforts  for  peace,  and  finally,  on 
September  6,  Falkland  was  authorised  to  notify  personally  to  the 
parliamentary  leaders  that  the  king  was  still  ready  to  listen  to  any 
reasonable  proposals,  and  in  particular  that  he  would  'consent  to 
a  thorough  reformation  of  religion.'  Unfortunately  this  message  was 
secret,  and  to  Charles'  open  offer  that  he  would  take  down  his  standard 
if  both  sides  withdrew  the  accusation  of  treason  against  the  other, 
parliament  replied  by  demanding  that  the  expenses  incurred  in  prepara- 
tions should  be  defrayed  out  of  the  estates  of  those  whom  parliament 
should  declare  to  be  'delinquents.'  This  reply,  obviously  suggested 
by  the  policy  which  both  king  and  parliament  had  adopted  towards  the 
Irish  rebels,  was  worth  10,000  men  to  the  king.  Hitherto  men  had 
hesitated  to  commit  themselves  to  a  war  for  the  maintenance  of  bishojis 
or  for  the  sake  of  a  sentimental  loyalty,  but  now  that  their  estates  were 
in  danger  there  was  no  more  hesitation,  and  Charles  soon  found  himself 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  enthusiastic  soldiers. 

The  cleavage  between  the  two  parties  did  not  follow  any  accurately 
marked  geographical  line.  In  every  county  there  were  some  for  the 
The  Two  king  and  some  for  the  parliament.  High  churchmen  almost 
Parties.  invariably  followed  the  king.  Roman  Catholics  invariably 
did  so,  for  they  well  knew  that  no  mercy  for  them  would  follow  a 
Puritan  victory.  Anti-Episcopalians  and  Separatists,  of  course,  supported 
the  parliament,  for  earnest  Puritans  believed  that  Puritanism  contained 
all  that  was  best  in  the  religion  of  the  Reformation,  and  felt  certain  that 
in  fighting  Charles  they  were  engaged  in  a  holy  war.  Men  who  had  no 
strong  religious  views  were  diversely  arranged.  Those  who  laid  stress 
upon  the  necessity  of  curbing  the  prerogative  supported  Pym ;  others, 
actuated  by  traditional  loyalty,  followed  Charles.  Most  men  of  pleasure 
felt  instinctively  that  the  adoption  of  Puritanism  would  be  so  disastrous 
to  their  way  of  life  that  they  were  bound  to  resist  it,  and  they,  too,  followed 
the  king.  Roystering  swordsmen  like  Lunsford  took  the  same  side, 
much  to  the  confusion  of  idealists  like  Falkland.  If  the  arrangement  of 
classes  be  examined,  it  will  be  found  that  the  bulk  of  the  parliamen- 
tarians were  recruited  from  the  townspeople,  especially  from  the 
Londoners,  and  from  the  yeomen  classes  in  the  country  ;  but  that  their 
leaders  were  taken  either  from  the  nobility  or  the  gentry.  Generally 
speaking,  however,  the  gentry  supported  the  king,  and,  where  they  did 


1642  CJmrles  I.  557 

so,  carried  their  tenants  with  them.  Men  of  equal  nobility  and  purity 
of  motive  were  to  be  found  on  either  side,  and  there  were  plenty  of  men 
of  accomplishment  and  culture  who  supported  the  parliament,  though, 
as  a  rule,  the  cultivated  classes  felt  themselves  repulsed  by  the  harsh 
and  rigid  ideal  of  the  Puritans.  As  an  example  of  the  former,  Ave 
may  take  Colonel  Hutchinson,  of  whom  his  wife  writes  that  'he  could 
dance  admirably  well,  but  neither  in  youth  nor  in  riper  years  made  any 
practice  of  it ;  he  had  skill  in  fencing,  such  as  became  a  gentleman  ;  he 
had  a  great  love  of  music,  and  often  diverted  himself  with  a  viol,  which 
he  played  masterly  ;  he  had  great  judgment  in  paintings,  gravings, 
sculpture,  and  all  liberal  arts,  and  had  many  curiosities  of  value  of  all 
kinds.' 

For  practical  purposes,  however,  a  line  drawn  from  Hull  to  Gloucester 
and  thence  to  Lyme,  will  serve  for  a  dividing  line,  for  east  and  south 
of  this  the  majority  of  the  population,  or  at  any  rate  Geographical 
the  most  active  spirits,  supported  the  parliament ;  north  i^^visions. 
and  west  the  majority  was  for  the  king.  (See  map  of  civU  wars  on 
page  538.)  Some  exceptions,  however,  there  were.  The  university  of 
Oxford  was  for  the  king.  So,  too,  was  Cambridge  ;  but  its  power  of  aiding 
him  was  at  once  destroyed  by  Cromwell.  The  clothing  towns  both  of 
the  AVest  Eiding  of  Yorkshire  and  of  Somerset  were  for  the  parliament. 
The  seaports,  as  a  rule,  were  more  parliamentarian  than  the  country. 
These  divisions  were  not  unlike  those  noticed  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses. 
The  towns  and  richer  districts  were  with  the  parliament,  as  they  had 
been  with  the  Yorkists ;  the  poorer  and  more  backward  followed  the 
king. 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  parliament  that 
the  fleet  under  the  earl  of  Warwick  was  wholly  on  its  side.  In  conse- 
quence, the  king  had  the  utmost  difficulty  in  getting  supplies  from 
abroad,  while  the  parliamentarians  were  not  only  able  easily  to  move 
their  troops  by  sea,  but  to  enable  the  seaport  towns  to  make  a  most 
valuable  resistance  to  Charles'  land  forces.  Parliament  threw  itself 
vigorously  into  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Saye  went  down  to  Oxford 
to  overawe  the  university.  Sir  William  Waller  took  charge  of  the 
operations  against  Portsmouth,  and  forced  Goring  to  sur-  opening  of 
render  it  on  September  7.  Kimbolton  (now  earl  of  Man-  *^^  War. 
Chester),  Hampden,  Fiennes,  Holies,  and  others  raised  regiments  at  their 
own  expense.  London  sent  8000  men,  and  soon  20,000  men  were 
wearing  the  orange  scarf  which  denoted  a  isarliamentary  soldier.  The 
mustering  was  marked  by  the  plundering  of  the  houses  of  royalists  and 
Roman  Catholics,  and  the  destruction  of  the  ornaments  and  communion 


558  The  Stuarts  1642 

rails  in  anti-Puritan  churches.  On  September  9  Essex  took  formal 
leave  of  the  Houses,  and,  carrying  with  him  a  coffin  and  a  winding- 
sheet,  to  show  his  resolution,  set  off  for  Northampton,  whence  he  designed 
an  immediate  march  upon  Nottingham. 

However,  when  he  reached  Northampton  he  heard  that  Nottingham 
had  already  been  evacuated  by  the  king.  Charles,  who  had  been  hin- 
Charies  at  dered  in  his  preparations  by  the  difficulty  of  procuring  arms, 
Shrewsbury,  j^^d  wisely  changed  his  ground  to  Shrewsbury,  the  natural 
trysting-place  for  the  forces  assembling  from  Wales  and  the  north.  On 
the  way  he  had  reassured  his  soldiers  by  a  declaration  that  he  would 
maintain  all  the  acts  of  the  present  parliament  to  which  he  had  assented, 
and  had  appealed  to  the  religious  feelings  of  his  men  by  declaring  that 
on  the  field  of  battle  they  would  find  arranged  against  them  '  Brownists, 
anabaptists,  and  atheists.'  Decidedly  the  most  vigorous  soldier  in  his 
army  was  his  nephew.  Prince  Rupert  of  the  Palatinate,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-three,  who  had  in  him  the  making  of  a  good  soldier.  He  was 
bent  on  securing  success  by  every  means  in  his  power,  and  his  high- 
handed method  of  collecting  supplies  soon  gained  him  among  the 
parliamentarians  the  sobriquet  of  *  Prince  Robber.'  Him  Charles 
named  commander  of  the  horse.  Several  officers  were  named  generals 
of  the  royal  army,  but  in  practice  Charles  kept  the  chief  direction  in  his 
own  hand.     The  first  serious  fighting  took  place  near  Wor- 

Worcester.  ,  ^    n-      t  i 

cester,  where  Rupert,  covermg  the  retreat  of  Sir  John 
Byron,  who  was  conveying  to  the  king  some  of  the  treasures  of  the  Oxford 
colleges,  scattered  one  of  Fiennes'  cavalry  regiments,  and  saved  the 
much-needed  supplies.  The  chief  result  of  the  action,  however,  was  to 
inspire  the  royalists  with  the  belief  that  the  Puritan  cavalry  were  a  con- 
temptible force.  In  this,  one  parliamentarian  officer  was  quite  prepared 
to  agree  with  them.  Speaking  to  his  cousin  Hampden,  Oliver  Cromwell 
freely  criticised  the  cavalry  of  his  own  side.  '  Your  troops,'  he  said, 
'  are  most  of  them  old  decayed  serving-men  and  tapsters,  and  such  kind  of 
fellows,  and  their  troops  are  gentlemen's  sons  and  persons  of  quality. 
Do  you  think  that  the  spirits  of  such  base  and  mean  fellows  will  ever  be 
able  to  encounter  gentlemen  that  have  honour,  courage,  and  resolu- 
tion in  them  ? '  Hampden  agreed  with  the  criticism,  but  was  doubtful 
whether  anything  could  be  done  ;  and  in  his  practical  way,  Cromwell  at 
once  set  about  getting  together  a  troop  of  his  own  which  he  designed  to 
be  of  a  very  different  quality.  To  meet  Charles'  move  to  Shrewsbury, 
Essex  placed  garrisons  in  Warwick,  Coventry,  Northampton,  and  other 
towns,  and  himself  occupied  Worcester. 

On   October  12  Charles  broke  up  from  Shrewsbury,  and,  cleverly 


1642 


Charles  I. 


559 


Charles' 
March  on 
London. 


avoiding  the  gamsoned  towns,  inarched  straight  for  London.  Essex 
started  in  pursuit,  and  on  October  22  the  two  armies  were  within  a  few 
miles  of  each  other,  Charles  at  Edgecote,  near  Banbury ; 
Essex  at  Kineton.  The  roads  along  which  the  armies  were 
advancing  met  at  Banbury,  but  Charles  was  somewhat  in 
advance.  On  hearing,  however,  of  the  proximity  of  Essex,  Charles 
turned  out  of  his  road  and  took  up  a  strong  position  on  Edgehill,  a  line 
of  high  ground  overlooking  the  Hat  valley  of  the  Avon.  Over  this 
ridge  Essex's  route  lay.  The  king  had  with  him  14,000  men.  Essex 
had  with  him  not  more  than  10,000  ;  but  Hampden,  with  two  more 
regiments,  was  only  one  day's  march  behind.      For  defence   Charles' 


c 

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BATTLE  OF  EDGEHILL,  OCTOBER  23,  1642 


position  was  very  strong,  but  he  could  not  wait  to  be  attacked.  His 
provisions  were  running  short ;  he  was  in  a  hostile  country  where  the 
blacksmiths  refused  to  shoe  his  horses  ;  and  he  had  in  his  rear  Banbury, 
one  of  the  most  parliamentarian  towns  in  England.  Moreover,  few 
royalists  had  the  least  doubt  that  an  easy  victory  awaited  them ;  and, 
accordingly,  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  October  23,  the  king's  army 
marched  down  the  hill  and  attacked  Essex. 

As  was  usual  in  those  days,  both  armies  were  drawn  up  with  their 
cavalry  on  the  wings  and  the  infantry  in  the  centre.     The  weapons  of 
both  were  the  same.     Each  foot  regiment  was  composed  of     Battle  of 
pikemen  in  the  centre  and  musketeers  on  the  flanks.     The     Edgehill. 
lines  were  usually  ten  deep,  for  each  musketeer,  as  he  fired,  retired  to 


560  The  Stuarts  1642 

the  rear  to  load  ;  and  nine  men  had  to  do  this  before  the  first  was  ready- 
again.  In  this  way  a  continuous  fire  was  kept  up.  When  charged  by 
cavalry,  the  musketeers  took  refuge  among  the  pikemen,  who  presented 
to  their  assailants  a  solid  front  of  glittering  spear-points.  The  usual 
plan  of  attack  was  for  the  whole  line,  infantry  and  cavalry,  to  advance 
simultaneously  till  they  came  to  close  quarters,  when  the  cavalry 
charged  and  the  infantry  fired  at  each  other,  till  one  side  or  other  gave 
way,  or  an  attempt  was  made  to  get  to  closer  quarters  still,  and  fight 
hand  to  hand.  The  battle  began  about  three  o'clock,  when  little  more 
than  two  hours'  light  remained.  Of  late  years  cavalry  had  ahnost 
always  contented  themselves  with  firing  pistols  at  each  other,  and  had 
rarely  charged  home,  but  Eupert  led  his  men  right  into  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  new  device  carried  all  before  it.  On  the  right  wing 
Rupert's  men  pursued  their  opponents  into  Kineton,  and  then  setting 
upon  the  baggage,  got  completely  out  of  hand.  On  the  left  Wilmot  was 
almost  as  successful.  Only  two  regiments  of  horse  stood  their  ground 
under  Balfour,  the  late  commander  of  the  Tower  of  London  and  Staple- 
ton.  Oliver  Cromwell  also  contrived  to  keep  his  own  troop  together. 
With  the  foot,  however,  it  was  different.  Unlike  the  '  decayed  tapsters 
and  serving-men,'  out  of  whom  the  cavalry  were  composed,  the  stout 
Puritans  who  filled  the  ranks  of  the  infantry  held  their  ground  well, 
and  when  the  first  confusion  was  over  the  royalist  regiments  of  foot 
found  that  they  had  met  their  match.  Gradually  the  tide  of  battle 
turned,  and  when  in  the  shades  of  evening  Rupert  at  length  returned, 
he  found  his  uncle's  men  withdrawing  to  the  hill,  while  Hampden's 
fresh  troops  were  hurrying  up  to  support  the  tired  soldiers  of  the  ^Darlia- 
mentarian  army.  When  darkness  settled  upon  the  field,  both  armies 
occupied  their  morning  position,  and  next  day  neither  was  desirous 
of  renewing  the  fight.  During  the  course  of  the  day  Essex,  whose 
great  object  was  to  reach  London  before  Charles,  broke  up  his  camp, 
and  made  a  flank  march  to  Northampton,  while  Charles  moved  on  to 
Oxford. 

From  Oxford  Charles  continued  his  advance  on  London,  but  the 
slowness  of  his  movements  gave  Essex  time  to  make  his  roundabout 
Turnham  march,  and  when  the  royalists  reached  Kingston  they  found 
Green.  their  old  antagonists  of  Edgehill  again  barring  the  road. 
Nor  was  Essex  left  without  reinforcements.  The  imminent  danger  of 
London,  and  especially  the  tidings  brought  to  the  city  of  the  plundering 
of  Rupert's  foragers,  instead  of  cowing  the  citizens  roused  them  to 
resistance.  Men,  women,  and  children  toiled  at  the  earthworks,  which 
were  hastily  thrown  up  to  defend  the  capital,  and  the  trained  bands, 


1643  Charles  I.  561 

with  Skippon  at  their  head,  mustered  with  alacrity  in  defence  of  their 
families  and  their  faith.  From  Kingston,  Charles'  troops  advanced 
to  Brentford,  which  they  occupied  after  a  fierce  encounter ;  but  the 
masses  of  citizen  soldiers  drawn  up  on  Turnham  Green  caused  the 
cavaliers  to  pause,  and,  after  an  ineffective  cannonade,  Charles  marched 
his  army  back  to  Oxford. 

The  indecisive  character  of  the  fighting  naturally  caused  negotiations 
to  be  opened  ;  but  these  and  subsequent  attempts  failed,  partly  because 
Charles  was  unwilling  to  make  terms  with  opponents  whom  he  expected 
very  soon  to  subdue  by  force  ;  partly  because  on  the  religious  question 
compromise  was  impossible  between  two  parties,  each  of  which  was  fight- 
ing not  for  liberty  but  for  domination  ;  and  partly  because  Charles' 
attemjits  to  get  aid  either  from  foreign  princes,  or  from  Ireland,  or  from 
the  fomenting  of  treachery  among  the  parliamentarians,  were  constantly 
coming  to  light,  so  that  earnest  men  became  more  and  more  convinced 
that  the  only  road  to  permanent  peace  lay  through  a  complete  victory 
over  the  king. 

The  next  year,  1643,  saw  fighting  going  on  all  over  England.  Essex 
and  the  king  faced  one  another  on  the  road  between  Oxford  and 
London.  In  the  west.  Sir  Ralph  Hopton  led  the  Cornish-  campaign 
men  against  the  parliamentarians  of  the  Somersetshire  °^'^43- 
clothing  towns  under  the  earl  of  Stamford ;  in  the  Severn  valley,  Sir 
William  Waller,  with  Bristol  and  Gloucester  at  his  back,  was  barring 
the  road  to  Oxford  against  Charles'  Welsh  allies  ;  Meldrum  and  Crom- 
well, having  secured  the  eastern  counties,  were  directing  their  operations 
against  Newark  in  order  to  secure  command  over  the  Great  North  Road  ; 
in  the  north  Ferdinand,  Lord  Fairfax,  and  his  son  Sir  Thomas,  led  their 
tenants  and  the  clothiers  of  the  West  Riding  against  Newcastle,  who  at 
the  head  of  an  army  gathered  from  the  northern  shires,  and  largely 
recruited  with  Roman  Catholics,  was  trying  to  secure  Yorkshire  for  the 
king.  During  the  spring  the  parliamentarians  did  well,  especially  Sir 
William  Waller,  who  earned  himself  the  title  of  William  the  Conqueror  ; 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  who  stormed  Leeds,  and  Cromwell,  chalgrove 
who  for  the  first  time  routed  a  body  of  royalist  cavalry  near  ^**^*^' 
Grantham.  In  the  summer,  however,  fortune  favoured  the  king.  On 
June  18,  at  Chalgrove  Field,  the  noble-minded  Hampden  was  mortally 
wounded  in  an  attempt  to  cut  off  a  party  of  Oxford  raiders  led  by 
Prince  Rupert ;  the  earl  of  Strafford  was  routed  at  Stratton  in  Cornwall 
by  Hopton  and  Grenville  ;  and  when  Sir  William  WaUer  attempted  to 
check  their  forward  march  he  was  worsted  in  an  indecisive  battle  at 
Lansdown,  near  Bath,  where  Sir  Bevil  Grenville  fell,  and  utterly  routed 

2  N 


562  The  Stuarts  1643 

at  Roundway  Down  near  Devizes  on  July  10.  This  disaster  was  soon 
followed  by  the  loss  of  Bristol,  which  Fiemies  surrendered  to  Prince 
Eupert  on  July  26.  Rupert's  success,  however,  was  dearly  purchased 
by  the  loss  of  five  hundred  '  incomparable  foot,'  while  the  pillage  to 
which  the  parliamentarians  of  the  place  were  subjected  made  resistance 
elsewhere  more  desperate.  In  the  north,  the  arrival  of  Henrietta  Maria, 
who,  in  spite  of  the  parliamentarian  fleet,  made  good  her  landing  at 
Bridlington,  spurred  Newcastle  on  to  more  strenuous  exertions,  and  on 
Adwalton  July  30  the  Fairfaxes  were  beaten  at  Adwalton  Moor  (pro- 
^°°'"'  nounced  Atherton)  near  Bradford,  and  compelled  to  take 

refuge  in  Hull,  which  the  vigilance  of  the  inhabitants  had  saved  from 
a  contemplated  surrender  by  the  treacherous  Hothams.  Only  in  the 
eastern  counties  had  the  parliamentarians  met  with  uniform  success,  and 
there  a  victory  at  Gainsborough,  won  on  July  28,  had  given  additional 
proof  of  the  efficiency  of  Cromwell's  troopers. 

Had  Charles  been  engaged  in  an  ordinary  war,  these  successes  in 
the  north  and  west  would  at  once  have  been  followed  by  a  general 
advance  on  London  ;  but  in  both  armies  local  feeling  was  so  strong  that 
the  men  were  with  difficulty  induced  to  fight  at  all  out  of  their  own 
counties,  and  had  as  yet  no  idea  of  subordinating  the  defence  of  their 
own  homes  to  the  general  success  of  their  side.  Charles  also  was 
hampered  by  the  fact  that  so  many  important  fortified  towns  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  parliamentarian  garrisons,  whose  presence  was  a  constant 
danger  to  the  estates  of  all  royalists  in  their  neighbourhood.  Hence, 
when  Charles  desired  a  general  advance,  the  Yorkshiremen  would  not 
move  till  Hull  was  in  their  hands  ;  the  men  of  Cornwall  and  Devon 
were  equally  desirous  to  secure  Exeter  and  Plymouth ;  while  the 
Welshmen  would  not  cross  the  Severn  while  Gloucester  still  remained 
unconquered.  In  these  circumstances,  Charles  had  no  choice  but  to 
engage  in  a  series  of  sieges.  He  himself  besieged  Gloucester  ;  New- 
The  Siege  of  castle  besieged  Hull,  and  Rupert's  younger  brother,  Prince 
Gloucester.  Maurice,  whom  Charles  had  made  commander  in  the 
west,  marched  against  Exeter  and  Plymouth.  Meanwhile  the  parlia- 
mentarians, who  were  confronted  with  a  similar  difficulty,  had  met  it  by 
a  plan  of  associated  counties.  Warwickshire  and  Stafi'ordshire  had  been 
the  first  to  combine  under  Lord  Brooke,  whose  unlucky  death  at  the 
siege  of  Lichfield  not  only  deprived  the  parliamentarians  of  an  able 
commander,  but  England  of  one  of  its  most  tolerant  and  high-minded 
men.  The  example  of  Warwickshire  and  Staffordshire  was  followed  by 
the  fen  districts,  who  soon  had  on  foot  an  admirable  force,  of  which  the 
commander  was  the  earl  of  Manchester,  but  of  which  Oliver  Cromwell 


1643  Charles  I.  563 

was  the  heart  and  soul.  Fortunately,  too,  for  the  parliament,  the  men  of 
the  London  trained  bands  were  willing  to  march  anywhere  that  their 
services  were  required.  Accordingly,  it  was  on  the  Londoners  that 
Pym  called  for  a  force  to  relieve  Gloucester  ;  and  now  that  definite  work 
was  to  be  done,  the  slackness  which  Essex  had  found  so  hard  to  contend 
with  disappeared,  and  at  the  head  of  15,000  citizen  soldiers,  well  clothed, 
well  armed,  and  convinced  that  '  God  had  called  them  to  do  the  work,' 
he  was  soon  on  the  way  to  Gloucester.  He  arrived  just  in  time,  for 
only  three  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  left,  when  Rupert's  cavalry,  having 
failed  to  check  the  advance  of  Essex,  Charles,  not  choosing  to  fight  with  an 
untaken  town  in  his  rear,  raised  the  siege,  and  allowed  Essex  to  march  in 
unopposed.  His  arrival  was  regarded  as  a  special  interposition,  and  the 
pious  citizens  inscribed  over  a  gate  the  words,  *  A  city  assailed  by  man 
but  saved  by  God.' 

It  now  became  Charles'  object  to  cut  ofif  Essex's  return  to  London, 
and,  repeating  the  strategy  of  Edgehill,  he  barred  his  march  at 
Newbury  ;  but  this  time  he  compelled  Essex  to  make  the  First  Battle 
attack.  A  furious  battle  followed,  in  which  the  parlia-  o^ Newbury, 
mentarians,  fighting  among  enclosures,  had  a  decided  advantage  ;  and  the 
loss  among  the  cavaliers,  especially  the  leaders,  was  so  severe  that 
Charles  did  not  venture  to  renew  the  fight,  but  fell  back  on  Oxford,  and 
left  Essex  to  march  home  unopposed. 

At  Newbury  perished  Lord  Falkland,  perhaps  the  most  really  tolerant 

and  fair-minded  man  then  living.     His  loyalty  and  attachment  to  the 

church  led  him  to  ojQfer  his  services  to  the  king ;  but  a   „  .. .     ^ 

,,11       Falkland, 
short  experience  of  the  royal  camp  convmced  him  that  he 

had  little  or  nothing  in  common  with  the  roystering  soldiers  and  selfish 
pleasure-seekers  who  surrounded  him.  He  would  have  been  equally 
out  of  harmony  with  the  violent  and  narrow-minded  Puritanism  which 
filled  the  hearts  of  the  most  earnest  supporters  of  the  opposing  side. 
Feeling  this,  and  hailing  death  as  a  relief,  he  rode  at  a  gap  where  the 
bullets  were  raining  thickest,  and  so  perished.  Falkland's  life  might  have 
been  happy  and  free  under  Elizabeth ;  among  the  statesmen  of  the  Revolu- 
tion his  character  would  have  been  invaluable ;  but  in  the  times  in  which 
his  lot  was  cast  he  found  himself  inefi'ective,  unappreciated,  out  of  harmony 
with  his  surroundings,  and  a  speedy  relief  was  all  he  had  to  ask. 

The  battle  of  Newbury  was  fought  on  September  20,  and  formed 
a  turning-point  in  the  war.      Exeter  had  fallen  on   Sep- 
tember 4,  but  Plymouth,  aided  by  the  parliamentarian  fleet,   tarian 
proved  impregnable — alike  to  force  and  to  treason.     Crom-      "c cesses, 
well  again  routed  the  cavaliers  at  Winceby  on  October  11,  and  as  they 


564  The  Stuarts  1643 

chased  the  royalists  over  the  Lincolnshire  wolds  they  heard  from 
Hull  the  booming  of  the  cannon  which  covered  a  successful  sally 
of  the  garrison,  which  forced  Newcastle  to  raise  the  siege  on  the 
following  day.  The  year,  therefore,  though  checkered,  closed  well  for 
the  parliament. 

The  events  of  the  campaign  of  1643  afforded   clear   evidence   that 
f  rce     ^^^^^^^  party  had  a  decided  advantage,  and,  before  it  was 

ments  over,  both  were   negotiating   for  reinforcements — Charles 

with  the  Irish  ;  parliament  with  the  Scots. 

During  the  civil  war,  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1641  had  developed  into 
a  national  movement,  in  which  the  Celtic  population,  with  whom  it  had 

The  Irish     originated,  were  joined,  for  the  first  time  in  Irish  history, 

Rebellion,  "^y  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Anglo-Norman  settlers. 
The  united  parties  called  themselves  '  confederates,'  and  were  opposed 
by  the  English  army  under  Ormond,  and  by  a  Scottish  contingent 
under  Munro.  On  the  whole,  the  fighting  was  favourable  to  the 
insurgents  ;  and  by  1643  the  confederates  were  in  possession  of  the 
whole  of  Ireland,  with  the  exception  of  the  coast-line  near  Dublin  and 
another  small  strip  along  the  shores  of  Belfast  Lough.  Since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  rebellion,  Charles  had  been  engaged  in  secret  negotiations 

The  Cessa-  "^^^^  *^®  confederates,  and  he  now  ordered  Ormond  to  bring 

tion.  the  fighting  to  a  close  by  an  agreement  called  the  Cessation. 

This  would  set  free  Ormond's  troops  for  service  in  England.  Charles 
had  also  in  view  the  arrival  of  a  contingent  of  10,000  confederates. 
Accordingly  Ormond's  men  were  landed  in  Devonshire  and  Wales, 
and  attached  themselves  either  to  Hopton's  force,  or  to  a  new  army 
which  was  raised  on  the  Welsh  borders  under  Lord  Byron  (formerly 
Sir  John). 

The  parliamentary  negotiations  with  the  Scots  were  conducted  by  a 
committee,  of  whom  the  leading  spirit  was  Sir  Harry  Vane.  The  Scots 
were  willing  enough  to  aid  the  parliament,  but  were  anxious 
to  make  it  part  of  the  bargain  that  the  English  should 
accept  the  Scottish  form  of  Presbyterianism.  To  this,  however.  Vane, 
who  feared  the  intolerance  of  the  Presbyterians,  objected  ;  and,  eventu- 
ally, it  was  agreed  that  the  English  Church  should  be  modelled  '  accord- 
ing to  the  example  of  the  best  reformed  churches,  and  according  to  the 
Word  of  God,'  a  phrase  which  gave  ample  latitude  of  interpretation.  On 
their  part,  the  Scots  agreed  to  cross  the  border  with  20,000  men,  whose 
expenses  were  to  be  borne  by  the  parliament.  The  treaty  thus  drawn 
up  was  known  as  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  must  be  care- 
fully distinguished  from  the  Scottish  covenant  mentioned  before  (see 


1644  Charles  I.  565 

page  533).     It  was  signed  on  September  25,  1643,  and  was  sworn  to  by- 
all  members  of  parliament. 

The  alliance  between  the  parliament  and  the  Scots  was  the  last 
triumph  of  Pym's  policy,  and  he  died  on  December  8,  1643.  Pym's 
great  achievements  had  been  to  concentrate  the  attention  of  pym's 
his  countrymen  on  the  importance  of  religion,  not  only  for  Death, 
its  own  sake,  but  as  an  element  in  the  political  life  of  the  nation.  As  he 
once  said,  '  the  greatest  of  our  liberties  is  religion.'  His  conception  of  the 
constitution  was  the  harmonious  working  of  king  and  parliament ;  and 
the  phrase  '  the  orders  of  the  king  signified  by  both  houses  of  parlia- 
ment' exactly  explains  his  position.  After  his  death,  no  member  of  the 
House  succeeded  to  his  supreme  authority.  The  two  most  prominent 
civilian  members  were  probably  Holies  and  Sir  Harry  Vane,  and  the 
chief  soldiers  Waller  and  Cromwell.  Holies  led  those  who  wished  to 
close  the  war  by  negotiation  ;  Vane  those  who  believed  that  peace  could 
be  secured  only  by  decisive  victory  in  the  field.  In  this  absence  of  any 
accepted  leader,  and  in  view  of  the  need  of  working  harmoniously  with 
the  Scots,  the  executive  power  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committee 
of  both  nations,  of  which  the  chief  English  members  were  Essex,  Man- 
chester, Holies,  Vane,  Waller,  and  Cromwell ;  and  the  leading  Scots, 
Maitland,  afterwards  notorious  as  the  earl  of  Lauderdale,  and  Johnstone 
of  Warriston. 

During  the  winter  Charles,  by  the  advice  of  Hyde,  summoned  those 
lords  and  commons  who  supported  him  to  meet  in  session  at  Oxford. 
The  Oxford  parliament  met  in  January,  and  comprised  a  The  Oxford 
large  majority  of  the  peers  of  the  kingdom,  and  about  a  Parliament, 
third  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  had,  however, 
no  Speaker  or  any  of  the  insignia  of  the  House,  and  its  claim  to  be  a 
parliament  at  all  was  hardly  recognised  even  by  royalists.  Its  chief  im- 
portance lay  in  a  resolution  passed  by  it  complaining  of  the  iniquity  of 
calling  in  the  Scots,  and  the  evidence  shown  of  the  objections  enter- 
tained by  the  gentry  who  sat  in  it  to  Charles'  employment  of  Koman 
Catholics. 

The   year   1644   opened   well  for  the   parliament.     In  January  Sir 
Thomas  Fairfax,  hurrying  from  Lincolnshire,  utterly  routed  Byron  at 
Nantwich,  and  compelled  most  of  his  troops  to  surrender.    Battle  of 
Nor  was  this  all,  for  the  mass  of  the  troops  from  Ireland  took    Nantwich. 
service  under  their  conqueror.     In  April  a  similar  disaster   overtook 
Hopton's  force,   which  was  routed    at    Cheriton    by   Sir   Battle  of 
William  Waller,  who  had  come  to  be  reckoned  '  the  best   Cheriton. 
chooser  of  ground  '  among  the  officers  of  the  parliament,     Nantwich  and 


566  The  Stuarts  1644 

Cheriton,  therefore,  destroyed  Charles'  hopes  from  Ormond's  aid,  and  he 
fell  back  on  his  negotiations  with  the  '  Confederates '  of  Kilkenny. 

Parliament  was  more  fortunate.  On  January  19  the  Scots  crossed 
the  Tweed,  under  Leven,  BaiUie,  and  David  Leslie ;  and  Newcastle 
The  Scots  in  i^oved  northwards  to  meet  them,  leaving  an  outpost  at 
England.  Selby  to  defend  York.  However,  in  April,  Sir  Thomas 
Fairfax  stormed  Selby  and  compelled  Newcastle  to  return  to  York, 
closely  followed  by  the  Scots.  The  army  of  the  association,  under 
Manchester  and  Cromwell,  then  marched  into  Yorkshire.  Before  the 
Siege  of  ^^^  ®^  ^^®  month  York  was  formally  besieged  by  the  three 
York.  allied  armies.     Feeling  the  importance  of  saving  it,  Charles 

ordered  Rupert  to  collect  an  army  for  its  relief.  While  Newcastle  was 
besieged  at  York,  Charles  seemed  likely  to  be  hemmed  in  at  Oxford  ; 
for  Essex,  with  his  own  army,  and  Waller,  with  a  force  raised  in  London 
and  the  home  counties,  were  advancing  against  the  town.  Charles,  how- 
ever, cleverly  slipped  between  the  two  and  marched  into  Worcestershire. 
When  his  escape  was  known,  it  was  decided  that  Waller  should  besiege 
Oxford,  and  that  Essex  should  march  into  the  western  counties,  relieve 
Lyme,  secure  Plymouth,  and,  if  possible,  defeat  Prince  Maurice. 

The  separation  of  the   parliamentary  forces  gave  Charles  a  decided 

superiority  over  either  of  them.     Turning  on  Waller,  he  beat  him  in  an 

action  at  Cropredy  Bridge,  which  so   dispirited  Waller's 

Battle  of  L         1  CD  I  i 

Cropredy  amateur  citizen  soldiers  that  they  one  and  all  made  off 
^^'  home  ;  and  this  disaster,  and  the  superior  mobility  of  the 
cavaliers,  convinced  Waller  that  nothing  but  the  organisation  of  a 
regularly  paid  and  disciplined  force  could  enable  the  parliamentarians  to 
win.  WaUer  being  thus  disposed  of,  Charles  hurried  after  Essex,  who  had 
been  carrying  all  before  him  in  the  west,  and  had  compelled  Henrietta 
Surrender  at  Maria  to  fly  to  France.  Deceived,  however,  by  delusive 
Lostwithiel.  hopes  of  Comish  assistance,  Essex  advanced  so  far  that 
retreat  was  impossible;  and,  at  Lostwithiel  in  September,  Charles  hemmed 
him  in  with  a  force  so  overwhelming  that  the  parliamentary  foot  were 
compelled  to  capitulate,  the  horse  with  difficulty  cut  their  way  through 
to  Plymouth,  and  Essex  himself  escaped  by  sea  to  London.  For  the 
moment  the  parliamentary  cause  in  the  west  seemed  to  be  ruined,  but 
Plymouth  and  Taunton,  the  latter  under  Eobert  Blake,  still  held  out, 
and,  so  long  as  they  did  so,  there  was  still  work  to  detain  the  western 
royalists  in  their  own  counties. 

The  king's  great  success  in  the  south  was,  however,  balanced  by  a 
still  greater  disaster  in  the  north.  After  leaving  Oxford,  Charles  gave 
definite  orders  to  Rupert  to  relieve  York,  and  also  sent  him  a  letter 


1644 


Charles  I, 


567 


which,  though   ambiguously  worded,  wag  interpreted   by    Rupert    as 

a  positive  order  to  fight  the  Scots.     After  throwing  reinforcements  into 

Newark,  Rupert  made  his  way  into  Lancashire,  where  he 

raised  the  siege  of  Lathom  House,  which  the  countess  of  marches 

Derby  was  holding  for  the  king  ;  and  then  he  crossed  the 

hills  into  Yorkshire,  passed  the  Aire  at  Skipton  and  the  Wharfe  about 

Otley,  and  reached  Knaresborough  on  the  Nidd  on  June  30. 

When  news  of  Rupert's  arrival  reached  the  allies,  they  abandoned  the 
siege  of  York  and  drew  up  to  meet  him  on  Marston  Moor,  opposite  the 
place  where  the  usual  road  from  Knaresborough  to  York   siege  of 
crosses  the  Nidd  at  Skip  Bridge.     Rupert,  however,  eluded   ^^^^  raised, 
them  by  marching  north,  and  crossing  the  Ure  at  Boroughbridge,  and  the 


MARSTON   MOOR,  JULY  2,    1644. 

Swale  at  Thornton  Bridge,  some  miles  above  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers, 
came  down  the  left  bank  of  the  Ouse,  and  so  relieved  York.  Upon  this 
the  allies  retreated  south,  in  order  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Wharfe  against 
Rupert's  return.  Newcastle  wished  to  avoid  a  battle  until  further  re- 
inforcements had  come  up  ;  but  Rupert,  armed  with  Charles'  letter, 
insisted  on  fighting,  and,  accordingly,  Newcastle's  men  were  marched  out 
of  York,  and  Rupert's  soldiers,  crossing  the  Ouse  by  a  bridge  of  boats, 
joined  them  on  Marston  Moor.  When  this  movement  of  the  royalists 
was  perceived,  the  allies  retraced  their  steps,  and  drew  up  their  forces 
between  the  villages  of  Longmarston  and  Tockwith,  on  some  rising 
ground  which  bounds  the  moor  on  the  south.    Cromwell  and  Leslie,  with 


568 


The  Stuarts 


1644 


the  Scottish  and  association  horse,  were  on  the  left ;  Leven,  Manchester, 

and  Lord  Fairfax  in  the  centre  with  the  foot ;  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  with 

more  cavalry,  on  the  right. 

Meanwhile  Rupert,  hoping  to  charge  the  allies  before  they  had  formed 

their  ranks,  had  drawn  up  his  men  close  to  a  ditch  which  drained  the 

B  tti     f      ^^^^^j  J^^*  where  the  rising  ground  began,  and  close  to  the 

Marston       allied  position.      The  allies,  however,  were  too  quick  for 

him  ;  and  his  men  were  so  long  in  coming  up,  that  by  the 

time  they  were  marshalled,  with  Rupert  on  the  right,  Newcastle  in  the 


centre  and  Goring  on  the  left,  it  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The 
attack,  therefore,  was  postponed  till  next  day,  and  refreshments  were 
served  out.  This  gave  the  allies  their  chance,  and,  with  all  the  advantage 
of  the  slope  in  their  favour,  the  whole  allied  army  moved  down  to  the 
ditch  and  flung  itself  upon  the  inattentive  cavaliers.  On  the  allied  left, 
after  a  stubborn  contest,  Cromwell  and  Leslie  drove  Rupert  and  his 
horsemen  from  the  field.  On  the  right.  Sir  Thomas  Fairfex,  hampered 
by  difficult  ground,  was  beaten  by  Goring.     In  the  centre  the  royalist 


1644  Charles  I.  569 

troops  had  the  best  of  it,  and  some  of  the  Scots  were  soon  in  flight. 
However,  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  had  had  the  luck  to  make  his  way,  un- 
attended, through  his  opponents,  and  finding  Cromwell  with  his  men 
well  in  hand,  had  brought  him  across  the  rear  of  the  royalist  position  to 
attack  Goring  as  he  returned  from  the  pursuit.  Goring's  overthrow 
followed  ;  and  then  the  allied  horse  joined  its  infantry  in  a  systematic 
attack  on  the  royalist  centre.  Unsupported  as  they  were,  Newcastle's 
foot-soldiers  fought  like  heroes,  and  some  regiments  perished  almost  to  a 
man ;  but  no  efforts  could  save  the  day,  and,  when  darkness  closed  in, 
the  allies  were  completely  victorious.  The  fall  of  York  at  Results  of 
once  followed.  Newcastle  fled  to  the  continent  ;  and  *^«  battle. 
Rupert,  with  his  cavalry,  made  his  way  back  by  a  circuitous  route  to 
the  Severn  valley.  Had  Marston  Moor  gone  the  other  way,  as  Rupert 
had  a  fair  right  to  expect  it  would,  the  parliamentary  forces  both  in  the 
north  and  south  would  have  received  a  shock  so  severe  that  it  is  hard  to 
see  how  they  could  have  recovered.  As  it  turned  out,  the  king's  power  in 
the  north  received  a  fatal  blow,  and  the  royalist  districts  were  practically 
reduced  to  the  counties  of  the  south-west,  the  Severn  valley,  Wales,  and 
the  Midland  counties  west  of  Oxford. 

After  their  decisive  victory,  Manchester  and  Cromwell,  leaving  Fairfax 
and  the  Scots  to  besiege  Pontefract  and  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  marched 

south  ;  and,  Essex  being  ill,  Manchester,  Waller,  and  Crom-    „ 

.  .  Second 

well  were  associated  together  in  an  attempt  to  cut  off  the   Battle  of 

king's  return  from  Cornwall.  The  two  armies  met  at  New-  ^^  "^•^* 
bury,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Kennet.  The  whole  affair  was  grossly 
mismanaged,  partly  owing  to  there  being  too  many  generals,  partly  to  the 
inertness  of  Manchester,  which  prevented  him  from  supporting  Waller 
and  Cromwell  by  the  delivery  of  an  effective  charge.  The  mana^uvres 
of  the  royalists,  on  the  other  hand,  were  well  carried  out,  and  Charles, 
with  an  inferior  force,  was  able  to  secure  his  retreat  to  Oxford. 

This  failure  brought  to  a  head  the  discontent  of  the  more  energetic 
members  of  the  parliamentary  party,  whose  leader  was  Oliver  Cromwell. 
This  great  man  had  been  rapidly  coming  to  the  front.  He  ©liver 
had  been  the  first  to  see  that  the  feelings  of  loyalty  and  Cromwell, 
honour,  which  inspired  the  cavaliers,  could  only  be  met  by  religious 
enthusiasm.  At  that  date  the  cavalry  were  relatively  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  the  army ;  and  though  the  parliamentarians  had  been 
able  to  put  into  the  field  infantry  at  least  as  good  as  that  of  their 
opponents,  their  cavalry  was  far  inferior  to  that  of  the  royalists.  This 
defect  Cromwell  had  set  himself  to  remedy ;  and  he  found  among  the 
farmers  and  yeomen  of  the  eastern  counties  as  good  riders  as  the  gentry, 


570  The  Stuarts  uu 

and  men  inspired  with  the  utmost  zeal  for  the  cause  of  their  religion. 
From  them  he  organised  the  association  horse,  and  drilled  them  into  one 
of  the  finest  bodies  of  cavalry  the  world  had  then  seen.  Cromwell  him- 
self was  an  excellent  cavalry  officer,  and  his  prowess  at  Marston  extorted 
from  Prince  Rupert  the  complimentary  nickname  of  Ironside,  which  was 
afterwards  applied  to  his  men.  Cromwell's  troopers  had  scattered  the 
royalist  cavalry  wherever  they  had  met  them,  and  they  believed  that, 
with  Cromwell  to  lead  them,  they  could  soon  bring  the  war  to  a  victorious 
conclusion.  Good,  however,  as  the  foot-soldiers  had  shown  themselves, 
acute  observers  had  long  perceived  that  the  king  could  never  be  really 
beaten  till  parliament  had  at  its  disposal  a  regular  force  of  soldiers 
engaged  for  general  service,  neither  averse  to  serving  out  of  their  own 
counties  nor  yearning  to  get  back  to  their  shops  after  a  single  battle. 
Waller  had  been  the  first  to  point  this  out ;  and  Cromwell,  who  was  eager 
to  make  private  ends  and  local  aims  subordinate  to  the  common  good, 
was  heartily  in  agreement  with  this  view. 

On  the  other  hand,  Essex,  though  he  was  clear  for  carrying  on  the  war 
with  vigour,  had  not  the  genius  to  make  it  a  success  ;  while  Manchester, 
Essex  and  constitutionally  inert  and  easy-going,  appears  not  only  to 
Manchester,  jj^yg  ^^qqh  desirous  of  negotiating  with  Charles,  but  also 
was  irritated  by  the  way  in  which  the  war  was  bringing  men  of  moderate 
birth  to  the  front,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  ancient  nobility.  Manchester 
was  closely  allied  to  Holies  and  the  peace  party,  whose  consent  to  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  war  could  only  be  secured  by  a  demonstration  of  the 
futility  of  negotiation.  Accordingly,  after  the  battle  of  Newbury,  two 
undertakings  were  set  on  foot— one  for  remodelling  the  army,  the  other 
for  negotiating  with  the  king. 

The  motive  power  for  the  remodelling  of  the  army  was  supplied  by  the 

fact  that  Vane  and  Oliver  Cromwell  were  convinced  that,  unless  the  war 

were  quickly  successful,  parliament  would  be  compelled  by 

denying  popular  pressure  to  conclude  a  dishonourable  peace.  They 
inance.  ^^j.^  ^^jg^  aware  that  there  was  a  widespread  belief  that  the 
parliamentary  generals  and  officers  were  prolonging  the  war  to  retain 
their  own  posts  ;  and  Cromwell,  to  whom  such  an  idea  was  abhorrent, 
spoke  plainly  of  '  denying  themselves  for  the  public  good.'  In  this  sense 
a  '  self-denying  ordinance  was  brought  in,'  forbidding  members  of  either 
House  to  hold  any  office,  '  civil  or  military,'  during  the  war.  This  roused 
the  jealousy  of  the  Lords,  and  was  thrown  out ;  but  eventually  the 
Houses  agreed  to  a  second  ordinance,  by  which,  though  all  members  were 
to  resign  their  military  or  naval  commands  within  forty  days,  there  was  no 
bar  to  their  reappointment.     Accordingly  Manchester,  Warwick,  Essex, 


1645  Charles  I.  571 

and  Waller  resigned  at  once,  and  were  thanked  for  their  services.  Mean- 
while, by  another  ordinance,  parliament  engaged  the  services  of  14,000 
foot,  6000  horse,  and  1000  dragoons  or  mounted  infantry,  ^he '  New 
Of  these,  12,500  were  chosen  from  the  armies  of  Essex,  Man-  Model.' 
Chester,  and  Waller,  and  the  remainder  were  pressed  for  service.  At 
first,  therefore,  there  was  some  unsteadiness  in  the  ranks  ;  but  before 
long,  the  efficiency  of  the  old  soldiers  spread  to  their  comrades,  and  the 
New  Model  army,  as  the  force  was  commonly  styled,  became  an  admir- 
able force,  both  as  to  conduct  and  efficiency.  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax,  who 
had  shown  himself  as  alert  and  enterprising  in  attack  as  he  was  patient 
and  persevering  in  defence,  was  made  conmiander-in-chief,  and  Skippon 
became  major-general.  The  post  of  lieutenant-general,  which  carried 
with  it  the  command  of  the  cavalry,  was  kept  vacant.  When  his  forty 
days  were  up,  Cromwell  retired  to  the  Isle  of  Ely,  the  defence  of  which 
he  was  asked  to  organise.  At  the  same  time  the  command  of  the  navy 
was  given  to  Batten,  who  had  been  vice-admiral  under  the  earl  of 
Warwick  since  1642.  From  a  religious  point  of  view  the  New  Model 
included  men  of  all  views,  and  no  signature  of  the  Covenant  was  de- 
manded from  the  rank  and  file.  The  officers  were,  for  the  most  part, 
advanced  and  tolerant  Puritans,  for  the  stress  of  actual  war  had  taught 
them  to  rate  military  efficiency  at  a  higher  value  than  either  orthodox 
views  or  social  rank.  As  Cromwell  said  :  '  I  had  rather  have  a  plain 
russet-coated  captain  that  knows  what  he  fights  for,  and  loves  what  he 
knows,  than  that  which  you  call  a  gentleman,  and  is  nothing  else.  I 
honour  a  gentleman  that  is  so  indeed.' 

By  the  time  the  New  Model  was  ready,  it  had  been  amply  demonstrated 
that  nothing  was  to  be  done  by  negotiation.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that 
Vane  and  Cromwell  had  only  agreed  to  negotiate  in  order  to    _  ., 

,  Failure  of 

make  this  clear  to  the  Scots.  The  commissioners  of  the  the  Negotia- 
king  and  the  parliament  met  at  Uxbridge  on  January  30,  *^°"''' 
and  the  chief  part  was  taken  by  the  Scottish  representatives,  Henderson 
and  Lauderdale.  Three  weeks  were  given  to  the  discussion  of  the  three 
chief  points — Religion,  the  Militia,  and  Ireland.  Hyde  took  charge  of 
the  king's  case  ;  but  as  he  was  clear  for  Episcopacy,  and  the  Scots  for 
Presbyterianism,  agreement  was,  from  the  first,  hopeless.  The  strongest 
point  of  the  king's  case  was  the  ofi'er  of  a  scheme  of  toleration  for  other 
bodies,  along  with  the  establishment  of  Episcopacy.  As  this  did  not 
meet  the  views  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  as  grave  doubts  were  enter- 
tained of  the  sincerity  of  the  king,  it  made  no  impression  at  the  time  ; 
but  as  the  first  authoritative  proposal  for  toleration,  it  marks  an  epoch  in 
the  history  of  religion  in  England. 


572  The  Stimrts  1645 

When  the  three  weeks'  negotiations  were  over,  parliament  directed 
Fairfax  to  divide  his  forces.     Part  was  to  besiege  Oxford,  part  was  to 

Th  w  ^^  *^  *^^  ^®^*  *^  relieve  Taunton.  To  meet  this,  Charles 
sent  Goring  to  the  west,  and  leaving  Oxford,  marched  north, 
with  some  idea  of  attacking  the  Scots  ;  but  changing  his  mind,  he  moved 
across  England  with  a  view  to  an  attack  upon  the  eastern  counties,  and 
stormed  Leicester.  Fairfax  was  then  ordered  to  march  north  and  bring 
on  a  battle.  When  fighting  was  imminent,  ofiicers  and  men  alike  felt 
that  it  was  madness  not  to  have  Cromwell  to  lead  the  cavalry,  and  a 
petition  for  his  appointment  was  sent  by  the  officers  to  parliament.  The 
House  of  Commons  consented  ;  and  without  waiting  for  the  Lords,  Crom- 
well at  once  hurried  to  headquarters,  and  joined  Fairfax  near  Daven- 
try.  Subsequently  his  commission  was  confirmed  from  time  to  time, 
and  other  officers  were  either  elected  members  of  parliament,  or  being 
members,  received  commands,  so  that  the  connection  between  the  army 
and  the  Houses  was  never  wholly  broken. 

Cromwell  joined  Fairfax  on  June  13,  and  on  the  next  day  the  decisive 
battle  was  fought  at  Naseby,  in  Northamptonshire.   Fairfax's  forces  num- 

The  Battle  bered  14,000  men  ;  Charles  and  Rupert  had  only  7500  ;  but 

of  Naseby,  unequal  as  the  armies  were,  it  was  Rupert  who  made  the 
attack.  He  himself  was  successful  in  beating  the  parliament's  left  wing 
under  Ireton  ;  but  on  the  right  Cromwell  carried  all  before  him  against 
Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale,  and  he  and  Fairfax  had  then  little  difficulty  in 
dealing  with  Charles'  outnumbered  infantry  in  the  centre.  Even  worse 
than  the  military  disaster  was  the  blow  struck  at  the  king's  moral 
reputation  by  the  capture  of  a  cabinet  containing  drafts  and  copies  of 
letters  addressed  by  him  to  the  queen.  From  these  it  was  clearly 
demonstrated  that  Charles  had  no  real  intention  of  making  peace,  except 
on  his  own  terms  ;  and  that,  while  pretending  to  negotiate,  he  had  been 
casting  about  for  help  from  abroad,  or  from  the  Irish  Catholics.  Indeed, 
it  was  apparent  that  he  was  ready  to  use  against  his  English  subjects 
any  aid,  however  unpopular ;  and  all  this  received  additional  con- 
firmation when,  a  few  months  later,  Digby's  correspondence  was 
captured,  and  a  copy  of  Charles'  treaty  with  the  Irish  confederates 
also  feU  into  the  hands  of  parliament.  So  serious  was  the  double 
blow  thus  struck,  that  quarters  in  which  the  king  had  hitherto  been 
all-powerful,  such  as  South  Wales,  became  lukewarm  or  hostile,  and  even 
such  stout  soldiers  as  Rupert  were  convinced  that  peace  was  absolutely 
necessary. 

After  Naseby,  the  defeat  of  the  scattered  royalist  forces  and  the 
reduction  of  the  royal  fortresses  was  merely  a  question  of  time  ;  but  in 


1645  Charles  I.  573 

Scotland  it  seemed  as  if  a  general  had  arisen  who  might  restore  the 

king's  ascendancy  in  the  north.     This  was  the  marquess  of  Montrose, 

who,  after  many  entreaties,  had  received  from  Charles  the    ,. 

rN       1  /.         1        1  Montrose, 

title  of  lieutenant-general  of  Scotland,  with  a  free  hand  to 

do  his  best  against  the  Covenanters,  and  compel  the  return  of  Leven 
and  his  troops.      Montrose,  whose  disinterested  loyalty  marks  him  as 
one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  his  time,  was   then  thirty-two  years 
of  age,   full  of  energy,   and   devoted  heart   and   soul  to  the  cause  he 
had  taken  up.     In  politics  he  was  a  visionary  ;  but  in  military  matters 
he  was  clear-sighted  enough,  and  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  genius 
for  varying  his  methods  with  his  means  that  marks  a  real  soldier.     His 
hopes  lay  in  the  hostility  which  existed  between  the  Gordons  of  the 
district  round  Aberdeen  and  the  Covenanters  of  the  towns  ;  and  between 
the   Campbells   and    the    rest    of   the    Highland    clans,    particularly 
the  Macdonalds.      Montrose  set  out  from  York  two  days    Montrose's 
after  Marston  Moor,  and,  disguised  as  a  groom,  made  his    ^a^^es. 
way  across  the  lowlands.    At  Blair- Athole  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  body  of  Irish  Macdonalds,  who  had  come  over  under  Alister  Mac- 
donald  to  help  their  clansmen,  and  were  eager  to  fight  the  Campbells. 
Three  armies  sprang  up  against  him  under  Elcho,  Argyll,  and  Balfour  of 
Burley  ;    but   Montrose's   quick   marches  outwitted   his  slower  oppon- 
ents,  and  his  brilliant  tactics  in   battle  gave   them  little  chance  in 
the  field.     On  September  1  he  crushed  Elcho  at  Tipper-  Tippermuir. 
muir,  and  on  the  13th  he  overthrew  Balfour  at  Aberdeen.  Aberdeen. 
This  cleared  the  eastern  lowlands  and  secured  the  aid  of  the  Gordon 
clan  ;  and  with  a  larger  force  he  marched  in  the  early  days  of  February 
against  Argyll,  and  utterly  routed  the  Campbells  at  Inver- 
lochy,  while  Argyll,  whose  personal  courage  was  more  than 
doubtful,  watched  the  slaughter  of  his  clansmen  from  the  security  of  a 
boat.     The  overthrow  of  Argyll  compelled  the  Scots  to  detach  Baillie 
and  Hurry,  two  of  their  best  officers,  from   their  army  in  England  ; 

but  after  a  long  series  of  mancEuvres  Montrose   routed    .   ,^ 

Auldearn. 
Hurry   at  Auldearn   (Aldem)  on  May  9,  and  Baillie  at 

Alford  on  July  4 ;  and  on  August  15  he  completed  the  destruction  of 

BailUe's  regular  forces  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Kilsyth. 

These  victories  opened  the  way  into  the  lowlands,  where 

Montrose  earnestly  desired  that  Charles  should  join  him ;  but  as  was 

usual  in  Highland  warfare,  his  followers  insisted  on  returning  home  with 

their  spoils,  and  in  September  Montrose,  victorious  as  he  was,  found  his 

forces  reduced  to  a  mere  handful  of  men.     In  this  condition  he  was 

attacked  on  the  13th  at  Philiphaugh  by  David  Leslie,  who  had  hurried 


574 


The  Stuarts 


1645 


from  England  with  an  overwhelming  force,  and  the  rout  of  Philiphaugh, 
Defeat  at  ^^^^^  Selkirk,  brought  to  an  end  the  power  of  the  most 
Phihphaugh.  romantic  of  the  cavaliers.  Some  months  later  Montrose 
escaped  in  disguise  to  the  continent. 


SCOTLAND. 

After  1603. 


Route  of  _^ 

Prince  Cluirlet  Bdvmrd. 


Equally  unlucky  had  been  Charles'  attempts  to  get  assistance  from 
other  quarters.  After  the  rout  of  Ormond's  detachments  at  Nantwich  and 
Cheriton,  Charles  still  continued  to  negotiate  with  the  '  Confederates, 


1645  Charles  L  675 

— sometimes  through  Ormond,  the  accredited  lord-lieutenant,  some- 
times through  a  Roman  Catholic,  Edward  Somerset,  earl  of  Glamorgan, 
afterwards  marquess  of  Worcester.  Glamorgan  received  in- 
structions from  Charles  to  negotiate  with  the  *  Confederates '  Irish  Nego- 
without  Ormond's  knowledge,  and  to  take  command  of 
the  10,000  Irish  Celts  who  were  expected  to  arrive  in  England.  The 
negotiations,  however,  were  slow.  Ormond  was  inert,  and  too  prejudiced 
in  favour  of  Protestantism  and  the  English  connection  to  throw  himself 
heartily  into  a  plan  which  would  have  established  Catholicism  in  Ireland, 
and  practically  made  it  an  independent  country.  Glamorgan  was  rash 
as  well  as  enthusiastic,  but  his  wreck  on  the  Lancashire  coast  had 
put  a  stop  for  a  time  to  his  share  in  the  scheme.  Charles  was  equally 
unsuccessful  on  the  continent,  where  Henrietta  Maria  was  scheming  to 
hire  the  services  of  the  duke  of  Lorraine  with  10,000  men,  trained  in  all 
the  barbarity  of  German  warfare.  Lorraine  heartily  agreed  to  a  project 
which  opened  up  hopes  of  unlimited  plunder  ;  but,  fortunately  for 
England,  to  transport  him  and  his  troops  across  the  sea  was  no  easy 
matter.  Henrietta  hoped  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  would  provide  ships 
as  the  price  of  the  betrothal  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  his  daughter, 
and,  failing  this,  that  Mazarin  would  allow  them  to  sail  from  Dieppe. 
The  Dutch,  however,  refused  the  use  of  their  ships,  and  Maztirin  had  no 
wish  to  oft'end  the  English  parliament,  so  the  whole  plan  came  to  nothing. 

Disappointed,  therefore,  in  his  hopes  of  aid  from  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and    the  continent,   Charles   had  nothing  for  it  but  to  continue  the 
struggle   as   best  he  might  with  the  aid  of  the  English    Close  of  the 
royalists.      It  did   not  last  long.      Within    a  month   of  war. 
Naseby,  Goring,  with  the  army  of  the  west,  was  utterly  routed  by 
Fairfax  at  Langport.  On  September  10  Bristol  was  stormed  ;    Battle  of 
and  on  September  24,  Charles,  from  the  walls  of  Chester,    Langport. 
watched  the  operations  which  led  to  the  discomfiture  of  his  remaining 
army   on  Rowton  Heath.      In  the  spring  the   work  was 
completed  by  the  defeat  of  Hopton  at  Torrington  and  the    Rowton 
surrender  of  Astley  at  Stow-on-the-Wold.     Oxford  capitu-       ^^*  ' 
lated  on  June  24.      A  few  fortresses  and  castles  still  held  out ;  but  they 
were  gradually  captured,  and  Harlech  Castle  alone  prolonged  its  resis- 
tance until  March  1647. 

Utterly  beaten  in  the  field,  Charles,  though  he  stiQ  hoped  for  aid  from 
France  and  Ireland,  turned  his  attention  to  fomenting  the 
dissensions  which  had  arisen  among  his  opponents,  whom  he   tarian 
now  hoped  to  play  off  one  against  another.     His  chances      *  erences. 
of  doing  so  lay  in  the  circumstance  that  while  his  opponents  were  at  one 


^76  The  Stuarts 


1645 


in  their  desire  to  abolish  Episcopacy,  they  disagreed  as  to  what  to  put  in 
its  place.  The  Scots  wished  to  see  established  in  England  a  Presbyterian 
system  of  the  Scottish  type,  in  which  the  chief  power  lay  in  the  hands  of 
the  clergy.  The  English  Presbyterians  wished  to  make  Presbyterianism 
the  established  religion,  as  they  were  pledged  to  do  by  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant,  but  to  so  far  modify  it  as  to  keep  the  chief  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  laity.  The  Independents  desired  to  have  no  national 
form  of  church  government,  but  to  allow  each  congregation  to  manage 
its  own  affairs.  All  were  agreed  that  there  was  to  be  no  toleration  for 
the  Eoman  Catholics  and  Episcopalians  either  in  England  or  Ireland, 
and  both  sections  of  the  Presbyterians  wished  to  persecute  the  Inde- 
pendents ;  while  the  Independents,  believing,  as  Milton  put  it,  that 
'  New  presbyter  was  but  old  priest  writ  large,'  were  inclining  to  the 
view  that  if  they  could  not  get  their  own  way,  life  would  be  more  toler- 
able for  them  under  a  modified  form  of  Episcopacy  than  under  any  form 
of  Presbyterianism, 

On  one  point  alone  both  parties  were  wholly  at  one,  and  that  was  the 
need  of  breaking  once  and  for  all  from  the  system  of  Laud  ;  and  it  was 
Laud  probably  due  more  to  this  feeling  than  to  any  real  fear  of 

beheaded.  ^^^  danger  from  his  life  that,  in  the  winter  of  1645,  incited 
by  Prynne,  and  with  the  consent  of  both  religious  parties,  parliament 
voted  the  attainder  of  Archbishop  Laud.  No  legal  charge  of  treason 
could  be  made  against  him,  and  to  put  him  to  death  was  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  judicial  murder.  Nevertheless,  the  aged  prelate  was 
beheaded  in  January  1645.  His  death  was  designed  to  be  taken  as 
a  visible  proof  that  with  Episcopacy,  as  Charles  understood  it,  no  terms 
were  admissible.  Ever  since  July  1643,  the  new  constitution  of  the 
church  replacing  it  had  been  under  discussion  by  an  assembly,  which 
had  been  summoned  at  Westminster  for  the  settlement  of  the  national 
religion.  This  body  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  clerics  and  of 
thirty  members  of  parliament,  and  was  so  distinctly  Presbyterian  in  tone 

Th  w  t-  *^^^  ^^^  ^  ^^^^  *^^^  *^^  Independent  view  was  advocated 
minster  by  five  members  only,  of  whom  Philip  Nye  and  John 
sem  y.  qq^^j^^^  were  chief.  These  men,  who  were  known  as  the 
'  dissenting  brethren,'  put  forward  a  plan  for  completely  getting  rid  of 
the  Laudian  tradition  by  appointing  a  new  bench  of  bishops,  and  then 
granting  toleration  to  conscientious  Protestant  dissenters.  Their  plan, 
however,  carried  no  weight.  Presbyterianism  of  the  English  type  was 
adopted  in  principle,  and  partially  carried  into  practice,  while  the  use 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  forbidden  in  favour  of  the  Directory, 
which  was  in  effect  the  book  of  directions  for  church  worship  compiled 


1646  Charles  I.  577 

in  Elizabeth's  reign  by  Cartwright  and  Travers.  These  changes  were 
confirmed  by  parliament,  where,  in  religious  matters,  the  Presbyterians 
had  a  steady  majority.  Outside  parliament,  however,  there  was  much 
grumbling,  and  in  the  ranks  of  the  New  Model  army,  where  toleration 
had  always  been  the  rule,  there  was  bitter  and  deep-seated  discontent. 

Of  these  differences  Charles  designed  to  take  full  advantage,  hoping 
that  the  dissentient  parties  would  bid  against  each  other  for  the  aid  of 
him  and  the  royalists  :  and  with  this  view  he  entered  into 

.      ,  .  1      ,      T^       1  .  ,        Charles 

separate  and  secret  negotiations  with  the  Presbyterians,  the  joins  the 
Independents,  the  army  leaders,  and  the  Scots.  It  was  so 
clear,  however,  that  unless  the  king  agreed  to  the  most  precise  conditions 
there  would  be  no  security  that  he  would  not  repudiate  his  engagements  ; 
and  Charles  was  so  determined  that,  come  what  might,  he  would  never 
abandon  the  hope  of  restoring  Episcopacy,  that  all  his  negotiations  came 
to  nothing.  Eventually  believing  that  his  best  chance  lay  in  working 
on  the  national  jealousy  of  the  English  and  Scots,  he  betook  himself,  in 
May  1646,  to  the  Scottish  army,  in  the  full  hope  that  before  long  be 
would  find  himself  the  leader  of  a  combined  Scottish  and  royalist  army, 
fighting  against  the  English  parliament. 

Charles,  however,  soon  found  that,  unless  he  would  definitely  agree  to 
establish  Presbyterianism  in  England,  he  would  get  no  help  from  the 
Scots,  and  that  he  was  to  all  practical  purposes  a  prisoner, 
and  not,  as  he  had  anticipated,  a  guest.  The  Scots,  how-  tions  at 
ever,  were  willing  to  give  Charles  one  more  chance  of  ^"^^^^ 
coming  to  terms  with  his  parliament  before  they  handed  him  over  to 
the  English  ;  and  accordingly  they  took  him  with  them  to  Newcastle, 
where  negotiations  were  again  opened  with  some  parliamentary  com- 
missioners. The  chief  points  asked  of  Charles  were  (1)  the  abolition  of 
Episcopacy  imd  the  reformation  of  the  church  in  a  Presbyterian  sense  ; 
(2)  the  enforcement  of  fresh  penal  laws  against  the  Roman  Catholics  ;  (3) 
the  control  of  parliament  over  the  militia  and  fleet  for  the  next  twenty 
years.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Scots  declared  that  they  would  fight  for 
his  restoration  on  condition  that  he  would  promise  them  to  accept  the 
terms  off'ered  at  Uxbridge.  In  spite  of  the  advice  of  his  queen  and  of 
all  his  friends,  Charles  would  neither  come  to  terms  with  the  parliament 
nor  give  up  some  of  his  convictions  to  purchase  the  assistance  of  the  Scots ; 
for  he  regarded  it  as  a  point  of  honour  to  hand  down  the  prerogatives 
of  monarchy  unimpaired  to  his  successors,  and  as  a  point  of  religion  to 
preserve  Episcopacy.  But,  though  clear  himself,  he  certainly  gave  the 
impression  to  others  that  he  was  a  mere  shuffler ;  and  the  Scots,  irritated 
by  his  apparent  perversity,  decided  to  have  no  more   to  do  with  the 

20 


578  The  Stuarts  1641 

matter,  and  to  hand  him  over  to  the  English  commissioners  and  go 
home  at  once.  To  this  proposal  parliament  gladly  agreed.  It  did  all  it 
Charles  could  to  make  the  retreat  of  the  Scots  easy,  and  readily 

fo  the"^^'^^'^  voted  i;200,000  as  the  first  instalment  of  the  ^400,000  at 
Parliament,  which  the  expenses  of  the  Scots  were  computed.  By  his 
new  custodians  Charles  was  treated  with  all  respect,  and  parliament 
ordered  him  to  be  lodged  for  the  present  at  Holmby  House,  in  Nor- 
thamptonshire. 

The  departure  of  the  Scots  naturally  raised  the  question  of  the  future 
of  the  army.     The  parliament  wished  to  disband  it,  partly  because  the 

Presbyterians  disliked  its  Independent  sentiments,  partly 
The  Army.    ,  *^,,       ^  jj^-^  i 

because  the  taxes  needed  to  pay  it  were  so  unpopular  as 

even  to  dispose  many  districts  to  royalism.  The  soldiers,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  afraid  that,  if  the  army  were  broken  up,  the  Presbyterian 
majority  in  parliament  would  have  its  own  way,  and  would  settle  the 
religious  question  in  such  a  manner  that  there  should  be  no  toleration  for 
the  Sectaries  and  Independents,  to  which  classes  most  of  the  soldiers  be- 
longed. So  long  as  the  conduct  of  the  war  had  occupied  the  attention  of 
parliament,  the  Independents,  as  the  forward  party,  had  been  sure  of  a 
majority  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  fighting  was  over,  the  Presbyterians 
regained  their  power,  and  proceeded  to  take  into  consideration  the 
disbanding  of  the  army.  The  plan  proposed  was  to  retain  for  service  in 
England  6600  cavalry,  but  no  permanent  infantry  ;  and  to  employ  in 
Ireland  4200  horse  and  8400  foot.  All  Fairfax's  soldiers  who  cared  to 
serve,  and  for  whom  places  could  be  found,  were  to  be  employed  either 
In  England  or  Ireland ;  so  that  there  would  remain  for  disbandment 
only  about  6000  foot.  Besides  the  question  of  disbandment  there  was 
also  the  question  of  pay.  That  of  the  foot  was  eight  weeks  in  arrears, 
that  of  the  cavalry  forty-three  ;  and  as  the  total  amounted  to  some 
£300,000,  the  difficulty  of  raising  it  would  be  great.  Unfortunately 
for  themselves,  the  Presbyterian  majority  in  parliament  was  so  unwise 
as  to  irritate  the  soldiers  by  proposing  |that  they  should  be  paid  only 
one-sixth  of  what  was  lawfully  due  to  them.  This  foolish  action  had 
the  effect  of  uniting  as  one  man  those  who  cared  about  the  religious 
settlement  and  those  who  cared  only  about  their  pay.  Consequently 
the  soldiers  determined  to  stick  together,  and  elected  representatives 
from  each  regiment,  called  adjutators,  agitators,  or  agents,  who  were  to 
act  with  a  council  of  officers  for  the  interests  of  the  army — the  chief 
of  these  being  the  payment  of  arrears,  and  the  passing  of  an  ordinance 
of  indemnity  for  illegal  actions  committed  as  acts  of  war.  Fairfax  and 
Cromwell  were  heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  legitimate  demands  of 


1647  Charles  I.  579 

their  men  ;  but  Cromwell  realised  so  keenly  the  evil  that  would  ensue 
if  the  army  once  got  the  upper  hand  of  parliament,  that  he  did  all  in 
his  power,  both  as  an  officer  and  a  member,  to  bring  about  an  accommo- 
dation between  them.  His  efforts,  however,  failed,  and  he  threw  him- 
self vigorously  on  the  side  of  the  men.  At  such  a  crisis  the  soldiers 
were  naturally  afraid  that  Charles  might  either  be  placed  at  the  head 
of  a  new  Presbyterian  army,  or  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  escape  ;  and 
Cromwell  ordered  Cornet  Joyce  to  proceed  to  Holmby  and  secure 
Charles'  person.  This  Joyce  did  ;  and,  fearing  a  rescue,  removed  the 
king  to  Newmarket,  near  which  the  army  was  encamped. 

Having  secured  the  king,  the  army  held  a  rendezvous  on  Triploe  Heath, 
and  proceeded  to  formulate  its  demands  in  a  Declaration,  in  which,  in 
addition  to  the  old  demands  for  pay  and  indemnity,  they  The 
requested  that  the  present  parliament  should  be  purged  of  ^declaration, 
obnoxious  members,  and  that,  for  the  future,  parliamentary  elections 
should  be  held  every  two  years.  To  enforce  their  request,  the  whole  army 
then  moved  forward  by  slow  stages  towards  London,  taking  the  king  with 
it,  and  eventually  placed  him  at  Hampton  Court.  Intimidated  by  such  a 
display  of  force,  and  unable  to  raise  an  army  of  its  own,  parliament  gave 
way,  and  eleven  Presbyterian  members,  of  whom  the  most  notable  were 
Holies  and  Sir  William  Waller,  withdrew  to  the  continent.  From  thia 
moment,  the  real  control  of  affairs  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  anny. 

Meanwhile  the  army,  which  claimed  to  be  in  reality  a  better  repre- 
sentative of  the  wishes  of  the  country  than  the  existing  parliament, 
negotiated  with  the  king.     Its  proposals  were  more  liberal 
than  those  of  parliament ;  for  Cromwell  and  his  son-in-law   and  the 
Ireton,  who,  more  than  Fairfax,  represented  the  political      *"^' 
ideas  of  the  soldiers,  were  willing  to  permit  the  restoration  of  Episcopacy 
provided  that  there  was  full  toleration  for  other  sects  ;   and,  as  an 
earnest  of  their  sincerity,  Charles  was  allowed  to  hear  the  Church  of 
England  service  read  by  his  chaplains,  an  indulgence  which  had  never 
been  granted  to  him  either  by  the  Scots  or  by  the  parliament.      The 
demands  of  the  army  were  drawn  up  by  Ireton  ;    and  the  political 
reforms  demanded  were  biennial  parliaments,  parliamentary  reform,  and 
the  creation  of  a  council  of  state  able  to  declare  war  and  make  peace, 
and  to  superintend  the  militia.     They  demanded  also  that  five  leading 
royalists   should  be  punished.      The  whole  scheme  of  the  Heads  of  the 
army,  therefore,  as  set  forth  in  Ireton's  Heads  of  the  Fro-  Proposals. 
posals,  anticipated  the  religious  settlement  of  1689,  and  also  much  of  the 
modern  method  of  parliamentary  government.     To  secure  Charles'  con- 
sent, however,  was  impossible,   for  he  was  now  convinced  that  war 


580  The  Stuarts  1647 

between  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Independents  was  inevitable,  and 
that  one  side  or  the  other  would  have  to  purchase  assistance  from  the 
royalists.  He,  therefore,  determined  to  escape  to  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
whence,  if  necessary,  he  could  remove  to  the  continent.  Unluckily  for 
Charles,  Hammond,  the  parliamentary  governor  of  the  island,  was  true 
to  his  employers,  and  though  he  agreed  to  receive  Charles,  he  took  care 
that  his  royal  guest  or  prisoner  should  be  carefully  guarded  in  Caris- 
brooke  Castle.  From  Carisbrooke  Charles  continued  his  intrigues  with 
all  parties.  To  him  the  failure  of  the  negotiations  with  the  army 
leaders  was  matter  for  congratulation  :  in  reality,  it  had  created  an 
opinion  in  the  army  that  negotiation  with  him  was  useless,  and  that  he 
was  a  man  whom  it  was  impossible  ever  to  trust  as  a  king. 

As  Charles  expected,  civil  war  broke  out  again  in  1648.  For  a  long 
time  discontent  had  been  increasing  in  the  south-eastern  counties  and 
The  Second  i^  London,  due  partly  to  the  burden  of  paying  the  soldiers' 
Civil  War.  wages,  partly  to  the  annoyance  of  the  Presbyterians  at 
the  importance  of  the  Sectaries,  and  this  naturally  developed  into  a 
royalist  reaction.  Charles  hoped  to  combine  a  royalist  insurrection 
in  the  south  with  an  invasion  carried  out  by  the  marquess  of  Hamilton. 
In  Scotland,  Hamilton  had  for  the  moment  overborne  the  influence  of 
The  '  En-  -A.rgyll,  and  had  joined  Lauderdale  in  making  with  Charles 
gagement'  ^j^  Engagement^  by  which  he  agreed  to  establish  Presby- 
terianisra  for  three  years,  and  to  suppress  absolutely  Anabaptists, 
Separatists,  Independents,  and  heretics  of  all  kinds.  On  their  part, 
the  Scots  were  to  invade  England  with  an  army,  with  a  view  to  co- 
operate in  putting  an  end  to  the  existing  parliament,  and  to  settling 
a  lasting  peace  with  the  aid  of  a  '  full  and  free  parliament.'  Some 
time,  however,  was  required  by  Hamilton  and  his  friends  to  carry  out 
their  plans,  and,  meanwhile,  the  English  royalists  rose  in  Kent  and 
South  Wales.  In  face  of  a  royalist  rising,  the  parliament  and  the  army 
waived  their  difl*erences  ;  and  while  parliament  did  all  it  could  to  con- 
ciliate the  discontented  Londoners,  Fairfax  and  Cromwell  dealt  with 
the  royalists  in  the  field. 

Cleverly  putting  himself  between  the  Kentish  royalists  and  their 
friends  in  the  capital,  Fairfax  routed  the  main  body  of  the  insurgents  in 
Battle  of  a  battle  at  Maidstone,  on  June  14,  and  forced  the  survivors 
Maidstone.  ^^  cross  the  Thames.  They  then  threw  themselves  into 
Colchester  and  stood  a  siege,  in  hopes  of  being  rescued  either  by  the 
Scots  or  by  a  continental  force.  Fairfax,  however,  pushed  forward  his 
operations  with  the  utmost  vigour.  In  vain  Lord  Holland  attempted 
another  rising,  assisted  by  the  young  duke  of  Buckingham.     Their  men 


1648  Charles  I.  581 

were  dispersed,  Holland  was  captured ;  and,^  before  the  end  of 
August,  Colchester,  after  an  heroic  defence,  was  forced  to  capitulate. 
By  a  harsh  use  of  the  laws  of  war,  two  of  the  royalist  leaders,  Sir 
Charles  Lucas  and  Sir  George  Lisle,  were  condemned  by  a  council  of 
war,  and  shot ;  two  others.  Lord  Capel  and  the  earl  of  Norwich,  father 
of  Goring,  the  royalist  ofl&cer,  were  reserved  for  future  judgment. 

Meanwhile,  the  Welshmen  had  been  routed  by  Horton  at  St.  Fagan's, 
and  Cromwell  had  taken  Pembroke  and  Tenby  Castles,  and  by  the 
middle  of  July  was  free  to  act  against  the  Scots.  He  was  campaign 
barely  in  time,  for  Hamilton  and  his  army  of  moderate  °^  Preston. 
Presbyterians  had  already  crossed  the  border,  and  Lambert,  who  was  in 
command  in  the  north,  was  too  weak  to  impede  his  movements. 
Hamilton  marched  south  by  way  of  Kendal  and  Hornby  to  Preston. 
His  army  consisted  of  some  3600  English  royalists  under  Sir  Marnm- 
duke  Langdale,  and  of  at  least  2000  Scots  ;  but  the  latter  were  poorly 
drilled  and  equipped,  and  Hamilton  himself,  though  personally  brave, 
had  no  military  skill.  Cromwell's  plans  seems  to  have  been  formed  on 
the  supposition  that  Hamilton  would  make  for  Pontefract,  which  had 
lately  fallen  into  royalist  hands.  With  8500  troops  he  marched  down  the 
Kibble  valley  determined  to  fight,  and  on  August  17  he  was  fortunate 
enough  to  come  on  the  invaders  at  Preston.  Just  then  the  Scottish 
army,  horse  and  foot,  had  crossed  the  river,  and  Langdale,  alone  with 
his  Englishmen,  was  on  the  northern  bank.  Langdale  and  his  men 
fought  like  heroes,  but  were  ultimately  overpowered.  Then  Cromwell 
turned  on  the  Scots,  and  before  night  he  had  stormed  the  bridges  over 
the  Kibble  and  the  Darwen,  and  so  cut  off  all  hopes  of  retreat.  The 
next  day  he  pursued  his  advantage.  The  weather  was  wretched,  and 
the  Scots,  short  of  ammunition  and  inefficiently  led,  became  completely 
disorganised,  and  were  utterly  routed  at  Wigan  and  Win  wick.  Baillie 
alone  showed  any  skill  and  tenacity  ;  but  nothing  could  be  done  against 
the  d  iscipline  and  valour  of  the  New  Model  soldiers.  The  foot  surrendered 
at  Warrington,  the  cavalry  at  Uttoxeter.  As  soon  as  success  was 
assured,  Cromwell  left  Lambert  to  deal  with  Hamilton,  and  himself 
marched  off  to  Scotland,  where  he  remained  till  October.  Even- 
tually Hamilton  and  Langdale  were  both  cajDtured,  and  Lambert  re- 
joined Cromwell  in  Scotland.  This  crisis,  which  was  terminated  by 
the  successes  at  Preston  and  Colchester,  was  probably  more  serious 
for  the  parliament  than  any  since  Charles  had  retreated  Seriousness 
from  Turnham  Green;  for  it  cannot  be  doubted  that,  of  the  Crisis, 
had  Fairfax  failed  at  Maidstone  or  Cromwell  been  beaten  at  Preston, 
a  royalist  reaction  would   have   immediately   followed.      Even  more 


582  The  Stua/rts  i«48 

serious  than  the  risings  in  Kent  and  Essex  was  the  disaffection  of  part 
of  the  fleet,  which  had  hitherto  done  admirable  service  to  the  parlia- 
ment by  holding  the  sea  against  foreign  aid  of  any  kind.  Now, 
however,  no  less  than  nine  ships  sailed  to  Holland,  and  placed  themselves 
under  the  command  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  on  August  30  nothing 
but  a  change  of  wind  prevented  a  battle  off  Chatham  between  them 
and  the  parliamentarian  vessels ;  the  crews  of  which,  being  more 
Presbyterian  than  the  soldiers,  could  hardly  be  trusted  to  do  their  best. 
Eventually  the  prince's  vessels  retired  to  Holland,  and  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Prince  Eupert.  It  was  the  severity  of  this  crisis, 
brought  about,  as  the  army  believed,  solely  by  the  obstinacy  of  Charles, 
that  had  caused  the  soldiers  before  they  started  for  the  campaign  to 
declare  that  *  it  was  their  duty,  if  ever  the  Lord  brought  them  back 
again  in  peace,  to  call  Charles  Stuart,  that  man  of  blood,  to  an  account 
for  the  blood  he  had  shed,  and  the  mischief  he  had  done  to  his  utmost 
against  the  Lord's  cause  and  people  in  these  poor  nations.'  The  same 
spirit  hardened  Fairfax  to  carry  out  the  executions  at  Colchester. 

While  the  soldiers  had  been  fighting,  the  Presbyterians  had  had  their 
own  way  in  the  House.      This   they  had  used   to   pass   an  ordinance 

„    ,.  denouncing  death  against  all  who  denied  certain  Christian 

Parhamen-  ,         ^  ,        ,.    .    .  p  ^,    . 

tary  pro-  doctrmes,  such  as  the  divinity  of  Christ,  or  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  ;  and  imprisonment  against  all  who,  among 
other  things,  denied  that  infant  baptism  was  lawful,  asserted  the  exist- 
ence of  purgatory,  or  questioned  the  obligation  of  the  Puritanical 
observation  of  Sunday.  Such  an  ordinance  was  utterly  distasteful  to 
large  bodies  of  the  soldiers,  and  hardly  less  so  were  the  negotiations 
which  parliament  had  opened  with  the  king.  A  negotiation,  or  '  treaty ' 
as  it  was  then  called,  was  carried  on  at  Newport  between  the  king 

Treaty  of    in  person  and  a  number  of  commissioners,  of  whom  Saye, 

Newport,  jjolles,  and  Vane  were  the  chief.  Charles,  however,  was  not 
in  earnest.  His  hopes  were  still  high  of  aid  either  from  the  continent, 
where  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  just  being  concluded,  or  from  Ireland, 
where  Ormond  was  again  trying  to  form  a  royalist  party,  or,  at  the  worst, 
of  making  good  his  own  escape.  He  was,  therefore,  prepared  for  the 
moment  to  yield  almost  anything,  but  held  out  for  some  form  of  Episco- 
pacy, and  to  this  the  Commons  would  not  consent.  Accordingly  the 
affair  came  to  nothing. 

Meanwhile,  the  chief  power  in  Scotland  had  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Argyll,  supported  by  the  stout  Presbyterians  of  the  western  lowlands, 
known  as  the  Whiggamores,  and  by  the  Campbells  ;  and  though  Crom- 
well, by   order    of  the  parliament,  visited  Edinburgh,   he  had  little 


1648  Charles  I.  583 

more  to  do  than  to  consult  with  Argyll,  and  to  leave  Lambert  and  a 
few  soldiers   to   secure   the   new  government  against  the  'Engagers.' 
On  his  return  to  England  he  spent  some  time  in  superin-    Cromwell's 
tending  the  siege  of  Scarborough  and  Pontefract,  and  did    Movements, 
not  return  to  London  till  December  6. 

In  Cromwell's  absence  the  most  influential  among  his  officers  was  his 
son-in-law,  Henry  Ireton,  who  had  become  Cromwell's  'other self' ;  for 
Fairfax,  though  he  always  took  the  chair  at  the  meetings 
of  the  council  of  officers,  had  no  initiative  in  political  monstrance 
matters.  The  feeling  of  the  soldiers  was  expressed  by  °  *  ^"^^' 
Ireton  in  a  document  called  the  Remonstrance  of  the  Army.  This  paper 
denounced  Charles  as  responsible  for  the  renewal  of  the  war  ;  deprecated 
further  association  with  him  on  the  ground  that  he  would  not  consider 
his  promises  binding  ;  and  asked  that  he  should  be  brought  to  trial. 
However,  Fairfax  and  others  were  not  prepared  to  go  as  far  as  this 
without  another  attempt  at  accommodation  ;  and  the  king  was  asked  in 
the  name  of  the  council  of  officers  whether  he  would  agree  (1)  to  an  early 
dissolution  of  parliament  and  biennial  elections  afterwards  ;  (2)  to  hand 
over  the  management  of  the  militia  to  a  council  of  state  which  was  to  be 
appointed  for  the  first  ten  years  directly  by  parliament,  and  afterwards 
indirectly  ;  (3)  to  allow  the  great  officers  of  state  to  be  similarly  nominated. 
The  real  meaning  of  this  demand  was,  that  for  the  future  Charles  would 
take  his  policy  from  parliament,  practically  as  the  sovereign  does  to-day, 
and  give  up  the  old  idea  to  which  he  held  so  closely,  that  the  last  word 
should  always  be  with  the  king.  This  proposal  was  made  to  Charles  on 
November  17,  and  was  of  course  rejected.  Next  day  the  officers  unani- 
mously adopted  the  Kemonstrance  ;  and  on  the  20th  it  was  presented 
to  the  House  of  Commons.  Disliking  the  interference  of  the  army,  par- 
liament postponed  its  consideration  for  a  week,  and  meanwhile  continued 
its  own  negotiations  with  the  king.  Irritated  at  this,  the  council  of 
officers  at  once  took  steps  to  secure  the  king's  person,  and  proceeded 
further  to  consider  whether  it  would  be  better  to  dissolve  parliament  by 
force  or  simply  to  '  purge '  out  those  members  who  did  not  agree  with  it. 
Accordingly,  on  December  1,  by  order  of  Fairfax,  Charles  was  removed 
to  Hurst  Castle,  a  gloomy  and  easily-guarded  fortress  on  the  Hampshire 
coast.  On  the  2nd  the  army  entered  London,  and  on  the  6th  Ireton  and 
other  officers,  finding  that  parliament  still  persisted  in  negotiations,  and 
having  the  approval  of  Vane,  Marten,  and  Lord  Grey  of  Groby,  directed 
Colonel  Pride,  who  commanded  a  guard  which  had  been  Pride's 
placed  in  Westminster  Hall,  to  exclude  the  chief  Presby-  Purge, 
terian  members.     One  hundred  and  forty-three  members  were  thus 


584  The  Stuarts  1648 

excluded,  including  Holies  and  Fiennes.  After  Pride's  Purge,  the 
remnant  of  members,  or  as  they  were  contemptuously  called,  the  '  Rump,' 
had  no  pretence  to  represent  the  country,  and  became  the  mere  creatures 
of  the  army  in  whose  hands  all  real  authority  lay.  The  same  evening 
Oliver  Cromwell  rode  into  London. 

Even  at  this  date  it  is  probable  that  Cromwell  had  not  given  up  all 
hope  of  coming  to  terms  with  the  king,  thinking  possibly  that  Charles 
Cromwell's    would  be  made  more  amenable  by  the  knowledge  that  he 
Views.  would  soon  be  brought  to  trial.     In  this,  however,  he  was 

entirely  mistaken,  for  Charles  was  quite  willing  to  lay  down  his  life  for 
a  cause  which  he  regarded  as  being  that  not  only  of  good  government 
against  anarchy,  but  also  that  of  God's  true  religion.  Accordingly, 
Charles  would  not  even  hear  of  a  proposal  that  he  should  give  up 
the  prerogative  of  refusing  his  consent  to  acts  of  parliament,  and  after 
this  last  failure  Cromwell  made  up  his  mind  that  nothing  more  was  to  be 
done  ;  and,  as  his  manner  was,  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the 
ranks  of  those  who  demanded  not  only  that  Charles  should  be  deposed, 
but  that  he  should  be  put  to  death. 

Reinforced  by  Cromwell's  influence,  the  Independent  members  of  par- 
liament pushed  boldly  forward.      On  January  4,  1649,  in  spite  of  the 
The  King's    opposition  of  the  Lords,  a  high  court  of  justice,  consisting  of 
'^"*''  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  commissioners,  was  created  by 

a  vote  of  the  House  of  Commons  only.  The  most  notable  members  of  the 
new  court  were  Fairfax,  Cromwell,  Henry  Marten,  Ireton,  Harrison,  Lord 
Grey  of  Groby,  and  Colonel  Hutchinson.  John  Bradshaw,  a  lawyer,  was 
elected  president.  Its  meetings  began  on  January  8,  but  they  were  poorly 
attended.  Fairfax  was  only  present  at  the  first;  Vane  had  retired  into  the 
country.  On  the  20th  the  king  was  brought  into  Westminster  Hall,  and 
the  trial  began  before  sixty-eight  commissioners.  Being  asked  to  plead, 
Charles  retorted  by  asking  '  by  what  authority  he  had  been  brought  to 
the  bar.'  '  By  the  authority  of  the  people  of  England,'  Bradshaw  replied. 
Charles,  however,  stuck  to  his  point ;  and,  though  produced  over  and  over 
again  before  the  court,  refused  to  say  more,  conceiving  that  in  refusing  to 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  an  unconstitutional  tribunal  he  was  simply 
doing  his  duty.  '  It  is  not,'  he  said,  '  my  case  alone  ;  it  is  the  freedom 
and  liberty  of  the  people  of  England  ...  for  if  power  without  law 
may  make  laws,  may  alter  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  kingdom,  I  do 
not  know  what  subject  he  is  in  England  that  can  be  sure  of  his  own  life, 
or  anything  he  calls  his  own.'  The  utmost  concession  Charles  would 
make  was  an  ofi'er  to  state  his  case  before  the  Lords  and  Commons  in  the 
Painted  Chamber.      Some  members  of  the  court  would  have  at  once 


1649  Charles  I.  585 

condemned  Charles  as  contumacious  ;  but  it  was  eventually  decided  to 
hear  evidence,  and  when  it  had  been  shown  that  Charles  had  raised 
troops  against  the  parliament,  and  personally  taken  part  in  the  civil 
war,  the  court  found  Charles  guilty  of  being  *  a  tyrant,  traitor,  murderer, 
and  public  enemy  to  the  good  people  of  this  nation,'  ordered  him  to  be 
put  to  death  by  the  severing  of  his  head  from  his  body.  The  death 
warrant  was  signed  by  fifty-nine  commissioners.  The  signatories,  there- 
fore, represented  a  minority  of  the  court,  the  court  a  minority  of  the 
parliament,  and  throughout  the  trial  the  strongest  evidence  was  shown 
that  the  proceedings  were  not  approved  by  the  general  mass  even  of 
Londoners,  to  say  nothing  of  the  rest  of  the  country.  It  is,  however, 
ill  arguing  with  the  master  of  many  legions.  The  army  was  strong, 
compact,  disciplined  ;  the  royalists  were  weak,  scattered,  unorganised. 
More  than  all,  they  wanted  leaders,  for  Fairfax  and  Vane,  though  they 
disapproved  of  the  king's  execution,  showed  no  signs  of  putting  them- 
selves forward  in  opposition  to  the  army. 

The  sentence  was  passed  on  Saturday,  January  27  ;  and  on  Tuesday, 
the  30th,  Charles  was  beheaded  on  a  scaffold  erected  in  the  open  street 
before  Whitehall.  He  met  his  death  with  quiet  dignity  and  religious 
resignation ;  and  his  appearance  and  demeanour,  both  in  Westminster 
Hall  and  on  the  scaffold,  went  far  to  remove  the  unfavourable  impression 
which  had  been  created  by  his  former  intrigues.  The  reaction  was 
aided  by  the  appearance,  within  a  few  days,  of  a  book  called  Eikon 
Basilike^  or  the  Royal  Likeness  ;  professedly  written  by  Charles  himself, 
which  gave  a  most  favourable  impression  of  Charles'  views  and  of  his 
piety  and  resignation  in  prison.  So  important  was  it  that  Milton  was 
specially  engaged  by  the  Independents  to  write  the  rejoinder.  This  he 
called  EikonoklasteSy  or  the  Image-breaker ;  but  though  he  showed  all 
his  usual  skiU  and  eloquence,  and  spared  no  pains  to  vilify  the  dead 
monarch,  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  efforts  did  much  to  destroy  the 
favourable  impression  caused  by  the  original  publication. 

Three  peers,  Hamilton,  Holland,  and  Capel,  as  responsible  for  the 
second  civil  war,  followed  their  master  to  the  scaffold. 

CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Execution  of  Strafford, 1641 

Attempt  to  seize  the  Five  Members,  1642 

First  Civil  War 1642-1646 

Second  Civil  War, 1648 

Pride's  Purge, 1648 

Charles  beheaded, Jan.  30, 1649 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   COMMONWEALTH   AND   PROTECTORATE 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Spain. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.  Philip  iv.,  d.  1662. 

The  Commonwealth — Wars  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  with  the  Dutch — Expulsion 
of  the  '  Rump ' — Barebone's  Parliament — The  Instrument  of  Government — 
The  Petition  and  Advice — Death  of  Cromwell — Events  which  led  to  the 
Restoration. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  moral  right  of  the  'high  court  of 

justice '  to  condemn  Charles  and  put  him  to  death,  there  is  little  doubt 

that  in  doing  so  the  leaders  of  the  Independent  party  made 

Charles'  a  great  political  mistake.  Both  as  a  sovereign  and  as  a 
prisoner,  Charles  had  completely  discredited  himself;  but 
his  violent  death,  and  the  almost  universal  sympathy  caused  by  his 
bearing  at  his  trial  and  execution,  removed  the  chief  obstacle  to  the 
rallying  of  all  moderate  men,  whether  churchmen  or  Presbyterians,  round 
the  principle  of  hereditary  monarchy.  Ever  since  the  reign  of  Edward  i., 
each  hereditary  king  had  dated  his  reign  from  the  death  of  his  pre- 
decessor, and  as  an  act  of  parliament  lately  passed,  which  forbade  the 
proclamation  of  a  new  king,  had  no  constitutional  claim  to  validity,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  at  once  stepped  into  the  position  of  king  de  jure.  Since 
the  expulsion  of  the  Presbyterians  in  1648  had  thrown  them  also  into 
opposition,  the  party  in  power  had  consisted  only  of  Independents  and 
Sectaries,  and  made  no  pretence  of  being  a  majority  of  the  nation.  So 
long,  however,  as  the  army  remained  united,  no  open  opposition  seemed 
possible. 

Immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  king,  the  Commons  carried  out 

the  logical  consequence  of  their  claim  that  '  the  people  are  under  God, 

the  original  of  all  just  power,'  by  voting  that  the  House  of 

Lords  Lords  'is  useless,  dangerous,  and  ought  to  be  abolished. 

a  o  IS  e  .  jjgj^j.y  jyjarten  moved  to  omit  the  word  '  dangerous,'  but  it 
was  thought  that  insult  without  satire  would  suffice,  and  the  resolution 


1649  The  Commonwealth  587 

passed  as  it  stood.  They  then  resolved  that  government  by  a  king 
or  single  person  'is  unnecessary,  burdensome,  dangerous,  and  ought  to 
be  abolished';  and  an  act  was  passed  declaring  the  people  of  England 
to  be  a  commonwealth  or  free  state. 

Having  thus  completed  the  work  of  destroying  the  old  order  of 
things,  of  which  the  House  of  Commons  itself,  remnant  though  it  was, 
remained  the  only  legal  representative,  parliament  proceeded 
to  arrange  for  the  government  of  the  country  by  creating  Govern- 
a  council  of  state,  practically  identical  with  a  body  known  "^^^  ' 
as  the  Derby  House  committee,  which,  since  the  rupture  with  the  Scots, 
had  replaced  the  committee  of  the  two  kingdoms.  It  consisted  of  forty 
members,  with  Bradshaw  as  president,  and  included  all  the  Independent 
peers,  Fairfax,  Cromwell,  Vane,  Whitelock,  St.  John,  Marten,  Hazelrig, 
Skippon  and  Scot,  but  not  Ireton.  Its  ordinary  secretary  was  Thurloe;  and 
for  foreign  tongues,  John  Milton.  The  great  seal  was  entrusted  to  White- 
lock  and  two  others ;  Vane  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  admiralty ;  Blake, 
Deane,  and  Popham  were  made  admirals  of  the  fleet ;  Fairfax  was  con- 
tinued lord-general,  and  Cromwell  lieutenant-general,  of  the  army.  Of 
these,  Whitelock,  Vane,  Blake,  and  Fairfax  had  all  disapproved  of  the 
king's  death,  but  were  quite  willing  to  take  part  in  the  new  government 
which  was  to  replace  monarchy.  Six  of  the  judges  agreed  to  act  under 
the  new  regime,  and  the  other  places  were  then  filled  up.  Hardly  were 
the  new  officials  in  their  places  when  difficulties  beset  theui  on  every  side. 

A  dangerous  mutiny  in  the  army  claimed  their  first  attention.  This 
was  the  outcome  of  a  movement  of  old  date.  Ever  since  the  rendezvous 
on  Triploe  Heath,  John  Lilburne  had  been  spreading  opinions 
in  the  army  which  tended  to  the  overthrow  of  all  social  and  of  the 
military  order.  He  had  written,  for  instance,  that  'the  *^'  "^*' 
officers  were  below  the  soldiers,'  and  his  doctrines  were  eagerly  adopted 
by  hot-headed  and  enthusiastic  men,  who  were  called  by  their  opponents 
Levellers,  and  were  looking  for  an  immediate  realisation  of  the  millennium 
and  of  the  rule  of  the  saints.  The  political  views  of  the  Levellers  were 
embodied  in  a  document  styled  The  Agreement  of  the  People,  which 
was  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  January,  1649.  It  demanded 
a  redistribution  of  seats,  followed  immediately  by  a  general  election,  and 
the  creation  of  a  government  directly  responsible  to  the  new  House  of 
Commons.  For  some  time  Lilburne  himself  had  been  in  the  Tower  ;  but 
the  dissatisfaction  of  some  of  the  soldiers,  who  were  ordered  to  Ireland, 
was  seized  on  by  his  friends  as  oflfering  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
a  general  mutiny.  Accordingly  outbreaks  occurred  in  London,  at 
Banbury,  and  at  Salisbury.     The  last  was  the  most  serious  ;  but  Fairfax 


588  The  Commonwealth  1649 

and  Cromwell  marched  fifty  miles  one  day  to  come  up  with  the  mutineers, 
surprised  them  at  dead  of  night  at  Burford,  in  Oxfordshire,  and  com- 
pletely crushed  them.  Of  the  leaders,  a  cornet  and  two  corporals  were 
shot,  the  rest  were  pardoned  and  persuaded  to  return  to  their  duty. 
Lilburne,  however,  still  continued  to  agitate  against  the  government, 
declaring  that  the  Petition  of  Eight,  Magna  Carta,  and  other  funda- 
mental laws  were  subverted,  and  *the  military  power  thrust  into  the 
very  office  and  seat  of  civil  authority.'  In  October  he  was  prosecuted 
for  stirring  up  treason  in  the  army,  but  acquitted  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  he  represented  a  widespread  feeling  of  discontent. 

Meanwhile,  affairs  in  Ireland  were  looking  very  serious.     Ormond  had 

secured  the  co-operation  of  Lord  Inchiquin  by  promising  the  complete 

removal  of  the  political  and  religious  disabilities  of  the 

Irish  Eoman  Catholics,  security  of  tenure  for  the  Connaught 

landholders,  and  the  repeal  of  the  law  which  forbade  '  ploughing  with 

horses  by  the  tail'     The  Presbyterians  of  Ulster  had  been  alienated  by 

the  king's  death.     Numbers  of  English  royalists,  such  as  Sir  Arthur 

Aston,  had  come  over  to  lead  Ormond's  men.     Prince  Rupert,  with  the 

revolted  fleet,  was  hovering  off  the  coast,  and  Prince  Charles  was  on 

his  way  to  the  Channel  Islands  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  allied 

forces.      Dublin,    under  Michael  Jones,  and  Dundalk,  under   George 

Monk,  were  almost  alone  in  holding  out ;    and  Dublin  was  besieged 

by  Ormond  with  a  force  of  19,000  men.      Accordingly  Cromwell  was 

Battle  of       asked  to  take  the  command,  but  before  he  reached  Ireland 

Rathmines.  ^he  crisis  was  over.     Though  Dundalk  had  fallen,  Dublin 

had  been  saved  by  the  address  of  Jones,  who,  with  but  5000  men,  sallied 

forth  on  August  2,  and  utterly  routed  Ormond's  forces  in  the  battle  of 

Rathmines. 

Defeated  in  the  field,  the  allies  decided  to  protract  the  war  by 
compelling  Cromwell  to  undertake  a  series  of  sieges.  Against  these 
tactics  Cromwell  took  decisive  measures.     On  September  10  he  was  at 

Siege  ot       Drogheda,  which  was  garrisoned  by  the  flower  of  Ormond's 

Drogheda.  English  troops,  and  some  regiments  of  Irish  Roman 
Catholics  under  the  brave  Sir  Arthur  Aston.  On  the  next  morning  a 
practicable  breach  had  been  made.  The  first  assaults  were  repulsed; 
but  Cromwell,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  another  storming  party, 
carried  the  breach.  Then,  'being  in  the  heat  of  action,'  and 
according  to  the  harsh  laws  of  war  then  in  use,  he  commanded  all 
armed  men  to  be  put  to  the  sword.  Hardly  a  man  escaped ;  and, 
besides  the  garrison,  all  the  'friars  were  knocked  on  the  head  pro- 
miscuously but  two.'     Cromwell  himself  seems  to  have  felt  compunction 


1650 


The  Commonwealth 


589 


for  his  hasty  act,  and,  writing  to  the  parliament,  expresses  a  hope  that  at 
any  rate  'it  may  tend  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood  in  the  future.' 
Probably  it  did  ;  for  when  a  breach   had  been  made,  if  not  before, 


other  garrisons  surrendered;  and  only  at  Wexford,  Kilkenny,  and 
Clonmel  was  there  any  more  serious  fighting.  Unhappily  at  Wexford 
the  resistance  of  some  soldiers  in  the  market-place,  after  the  breach  had 
been  carried,  led  to  another  massacre.      The  work  of  dealing  with  so 


590  The  Commonwealth  1650 

many  towns  was,  however,  protracted,  and  it  was  not  till  March,  1650, 
that  Cromwell,  who  had  been  hastily  summoned  home  by  the  parliament, 
was  able  to  hand  over  the  completion  of  the  work  to  Ireton.  In  the 
towns  which  surrendered  at  discretion,  quarter  was  given  to  the  privates  ; 
but  English  officers  who  had  ever  before  fought  for  the  parliament  were 
hanged  or  shot.  The  Irish  officers  were  allowed  to  go  free.  Most  of 
them  took  service  abroad,  and  carried  off  with  them  45,000  Irish  soldiers. 
Most  of  the  English  soldiers  took  service  under  the  parliament.  At  sea, 
Rupert's  Blake  ably  seconded  Cromwell's  efforts  ;  and  Prince  Kupert, 
Fleet.  finding  Ormond's  cause  ruined,  fled  to  Portugal,  closely  pur- 

sued by  Blake.  Ormond  and  Inchiquin  escaped  to  the  continent ;  Owen 
Roe  O'Neil  died.  The  English  forces  suffered  severely  from  exposure  and 
from  a  fever,  of  which  died  Jones,  the  victor  of  Rathmines,  and  Horton, 
the  victor  of  St.  Fagans.  Ireton  held  office  till  1651,  when  the  fever 
claimed  him  as  its  victim.  The  command  was  temporarily  taken  by 
Ludlow,  author  of  the  Memoirs,  who  had  succeeded  Jones  as  lieutenant- 
general.  He  held  this  office  till  Fleetwood,  who  married  Ireton's  widow, 
came  over  as  deputy. 

The  cause  of  Cromwell's  hasty  recall  was  the  threatening  attitude  of 
Scotland.     Since  the  overthrow  of  the  Engagers,  Argyll's  party  had 

,     ^      been  in  the  ascendant ;  but  the  execution  of  the  king  had 
Scotland.  i    .       o       ,       t  i     i 

met  with  no  approval  m  Scotland,  and  the  government 

had  taken  the  decided  step  of  offering  the  crown  to  the  Prince  of  Wales 

as  Charles  ii.     That  prince,  however,  was  by  no  means  sure  that  his  best 

course  was  to  close  with  the  offer,  coupled  as  it  was  with  the  condition 

of  taking  the  Covenant,  so  he  granted  a  commission  to  Montrose  to  see 

what  could  be  done  towards  reviving  the  old  royalist  party  in  the  High- 

Montrose's  lands.     If  Montrose  failed,  he  could  then  fall  back  on  Argyll, 

Death.         Montrose's  expedition  ended  in  complete  disaster.    Landing 

in  Caithness,  he  was  set  on  by  a  force  of  Covenanters  before  he  had  time 

to  gather  supporters  round  him,  and  was  utterly  routed  at  Carbisdale, 

on  the  borders  of  Ross  and  Sutherland,  and  only  escaped  from  the  field 

to  be  captured  in  peasant  disguise.      Thus  clad,  he  was  taken  to  Edin- 

burgh,   and   hanged  in  the   Grassmarket  with   every  circumstance  of 

disgrace.     At  the   last,  his  noble  and  fearless  bearing   extorted  the 

admiration  even  of  his  foes  ;  but  the  atrocities  of  his  Irish  and  Highland 

followers  were  too  fresh  in  the  memory  of  Lowlanders  for  mercy  to  be 

found  for  their  leader. 

Charles,  therefore,  fell  back  on  his  negotiations  with  the  government, 

falsely  denied  that  he  had  given  Montrose  a  commission,  signified  his 

willingness  to   accept  Argyll's   conditions,  and  himself  took  ship  for 


1650 


The  Commonwealth  591 


Scotland.      In  these  circumstances  the  English  council  of  state  felt 
that  war  would  inevitably  follow,  as  it  was  not  likely   that   Charles 
would  rest  satisfied  as  king  of  Scotland  alone,  and  therefore   ^^^^^ 
they  sent  for  Cromwell,  meaning  that  Fairfax  and  he  should   and  the 
carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country  by  an  immediate      °^^"^"  • 
invasion  of  Scotland.      Fairfax,  however,  did  not  agree  with  this  policy, 
and  asserted  that  'human  probabilities  were  not  sufficient  grounds  to 
make  war  upon  a  neighbour  nation,  especially  their  brethren  in  Scotland, 
to    whom    they   were  engaged  in  a   Solemn   League  and         . 
Covenant.'     To  this  opinion  he  adhered,  in  spite  of  all  that   tion  of 
Whitelock,  Harrison,  and  Lambert  could  say  to  the  con- 
trary ;  so  his  resignation  was  accepted,  and  the  post  of  lord-general  was 
conferred  on  Cromwell,   with  Fleetwood,   Lambert,  and  Monk  as  his 
principal  officers.     In  July  the  English  crossed  the  border,  supported  by 
a  fleet  on  which  it  relied  for  provisions,  as  the  Scots  had  cleared  the 
Lowlands  much  as  Wellington  cleared  Portugal  in  1810.   The  Scottish 
Cromwell  found  the  Scots  drawn  up  behind  a  line  of  earth-  Campaign, 
works  stretching  south  from  Leith,  and  resting  on  the  extremity  of  the  city 
near  Holyrood  House.     There  they  lay  under  the  command  of  David 
Leslie,  with  Leven  acting  as  a  volunteer ;  and  during  the  whole  month 
of  August  Cromwell  tried  in  vain  to  bring  them  to  action,  not  neglecting, 
meanwhile,  to  endeavour  by  argument  to  prove  the  righteousness  of  his 
cause.    Leslie,  however,  got  the  better  of  Cromwell  in  all  the  manoeuvres, 
and  at  length,  baffied  by  Leslie's  skill,  and  with  an  army  worn  out  by 
constant  exposure  to  the  weather,   Cromwell  fell   back   on   Dunbar. 
Thither  he  was  followed  by  Leslie,  who  himself  occupied  the  Hill  of 
Doon,  an  outlying  piece  of  the  Lammermuir  range   which   overlooked 
the  town,  and  also  sent  a  detachment  to  seize  the  pass  of  Cockburnspath, 
where   the  Lammermuirs  themselves  touch  the  coast,  and   where   the 
Berwick  road  was  so  narrow  that  it  could  be  held  by  a  handful  against 
a  host.     In  these  circumstances  it  seemed  that  Cromwell's  only  choice 
lay  between  surrender,  the  re-embarkation  of  his  troops,  and  a  hazardous 
attempt  to  storm  the  Scottish  position,  when  the  rashness  of  the  Scots 
relieved  him  from  his  dilemma. 

The  Hill  of  Doon,  where  the  Scots  lay,  was  divided  from  the  plain  on 
which  Cromwell's  men  were  drawn  up  by  the  channel  of  the  Broxburn, 
a  little  stream  which  had  worn  out  its  channel  to  the  depth  Battle  of 
of  some  forty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  plain,  and  could  ^""^^r- 
only  be  crossed  easily  at  a  point  between  the  hill  and  the  sea  near 
Broxmouth  House,  where  the  Dunbar  and  Berwick  road  crossed  by  a 
^ord.     Fearing  that  the  English  would  escape,  and  probably  urged  on 


592 


The  Commonwealth 


1650 


by  the  committee  of  estates,  Leslie  foolishly  moved  a  large  part  of  his 
army  down  the  hill  in  the  direction  of  the  sea.  This  movement  was 
made  on  the  afternoon  of  September  2,  with  a  view  to  an  attack  on 
the  English  the  next  day.  Cromwell,  however,  saw  his  advantage,  and 
before  daybreak  half  the  English  army,  under  Lambert  and  Monk,  was 
hurrying  across  the  burn  near  Broxburn  House  ;  while  a  picked  force  of 
horse  and  foot  crossed  the  burn  nearer  the  sea,  and,  urged  on  by 
Cromwell  himself,  worked  its  way  to  the  rear  of  the  Scots,  and  cut  olff 


Crojmuell's  Attack  at  6  a.m. 


Battle  of  DUNBAR.  scots.^.. 

September  3rci.  1650.  English.. 


their  retreat  to  Berwick.  After  a  stubborn  fight,  the  right  wing  of 
Leslie's  army  was  routed,  jammed  up  between  the  channel  of  the  burn 
and  the  steep  ascent  of  Doon  Hill,  forced  back  in  confusion  on  the 
main  body,  and  their  disaster  was  completed  by  a  general  attack  on  the 
front.  At  nightfall  on  the  2nd,  Leslie  had  regarded  Cromwell  as  all 
but  a  prisoner ;  by  daybreak  he  himself  was  in  full  flight  for  Edinburgh, 
and  his  troops  were  scattered  in  all  directions.  From  Dunbar,  Cromwell 
returned  to  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  which  opened  its  gates,  though  the 
castle  held  out  till  December,  while   the   Scots   retreated  to  a  strong 


1651  The  Commonwealth  593 

position  near  Stirling.  After  the  rout  of  the  strong  Presbyterians  at 
Dunbar,  Charles  gave  his  confidence  to  the  remnant  of  the  '  Engagers,' 
and  to  the  royalists,  and  recruited  his  army  from  their  ranks.  On 
January  1  he  was  crowned  at  Scone,  and  as  his  position  was  unassail- 
able in  front,  and  as  he  drew  his  supplies  from  the  unplundered  districts 
of  the  north,  he  seemed  to  be  very  strong.  Cromwell,  therefore,  deter- 
mined to  cut  him  ofi"  from  his  base  of  operations  at  Perth,  and  moved 
his  troops  across  the  Forth  for  that  purpose,  though  he  was  well  aware 
that  by  doing  so  he  would  leave  the  road  to  England  undefended. 

Of  this  movement  Charles  took  advantage,  and  in  August  1651  he 
broke  up  his  camp  and  set  off  by  forced  marches  for  England.  His 
movement  in  no  way  disconcerted  Cromwell,  who  at  once 
despatched  Lambert  to  hamper  Charles'  march,  and  himself  march  to 
followed  with  the  main  body,  leaving  Monk  in  command  in  "^  *" 
Scotland.  Lambert  did  his  work  well,  and  by  the  time  Charles  reached 
Cheshire  he  was  well  in  front  of  the  royalist  army.  Finding  his  direct 
road  to  London  barred  by  Lambert,  and  learning  that  so  far  from  there 
being  a  rising  in  his  favour  the  county  militias  were  mustering,  under 
Fleetwood  and  Fairfax,  for  the  defence  of  the  republic,  Charles  turned 
aside  into  the  valley  of  the  Severn,  and  took  up  his  quarters  at 
Worcester,  where  he  was  in  a  favourable  position  for  gathering  recruits, 
had  they  been  forthcoming,  from  the  old  royalist  districts.  Meanwhile, 
under  the  direction  of  Fleetwood,  the  whole  country  was  arming  to 
overwhelm  him.  Fairftix,  relieved  from  all  scruples  by  a  Scottish  in- 
vasion, was  hard  at  work  in  Yorkshire ;  a  rising  of  the  earl  of  Derby 
was  crushed  in  Lancashire,  and  within  a  month  of  his  entering  England, 
Cromwell  was  close  to  Worcester  with  an  army  of  30,000  men,  for  the 
most  part  militia,  while  Charles'  forces  all  told  did  not  number  more 
than  11,000. 

The  royalists,  however,  held  no  despicable  position.  Their  main  force 
was  placed  in  the  angle  between  the  Severn  and  the  Teme,  holding  the 
bridges  over  the  two  rivers,  with  outposts  across  them  at  Battle  of 
Worcester  and  Powick,  and  they  had  destroyed  the  bridge  Worcester, 
at  Upton,  some  miles  below  the  junction.  Cromwell's  operations  had, 
therefore,  to  be  conducted  on  an  elaborate  scale.  Lambert's  men  re- 
paired Upton  bridge,  and  Fleetwood  and  he  crossed  the  Severn  to 
attack  Powick.  Cromwell,  with  the  main  body,  prepared  to  co-operate 
with  them  by  means  of  a  bridge  of  boats  across  the  Severn  and  an  attack 
on  the  fortifications  of  Worcester  itself.  On  September  3,  after  four 
days  of  preparation,  during  which  there  was  incessant  skirmishing  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  Cromwell  was  ready,  and  he  and  Fleetwood  made 

2p 


594 


The  Commonwealth 


1691 


a  simultaneous  attack  on  the  main  body  of  the  Scots.  It  was  com- 
pletely successful ;  but  for  a  moment  a  vigorous  sally  from  Worcester, 
led  by  Charles  in  person,  imperilled  the  safety  of  the  troops  on  the 
eastern  bank.  Cromwell,  however,  galloped  his  men  across  the  Severn 
bridge,  and,  leading  them  to  the  charge,  beat  back  the  royalists  from 


BATTLE  st.John's, 

OF 

WORCESTER. 

Sept.  3rd.  1651. 


Bridge  of  Boat^ 


tijiPowlck 


,1 


Scots _ 

Parlianuntariaiis. 


Fleet-wood  and  Lajnbert  marching  on  Po7vick  Cromiudl 
S!^        moz'ifi^'  to  cross  the  bridge  of  boats  over  the  Severn. 


*  hedge  to  hedge  until  they  beat  them  into  Worcester.'  This  exploit 
decided  the  day.  The  Scots  threw  down  their  arms,  and  the  English 
royalists  fled  for  their  lives.  Hamilton  (brother  of  the  late  duke), 
Lauderdale,  Derby,  and  Leslie  were  captured,  but  Charles  himself  con- 
trived to  escape.     Though  few  royalists  ventured  to  appear  for  him  in 


1652  The  Commonwealth  595 

arms,  they  were  willing  to  run  great  risks  to  save  him  from  the  scaffold  ; 
and,  after  six  weeks  spent  in  hairbreadth  escapes,  he  took  ship  from 
Brighton  and  landed  at  Fecamp  on  October  17.  The  march  on 
Worcester  was  much  more  serious  in  appearance  than  in  reality.  The 
reluctance  of  the  royalist  gentry  to  face  the  soldiers  ruined  his  cause, 
just  as  a  hundred  years  later  the  same  feeling  dashed  the  hopes  of  the 
Young  Pretender  ;  while  the  indignation  of  Independents  of  all  sections, 
approving  or  disapproving  of  the  late  king's  death,  at  the  invasion  of 
the  country  by  the  Scots,  enabled  Cromwell  to  strike  with  full  force. 
Of  the  English  prisoners,  Hamilton  died  of  his  wounds,  and  the  earl  of 
Derby  was  beheaded,  Lauderdale  and  Leslie  were  imprisoned  till  the 
Restoration  ;  but  otherwise  parliament  showed  itself  merciful.  As  soon 
as  the  campaign  was  over  Cromwell  returned  to  London,  and  quietly 
resumed  his  duty  of  attending  the  various  committees  of  state  to  which 
he  belonged,  bent  on  showing  himself  the  efficient  servant  of  the  state 
either  in  war  or  in  peace. 

While  Cromwell  had  been  fighting  the  royalists  on  land,  a  vigorous 
naval  war  had  been  prosecuted  between  the  fleet  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  the  royalist  ships  which  had  been  to  Ireland  under  the 
command  of  Prince   Rujjert.      The  hero  of  this  war  was    ^^^^^  ^^'■• 
Robert  Blake,  a  Bridgewater  man,  born  in  1599.     He  had    Biajjg^ 
spent  ten  years  at  Oxford  University,  and  had  then  pro- 
bably had  some  seafaring  experience  as  a  merchant.     In  the  civil  war  he 
had  fought  as  a  foot-soldier  in  the  sieges  of  Bristol,  Lyme,  and  Taunton  ; 
and  after  the  retirement  of  Batten  had  been  placed  in  virtual  command 
of  the  fleet.     He  was  remarkable  for  devotion  to  duty  and  for  a  steady 
determination  to  defend  his  country,  whatever  he  might  think  of  the 
details  of  state  affairs.     *  The  business  of  a  sailor,'  he  said,  on  one  occa- 
sion, *  is  not  to  meddle  with  matters  of  state,  but  to  hinder  foreigners 
from  fooling  us.'     Blake  pursued  Rupert  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus, 
which  for  a  time  he  blockaded,  and  then  to  the  West  Indies,  and  finally 
reduced  him  to  such  straits  that  Rupert  gave  up  the  game  and  sold  his 
ships  to  the  French  government.    Jersey  and  Guernsey  were  also  reduced, 
and  the  American  colonies,  on  receiving  a  visit  from  Ascue's  men-of-war, 
also  signified  their  acceptance  of  the  new  government ;  so  that  by  the 
close  of  1652  parliament  was  fully  recognised  as  the  supreme  authority 
wherever  the  British  flag  flew. 

Meanwhile,  England  had  drifted  into  a  war  which  taxed  to  the 
uttermost  the  resources  of  the  republic.  In  the  first  burst  of  republican 
enthusiasm  parliament  had  made  an  absurd  proposal  for  a  virtual  amal- 
gamation of  the  English  and  Dutch  republics,but  nothing  had  come  of 


596  The  Commonwealth  1652 

it,  and  gradually  the  two  nations  drifted  into  war.     The  causes  of  their 
quarrel  were  of  old  standing,  and  based  on  commercial  rivalry.     In  the 

War  with    East  Indies  there  was  bitter  hostility  between  the  Dutch 

the  Dutch.  ^^^  ^YiQ  English  factories.  The  Dutch  regarded  the  English 
as  intruders  ;  and  in  1623  a  number  of  English  traders  and  seamen  had 
been  massacred  at  Amboyna.  For  years  there  had  been  a  dispute 
whether  Dutch  vessels,  meeting  English  ships  in  the  Channel,  ought 
to  lower  their  flags  in  salute,  as  acknowledging  the  supremacy  of  Eng- 
land in  the  narrow  seas.  The  Hague  had  been  a  refuge  for  exiled 
royalists,  and  Dr.  Dorislaus,  the  English  envoy,  had  been  murdered 
there  by  some  of  Montrose's  followers.  Above  all,  the  Dutch  were 
bitterly  offended  by  the  passing  of  the  Navigation  Act,  which,  with 
some  exceptions,  forbade  the  importation  of  goods  into  England  except 
in  English  ships,  or  in  the  ships  of  the  country  producing  them.  This  Act 
was  the  work  of  Vane  and  Marten,  and  was  designed  partly  to  strengthen 
the  English  navy,  which  they  wisely  saw  was  of  paramount  importance 
for  an  island  state,  partly  to  take  away  from  the  Dutch  the  valuable 
carrying  trade  on  which  much  of  their  prosperity  depended.  This  law 
was  naturally  resented  by  the  Dutch,  and  the  ill-will  between  the  sailors 
led  to  severe  fighting,  even  before  war  was  formally  declared. 

Accordingly  on  May  19,  1652,  off  Dover,  a  stubborn  fight  was 
fought  between  Blake,  with  twenty  sail,  and  the  Dutch  admiral.  Van 

The  Fight-  Tromp,  with  forty,  in  which  the  Dutch  lost  two  ships.  In 
t  ing  at  Sea.  j^^jy  parliament  declared  war,  and  Blake  soon  filled  the 
harbours  of  the  Channel  with  prizes  taken  from  the  Dutch.  In  Sep- 
tember an  indecisive  battle  was  fought  between  Blake  and  the  Dutch 
admirals,  De  Ruyter  and  De  Witt.  In  November,  Blake,  with  forty- 
two  ships,  again  encountered  Van  Tromp,  with  ninety,  off  Dungeness, 
but,  after  fighting  eight  hours,  was  glad  to  escape  under  cover  of  the 
night  with  the  loss  of  five  ships.  So  serious  was  the  blow,  that  the 
Dutch  talked  of  blockading  the  Thames  ;  and  Tromp  was  reported  to  be 
carrying  a  broom  at  his  masthead — a  sign  of  his  intention  to  sweep  the 
EngHsh  fleet  from  the  sea  ;  but  the  courage  of  the  council  of  state  rose 
superior  to  disaster,  and  a  new  fleet  was  fitted  out  and  sent  to  sea 
under  Blake,  Dean,  and  Monk,  who  had  returned  from  Scotland  on  sick 
leave.  For  three  days — 18th,  19th,  and  20th  of  February — the  English 
men-of-war  battled  with  Tromp  in  a  running  fight  from  Portland  Bill  to 
Calais  sands,  took  eleven  ships  of  war  and  thirty  merchantmen,  and 
completely  restored  to  Britain  the  lordship  of  the  seas.  It  was  now  the 
turn  of  the  Dutch  to  be  discouraged  ;  but  in  May  Tromp  was  again  at 
sea  with  108  sail,  and  on  June  2  Monk  and  Dean  attacked  him.    Dean 


1653  The  Commonwealth  597 

was  slain  by  a  cannon  baU,  but  Monk,  covering  the  body  with  his 
cloak  to  conceal  the  disaster,  continued  the  action,  and  Blake,  coming 
up  next  day,  secured  a  complete  victory,  with  the  capture  of  seventeen 
ships.  On  July  31  a  final  encounter  took  place,  when,  Blake  being 
ill  on  shore,  Monk  engaged  the  Dutch  fleet  off  Lowestoft.  Tromp  was 
killed,  and  the  Hollanders  were  completely  routed,  with  the  loss  of  no 
less  than  thirty  ships.  Thereupon  the  Dutch  gave  up  the  contest  and 
sued  for  peace,  which  was  concluded  in  terms  most  advantageous  to 
England  in  April  1654. 

A  year  before  this,  however,  the  Long  Parliament  had  ceased  to  sit. 
No  sooner  had  the  subjugation  of  the  royalists  been  completed  than 
there  followed  a  recurrence  of  the  disputes  between  the    ,, 

Unpopu- 

parliament  and  the  army  which  had  appeared  at  the  close   larity  of 
of  the  first  civil  war.     The  chief  causes  of  difference  were 
the  slow  progress  made  in  social  and  religious  reforms,  and  the  dilatori- 
ness  of  the  members  in  fixing  a  date  for  their  dissolution.     On  the  one 
hand,  the  existing  parliament  was  not  likely  to  carry  out  either  rapid 
or  far-reaching  reforms  ;  on  the  other,  the  army  had  had  no  experience 
of  the  difficulties  of  civil  government.     Moreover,  it  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  members  would  be  eager  to  resign  their  seats,  and  the 
most  statesmanlike  of  them  doubtless  wished  to  secure  that  they  should 
be  succeeded  by  men  who  would  carry  out  the  general  policy  of  their 
predecessors.     Parliament,  however,  was  by  no  means  oblivious  of  the 
desires  of  the  army.     In  November  1651  it  fixed  November  3,  1654  as 
the  date  of  dissolution,  and  set  apart  one  day  a  week  for  considering  the 
best  method  of  electing  a  new  parliament  ;  and  in  February  1652  both 
the  old  royalists  and  the  soldiers  were  secured  from  prosecutions  by  an 
act  of  oblivion  for  all  offences  committed  before  the  battle  of  Worcester. 
Full  provision  was  also  made  for  the  payment  of  the  army.     At  the 
same  time,  the  soldiers  were  alarmed  by  the  evident  desire  of  the  House 
to  decrease  the   army.      Some  of  them,  such  as  Major-General  Har- 
rison,  were  opposed  to  any  government  which   they   regarded  as   a 
hindrance  to  the  establishment  of  the  rule  of  Christ  and  his  saints, 
which  they  spoke  of  as  the  Fifth  Monarchy.    In  these  circumstances  the 
proceedings  of  parliament  were  jealously  watched  by  the  officers. 

At  length,  in  August  1652,  a  bill  was  brought  into  the  House  for 
making  the  new  House  of  Commons  consist  of  four  hundred  members. 

All  the  existing  members  were  to  keep  their  seats  as  of 

.  The  Per- 

right,  and  were  to  have  a  veto  in  the  election  of  new  mem-   petuation 

bers.    These  provisions  excited  the  greatest  irritation  in  the      *  ' 

army,  and  the  measure  was  denounced  as  a  '  Perpetuation  Bill.'     How- 


598  The  Commonwealth 

ever,  with  a  view  to  a  compromise,  meetings  were  held  at  the  Speaker's 
house  between  the  leading  officers  and  Vane,  Whitelock,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  parliament ;  and  at  one  held  on  April  19,  1653,  a  sort  of  under- 
standing was  arrived  at  that  the  bill  should  not  be  proceeded  with  until 
a  further  conference  had  been  held.  However,  next  morning  the 
House  was  proceeding  to  pass  the  bill.  Word  of  this  was  brought  to 
Cromwell.  Dressed  in  civilian  costume,  he  went  down  to  the  House  and 
took  with  him  a  company  of  soldiers,  whom  he  left  in  the  lobby  while  he 
himself,  as  a  member,  entered  the  House.  For  some  time  he  listened  to 
the  debate  ;  but  then  calling  Harrison,  who  was  also  a  member,  to  him, 
he  told  him  that  'he  must  do  it,'  and  after  a  few  moments  more  he 
stood  up  and  addressed  the  House  on  the  motion  for  the  third  reading  of 
the  biU.  For  a  time  he  spoke  quietly  ;  but  then  launched  out  into 
violent  abuse,  first  of  the  House,  and  then  of  individuals, — especially 
singling  out  Marten,  Whitelock,  and  Vane.  Sir  Peter  Wentworth 
complained  that  his  language  was  unparliamentary,  when  Cromwell 
shouted,  *  Come,  come,  sir  ;  I  will  put  an  end  to  your  prating ' :  stamped 
_,       ,  .        a  signal  to  the  soldiers  to  come  in,  turned  the  members  out. 

Expulsion  ®  '  ' 

of  the  ordered  a  soldier  '  to  remove  that  bauble,'  as  he  styled  the 

mace,  and  when  the  House  was  cleared,  locked  the  door  and 
put  the  key  in  his  pocket.  Next  morning  some  royalist  wag  affixed  a 
notice,  'This  house  is  to  let  now  unfurnished.'  Whether  Cromwell's 
act  was  premeditated,  or  an  impulse  of  the  moment,  it  is  impossible  to 
say ;  but  it  had  hardly  been  done  before  the  difficulties  of  the  new  situation 
became  obvious.  Not  that  the  House  was  in  itself  popular.  It  was 
probably  disliked  by  the  mass  of  the  army :  it  certainly  was  not  loved  by 
the  royalists,  whether  Cavaliers  or  Presbyterians  ;  but  at  any  rate  it  had  a 
legal  origin,  and  was  the  only  bulwark  against  martial  law.  Its  expulsion, 
therefore,  was  regarded  by  most  lawyers  with  great  apprehension.  That 
very  afternoon  Bradshaw  told  Cromwell  that  no  power  but  parliament 
itself  could  vote  its  dissolution.  Statesmen  such  as  Vane,  Hazelrig,  and 
Marten  were  deeply  offended.  Even  the  army  was  by  no  means  united. 
Monk  acquiesced,  but  did  not  approve.  Ludlow,  in  Ireland,  expressed 
strong  disapprobation.  Many  were  of  opinion  that  Cromwell's  action 
was  only  a  step  in  the  direction  of  creating  a  government  '  with  some- 
what monarchical  in  it,'  a  preference  for  which  he  had  already  hinted. 

For  the  moment,  therefore,  Cromwell  had  to  rely  on  his  personal 
friends  in  the  army — such  as  Desborough,  his  brother-in-law,  and  Fleet- 
Barebone's  wood,  his  son-in-law,  who  had  married  Ireton's  widow,  and 
Parliament,  ^p^^^  Harrison  and  other  Fifth  Monarchy  men ;  and  by 
their  advice  letters  were  sent  by  the  council  of  officers  to  the  Independent 


1653  The  Commonwealth  599 

ministers  throughout  the  three  kingdoms,  ordering  them  to  consult  with 
their  congregations,  and  to  send  up  the  names  of  such  persons,  '  faithful, 
fearing  God  and  hating  covetousness,'  whom  they  considered  to  be  fitted 
to  sit  in  parliament,  and  of  these  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  were 
invited  by  Cromwell  to  attend  him  at  Whitehall. 

On  July  4  the  Little  Parliament,  often  known  as  Barebone's  Parlia- 
ment— from  Praise-God  Barbon,  one  of  the  members  for  London — met.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  new  assembly  contained  many  members  of 
great  ability,  and  that  the  mass  of  the  members  were  thoroughly  desirous 
of  doing  their  duty.  Among  others  were  Fleetwood,  Monk,  Edward 
Montague  (afterwards  earl  of  Sandwich),  Blake,  and  Sir  Antony  Ashley 
Cooper  ;  Cromwell,  Lambert,  Harrison,  and  Desborough  were  requested 
by  the  members  to  join  their  deliberations.  Honest,  however,  as  the 
members  were,  they  had  little  idea  of  practical  politics,  its  pro- 
The  reform  of  the  law  had  long  been  an  object  of  interest  posals. 
to  the  soldiers,  and  the  Long  Parliament  had  appointed  a  committee  of 
lawyers  to  consider  the  matter,  but  its  members  had  been  so  wedded  to 
legal  formalities  that  they  had  deliberated  for  three  months  without  being 
able  to  define  the  word  '  incumbrance.'  The  new  parliament  rushed  to 
the  other  extreme.  They  appointed  a  committee  to  reform  the  law  which 
did  not  contain  a  single  lawyer.  In  regard  to  the  refonn  of  judicial 
proceedings,  they  were  equally  precipitate  ;  for,  finding  that  the  Court  of 
Chancery  was  hopelessly  in  arrear,  they  abolished  it  altogether.  The 
incidence  of  tithes  being  often  oppressive,  they  too  were  abolished  ;  and 
some  patrons  of  livings  being  found  to  present  unsuitable  persons,  the 
right  of  private  patronage  was  also  done  away  with.  Such  folly  excited 
the  fear  of  some  and  the  ridicule  of  others  ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  in  many  respects  the  parliament  of  saints  showed  itself  far  more  in 
accord  with  modern  ideas  than  its  successors  for  nearly  two  centuries. 
It  wished  to  establish  county  courts  for  the  recovery  of  small  sums  ;  to 
do  away  with  imprisonment  for  debt ;  decided  to  pay  the  judges  by 
salaries  instead  of  fees ;  to  register  births,  deaths,  and  marriages ;  to 
register  titles  to  landed  property  ;  and  to  carry  out  a  number  of  reforms 
which,  at  the  present  day,  have  either  been  formally  adopted,  or,  at  any 
rate,  recognised  as  desirable. 

These  reforms  were  the  work  of  the  Anabaptist  party  in  the  House, 
who,  led  by  Harrison,  outvoted  the  more  sober  members  of  the  Inde- 
pendent party,  and  had  the  effect  of  alarming  the  lawyers,    Dissolution 
the  clergy,  and  the  country  gentry,  who  clearly  saw  that  no   boife%^' 
species  of  vested  interest  would  be  secure  from  the  attacks    Parliament, 
of  such  ardent  reformers,  and  who,  therefore,  united  to  overwhelm  all 


600  The  Commonwealth  1653 

the  acts  of  the  '  Little  Parliament '  in  a  torrent  of  ridicule  and  abuse. 
The  opposition  members,  therefore,  combined  to  put  a  stop  to  the  pro- 
ceedings, and,  filling  the  House  at  an  unusually  early  hour,  decided  to 
resign  their  powers  into  Cromwell's  hands.  This  was  done  ;  and  the  rest  of 
the  House  having  acquiesced,  the  sitting  came  to  an  end  on  December  13. 
The  event  was  celebrated  by  the  lawyers  of  the  Inns  of  Court  with 
exuberant  rejoicings. 

Three  days  later,  a  new  constitution,  devised  by  Lambert  and  em- 
bodied in  the  Instrument  of  Government,  was  accepted  by  the  council 
of  officers.     In  it  the  executive  and  legislative  powers  were 
ment  of      '    distributed  between  a  Protector,  a  council  of  state,  and  a 
men^*^"  parliament.    Cromwell  was  named  Protector,  and  was  to  be 

general  by  sea  and  land.  He  was,  however,  to  decide 
questions  of  war  and  peace  by  the  advice  of  the  council  of  state,  and  in 
case  of  war,  parliament  was  to  be  immediately  summoned.  The 
members  of  the  council  of  state  were  also  named  in  the  instrument :  and 
the  chief  were  Lambert,  Desborough,  Montague,  Skippon,  Antony 
Ashley  Cooper,  and  six  others.  On  the  death  of  any  of  these,  the 
vacancy  was  to  be  filled  up  by  the  Protector  from  a  list  of  six  names 
chosen  by  parliament.  All  legislative  power  was  reserved  to  parliament, 
but  the  Protector  might  suspend  the  coming  into  operation  of  any  act 
for  twenty  days.  Parliaments  were  to  be  elected  by  the  new  con- 
stituencies proposed  by  the  Long  Parliament,  in  accord  with  the  Agree- 
ment of  the  People.  They  were  to  be  held  every  third  year ;  but  no 
parliament  was  to  be  dissolved  till  it  had  sat  five  months.  By  these 
arrangements  it  was  hoped  to  combine  the  freedom  of  republican  institu- 
tions with  the  practical  efficiency  of  a  single  sovereign  acting  through  a 
cabinet.  In  reality,  except  when  parliament  was  sitting,  it  gave  almost 
unlimited  power  to  the  Protector.  Cromwell  at  once  accepted  the  post 
of  Protector,  and  was  solemnly  inaugurated  in  Westminster  Hall,  Lam- 
bert taking  the  leading  share  in  the  ceremony. 

This  change,  which  obviously  brought  Cromwell  a  step  nearer  to  the 
restoration  of  monarchy,  was  bitterly  resented,  not  only  by  those  states- 
Public  "^^^  ^^^  ^^^  disapproved  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Long 
Opinion.  Parliament,  but  also  by  such  men  as  Harrison,  who  be- 
lieved themselves  to  have  been  gulled  by  Cromwell.  The  statesmen 
Cromwell  treated  as  comparatively  harmless  ;  but  Harrison  and  other 
army  men  were  deprived  of  their  commands  and  placed  in  confinement. 
It  was,  however,  approved  by  lawyers  such  as  Whitelock,  who  had 
trembled  before  the  reformers  of  the  '  Little  Parliament,'  and  by  clergy 
anxious  for  their  tithes  ;  while  the  mass  of  the  country,  if  they  could 


1653  The  Protectorate  601 

not  restore  the  Stuarts,  were  thankful  for  any  government  which  held 
out  hopes  of  peace  and  security.  From  this  date,  however,  Cromwell 
was  never  free  from  plots  against  his  life.  The  first  was  organised  by 
Vowell  and  Gerard  in  1654  ;  and  from  that  nothing  but  the  vigilance  of 
his  spies,  and  his  own  precautions  against  attack,  secured  him  from  assas- 
sination. It  had  been  arranged  that  the  first  Protectorate  parliament 
should  meet  on  September  3,  1654,  and,  during  the  eight  months  which 
had  still  to  pass,  Cromwell  and  his  council  of  state  ruled  supreme. 

The  interval  was  employed  to  recommend  the  new  government  to  the 
country  by  a  series  of  measures,  which  were  designed  to   cromwell 
contrast  with  those  of  the  Long  Parliament  by  their  rapidity   *"  power, 
and  efficiency,  and  with  those  of  the  Little  Parliament  by  their  moderation. 

Foremost  among  the  questions  which  called  for  the  attention  of  Crom- 
well was  the  state  of  the  church.  There  anarchy  reigned  supreme.  In 
1645  the  Presbyterian  majority  in  parliament,  acting  under  „  ,.  . 
pressure  from  the  Scots,  had  accepted  Presbyterianism  as 
the  national  form  of  church  government,  and  had  replaced  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  by  the  Directory,  an  authoritative  book  of  directions 
for  the  conduct  of  public  worship  and  preaching,  but  containing  no  set 
form  of  prayers.  The  new  rules,  however,  met  with  slight  acceptance. 
Only  in  London,  Hull,  Coventry,  and  some  of  the  larger  towns,  and 
in  Lancashire  and  the  eastern  counties,  were  the  parishes  organised 
on  the  Presbyterian  model;  and  the  compulsory  subscription  of  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  by  the  clergy  was  used  in  practice  merely  as 
a  convenient  way  of  getting  rid  of  the  king's  supporter.  After  the  fall  of 
the  Presbyterians  in  1648,  no  attempt  was  made  to  enforce  their  system, 
to  which  the  Independents  were  bitterly  opposed ;  and  under  their  rule 
each  congregation  did,  in  practice,  what  it  liked,  and  numbers  of  the 
Church  of  England  clergy  retained  their  livings  and  used  part,  at  any 
rate,  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Other  livings  were  held  by  Pres- 
byterians, others  by  Independents  proper,  and  some  by  ministers  of  other 
varieties  of  Protestant  views.  Parliament  had  abolished  the  obligation 
of  subscribing  the  Covenant,  and  replaced  it  by  The  En-  ♦TheEn- 
gagement,  which  merely  bound  men  to  '  be  true  and  faithful  gagement.' 
to  the  government  established  without  king  and  house  of  lords.' 
Many  clergymen  were  willing  to  take  this,  and  others  who  were  not 
willing  were  left  undisturbed  by  the  goodwill  of  their  parishioners.  By 
one  clause  in  the  Instrument  of  Government  it  was  provided  'that  such  as 
profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ  (though  differing  in  judgment  from  the 
doctrine,  worship,  or  discipline  publicly  held  forth)  shall  not  be  restrained 
from,  but  shall  be  protected  in,  the  profession  of  the  faith  and  exercise  of 


602  The  Protectorate  1653 

their  religion,  so  as  they  abuse  not  this  liberty  to  the  civil  injury  of  others, 
and  to  the  actual  disturbance  of  the  public  peace  on  their  parts ;  pro- 
vided this  liberty  be  not  extended  to  popery  or  prelacy,  nor  to  such  as, 
under  the  profession  of  Christ,  hold  forth  and  practise  licentiousness.' 
By  another,  the  revenues  of  the  clergy  were  secured  to  them  until  other 
arrangements  were  made.  Liberty  of  thought,  and,  to  some  extent, 
freedom  of  action,  were  thus  secured  ;  but  it  was  no  part  of  Cromwell's 
policy  to  permit  unworthy  men  to  occupy  the  parish  pulpits,  and  to 
guard  against  this  evil  he  adopted  a  twofold  machinery.  By  an 
ordinance,  issued  on  March  20,  1654,  he  created  a  body  of 

The  Triers. 

thirty-five  Triers,  whose  business  was  to  inquire  into  the 
personal  character  and  sufficiency  of  all  such  persons  as  were  named  by 
patrons  to  hold  vacant  livings.  The  Triers  included  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  and  Anabaptists,  and,  as  was  natural  enough.  Episco- 
palians who  were  nominated  met  with  harsh  treatment  at  their  hands. 
Still,  in  the  main,  they  seem  to  have  performed  their  difficult  and 
delicate  duties  with  success  ;  and  Baxter,  who  was  no  flatterer,  records, 
'  that  many  thousands  of  souls  blessed  God  for  the  faithful  ministers 
they  let  in.'  By  a  second  ordinance,  issued  on  August  30,  1654,  commis- 
sioners were  appointed  in  each  county  for  ejecting  scandalous  ministers. 
These  commissioners  were  chosen  from  those  of  the  local  gentry  who 
supported  the  parliament,  and,  though  no  sufficiently  clear  distinction 
was  drawn  between  addiction  to  frivolous  amusements  and  immoral- 
ity, devotion  to  the  Prayer-book  and  to  the  cause  of  the  Stuarts,  they 
seem  to  have  performed  their  delicate  and  difficult  duties  with  fair  success. 
The  state  of  the  law-courts  next  engaged  Cromwell's  atten- 
tion. Colonel  Pride  had  '  wished  to  see  the  lawyers'  gowns 
hanging  up  in  Westminster  Hall  by  the  side  of  the  trophies  and  colours 
taken  at  Dunbar,'  and  others  had  talked  of  the  volume  of  the  law  being 
reduced  to  such  a  bulk  that  it  might  be  contained  in  a  pocket-book ; 
while  the  disgraceful  state  of  chancery  business  was  a  matter  of  general 
complaint.  Cromwell,  therefore,  appointed  a  mixed  committee  to  take 
the  matter  in  hand  ;  and,  to  relieve  the  Court  of  Chancery,  ordered  that 
equity  suits  should  be  tried  in  other  law-courts  until  the  whole  of 
the  arrears  had  been  wiped  off. 

In  Ireland  Cromwell's  general  policy  was  to  uphold  the  English  con- 
nection at  aU  hazards,  and  to  compel  the  native  Irish  to  conform  to 

English  ideas.     He  appointed  first  his  son-in-law,   Fleet- 
Ireland.  ®,  n      ,  ,.  XX  ^  n     X  X 

wood,  and  then  his  own  son,  Henry  Cromwell,  to  act  as 
deputy.  They  ruled  with  a  stern  hand.  In  accordance  with  the 
scheme  of  the  Long   Parliament  all   who   had   been   engaged  in   the 


1654  The  Protedm-ate  603 

massacres  of  1641  were  hanged  or  banished,  and  their  property  confis- 
cated ;  unfriendly  Catholics  lost  two-thirds  of  their  estates  ;  open 
fighters  against  the  parliament  were  to  lose  the  whole,  but  to  receive 
compensation  in  Connaught  to  one-third  of  their  value.  These  measures 
afiected  only  the  landowning  gentry,  for  *  all  husbandmen,  ploughmen, 
labourers,  artificers,  and  others  of  the  meaner  sort  were  left  undisturbed 
and  exempted  from  either  question  or  punishment.'  The  forfeited  lands 
were  divided  among  the  Advenhirers  who  had  lent  money  j^e  Adven- 
for  the  war  and  the  Cromwellian  soldiery.  The  new  turers. 
settlers,  like  the  Ulstermen,  were,  for  the  most  part,  vigorous  improvers 
of  the  country,  but  the  confiscation  of  nmch  of  the  land  was  as  unjust 
as  it  had  been  in  1608.  Cromwell  was  as  determined  as  Chichester  or 
Straff'ord  to  enforce  the  impartial  administration  of  the  law,  and  to  main- 
tain security  for  life  and  property.  In  this  he  succeeded,  but  the 
animosity  of  all  English  parties  to  the  Koman  Catholics  resulted  in  the 
proscription  of  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  persecution  of  the  priests. 
As  he  wrote  to  the  governor  of  New  Ross  in  1649  :  '  I  meddle  not  with 
any  man's  conscience,  but  if  by  liberty  of  conscience  you  mean  liberty 
to  exercise  the  mass,  I  judge  it  best  to  use  plain  dealing  and  to  let  you 
know  where  the  parliament  of  England  have  power  that  will  not  be 
allowed.'  In  the  existence  of  a  separate  Irish  parliament  Cromwell 
recognised  a  constant  danger  to  unity.  The  separate  Irish  parliament 
was  abolished,  and  it  was  arranged  that  Ireland  should  send  thirty 
members  to  the  united  parliament  of  the  three  kingdoms. 

After  the  Dutch  war  was  over,  George  Monk  returned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  of  Scotland,  and  carried  out  the  union  of  England  and 
Scotland  which  had  been  designed  by  the  Long  Parliament. 
His  chief  military  difficulty  lay  in  subduing  the  Highlands, 
where  General  Middleton  was  still  fighting  for  the  king.  However,  with 
the  aid  of  Colonel  Morgan,  he  carried  out  a  brilliant  piece  of  mountain 
warfare  and  completely  reduced  the  clansmen  to  subjection.  Presby- 
terianism  ceased  to  be  the  established  religion,  and  there  was  complete 
freedom  of  toleration  for  all  Protestant  faiths.  The  union  with  England 
was  most  advantageous  to  Scottish  trade,  which  shared  thereby  the 
benefit  of  the  Navigation  Acts,  and  especially  of  free  trade  with  the 
English  colonies  ;  and  Cromwell's  rule  was  long  looked  back  on  as  a 
period  of  great  peace  and  prosperity  for  that  country.  Nevertheless  the 
union  was  bitterly  hated  in  Scotland,  and  toleration  was  regarded  as  a 
wicked  paltering  with  error  and  sin. 

In  foreign  affairs  Cromwell  showed  his  moderation  by  making  peace 
with   the   Dutch,   in  spite   of  those  who  wished  to  make  a  complete 


604  The  Protedwate  165« 

conquest  of  that  country,  and  his  firmness  by  insisting  on  the  terms 
offered  to  the  Portuguese,  who  had  incurred  his  displeasure  by  aiding 
Foreign  Prince  Rupert.  These  were  finally  signed  on  the  very  day 
Affairs.  when  Dom  Pantaleone  Sa,  the  ambassador's  brother,  was 
beheaded  in  London  for  the  murder  of  an  Englishman.  Thus,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  Cromwell  proved  himself  to  be  a  vigorous  and 
successful  administrator. 

On  September  3,  1654,  the  first  Protectorate  parliament  met.      Ac- 
cording to  the  plan  devised  by  the  Long  Parliament,  and  embodied  in 
the  Instrument  of  Government  a  complete  redistribution  of 
Protectorate    seats  had  been  carried  out ;  and  the  four  hundred  members 
for  England  had  been  allotted  according  to  population : 
Yorkshire   and   Essex  returning    respectively    fourteen    and    thirteen 
members,  as  against  their  former  two,  and  other  counties  and  boroughs 
in  proportion ;   while  the  thirty  members  for  Scotland  and  thirty  for 
Ireland  represented  the   unity   of  the  three    kingdoms.      The    elder 
republicans,   however,   such   as   Sir  Harry  Vane  and  Henry  Marten, 
refused  to  take  part  in  it ;  Lord  Grey  of  Groby,  Ludlow,  and  Wildman 
the  Leveller,  were  debarred  from  election  ;    but  Sir  Arthur  Hazelrig, 
Bradshaw,   and    Scot  were  members,   and   insisted   on   debating  the 
advisability  of '  government  by  a  single  person,'  taking  as  their  principle 
that  the  powers  of  the  Protector  ought  to  emanate  from  parliament. 
This  was  to  strike  at  the  very  root  of  the  settlement  embodied  in  the 
Instrument  of  Govermnent,  which  made  the  powers  of  the  parliament 
and  the  Protector  co-ordinate  ;  and  Cromwell  found  it  necessary,  after 
addressing  the  members  in  the  Painted  Chamber,  to  exact  a  pledge  from 
each  of  them  that  he  would  not  attempt  to  alter  the  existing  form  of 
government.      About  two  hundred  and  thirty  members  accepted  the 
pledge,  but  even  they  continued  to  debate  the  Instrument  clause  by 
clause,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  business,  even  that  of  voting  supplies 
for  the  army  and  navy.     Indeed,  the  only  other  business  for  which  they 
found  leisure  was  that  of  persecuting  two  unfortunate  men — Biddle,  a 
Unitarian,  and  Naylor  a  Quaker,  whose  views  gave  umbrage  to  the  mem- 
bers.   So  unsatisfactory  was  their  attitude  that,  on  the  very  day  they  had 
sat  five  lunar  months,  Cromwell  dismissed  them — on  January  22,  1655. 

The  evidence  which  the  sittings  of  the  first  Protectorate  parliament 

had  given  of  the  want  of  agreement  between  the  republicans  and  the 

Royalist     Cromwellians  encouraged  the  royalists  and  the  levellers, 

^^°*^*         and  a  series  of  plots  followed.      In  March,  at  Salisbury, 

Penruddock  and  WagstafFe  attempted  to  seize  the  judges  on  circuit ; 

Sir  Henry  Slingsby,  a  Yorkshire  knight,  was  involved  in  another  plot ; 


1655  The  Protectorate  605 

and  Wildman  was  arrested  in  the  act  of  dictating  an  address  designed 
for  an  army  of  insurgent  levellers.  Difficulties  also  were  raised  by 
lawyers,  such  as  Whitelock,  nervously  apprehensive  of  an  unconstitu- 
tional position  ;  while  practical  men,  like  Cony  and  Sir  Peter  Went- 
worth,  refused  to  pay  taxes  which  had  not  received  parliamentary 
sanction.  In  these  circumstances,  Cromwell  practically  assumed  the 
powers  of  a  dictator.  He  crushed  the  rising  by  force  ;  Penruddock, 
Wagstaffe,  and  Slingsby  were  executed  for  treason  ;  the  objections  of 
Cony  and  Wentworth  were  overridden  by  courts  of  law  selected  by  the 
Protector.  To  provide  against  future  disorder,  England  was  divided  into 
eleven  military  districts,  over  each  of  which  a  friend  of  his  own  was 
placed  with  the  title  of  major-general ;  and,  in  defiance  of  the  Act  of 
Indemnity,  a  ten  per  cent,  tax  for  the  maintenance  of  them  and  their 
soldiers  was  exacted  from  the  royalist  gentry.  By  these  measures  peace 
at  home  was  again  secured.  But  Cromwell's  arbitrary  acts  were  con- 
demned as  well  by  the  royalists  as  by  the  parliamentiiry  republicans ; 
and  it  was  made  clearer  than  ever  that  the  real  basis  of  his  power  was 
the  devotion  and  efficiency  of  the  army,  and  that  his  rule  was  nothing 
more  or  less  than  milittiry  despotism.  Besides  these  severe  measures 
against  the  royalists,  Cromwell  also  increased  the  stringency  of  the 
regulations  affecting  the  dispossessed  Episcopalian  clergy,  whom  he 
naturally  suspected  of  organising  opposition  to  his  rule.  It  was  now 
made  penal  for  any  dispossessed  minister  to  hold  the  office  of  private 
chaplain,  to  preach,  to  administer  the  sacraments,  to  use  the  Prayer- 
book,  or  to  teach  in  a  public  or  private  school. 

Meanwhile,  war  had  begun  with  Spain.     Actuated  partly  by  religious 
bigotry,  partly  by  the  desire  of  expanding  English  trade,  Cromwell  had 
demanded  of  the  king  of  Spain  the  right  of  free  trade  with   war  with 
the  West  Indies,  and  exemption  of  Englishmen  from  the    Spain, 
laws  of  the  Inquisition — a  demand  which  elicited  from  the  Spanish 
ambassador  the  reply  :  '  That  his  master  had  but  two  eyes,  and  that 
Cromwell  had  asked  him   to  put   out  both   at  once.'      Though  war 
was  not  formally  declared  against  England  by  Spain  till  February  1656, 
hostilities  began  at  once  ;    and  in  the  autumn  of  1654  two  expeditions 
were  sent  out — one,  under  Penn  and  Venables,  for  the  West  Indies,  and  a 
second,  under  Blake,  for  the  Mediterranean  Sea.     San  Domingo,  against 
which  Penn  and  Venables  sailed,  beat  off  the  English ;   but  the  rich 
sugar  island  of  Jamaica  was  captured,  and  has  remained  in  our  hands 
ever  since.     Blake  first  gave  his  attention  to  the  Barbary     Blake  at 
pirates  of  Algiers  and  Tunis.     After  bringing  the  Dey  of    Tunis. 
Algiers  to  terms,  he  sailed  into  Tunis  harbour,  dismantled  the  forts,  and 


606  The  Protectorate  1655 

burnt  every  one  of  the  Dey's  nine  cruisers,  thus  showing  the  whole 
world  what  an  efficient  thing  naval  artillery  was  in  enforcing  attention 
to  the  commands  of  a  maritime  power. 

No  sooner  was  war  formally  declared,  than  Blake  made  it  his  business 
to  intercept  the  Plate  fleet,  which  annually  sailed  across  the  Atlantic 
The  Plate  with  the  spoils  of  the  Spanish  mines,  and  formed  as 
Fleet.  important  an  event  in  Spanish  commerce  as  the  safe  arrival 

of  the  spice  fleet  was  for  that  of  the  Dutch.  The  fleet  sailed  from 
Panama  to  Teneriff'e,  and  there  waited  in  the  harbour  of  Santa  Cruz  till 
word  was  brought  that  the  road  was  clear  to  Cadiz.  In  1628  Peter 
Hein,  the  Dutchman,  had  been  lucky  enough  to  capture  this  treasure 
fleet,  and  to  repeat  his  exploit  was  the  dream  of  successive  generations 
of  Dutch  and  English  sailors.  After  a  long  and  fruitless  wait,  how- 
ever, Blake  returned  to  England ;  but  in  March  1656  he  was  again 
at  sea,  having  as  his  colleague  Edward  Montague,  afterwards  earl  of 
Sandwich.  After  insisting  on  the  king  of  Portugal's  paying  the 
indemnity  due  for  his  aid  to  Rupert,  they  took  up  their  station  off 
Cadiz,  and  waited  events.  At  last,  in  September,  nine  galleons 
appeared,  and  were  furiously  attacked  by  Captain  Stayner's  ship  and 
two  frigates,  who  sunk  or  burnt  or  took  at  least  six  of  them,  with  no 
less  than  £600,000  worth  of  gold  and  silver.  After  this  Montague 
returned  home  ;  but  Blake  remained,  and,  in  April  1657,  he  heard  that 
sixteen  Spanish  galleons  were  anchored  in  the  harbour  of  Santa  Cruz, 
Blake  at  under  the  Peak  of  Tenerifi"e.     Thither  he  sailed,  and  on 

Santa  Cruz,  ^ppii  £0,  in  defiance  of  the  forts  which  commanded  its 
entrance,  he  took  his  ships  into  the  harbour,  and  in  a  few  hours  captured 
the  galleons.  As  it  was  impossible  to  take  them  out  for  want  of  men,  he 
burnt  the  whole  of  them,  and  sailed  out  of  the  harbour  without  the  loss 
of  a  single  ship.  Such  a  splendid  exploit  roused  the  enthusiasm  of 
Englishmen  of  all  parties.  Clarendon,  the  royalist  historian,  described 
it  as  miraculous,  and  quoted  it  as  an  example  of  what  could  be  done  by 
the  'strong  resolution  of  bold  and  courageous  men.'  It  was  Blake's 
crowning  victory,  and  on  his  way  home  he  died,  leaving  behind  him 
a  noble  reputation  for  bravery,  ability,  and  devotion  to  his  country, 
unsullied  by  any  taint. 

In  1656  Cromwell  again  called  a  parliament,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  be 
thought  an  arbitrary  ruler,  and  was  desirous  of  securing  for  the  Protectorate 

something  of  a  parliamentary  sanction.     He  also  required 
Protectorate   money  for  the   Spanish   war.      To    avoid    the  difficulties 

of   the   last   parliament.    Vane,   Bradshaw,    and    Ludlow 
were   cautioned   not  to  interfere,   and  after  the  elections    Sir  Arthur 


1658  The  Protectorate  607 

Hazelrig  and  Scot,  with  about  ninety  other  elected  members,  were 
debarred  from  taking  their  seats.  On  the  other  hand,  to  conciliate 
public  opinion,  the  military  districts  were  abolished.  Parliament  met 
in  September  1656.  For  some  months  business  proceeded  quietly, 
and  in  January  Cromwell's  supporters  brought  forward  the  idea  of 
making  him  king.  The  suggestion  was  adopted  by  the  House,  as  it 
would  have  the  advantage  of  restoring  the  old  framework  of  govern- 
ment and  law,  of  which  a  king  was  assumed  to  be  the  head,  and  also 
because  it  would  have  secured  Cromwell's  officials  from  prosecution  for 
high  treason  in  event  of  a  restoration,  since  they  would  have  been  pro- 
tected by  the  de  facto  statute  of  Henry  vii.  (see  page  384),  according  to 
which  no  one  could  be  prosecuted  for  treason  for  holding  office  under  a 
king  who  was  actually  reigning.     The  resolution  for  kingskij)  was  caiTied 

by  123  to  62,  and  the  new  constitution  was  embodied  in  a   ^^ 

.  .  .  .      The 

document  called  the  Humble  Petition  and  Advice.     By  it    Petition  and 

ii  fjvicc 

the  old  political  constitution  of  England,  with  the  changes 
introduced  by  the  Long  Parliament  before  the  war,   was   practically 
restored.      In  addition  to  the  House  of  Commons,  Cromwell  was  also 
authorised  to  create  a  second  chamber. 

From  the  first,  however,  it  is  probable  that  Cromwell  was  aware  that  it 
would  never  do  for  him  to  accept  the  petition  as  it  stood.  The  idea  of 
reviving  monarchy  pleased  the  lawyers  and  the  civilians,  but  it  was  most 
oft'ensive  to  the  soldiers,  who  felt  that  they  would  indeed  have  shed  their 
blood  in  vain  to  pull  down  King  Charles  to  set  up  *King  Noll';  and 
without  the  support  of  the  army,  he  well  knew  that  he  could  not  reign  a 
day.  Accordingly,  while  he  accepted  the  proposed  constitution,  he 
declined  the  title  of  king  ;  and  the  new  fonn  of  government  was 
solemnly  inaugurated  on  June  26.  According  to  the  Petition  Jind 
Advice,  Cromwell  was  allowed  to  name  his  successor.  This  annoyed 
Lambert,  the  chief  author  of  the  Instrument  of  Government,  and  as 
he  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Cromwell,  he  was  de- 
prived of  his  command.  Vane,  on  the  other  hand,  was  released  from 
custody. 

In  January  1658  parliament,  which  had  been  adjourned,  reassembled 
in  a  reorganised  form,  including  not  only  those  members  who  had  been  pre- 
vented from  taking  their  seats  in  1656,  but  also  a  new  House 
of  Lords,  nominated  by  the  protector.  The  new  Lords  had 
among  them  the  earl  of  Manchester,  Viscount  Lisle,  Whitelock,  Nathaniel 
Fiennes,  Fleetwood,  Desborough,  Pride,  Skippon,  Monk,  and  Oliver  St. 
John  ;  but  it  never  secured  recognition  from  the  other  House  ;  and 
Hazelrig,  who  had  himself  declined  to  sit  in  it,  led  an  attack  on  its  position. 


608  The  Protectorate  1658 

Finding,  therefore,  that  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  peaceful  session, 
Cromwell  dissolved  the  house  on  February  4. 

He  was  now  at  liberty  to  return  to  foreign  affairs.    Under  the  mistaken 

idea  that  Spain  was  the  power  whose  predominance  was  to  be  feared, 

Cromwell  joined  France  in  its  struggle  against  Spain.     So 

with  desirous  however  were  Louis  xiv.  and  Mazarin  to  secure 

his  aid,  that  every  honour  was  shown  to  Lockhart,  the 
English  ambassador ;  and  when  Cromwell  declared  that  he  would  have 
no  dealings  with  the  duke  of  Savoy  until  he  desisted  from  the  persecution 
of  his  Protestant  subjects,  whose  cause  had  been  pleaded  by  Milton  in  a 
stirring  sonnet,  Mazarin  took  care  that  Cromwell's  demands  received  com- 
plete satisfaction.  Accordingly  in  March  1657  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance  was  made  with  France.  The  object  of  the  alliance  was  to  capture 
from  the  Spaniards  the  frontier  towns  of  Mardyke  and  Dunkirk  ;  and  to 
aid  in  the  attack,  6000  English  soldiers,  '  in  new  red  coats,'  commanded  by 
Morgan,  Monk's  right-hand  man  in  the  Highland  wars,  and  directed  by 
Lockhart,  were  sent  over  to  join  the  French.     The  New  Model  soldiers 

Battle  of      g^"^^  ^  proof  of  their  capacity  at  the  storming  of  Mardyke  ; 

the  Dunes,  ^nd  in  the  battle  of  the  Dunes,  fought  near  Dunkirk  in 
June  1658,  the  chief  share  both  of  fighting  and  glory  fell  to  their  share. 
As  a  fruit  of  this  victory,  Dunkirk  was  taken  and  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  English,  giving  England  thereby  not  only  a  foothold  on  the  con- 
tinent, but  an  excellent  place  from  which  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  flank 
of  any  French  force  which  designed  to  march  through  the  Netherlands 
against  Holland. 

This  achievement  was  the  last  in  Cromwell's  career.  Ever  since  he 
had  suffered  from  ague,  in  the  Scottish  campaign,  his  health  had  been 

Cromwell's  OH  the  decline  ;  and,  though  only  between  fifty  and  sixty, 

Death.  j^^  j^^^j  £qj.  gQj^e  years  looked  an  old  man.  In  the  summer 
of  1658  his  favourite  daughter,  Elizabeth  Claypole,  died.  His  unre- 
mitting attention  to  her  during  her  illness  still  further  undermined 
his  strength,  so  that  when  his  ague  returned  in  September  he  was 
unable  to  rally,  and,  on  September  3,  the  anniversary  of  his  victories  of 
Dunbar  and  Worcester,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  fearful  tempest  of  rain  and 
wind,  the  great  Protector  passed  away.  Oliver  Cromwell,  though  not 
gifted  with  one  of  those  rare  intellects  which  grasp  the  whole  signifi- 
cance of  political  events,  showed  himself  pre-eminently  capable  of 
grasping  the  situation  at  any  given  moment,  and  seeing  what,  under  the 
circumstances,  ought  to  and  could  be  done.  His  military  genius  was 
shown  rather  in  his  organisation  of  a  fighting  force,  and  in  a  pre-eminent 
ability  for  tactics,  than  in  far-sighted  strategy.     He  never  saw  far  ahead 


1659  The  Protectorate  609 

either  in  politics  or  war,  but  belonged  to  the  class  of  statesmen  to  whom 
the  word  '  opportunist '  is  most  properly  applied.  When  he  had  become 
the  leader  of  the  country  he  showed  his  sagacity  and  practical 
wisdom  by  the  moderation  of  his  acts ;  but  he  failed  to  make  his  rule 
permanent,  because  an  attempt  to  govern  the  majority  of  a  nation  by 
a  minority,  supported  by  an  armed  force,  can,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
only  be  transitory ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  freely  elected 
parliament,  any  time  after  the  beginning  of  the  war,  would  have  given 
a  majority — possibly  to  the  royalists — certainly  to  the  royalists  and 
Presbyterians  combined. 

It  is  not  certain  whether  Cromwell  omitted  to  nominate  a  successor, 
or  whether  during  a  '  drowsy  fit '  he  named  his  eldest  son  Richard  ;  but 
the  council  acted  on  the  supposition  that  Richard  had  Richard 
been  legally  nominated,  and,  accordingly,  he  was  in-  Cromwell, 
augurated  Protector.  It  was  unfortunate  for  the  Cromwell  family  that 
the  second  son  Henry,  who  was  a  capable  soldier  and  an  experienced 
statesman,  could  not  have  succeeded ;  for  Richard,  though  he  was  a 
kindly  and  agreeable  man,  was  neither  a  soldier,  a  statesman,  nor 
a  zealot,  and  so  failed  to  win  the  support  of  any  of  the  classes  to  whom 
his  father's  character  had  appealed.  He  was  not,  however,  without 
friends.  Whitelock  thought  his  accession  favourable  to  constitutional 
government ;  the  Presbyterian  Baxter  considered  it  a  point  in  his  favour 
that  he  had  no  share  in  the  civil  war  ;  and  had  he  been  a  stronger  man  the 
chances  were  not  altogether  unfavourable  to  his  success. 

His  accession,  therefore,  passed  otf  without  disturbance  ;  but  when  his 
first  parliament  met,  in  January  1659,  his  difficulties  began.  With  a 
view  to  securing  the  utmost  show  of  legality,  the  English  »». .  .  p 
members  were  elected,  not  by  the  newly  organised  con-  tectorate 
stituencies,  but  by  the  old  ones  ;  the  Irish  and  Scottish  ^^  »amen  . 
members,  however,  were  chosen  by  the  new.  No  one  was  excluded,  so 
Vane,  Hazelrig,  Bradshaw,  Scot,  and  Ludlow  were  all  in  it,  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  attack  the  new  House  of  Lords,  and  to  criticise  the 
prerogatives  of  the  Protector.  The  anny  itself  was  divided  ;  Fleetwood 
and  Desborough,  often  spoken  of,  from  Fleetwood's  house,  as  the  Walling- 
ford  House  party,  wished  to  divide  the  civil  and  military  powers  of  the 
Protector,  and  to  make  Fleetwood  commander-in-chief.  Lambert,  who, 
to  please  the  army,  had  been  restored  to  his  post,  would  have  liked  to 
be  Protector  himself.  Vane  acted  with  the  Wallingford  House  j)arty. 
Between  these  contending  parties  Richard's  position  was  no  sinecure, 
and  when  Fleetwood  and  Desborough  came  to  him  and  gave  him  his 
choice  whether  he  would  trust  the  army  or  the  parliament,  and  said  that 

2q 


610  The  Protectorate  1659 

if  he  did  the  former  they  would  take  care  that  he  was  provided  for, 
he  decided  to  trust  to  them,  and  dissolved  parliament  on  April  22  before 
it  had  even  voted  supplies. 

The  dissolution  of  parliament  resulted  in  want  of  money  to  pay  the 
soldiers  ;  and  as  Richard  was  not  strong  enough  to  levy  taxes  as  Oliver 
had  done,  a  parliament  of  some  kind  was  necessary.    Accord- 
restores  the  ingly   in    May,   the    army,   acting    on  Lambert's   advice, 
""^^"         restored  the  members  of  the  Long  Parliament  who  had  been 
dismissed  by  Cromwell  in   1653,  an   arrangement  in   which   Richard 
Cromwell   acquisced.     In  the   restored   Rump  the  old   Commonwealth 
men — Vane,  Bradshaw,  Scot,  and  Hazelrig — were  supreme.     They  were 
bent  on  restoring  a  republic,  and,  after  making  provision  for  the  pay- 
ment of  Richard  Cromwell's  debts,  they  insisted  on  his  leaving  Whitehall. 
He  retired  into  private  life  '  not  a  sixpence  the  better  or  richer  for  being 
the  son  of  his  father.' 

These  dissensions  encouraged  the  royalists  and  Presbyterians,  and  a 
general  rising  was  planned  for  August,  in  which  it  was  hoped  that 

Booth's       a  rising  in  England  would  be  supported  by  Montague  with 

Rising.  ^jjg  ^gg^^  ^^^  Monk  with  the  army  of  Scotland.  How- 
ever, it  was  only  serious  in  Cheshire,  where  Sir  George  Booth,  a  great 
Cheshire  squire  and  a  Presbyterian,  took  the  field  with  a  considerable 
force  ;  but  at  Winnington  Bridge  he  was  utterly  routed  by  Lambert, 
and  neither  Montague  nor  Monk  declared  for  the  cause.  On  his 
return  to  London,  Fleetwood  moved  in  the  House  to  make  Lambert 
major-general.  The  House  refused,  and  when  the  army  demanded  that 
Fleetwood  should  be  general,  Desborough  lieutenant-general,  and  Monk 
and  Lambert  major-generals,  parliament  dismissed  Lambert  and  Des- 
borough from  their  posts,  and  made  Fleetwood  a  merely  nominal  chief 
associated  with  a  committee  of  six  members  of  parliament.  Next  day 
Lambert  marched  down  to  Westminster,  expelled  the  Rump,  and  created 
a  committee  of  safety  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  till  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Vane  was  the  chief,  should  have  devised  a  new 
constitution. 

All  this  time  the  proceedings  of  the  army  had  been  disapproved,  both 
by  Ludlow,  whom  the  Rump  had  made  commander  in  Ireland  in  place 

j^^^j^  of  Henry  Cromwell,  and  by  Monk,  whom  it  had  continued 

enters  in  command  in  Scotland.    Ludlow  came  over  to  remonstrate, 

but  without  his  troops.     Monk,  on  the  other  hand,  after 

declaring  for  the  parliament,  organised   his   army  for  an  invasion  of 

England   and  marched   to   the   border.      To   meet  him   Lambert  was 

despatched  to  Newcastle,  but  he  weakly  allowed  Monk  to  gain  time 


1660  The  Commomvealth  611 

by  negotiation  ;  while  Fairfax,  who  detested  the  rule  of  the  army, 
raised  the  Yorkshire  militia  in  his  rear,  and  persuaded  his  soldiers  to 
desert.  Accordingly  Lambert,  finding  his  position  hopeless,  fell  back, 
and  Monk  marched  on  towards  London.  On  his  way  he  saw  plenty  of 
evidence  that  the  country  was  tired  of  the  dissentions  of  the  Rump  and 
the  army,  and  wished  for  a  free  parliament.  However,  he  kept  his  own 
counsel,  declaring  that '  if  his  shirt  knew  what  was  in  his  head,  he  would 
burn  his  shirt ' ;  and  quietly  took  up  his  quarters  in  London,  whence  the 
old  regiments  had  been  removed  by  order  of  the  parliament. 

Meanwhile,  by  request  of  Fleetwood,  the  Rump  had  resumed  its 
sittings,  and  Monk,  declaring  himself  the  humble  servant  of  the  members, 
announced  his  readiness  to  do  their  bidding.  Encouraged  by  his  attitude, 
Hazelrig  and  the  other  Commonwealth  men  endeavoured  to  embroil  him 
with  the  city,  where  the  chief  strength  of  the  Presbyterians  lay,  by 
ordering  him  to  pull  down  the  gates  of  London  in  punishment  for  a 
declaration  of  the  common  council  that  as  London  had  no  representatives  in 
the  Rump,  no  more  taxes  should  be  paid  till  the  vacancies  had  been  filled 
up.  Monk  obeyed  ;  but  the  folly  of  the  action  convinced  him  that  the 
cause  of  the  Rump  was  hopeless,  and  immediately  afterwards  he  joined  the 
citizens  in  a  demand  for  a  free  parliament.  Monk's  declara-  The  Long 
tion  for  a  free  parliament  was  decisive.  What  had  long  Parliament, 
been  denied  to  mere  popular  clamour  could  not  be  refused  to  a  man  with 
an  army  at  his  back.  The  survivors  of  the  members  expelled  by 
Pride  in  1648  were  restored,  and  they  immediately  voted  a  dissolution. 
Monk  was  made  captain-general,  Montague  admiral  of  the  fleet,  Lam- 
bert was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and  Vane  in  Carisbrook  Castle. 
Thus  ended  the  Long  Parliament,  which  had  existed  since  1640  ;  and 
for  the  first  time  for  close  on  twenty  years  the  voters  had  an  opportunity 
of  expressing  their  views  at  a  free  general  election.  As  the  writs  ordering 
the  elections  were  not  issued  by  a  king  the  assembly  was  called  a  Con- 
vention. The  members  were  chosen  by  the  old  parliamentary  consti- 
tuencies, and  not  by  those  arranged  by  CromwelL 

On  April  25  the  Convention  met.  Its  leading  members  were  either 
Presbyterians  or  the  sons  of  old  cavaliers,  while  the  Independent  members 
were  hardly  proportionate  to  their  numbers  in  the  country.  The  Con- 
Against  such  an  overwhelming  majority  Ludlow  and  mention, 
Hazelrig  could  do  nothing.  Bradshaw  was  dead  ;  an  insurrection,  led 
by  Lambert,  who  escaped  from  the  Tower,  came  absolutely  to  nothing ; 
and  without  the  least  hesitation,  without  even  waiting,  as  Fairfax 
and  Manchester  would  have  preferred,  to  make  terms,  Charles  was 
requested  by  the  Convention  to  return.     For  a  short  time  Monk  had 


612 


The  Commonwealth 


1660 


been  in  correspondence  with  him  ;  but  it  will  always  be  a  problem  how 
long  Monk  had  regarded  a  restoration  as  inevitable.  As  a  soldier,  his 
principle  was  that  of  Blake,  to  fight  without  question  for  his  legitimate 
employers  ;  but  the  inefficiency  first  of  Richard,  then  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment, had  convinced  him  that  nothing  was  to  be  hoped  from  the  continu- 
ance either  of  a  Commonwealth  or  a  Protectorate,  and,  his  own  feelings 
being  monarchical,  he  had  readily  lent  himself  to  forward  a  restoration. 
More  important,  perhaps,  than  all  the  political  causes  of  the  fall  of  the 
Commonwealth  was  the  attempt  of  the  puritanical  party  to  compel  men 
of  all  other  opinions  to  conform  to  their  standard  of  life  and  morality. 
The  abolition  of  stage-plays  in  the  towns,  the  removal  of  the  Maypoles 
from  the  village-greens,  the  stern  enforcement  of  a  puritanical  strictness 
in  the  observance  of  Sunday,  made  thousands  wishful  for  a  restoration 
who  cared  little  about  forms  of  government,  and  were  no  more  admirers 
of  Charles  and  Laud  than  was  Oliver  Cromwell  himself.  Practical  men 
of  all  parties  saw  that  the  one  hope  of  settled  and  orderly  government 
lay  in  a  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  and  the  cries  of  a  dreamer  like  Milton, 
who  poured  forth  tract  after  tract  urging  the  theoretical  advantages  of 
republicanism,  were  utterly  disregarded. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Storming  of  Drogheda 1649 

Battle  of  Dunbar, 

1650 

Battle  of  Worcester,    . 

1651 

Dutch  War 

1652-1654 

Expulsion  of  the  Rump, 

1653 

Barehone's  Parliament, 

1653 

Instrument  of  Government, 

1653 

Blake  at  Santa  Cruz,  . 

1657 

Humble  Petition  and  Advice, 

1657 

Battle  of  the  Dunes,    . 

1658 

Death  of  Cromwell,     . 

1668 

CHAPTER    V 

CHARLES  II.:  1660-1685 

Born  1630;  married,  1662,  Katharine  of  Braganza ;  died  1685. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Holland,  Spain. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.      William  of  Orange,  1671.      Charles  ii.,  1662-1 70U. 

The  Acts  of  the  Convention  Parliaments — Clarendon's  Ministry—  The  First  Dutch 
War— Fall  of  Clarendon— The  Cabal— The  Treaties  of  Dover— Second  Dutch 
War — Fall  of  the  Cabal— Dauby 's^Ministry —Rise  of  the  '  Country '  Party— 
The  Exclusion  Bill— Fall  of  the  Whigs. 

Charles  ii.  landed  at  Dover  on  May  25,  and  entered  London  on 
May  29,  his  thii'tieth  birthday.  Since  his  esciipe  from  Worcester  in 
1651  he  had  lived  abroad — sometimes  in  France,  sometimes  character 
in  Germany — dependent  for  his  subsistence  on  the  charity  of  °^  *^*  King, 
his  French  or  Dutch  kinsfolk,  and  on  the  scanty  contributions  of  the 
English  royalists.  Charles  was  a  man  of  great  natural  sagacity,  and  his 
checkered  career  had  given  him  considerable  experience  of  men  and  things. 
More  able  than  his  father,  he  had  more  knowledge  of  the  world  than 
his  grandfather,  and  he  brought  back  with  him  a  fixed  determination 
'  never  to  set  out  on  his  travels  again.'  At  the  same  time,  though  he 
would  never  '  stake  either  his  head  or  his  crown,'  he  was  determined  to 
secure  as  much  power  as  circumstances  would  permit.  Charles,  however, 
was  well  aware  how  much  his  father  had  lost  by  allowing  himself  to  be 
not  only  the  du*ector  of  aflairs,  but  also  the  most  obvious  agent  in 
carrying  out  his  own  policy.  He  determined,  therefore,  while  keeping 
the  reins  in  his  own  hands,  to  hold  himself  in  the  background,  and 
to  throw  responsibility  upon  his  ministers  ;  and  his  easy-going  manner, 
which  blinded  observers  to  his  real  character,  enabled  him  to  gain  a  very 
large  measure  of  success. 

613 


614  The  Stuarts  1660 

At  his  accession   Charles   gave   his   chief  confidence  to  Clarendon, 
the  Edward  Hyde  of  the  Long  Parliament,  now  aged  fifty-one,  who, 

The  after  a  steady  adherence   to  the  royal  family  in  its  mis- 

M misters,  fortunes,  now  returned  as  lord-chancellor.  Hyde's  chief 
characteristics  were  a  servile  adherence  to  old  forms,  and  a  want  of 
capacity  to  understand  the  new  order  of  things  in  which  he  found 
himself.  His  domestic  policy  was  mainly  directed  towards  re-establishing 
the  church,  his  foreign  to  securing  the  friendship  of  France  and 
Portugal.  Monk  was  made  duke  of  Albemarle,  and  captain-general 
of  the  army.  Charles'  brother,  James  duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  ii., 
became  lord  high  admiral,  being  assisted  by  Montague,  who  for  his 
services  was  made  earl  of  Sandwich,  Prince  Rupert  also  returned, 
prepared  to  serve  by  land  or  sea  as  occasion  required.  Of  the  old 
Commonwealth  men,  besides  Monk  and  Montague,  the  chief  to  find 
employment  was  Antony  Ashley  Cooper,  who  became  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer,  and  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Ashley.  The  old 
Presbyterians,  Manchester  and  Holies,  received  fair  words  but  little 
power  ;  Fairfax  remained  in  the  background ;  but  Booth  was  ennobled 
as  Lord  Delamere. 

Before  leaving  Breda  Charles  had  given  a  general  promise  on  the 

following  points  :  (1)  An  Act  of  Amnesty  for  life,  liberty  and  property 

for  all  those  not  excepted  by  parliament  ;    (2)  liberty  of 

tion  of  conscience  for  all   those  whose  views  did  not  disturb  the 

peace  of  the  realm  ;  (3)  the  settlement  in  parliament  of  all 
claims  to  landed  property  ;  (4)  the  payment  of  all  arrears  to  Monk's 
army.  Besides  these,  a  proclamation  had  been  issued  commanding 
the  late  king's  judges  to  surrender  within  fourteen  days,  on  j)ain  of 
certain  exclusion  from  the  Act  of  Amnesty. 

Accordingly  the  Convention,  which  sat  on  without  re-election  as  a 

parliament,  gave  immediate  attention  to   these   points.     Its   first  step 

was    to   pass   an    Act   of    Indemnity  and    Oblivion    for    all   oflFences 

committed  during  the   civil  war  and  the  Commonwealth.      From  its 

provisions,  however,  the  regicides  and  a  few  others  were 

Acts  of  In-  ^  ,  ^     ,        ,         1.  .    .1  rn  n     T      X  "r,        1 

demnity  and  excepted  ;  of  the  leadmg  regicides,  Cromwell,  ireton,  Braa- 
Obhvion.  shaw,  and  Pride  were  dead  ;  Ludlow  had  escaped,  and 
Henry  Marten  had  surrendered  under  the  recent  proclamation.  On  the 
dead,  royalist  vengeance  could  find  no  means  of  wreaking  itself  except 
by  dragging  their  corpses  from  the  tomb  and  hanging  them  on  the  gibbet 
at  Tyburn ;  Marten  escaped  with  his  life  under  the  proclamation, 
remarking  that  '  it  was  the  first  he  had  ever  obeyed,  and  he  hoped  he 
would  not  be  punished  for  that,'  and  died  a  prisoner  in  Chepstow  Castle 


1660  Charles  11.  615 

in  1681  ;  but  a  commission,  composed  of  royalists  and  of  the  Presby- 
terians Manchester  and  Holies,  with  Monk,  Montague,  and  Ashley,  was 
created  to  try  the  others.  Harrison  and  nine  others,  including  Cook, 
solicitor  to  the  court,  Axtel  and  Hacker,  who  commanded  the  guards, 
and  Hugh  Peters,  Cromwell's  chaplain  were  found  guilty,  and  put  to 
death  with  every  circumstance  of  barbarity.  Hazelrig  and  Lenthal  were 
made  incapable  of  ofl&ce  for  life  ;  Milton  escaped  a  prosecution  with  diffi- 
culty, and  Whitelock,  the  time-serving  lawyer  of  the  Commonwealth,  was 
quietly  relegated  to  obscurity.  A  year  later,  Lambert  and  Vane  were 
tried  for  treason.  Neither  of  them  was  a  regicide,  and  they  pleaded  that 
what  they  had  done  was  protected  by  the  de  facto  statute  of  Henry  vii., 
which,  under  the  actual  title  of  king,  might  be  held  to  include  a  settled 
government.  The  judges,  however,  decided  against  them  ;  one  of  them 
remarking,  '  though  we  do  not  know  what  to  say  to  Vane,  we  know  what 
to  do  with  him.'  Lambert  was  imprisoned  for  life,  and  Vane  executed. 
Lambert,  though  an  able  man,  and  the  author  of  the  epigram,  '  the  best 
of  men  are  but  men  at  their  best ,'  was  a  somewhat  shallow  and  self- 
asserting  character.  Vane,  though  a  somewhat  impracticiible  politician, 
was  in  personal  character  one  of  the  noblest  Englishmen  of  his  day, 
true  both  in  life  and  death  to  the  highest  principles  of  toleration  in 
religion  and  republican  virtue  in  the  state,  and  it  was  well  said  when 
he  died  that '  the  king  lost  more  by  that  man's  death  than  he  would 
get  again  for  a  good  while.'  Compared,  however,  with  similar  events, 
the  English  Restoration,  thanks  mainly  to  Charles,  was  remarkably  free 
from  bloodshed. 

The  question  of  the  forfeited  lands  was  a  very  difficult  one.     Some 
royalist  lands  had  been  sold ;   other  royalists  had  been  forced  to  sell 

their  estates  for  fear  of  losing  them  ;  but  the  usual  fate  of  _^ 

»  '  The 

the  royalist  gentry  was  to  have  retained  their  lands  subject    Forfeited 

to  the  heavy  burden  of  special  demands  made  on  them  as 
*  malignants.'  No  rule  applicable  to  all  cases  could  be  discovered,  and 
eventually  the  claimants  were  left  to  do  the  best  they  could  for  them- 
selves in  the  courts  of  law,  which  frequently  was  not  very  much. 
Indeed,  so  little  reward  for  their  services  was  reaped  by  the  cavaliers 
that  it  was  jocularly  said  that  parliament  had  passed  an  Act  of  Indemnity 
for  the  king's  enemies,  and  of  Oblivion  for  his  friends. 

The  Long  Parliament  had  abolished  feudal  tenure  by  an  ordinance. 
This  was  now  confirmed  by  the  Convention.     At  that  date    ^     ,  . 

•^  Feudal 

land  was  held  under  at  least  five  tenures— feudal  tenure,    Dues 
free  socage,  common,  copyhold,  and  mortmain.     The  first   *^°™"*"  ^  • 
involved  the  payment  of  feudal  dues  and  the  rights  of  wardship  and 


616  The  Stuarts  1660 

marriage,  and  in  1610  it  had  been  proposed  to  commute  these  for  a  tax 
on  the  same  lands  of  the  value  of  ,£200,000  a  year.  This  had  been  in 
principle  fair  enough.  Now  the  Convention  Parliament  passed  an  Act 
by  which  such  lands  were  for  the  future  to  be  held  in  free  socage,  but 
the  provision  of  an  equivalent  for  the  dues  was  not  to  fall  only  on  the 
holders  of  such  lands,  but  on  the  general  body  of  the  nation,  who  were 
saddled  with  an  excise  on  liquors,  then  estimated  at  ^300,000  a  year. 
At  the  same  time  the  right  of  purveyance  was  abandoned ;  but  the 
abolition  of  this  merely  local  and  casual  liability  was  a  poor  compensation 
for  the  perpetual  burden  of  the  excise.  While  lifting  the  burden  from 
their  own  shoulders,  the  feudal  owners  were  careful  to  maintain  in  full 
the  duties  and  payments  of  the  copyhold  tenants  who  stood  to  the  lords 
of  the  manors  much  as  the  feudal  tenants  stood  to  the  king. 

The  question  of  defence  was  next  considered  by  parliament.  As  a 
precaution  against  rebellion,  the  dismantling  of  walls  and  fortresses, 
which  had  been  begun  by  the  Long  Parliament,  was  carried 
further,  and  of  the  inland  towns  only  the  loyal  cities  of 
Oxford,  York,  and  Chester  were  permitted  to  retain  their  walls.  The 
command  of  the  militia  and  of  the  fortresses,  about  which  the  civil  war 
had  originally  broken  out,  was,  without  question,  vested  in  the  king.  It 
was  also  determined  to  keep  up  a  force  of  two  regiments,  with  certain 
garrisons,  amounting  in  all  to  five  thousand  men.  The  regiments  retained 
were  the  king's  horse-guards,  created  at  the  Restoration,  and  Monk's 
regiment  of  Coldstream  Guards.  These,  with  the  royal  artillery,  formed 
the  nucleus  of  the  British  regular  army.  The  officers  received  their 
commissions  direct  from  the  king ;  the  privates  were  enrolled  by  volun- 
tary enlistment ;  and  the  uniform  of  the  force,  following  the  pattern  of 
the  victors  at  Mardyke  and  the  Dunes,  was  scarlet.  To  Monk  was 
entrusted  the  duties  of  disbanding  the  old  Cromwellian  army,  and 
organising  the  new  force.  He  performed  it  with  great  tact ;  provided  for 
the  material  well-being  of  the  disbanded  soldiers  as  the  best  provision 
against  discontent,  and  infused  into  the  regiments  retained  his  own 
aversion  to  military  interference  in  political  affairs. 

There  is  a  certain  point  in  the  development  of  a  country  where 
a  standing  army  of  professional  soldiers  becomes  necessary,  because  on 
^,  the  one  hand  a  highly  civilised  nation  will  not  endure  to  be 

The  danger 

of  a  stand-  called  upon  to  leave  its  business  and  take  service  in  the 
ing  army.  ^^j^  ^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  other,  the  progress  in  the  art  of  war 
makes  it  needful  for  the  soldier  to  have  a  more  regular  training  than  he 
can  acquire  at  a  time  when  he  is  following  any  other  pursuit.  If  this 
point  is   reached   before   the   constitutional  liberties  of  a  country  are 


1661  Charles  II.  617 

secured,  the  placing  of  a  standing  army  in  the  hands  of  the  sovereign  is 
almost  certain  to  be  for  a  long  time  fatal  to  liberty.  It  was  so  in  France  ; 
it  was  so  under  the  Commonwealth ;  it  was  so  in  Spain.  England's 
insular  position,  however,  enabled  her  to  do  without  a  standing  army  for 
almost  two  centuries  after  they  had  been  usual  on  the  continent.  Hence 
our  liberties  were  secure  when  the  change  was  made  ;  but  the  history  of 
the  standing  army  under  Charles  ii.  and  James  ii.  shows  how  great  the 
risk  was  even  then.  Against  a  professional  navy  there  was 
no  such  objection,  while  the  recent  victories  of  Blake  had 
made  it  a  matter  of  pride  to  Englishmen  of  every  party.  Its  management 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  duke  of  York  and  the  earl  of  Sandwich, 
who  had  as  their  assistants  Pett,  the  great  shipwright,  and  Samuel  Pepys, 
better  known  for  his  humorous  diary  than  for  his  laborious  exertions  at 
the  accounts  of  the  admiralty  oflBce.  Here  there  was  no  necessity  for 
disbandment,  and  the  sailors  of  the  Commonwealth  became  the  royal 
navy  of  the  Restoration  as  easily  as  the  gallant  Naseby  changed  her  name 
to  the  Royal  Charles. 

With  regard  to  the  church,  the  Convention  Parliament  settled  nothing, 
probably  because  the  Presbyterians  were  so  powerful  in  it  that  a  more 
favourable  opportunity  was  waited  for  by  the  strong  church-  The  new 
men.  In  December  1660  the  Convention  Parliament  was  Parliament, 
dissolved.  The  new  parliament  met  in  1661  ;  and  so  violent  had  been 
the  royalist  reaction  that  very  few  Presbyterians  kept  their  seats — so  few, 
indeed,  that  the  parliament  was  generally  known  as  the  Cavalier  Parlia- 
ment. So  eager  were  the  members  for  revenge  that  the  government 
had  great  difficulty  in  inducing  them  to  confirm  those  Acts  of  the  Con- 
vention which  secured  the  indemnity  of  the  parliamentarian  party. 

All  the  acts  of  the  Long  Parliament  which  had  not  been  passed  by 
King,  Lords  and  Commons  were  ignored,  so  that  the  Church  of  England 
stepped  back  into  the  position  she  occupied  in  1642.  The  The  Church 
bishops,  to  whose  exclusion  from  the  House  of  Lords  Charles  '■^stored, 
had  given  his  consent,  were  restored  to  their  seats  in  that  House  by  act 
of  parliament.  The  church  was  also  replaced  in  possession  of  all  her 
property,  including  the  lands  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Durham 
with  which  Cromwell  had  endowed  a  new  university  for  the  north. 
It  remained,  however,  to  be  settled  whether  more  Protestants  than 
formerly  should  be  admitted  within  her  ranks,  and  what  should  be 
the  position  of  those  Catholics  and  ProtesUmts  who  refused  to  conform 
to  her  rules.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  Charles  would  have  done 
something  to  improve  the  position  of  the  Presbyterians,  to  whose 
alliance  with  the  royalists  he  owed  so  much.     Charles,  however,  who  was 


618  The  Stuarts  1661 

at  heart  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  had  been  heard  to  say  that  '  Presby- 
terianism  was  no  religion  for  a  gentleman/  was  indifferent ;  the  Episco- 
palians were  hostile  ;  and  'the  Protestant  Nonconformists  themselves 
had  no  wish  to  see  a  comprehension  scheme  carried  that,  by  taking  away 
many  of  their  members,  would  weaken  the  position  of  the  rest.  A  con- 
ference, indeed,  was  held  at  the  Savoy  Palace  between  twelve  bishops 
and  twelve  Presbyterian  ministers,  the  most  conspicuous  of  whom  were 
Calamy  and  Baxter,  but  neither  party  being  anxious  for  union  the 
meeting  came  to  nothing. 

The  next  question  was,  Which  of  the  clergy  who  now  held  church 
livings  were  to  be  allowed  to  retain  them  ?  The  occupants  of  livings  fell 
The  Bene-  under  several  heads  :  (1)  Those  appointed  before  1642  ; 
ficed  Clergy.  ^2)  those  named  in  the  place  of  Episcopalian  clergy  still 
living  who  had  been  ejected  by  the  parliamentarian  party  ;  (3)  Presby- 
terians appointed  to  vacancies  during  the  Presbyterian  ascendancy  ;  (4) 
Presbyterians,  Independents,  Baptists,  and  others  who  had  been  appointed 
under  the  ascendency  of  the  Indepenednts,  Many  of  these  men,  though 
of  excellent  character,  had  neither  been  ordained  by  bishops  nor  were 
willing  to  use  the  prayer-book,  and  it  could  not  be  expected  that  the 
church  should  allow  them  to  hold  its  livings  on  these  terms.  Accord- 
ingly, an  Act  of  Uniformity  was  passed  which  enacted  that  the  occupant 
of  a  benefice  must  have  been  ordained  by  a  bishop  ;  must  use  only  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  a  revised  version  of  which  was  published  the 
same  year  ;  and  must  take  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience,  which  bound 
the  taker  to  obey  the  canons  or  ecclesiastical  law.  He  was  als  orequired 
to  renounce  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  to  make  a  declaration 
that  it  was  unlawful  to  bear  arms  against  the  sovereign  on  any  pretence 
whatever.  Those  who  refused  to  conform  were  forced  to  vacate  their 
livings  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1662,  a  date  calculated  with  a  refine- 
ment of  ingenuity  to  prevent  them  from  collecting  their  annual  tithes, 
which  became  due  shortly  afterwards.  As  to  the  number  and  qual- 
fications  of  the  expelled  clergy,  churchmen  and  Nonconformists  are 
hopelessly  at  variance  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  number  did  not 
fall  much  short  of  two  thousand ;  and  it  is  certain  that  it  included 
many  men  of  piety  and  learning.  Though  the  church  seemed  to  have 
been  victorious,  the  system  restored  was  not  altogether  the  system  of 
Laud.  After  the  Restoration  the  church  courts,  on  which  he  had  laid 
so  much  stress,  remained  in  abeyance,  and,  with  hardly  an  exception, 
from  that  date  bishops  ceased  to  interfere  in  matters  of  state  ;  while  as 
parliament  gradually  acquired  control  over  the  ministers  of  the  king,  the 
bishops    themselves   came  to  be  appointed  by    men  who  represenred 


1661  Charles  IL  619 

the  feelings  of  the  majority  of  the  country  ;  while  the  almost  universal 
practice  of  lay  patronage  has  kept  the  beneficed  clergy  more  or  less 
in  touch  with  their  lay  brethren  ;  only  in  outward  devotion  and  orderli- 
ness of  religious  ceremonial  did  the  church  of  the  Restoration  recall  the 
ideas  of  that  earnest  but  ill-advised  archbishop.  The  date  1662  is 
generally  taken  as  marking  the  final  division  between  the  Church  and 
Dissent. 

The  restoration  of  the  church  livings  to  members  of  the  church  was 
defensible  ;  but  the  only  defence  for  the  next  action  of  the  parlia- 
ment is  that  it  was  produced  by  fear.  From  the  point  of  The  Cor- 
view  of  the  royalists,  the  great  fact  of  the  time  was  that  porations. 
Oliver's  old  soldiers  were  Nonconformists  to  a  man,  and  that,  so  long 
as  their  efficiency  and  vigour  remained,  every  congregation  of  Noncon- 
formists was  a  possible  nucleus  for  an  armed  revolt,  and  every  corporation 
in  which  Nonconformists  were  predominant  a  possible  centre  for  local 
resistance,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  Nonconformist  corporations 
sent  Nonconformist  members  to  parliament.  Many  of  the  expelled 
ministers,  just  as  the  royalists  had  done  under  the  Commonwealth, 
continued  to  call  their  followers  together  in  some  barn  or  large  room  ; 
so  in  1664  parliament  imitated  the  example  of  Cromwell  by  passing  the 
Conventicle  Act,  which  forbade  .all  assemblies  for  worship  other  than 
those  of  the  church;  and  in  1665  it  revived  another  of  Cromwell's 
intolerant  Acts  (see  p.  605),  by  passing  the  Five  Mile  Act,  which  forbade 
expelled  ministers,  unless  they  had  subscribed  to  the  Act  of  Uniformity, 
and  tjiken  an  oath  that  resistance  to  the  king  was  unlawful,  to  settle 
within  five  miles  of  any  corporate  town,  or  to  get  their  living  by 
teaching  in  any  public  or  private  school.  The  political  strength  of  the 
Nonconformists,  of  whom  the  chief  bodies  were  the  Presbyterians,  the 
Independents,  the  Baptists,  and  the  Quakers,  lay  in  the  corporations  of 
small  towns  ;  and  to  deprive  them  of  this  the  Corporation  Act  was 
passed  in  1661,  which  ordered  all  holders  of  municipal  office  to  renounce 
the  Covenant,  and  to  take  the  sacrament  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  Church  of  England.  The  Uniformity,  Conventicle,  Five  Mile,  and 
Corporation  Acts  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  Clarendon  Code.  The 
feelings  which  actuatedt  hem  were  precisely  thoselwhich  had  caused 
Cromwell's  severity  to  the  ejected  royalists,  and  had  excluded  cavaliers 
from  the  voting  list  under  the  Commonwealth.  A  comparison,  however, 
of  the  religious  legislation  of  the  parliamentarians  and  royalists  shows 
that,  though  there  was  little  to  choose  in  the  matter  of  religious  intoler- 
ance between  the  Presbyterians  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  the  supporters 
of  Laud,  persecution  for  religion's  sake  was  gradually  dying  out,  and  that 


620  The  Stuarts  1661 

political  rather  than  religious  considerations  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  intolerance  both  of  the  Independents  and  of  the  restored  Episco- 
palians. 

The  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees,  concluded  in  1659  between  France  and 
Spain,  left  Louis  xiv.  by  far  the  most  powerful  monarch  in  Europe,  and 

Foreign      his  ambitious  schemes  of  further  aggrandisement  constituted 

Affairs.  ^  serious  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the  smaller  powers. 
Nevertheless,  in  foreign  politics  Clarendon  continued  Cromwell's  short- 
sighted policy  of  hostility  to  Spain,  and  friendship  to  France.  In 
accordance  with  it  Charles,  in  1662,  married  Katharine  of  Braganza, 
sister  of  the  king  of  Portugal,  which  country  had,  in  1640,  revolted  from 
Spain,  to  which  it  had  been  united  since  1580.  With  her  Charles 
received  ,£350,000  in  money  and  merchandise,  the  island  of  Bombay, 
and  Tangiers  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Africa.  The  value  of  Tangiers 
lay  in  providing  a  convenient  base  of  operations  for  a  fleet  watching  the 
entrance  to  the  Mediterranean,  or  to  the  harbour  of  Cadiz.  Bombay 
gave  a  settlement  to  the  East  India  Company  on  the  west  coast  of 
Hindostan,  and  formed  the  basis  of  a  large  extension  of  trade,  which 
Charles,  like  all  his  family,  had  much  at  heart.  At  the  close  of  1662 
Clarendon  sold  Dunkirk  to  the  French.  This  was  contrary  to  the  inten- 
tions of  Cromwell,  who  had  well  known  its  value  as  a  check  upon  French 
aggression,  and  if  it  were  to  be  given  up  at  all  it  would  have  been  better 
policy  to  restore  it  to  the  Spaniards.  The  price  paid  for  it  by  Louis  xiv. 
was  about  ,£250,000,  and  so  unpopular  was  the  sale  that  a  new  residence 
which  Clarendon  was  building  was  nicknamed  Dunkirk  House. 

Katharine  of  Braganza  proved  to  be  a  pleasant  and  well-meaning 
woman,  fitted  to  make  Charles  an  excellent  wife,  had  not  his  shameful 
.  ,  immorality  made  him  dead  to  her  merits.  His  chief 
private  mistress  was  Barbara  Palmer,  whom  he  afterwards  created 

duchess  of  Cleveland,  by  whom  he  had  a  numerous  family 
of  sons  and  daughters.  During  his  exile  he  had  been  under  the  spell 
of  Lucy  Walters,  by  whom  he  was  said  to  have  been  the  father  of  the 
duke  of  Monmouth  ;  and  at  a  later  date  he  was  fascinated  by  Nell 
Gwynne  and  Louise  de  Keroualle.  For  these,  his  queen  was  neglected, 
and,  as  she  had  no  children,  and  no  interest  in  English  affairs,  she  passed 
almost  out  of  the  recollection  of  the  public.  Her  treatment  was  a 
gross  scandal  to  all  sober  people,  who  were  horrified  at  seeing  the  king 
himself  taking  the  lead  in  the  race  for  pleasure  and  dissipation  which 
followed  as  a  natural  reaction  on  the  austerity  of  Cromwellian  times.  In 
1660  the  duke  of  York  married  Anne  Hyde,  daughter  of  Clarendon,  and 
by  her  had  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Anne.     Henry,  duke  of  Gloucester, 


1665  Charles  IL  621 

the  other  surviving  son  of  Charles  i.,  died  unmarried  soon  after  the 
Restoration. 

In  1664  war  broke  out  with  the  Dutch.  Its  chief  cause  was  the  same 
commercial  and  colonial  jealousy  which  had  brought  about  the  former 
war  ;  but  to  this  was  added  the  annoyance  which  was  felt 
by  Charles  because  the  Dutch  Burghers  were  keeping  out  with 
of  jDower  the  House  of  Orange,  the  head  of  which,  Prince 
William,  was  Charles'  nephew.  The  internal  politics  of  Holland  were 
at  this  date  very  important,  for  the  friends  of  the  House  of  Orange  relied 
on  England,  while  the  Burgher  party  was  friendly  to  France.  So 
bitter  was  the  hostility  between  them  that  Van  Tromp  had  been  seriously 
hampered  by  the  fact  that  some  of  his  captains  would  not  give  him  a 
hearty  support  because  he  was  a  supporter  of  the  House  of  Orange ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  sailors  who  were  friendly  to  Tromp  looked  coldly 
on  De  Witt  and  Ruyter,  the  admirals  favoured  by  the  Burgher  party. 
The  war  was  carried  on  both  on  the  English  coasts  and  in  the  colonies. 
At  first  the  English  were  successful,  and  Sir  Robert  Holmes  seized  the 
Dutch  colony  of  New  Amsterdam,  which  divided  Virginia  from  the  New 
England  States.  It  was  now  colonised  by  Englishmen,  and  its  capital. 
New  Amsterdam,  received  the  name  of  New  York,  in  honour  of  the 
king's  brother,  who  was  lord  admiml  of  the  fleet. 

In  1665  the  duke  of  York,  Prince  Rupert,  and  the  earl  of  Sandwich 
won  a  great  victory  over  the  Dutch  off  Lowestoft,  on  the  Suffolk  coast. 
The  great  object  of  the  Dutch  was  to  fight  iis  near  the  The  First 
English  coasts  as  possible,  so  as  to  take  advantage  of  the  ^"**=^  War. 
numerous  sandbanks,  where  their  vessels,  being  of  lighter  draught  than 
the  English,  could  be  used  to  greater  advantage.  This  advantage  they 
gained,  but  the  English  seamen,  by  skilfully  manoeuvring,  contrived  to 
get  the  wind  in  their  favour,  and  bearing  down  in  line  won  a  complete 
victory.  Opdam,  the  Dutch  commander,  was  blown  up  with  all  his  crew 
but  the  English  lost  Lawson,  one  of  their  best  sailors — a  Yorkshireman, 
who  had  fought  his  way  from  the  forecastle  of  a  Hull  collier  to  be 
an  admiral  of  the  fleet.  Next  year  Sandwich  followed  up  the  success 
by  seizing  part  of  the  Dutch  spice  fleet  in  the  harbour  of  Bergen.  The 
disaster  of  the  Dutch  was  so  complete  that  the  French  came  to  their 
assistance  ;  but  though  Louis  was  bound  in  honour  to  help  his  allies,  he 
had  no  objection  to  seeing  the  two  chief  naval  powers  engaged  in  destroy- 
ing each  other,  and  his  fleet  took  little  or  no  part  in  the  fighting.  After 
the  affair  of  Bergen,  the  command  of  the  fleet  was  changed  ;  the  duke  of 
York  was  kept  at  home,  on  the  pretence  that  his  life  was  too  valuable 
to  be  risked,  and  Sandwich,  who  had  been  accused  of  appropriating 


622  The  Stuarts  1665 

money,  was  sent  out  as  ambassador  to  Spain.  Eupert  and  Monk  took 
their  places,  and  in  June  Monk,  who  '  hated  a  coward  as  ill  as  a  toad,' 
was  rash  enough  to  attack  the  Dutch  with  a  wholly  inadequate  force. 
In  consequence  he  was  severely  handled,  and  only  escaped  a  serious 
disaster  by  the  opportune  arrival  of  Rupert.  However,  in  July,  they 
were  again  at  sea,  and  this  time  a  complete  victory  rewarded  their  efforts, 
and  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  merhcantmen  were  burnt  on  the 
Dutch  coast. 

Louis  now  used  his  influence  to  persuade  the  Dutch  to  negotiate,  and 

Charles,  being  at  his  wits'  end  for  money,  took  advantage  of  the  apparent 

«,.-    T^  ^  ,-   cessation  of  hostilities  to  lay  up  his  fleet  at  Chatham.     For 

The  Dutch    ,  ,  j      i. 

in  the  its  secunty  he  ordered  earthworks  to  be  prepared,  and  the 

way.  entrance  of  the  Medway  to  be  blocked  by  a  boom.  Hardly 
anything,  however,  had  been  done  when  De  Ruyter  appeared  in  the 
Thames  with  a  strong  fleet,  and  in  all  haste  Monk  was  sent  down  to 
defend  Chatham.  He  found  everything  in  confusion ;  workmen  unwilling 
to  work  for  want  of  pay  ;  dock  officials  more  intent  on  securing  their 
private  effects  than  on  saving  the  honour  of  England.  In  spite  of  all 
his  efforts  the  boom  was  broken,  and  he  had  the  mortification  of  seeing 
the  Dutch  fleet  sail  up  the  Medway,  burn  the  ships  at  their  stations,  and 
carry  off  the  Royal  Charles  as  a  prize.  Fortunately  the  Dutch  dropped 
back  with  the  tide,  and  Monk  was  able  to  complete  the  batteries  in  time 
to  prevent  another  ascent  of  the  river.  Great  was  the  humiliation  of  the 
country,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  an  honourable  peace  was  concluded, 
parliament  turned  fiercely  on  Clarendon  as  the  most  eligible  object  for 
attack. 

Besides  the  disgraceful  affair  at  Chatham,  Clarendon  had  been  unlucky 
in  other  respects.  In  1665  occurred  the  Great  Plague,  the  last  of  those 
/,.,-    T>,  terrible  pestilences  which  from  time  to  time  devastated  the 

The  Plague.  ^ 

filthy  alleys  and  narrow  streets  which  formed  the  towns  of 
mediaeval  Europe.  The  outbreak  began  in  the  winter  of  1664-5,  reached 
its  height  in  June  1665,  and  continued  in  full  violence  till  October,  when 
it  gradually  declined  ;  but  the  next  year  it  continued  its  ravages  in  the 
country,  and  it  was  some  time  before  it  completely  disappeared.  During 
its  continuance,  the  utmost  confusion  prevailed  ;  trade  was  at  a  standstill, 
and  nothing  but  the  firmness  of  Monk,  who  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  city,  and  the  charity  of  the  lord  mayor  and  richer  citizens,  prevented 
an  outbreak  of  violence.  In  London  alone  no  less  than  120,000  persons 
perished. 

A  year  later,  the  greater  part  of  the  city  of  London  was  destroyed  by  the 
Great  Fire,  which  broke  out  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September  2. 


1666  Charles  II.  623 

Fanned  by  a  violent  gale,  the  flames  spread  rapidly,  and  continued 
at  their  height  for  three  days,  during  which  time  they  consumed  13,200 
houses,  89  churches — including  the  noble  Gothic  building  The  Fire  of 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral— and  rendered  200,000  persons  London, 
homeless.  The  fire  originated  in  a  bakehouse,  and  was  due  to  accident ; 
but  so  violent  was  the  national  prejudice  against  the  Koman  Catholics 
that  it  was  falsely  imputed  to  them,  and  the  Monument  erected  in 
memory  of  the  fire  long  bore  an  inscription  charging  it  upon  them.  The 
conflagration  cleared  away  the  last  relics  of  the  plague  ;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, no  adequate  care  was  taken,  in  rebuilding  the  houses,  to  arrange 
the  streets  on  a  better  plan,  and  the  new  buildings  followed  the  lines  of 
the  old.  A  great  opportunity,  however,  was  given  to  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  the  architect,  and  his  designs  for  the  new  St.  Paul's,  and  for  the 
new  city  churches,  are  admirable  examples  of  the  kind  of  architecture 
then  in  fashion. 

Though  Clarendon  was  not  directly  responsible  for  the  disaster  at 
Chatham,  and  had  of  course  nothing  whatever  to  do  either  with  the 
plague  or  the  fire,  these  events  added  to  the  unpopularity  pall  of 
of  his  administration.  He  was  also  disliked  by  the  king,  Clarendon, 
of  whose  dissipated  life  he  disapproved  ;  and  when  an  outcry  was  raised 
against  him,  he  was  dismissed  from  his  post  and  impeached.  Without 
awaiting  his  trial,  he  withdrew  to  the  continent,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  completing  a  History  of  the  Great  BebellioUy 
which  he  had  begun  during  his  former  exile,  and  died  in  1674.  In 
1670  died  Monk,  duke  of  Albemarle.  Since  Charles'  return,  he  had 
been  his  most  able  servant  wherever  tact,  courage,  and  devotion  to  duty 
had  been  required,  diu*ing  both  war  and  peace  :  and  with  the  departure 
of  these  two  faithful  servants,  a  new  generation  of  public  men  comes  to 
the  front. 

During  Clarendon's  ministry  important  events  occurred  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland.  In  Scotland  Charles  assumed  the  illegality  of  all  that  had 
been   done   since   the    battle   of    Worcester.      The   union     „ 

Scotland. 

between  England  and  Scotland  was  held  void,  and  Scotland 
was  placed  under  the  rule  of  the  earl  of  Middleton,  as  commissioner  for 
the  king,  and  of  the  earl  of  Lauderdale,  as  secretary  of  state.  Under 
their  influence  a  parliament  was  elected  that  was  royalist  in  the 
extreme.  Charles  was  declared  to  be  'over  all  persons  and  over  all 
cases  supreme ' ;  and  by  the  Reccission  Act  aU  acts  of  parliament  passed 
since  1632  were  repealed,  so  that  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  James  i.  and 
the  old  feudal  rights  and  privileges  were  restored.  To  appease  the 
royalists,  Argyll  was  tried  and  executed,  nominally  for  treasons  com- 


624  The  Stuarts  1666 

mitted  since  1651,  in  reality  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  Montrose  ;  and 
to  strike  terror  into  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  Guthrie,  the  most  energetic 
and  outspoken  of  them,  suffered  the  same  fate,  from  which  Johnstone  of 
Warriston,  the  deviser  of  the  National  Covenant,  only  saved  himself  by 
a  timely  flight.  To  the  consternation  of  the  Presbyterians,  who  had 
protested  against  the  declaration  of  favour  to  tender  consciences  con- 
tained in  the  Declaration  of  Breda,  Charles,  whom  parliament  permitted 
to  settle  the  church  government  '  as  might  be  consistent  with  Scripture, 
monarchy,  and  peace,'  declared  for  Episcopacy,  ordered  the  Covenant  to 
be  burnt  by  the  common  hangman,  and  named  Sharpe,  a  renegade  Pres- 
byterian minister,  to  be  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  The  Presbyterian 
clergy,  therefore,  found  themselves  compelled  to  choose  between  accept- 
ing a  form  of  church  government  which  they  abhorred,  or  abandoning 
their  livelihood ;  but  rather  than  submit  to  the  change,  three  or  four 
hundred  of  them  gave  up  their  livings,  and  began  the  work  of  preaching 
to  their  congregations  on  the  open  hillsides,  which  kept  alive  the  faith 
and  devotion  of  the  Covenanters  during  the  persecution  which  followed. 
At  the  same  time,  however,  that  the  Scots  lost  their  favourite  form  of 
church  government,  they  regained  their  independence,  and  saw  with 
satisfaction  the  departure  of  the  English  garrisons,  the  restoration  of 
their  parliament,  and  the  dismantling  of  Monk's  fortifications.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  lost  the  advantages  conferred  on  them  by  the  Naviga- 
tion Acts,  and  for  trade  purposes  became  again  a  foreign  and  alien 
country. 

In  Ireland,  as  in  Scotland,  the  union,  as  having  no  force  in  law,  was 
held  void.     The  ancient  Irish  parliament  was,  as  a  matter  of  course, 

,     ^      restored  :   and  the  Protestant   Episcopal   Church  was  re- 
Ireland.  ,  ,.  ,     ,  i  ,        i      \^  ^ 

established  as  the  state  church.     Ormond  was  sent  over  as 

lord-lieutenant,  and  undertook  the  settlement  of  the  land  question. 
Before  1641,  about  half  the  arable  land  of  Ireland  was  in  the  hands  of 
Protestants,  and  the  rest  in  those  of  Roman  Catholics  and  Irish.  After 
the  rebellion,  this  half  had  been  divided  among  the  Adventurers  and  the 
Cromwellian  soldiery.  Their  claims,  however,  were  disputed  by  the 
dispossessed  Irish,  and  by  royalists  who  had  sufi'ered  for  their  devotion 
to  royalty.  It  was,  however,  a  serious  matter  to  offend  the  soldiers,  and 
the  claims  of  the  Adventurers  had  been  guaranteed  by  Charles  i.  Con- 
sequently, after  hearing  all  sides,  Charles  determined  that  the  titles  of 
the  Adventurers  should  be  confirmed,  and  that  the  claims  of  the  loyal 
Roman  Catholics  and  of  Protestant  royalists  should  be  met  out  of  those 
forfeited  lands  which  had  not  as  yet  been  appropriated.  Eventually, 
however,  it  was  found  that  so  much  of  this  amount  had  been  promised  to 


1670  Charles  II.  625 

the  duke  of  York,  Monk,  and  others,  that  there  was  not  sufficient  remain- 
ing to  satisfy  even  the  claims  of  those  royalists  and  Roman  Catholics 
whose  innocence  was  unimpeachable.  Accordingly,  by  the  Act  of  Ex- 
planation, the  Adventurers  and  Cromwellians  were  required  The  Act  of 
to  give  up  one-third  of  their  lands  as  a  compensation  fund  ;  Settlement, 
and  on  this  basis  the  land  question  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  settled.  The 
dissolution  of  the  union  deprived  Ireland  of  the  benefits  of  the  Naviga- 
tion Acts  ;  and,  as  if  that  were  not  enough,  the  English  parliament  began 
that  deliberate  policy  of  impoverishing  Ireland,  in  order  to  protect  the 
English  farmers  and  manufacturers,  that  continued  in  force,  with  slight 
modifications,  down  to  the  date  of  the  legislative  union  of  1800.  In 
1665  the  Irish  were  forbidden  to  export  to  England  either  cattle,  meat, 
or  butter,  so  that  a  country  which  nature  had  designed  for  pasturage  was 
perforce  thrown  back  on  the  business  of  agricultiuu 

After  Clarendon's  fall,  the  king  gave  his  confidence  to  a  group  of  five 
statesmen — Cliftbrd,  Arlington,  Buckingham,  Ashley,  and  Lauderdale, 
whose  initials  are  erroneously  thought  to  have  originated  *^®  ^h  c  b  i 
word  Cabal,  a  much  older  word  of  Hebrew  origin,  equiva- 
lent to  the  modern  terms  Junto,  or  Cabinet.  The  Cabal  is  interesting  in 
the  history  of  our  constitution  because  it  forms  a  link  between  the 
condition  which  obtained  under  Elizabeth  and  Charles  i.,  when  each 
minister  was  responsible  to  the  king  and  to  him  only,  and  the  modem 
practice  which  grew  up  under  William  in.,  when  the  members  of  the 
cabinet  are  responsible,  'jointly  and  sevemlly,'  for  the  policy  of  the 
government  as  a  whole.  From  a  religious  point  of  view,  it  represented 
a  combination  of  most  of  the  views  not  comprehended  in  the  English 
Church.  Sir  Thomais  CliflFord,  afterwjirds  Bai-on  Ciiflbrd  of  Chudleigh, 
was  an  avowed  Roman  Catholic,  and  Henry  Bennet,  afterwards  earl  of 
Arlington,  a  Roman  Catholic  at  heart ;  Shaftesbury  had  cheerfully  con- 
formed to  the  Church  systems  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  Cromwell ; 
Buckingham,  so  far  as  he  was  anything,  was  a  churchman  ;  and  Lauder- 
dale had  taken  a  leading  part  in  negotiating  the  Solemn  Lejigue  and 
Covenant,  and  had  been  one  of  the  Engagers  in  1648.  Of  them  all, 
Buckingham  was  the  most  versatile,  Asliley  the  most  able,  Lauderdale 
the  most  pliant,  Clifford  and  Arlington  the  most  bigoted.  As  in  consti- 
tutional history,  the  Cabal  was  the  germ  of  the  modem  cabinet,  so  in 
religion  it  marks  a  step  in  the  direction  of  toleration. 

The  first  result  of  the  fiiU  of  Clarendon  was  the  reversal  of  his  foreign 
policy  by  the  negotiation  of  the  triple  alliance  between  Holland,    The  Triple 
Sweden,  and  England.     This  was  the  work  of  Sir  William   Alliance. 
Temple,  the  English  ambassador  at  the  Hague,  who  was  not  only  one  of 

2r 


626  The  Stuarts  1670 

the  most  cultivated,  but  also  one  of  the  most  far-sighted  men  of  his  time. 
He  early  realised  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  the  power  of  Louis  xiv., 
and  was  the  life-long  friend  and  confidential  adviser  of  WiUiam  of 
Orange.  In  1670  William  was  a  lad  of  seventeen.  As  yet  he  had  no 
constitutional  position  in  Holland,  but  he  had  inherited  in  its  full 
measure  the  ability  of  his  family.  For  the  Triple  Alliance,  little  credit 
attaches  to  the  Cabal ;  and  the  first  real  result  of  the  change  of  govern- 
ment was  a  Comprehension  Bill,  which  was  introduced  into  parliament 
for  comprehending  some  of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  church,  and  for 
tolerating  to  nonconformists.  Ashley  had  steadily  opposed  both  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  and  the  Corporation  Act ;  but  in  the  existing  temper  of 
parliament,  toleration— either  of  Protestant  or  Catholic  nonconformists — 
was  out  of  the  question  ;  and,  in  1670,  the  Conventicle  Act  of  1664  was 
renewed  and  made  more  stringent. 

Probably  the  real  object  of  Charles  in  allowing  this  attempt  to  be 
made  was  to  pave  the  way  for  the  toleration  of  the  Catholics.  Before 
The  Roman'  the  Restoration  he  had  secretly  become  a  member  of  that 
Catholics.  church  ;  and,  in  1662,  he  had  sent  Sir  Richard  Billings  as 
agent  to  the  pope  to  treat  about  the  restoration  of  the  papal  authority  in 
England.  In  January  1669  the  king,  the  duke  of  York,  Lord  Arundel  of 
Wardour,  Clifford,  and  Arlington,  held  a  secret  meeting  to  consider  what 
could  be  done  in  the  matter,  and  it  was  there  decided  to  apply  to 
The  Treaties  Louis  XIV.  for  military  aid.  This  was  the  origin  of  the 
of  Dover.  secret  treaty  of  Dover,  which  was  negotiated  through. 
Charles'  sister  Henrietta,  duchess  of  Orleans,  and  was  signed  by 
Arlington,  Arundel  of  Wardour,  Clifford,  and  Billings,  for  England,  and 
by  Colbert  for  France.  Its  chief  provisions  were  (1)  that  Charles  should 
declare  himself  a  Catholic,  and  receive  from  Louis  £80,000  in  money 
and  the  aid  of  6000  troops  in  the  pay  of  France  ;  (2)  that  Charles  and 
Louis  should  make  a  joint  war  on  Holland,  and  that  Charles  should 
receive  the  islands  of  Walcheren  and  Cadsand  and  the  port  of  L'Ecluse 
(Sluys),  out  of  the  spoils  of  that  as  yet  unconquered  country.  To 
complete  the  ascendency  of  the  French  interest,  it  was  arranged  that 
a  beautiful  Breton  lady,  Louise  de  Keroualle,  should  meet  Charles 
at  Arlington's  house.  She  soon  acquired  such  an  influence  over  him 
that  she  was  created  duchess  of  Portsmouth,  and  became  the  chief 
agent  in  his  transactions  with  the  French  court.  The  first  treaty  of 
Dover  was  secret ;  but  Buckingham,  who  had  thrown  himself  into  the 
idea  of  an  alliance  against  the  Dutch,  was  permitted  to  negotiate  a 
second  and  open  treaty,  in  which  only  that  part  of  the  former  which 
applied  to  the  Dutch  was  allowed  to  appear ;   and  this  was  signed  by 


1672  Charles  II.  627 

Colbert  and  by  Buckingham,  Arlington,  Lauderdale,  Ashley,  and 
Clifford.  Of  the  former  treaty,  Buckingham,  Ashley,  and  Lauderdale 
knew  nothing,  and  most  of  their  contemporaries  were  equally  ignorant ; 
but  the  desertion  of  the  policy  of  the  Triple  Alliance  was  in  itself  bad 
enough,  and  gained  for  the  treaty  of  Dover  and  the  members  of  the  Cabal 
the  infamous  reputation  under  which  they  have  ever  since  laboured, 
as  the  men  who  broke  the  triple  league,  and  *  fitted  England  for  a  foreign 
yoke.'  Charles  was  well  aware  that  parliament  would  disapprove  of  his 
new  policy,  so  as  soon  as  he  had  induced  it  to  make  a  liberal  grant  of 
£800,000  for  the  navy,  under  the  impression  that  war  was  to  be  declared 
against  France,  it  was  prorogued,  and  did  not  meet  again  fornearly  two  years. 
Meanwhile,  to  add  to  his  resources,  the  king  carried  out  the  device 
known  at  the  time  as  *  The  Stop  of  the  Exchequer.'  At  that  date  it  was 
usual  for  the  government  to  anticipate  the  revenue  by  bor-   ^^ 

„  1  11.1  11  1  The  Stop 

rowmg  money  from  the  goldsmiths,  who  then  acted  as  of  the  Ex- 
bankers  and  advanced  the  money  entrusted  to  them  by  ^  ^^i"^**- 
their  depositors.  The  rate  of  interest  paid  by  the  government  was 
twelve  per  cent.,  of  which  the  depositors  received  five  per  cent., 
and  the  goldsmiths  retained  seven  per  cent.  The  debt  at  that  moment 
was  ;£  1,300,000.  On  January  2,  1672,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  Ashley,  who  had  recently  been  made 
earl  of  Shaftesbury,  Charles  issued  a  royal  order  forbidding  the 
exchequer  to  pay  any  warrants,  orders,  and  securities  for  twelve  months. 
Panic  followed,  and  so  great  was  the  outcry  that  four  days  later  he 
modified  the  order  to  the  extent  of  letting  the  goldsmiths  have  six  per 
cent.,  of  which  all  but  one  per  cent,  was  due  to  their  depositors.  The 
consequence  of  this  absurd  action,  for  which  Clifford  and  Lauderdale 
seem  to  have  been  chiefly  responsible,  was  that  so  severe  a  blow  was 
struck  at  the  credit  of  the  government,  as  completely  to  outbalance  the 
paltry  profit  made  by  this  disgraceful  act  of  national  bankruptcy. 

Charles'   next   step  was  to  feel  the  way  for  his  open  declaration  of 
Roman  Catholicism  by  the  public  reception  of  his  brother  James  into  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.     This  was  followed  up  in  March 
by  the  issue  of  a  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  by  which  all  the   ciaration  of 
acts  which  imposed  political  or  religious  disabilities  on  the     "  "  &ence. 
Catholic  or  Protestant  Nonconformists  were  suspended.      This   illegal 
and  unconstitutional  action  was  most  unpopular.     So  far  as  the  Roman 
Catholics  were  concerned,  it  revived  all  the  hatred  and  suspicion  which 
had  characterised  the  days  of  James  i.  ;  while  the  Protestant  Noncon- 
formists looked  with  suspicion  on  the  use  of  the  royal  prerogative,  the 
principle  of  which  might  be  stretched  to  sanction  the  suspension,  at  the 


628  The  Stuarts 


\m 


will  of  the  king,  of  any  act  of  parliament  whatsoever.  Nevertheless,  till 
parliament  met,  nothing  could  be  done  to  give  voice  to  the  national 
displeasure. 

Within  a  few  days  of  the  issue  of  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  a 
favourable  opportunity  occurred  for  beginning  the  war  against  the  Dutch. 

[Second  ^  ^^^*  ^^  Dutch  merchantmen  from  the  Levant  were  sailing 
Dutch  up  the  Channel,  convoyed  by  seven  men-of-war,  and  cast 
anchor  off  the  Isle  of  Wight.  There,  without  any  declara- 
tion of  war,  they  were  attacked  by  an  English  squadron  under  Sir 
Robert  Holmes.  The  Dutch,  however,  were  not  unprepared  for  an  emer- 
gency, which  their  government  had  suspected  ;  and,  fighting  with  great 
skill  and  determination,  they  succeeded  in  beating  off  their  assailants 
with  the  loss  of  only  one  man-of-war  and  four  merchantmen.  A  few  days 
after  this  disgraceful  affair,  war  against  HoUand  was  openly  declared 
both  by  England  and  France.  The  first  naval  action  was  fought  in 
Southwold  Bay,  where  the  duke  of  York,  the  earl  of  Sandwich,  and  the 
French  admiral  d'Estrees  encountered  the  Dutch  under  De  Ruyter.  The 
brunt  of  the  fighting  was  borne  by  the  English  contingent.  So  severe 
was  the  struggle  that  the  duke  was  forced  to  abandon  two  ships  in  a 
sinking  condition,  and  to  transfer  liis  flag  to  a  third,  while  the  gallant 
Sandwich,  refusing  to  abandon  the  Roijal  JameSy  was  burnt  with  most  of 
his  crew.  However,  after  the  fight  had  lasted  from  early  morning  to. 
seven  at  night,  De  Euyter  drew  off  his  ships,  leaving  the  scene  of 
slaughter  in  the  hands  of  the  allies,  and  next  day  he  sought  refuge  among 
the  banks  and  shoals  of  the  Dutch  coast.  On  land,  the  French  troops, 
under  Louis  in  person,  advised  by  Turenne  and  Conde,  and  aided  by 
6000  English  under  the  duke  of  Monmouth,  among  whom  served  John 
Churchill,  carried  all  before  them,  occupied  three  out  of  the  seven  pro- 
vinces of  Holland,  and  encamped  almost  within  sight  of  Amsterdam. 
These  disasters,  however,  only  roused  the  courage  of  the  Dutch.  The 
French  faction,  under  the  brothers  De  Witt,  was  driven  from  jDower ; 
and  shortly  afterwards  John  de  Witt  was  murdered  by  the  mob. 
William  iii.,  the  young  prince  of  Orange,  Charles  ii.'s  nephew,  now  aged 
twenty-two,  was  requested  to  undertake  the  task  of  saving  his  country. 
This  he  willingly  accepted.  Under  his  guidance  the  Dutch  opened  their 
dykes  and  restored  to  the  sea  the  lands  occupied  by  their  enemies.  The 
French  fled  for  their  lives  ;  and  with  this  auspicious  beginning  William 
entered  upon  a  contest  with  Louis  xiv.  which  was  to  end  only  with 
his  life. 

In  January  1673  parliament  met.  The  members  were  in  high  dudgeon, 
and  in  the  elections  which  had  taken  place  to  fill  up  vacancies  the 


1673  Charles  IL  629 

Presbyterian  party  had  gained  largely.     By  a  vote  of  168  to  116  it  was 
resolved  that  *  penal  statutes  in  matters  ecclesiastical  cannot  be  suspended 
but  by  act  of  parliament,'  and  a  request  for  the  withdrawal   views  of 
of    the    Declaration    was    made    to    the  king.      All  the    Parliament, 
ministers  but  Arlington  advised  him  to  stand  his  ground,  but  by  the 
advice  of  Louis,  who  promised  the  aid  of  men  and  money 
as  soon  as  the  Dutch  war  was  over,  Charles  yielded,  cancelled   ciaration 
the  Declaration,  and  declared  that  it  should  never  be  used 
as  a  precedent. 

Then,  thinking  that  the  employment  of  Roman  Catholics  was  the  cause 
of  all  these  unjiopular  measures,  parliament  passed  the  Test  Act,  by  which 
it  was  ordered  that  no  person  should  hold  office  under  the  The  Test 
crown  unless  he  had  taken  the  sacrament  according  to  the  ^^^' 
rites  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  made  a  declaration  against  Transub- 
stantiation.  This  Act  made  it  impossible  for  a  Roman  Catholic  to  hold 
office  ;  but  Louis  advised  Charles  to  submit  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war, 
and  to  this  counsel  Charles  agreed.  The  passage  of  the  Test  Act  broke  up 
the  ministry.  Before  the  day  for  taking  the  sjicrament  arrived,  Clifibrd 
resigned  his  post  of  lord  treasurer,  and  James  that  of  high  admiral. 
Cliiford  died  in  June  1673  ;  Arlington  took  little  more  part  in  public 
affiiirs  ;  Shaftesbury  was  dismissed  from  the  chancellorship  in  November, 
and  immediately  went  into  opposition ;  and  Buckingham,  though  for  a 
time  he  clung  to  the  court,  followed  his  example  in  the  next  year. 
Lauderdale  alone  retiiined  his  influence,  but  he  was  almost  exclusively 
busied  with  Scottish  affairs. 

Cliff'ord  was  succeeded  at  the  Treasury  by  Sir  Thomas  Osborne,  a 
Yorkshire  gentleman,  who  subsequently  held  in  turn  the  titles  of  Lord 
Latimer,  earl  of  Danby,  marquess  of  Carmarthen,  and  duke  sir  Thomas 
of  Leeds.  Osborne  was  a  clever  time-server,  ready  to  do  Osborne, 
almost  anything  to  keep  his  place.  His  domestic  policy  consisted  in 
conciliating  the  old  caviUiers  by  supporting  the  Church  of  England  and 
strengthening  the  royal  prerogative.  In  foreign  affiiirs  he  was  at  heart 
friendly  to  the  Dutch  and  opposed  to  France  ;  but  nevertheless  his  sub- 
sequent conduct  showed  that  he  was  willing  to  rettiin  office  at  the  price 
of  acting  as  Charles'  agent  in  negotiating  with  Louis  xiv.  Unprincipled 
himself,  he  counted  on  finding  others  the  same,  and  was  said  to  set  aside 
from  the  excise  an  annual  sum  of  £20,000  for  the  purpose  of  bribing 
members  of  parliament. 

Since  1661  there  had  been  no  general  election  ;  but  the  temper  of  the 
house  had  changed  in  response  to  the  altered  feeling  of  the  country.  No 
parliament  of  Englishmen,  whether  Cavalier  or  Roundhead,  was  likely  to 


630  The  Stuarts  1673 

approve  either  of  Charles'  way  of  life,  or  of  the  actions  of  such  ministers 
as  Clifford  and  Arlington  ;  and  it  did  not  need  Charles  i.'s  dictum  that 
*  parliaments,  like  cats,  grow  cursed  with  age '  to  explain 
'  Country     the  change  of  feeling.     The  fight  over,  the  Declaration  of  In- 
^^  ^'  dulgence  and  the  Test  Act  had  resulted  in  the  consolidation 

of  something  like  a  regular  opposition.  Its  leaders  in  the  Commons  were 
William  Kussell,  second  son  of  the  earl  of  Bedford,  and  after  the  death  of 
his  elder  brother  in  1678,  spoken  of  as  Lord  Kussell ;  Lord  Cavendish, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Devonshire  ;  Colonel  Birch,  an  old  Common- 
wealth man,  who  had  formerly  been  a  carrier ;  John  Hampden,  grand- 
son of  the  great  John  Hampden,  and  others.  In  the  Lords,  Shaftes- 
bury, and  afterwards  Buckingham,  were  the  most  prominent ;  but  they 
had  the  assistance  of  Lord  Holies,  formerly  the  Denzil  Holies  of  the  Long 
Parliament ;  Philip,  Lord  Wharton,  and  the  earl  of  Salisbury.  The  oppo- 
sition came  to  be  known  as  the  'country  party'  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  courtiers.  The  policy  of  the  '  country  party,'  was 
dictated  by  fear  of  Roman  Catholicism,  and  consequently  by 
distrust  of  France.  The  necessity  of  finding  allies  inclined  them  to 
favour  the  Protestant  Nonconformists.  They,  therefore,  desired  peace 
with  Holland,  and,  if  possible,  war  with  France  ;  but  their  desire  for 
this  was  modified  by  their  apprehensions  that  if  Charles  got  a  standing 
army  it  would  be  used  against  the  liberties  of  England  and  the  Protestant 
religion.  Hence,  it  was  almost  impossible  that  their  policy  could  be 
consistent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  existence  of  the  '  country  party '  kept 
Louis  XIV.  in  continual  fear,  for  he  dreaded  lest  Charles  should  be  forced 
to  go  to  war  with  him  ;  and,  therefore,  played  a  double  game.  When  he 
thought  the  opix)sition  likely  to  get  their  way,  he  paid  Charles  to  prorogue 
or  dissolve  parliament ;  if  he  thought  Charles  was  too  independent,  he 
would  help  the  '  country  party '  to  attack  him.  In  consequence  the 
action  of  Charles,  Louis,  and  the  opposition  leaders  is  extremely  difl&cult 
to  follow. 

The  meeting  of  parliament  in  1674,  therefore,  witnessed  the  appearance 
of  a  regular  opposition  under  Shaftesbury  and  Russell.  The  characters 
William  of  the  two  leaders  were  well  fitted  to  supplement  each  other. 
Russell.  Rvissell  was  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  was  married 
to  Rachel  Wriothesley,  daughter  of  the  marquess  of  Winchester. 
Hitherto  he  had  taken  little  part  in  parliamentary  business,  for  he  was 
slow  of  speech  ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  great  honesty,  of  sound  judgment, 
universally  beloved  and  trusted,  and  his  position  as  prospective  head  of 
the  house  of  Bedford  carried  great  weight  in  the  country.  The  accession 
of  Shaftesbury  to  the  '  country  party'  was  a  matter  of  the  first  consequence. 


1675  Charles  II.  631 

In  character  he  was  almost  an  antithesis  of  Russell.  Aged  fifty-three, 
he  had  taken  an  active  part  in  politics  since  he  had  contrived  to  sit  in 
the  Short  Parliament  of  1640  as  a  young  man  of  nineteen.   ^.    .     , 

,      ,  ,  1.  1     Shaftesbury. 

Durmg  the  civil  war  he  had  served  first  as  a  cavalier,  and 
then  as  a  parliamentarian.  He  was  a  member  both  of  the  Rump  and  of 
Barebone's  parliament,  and  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  councils  and 
parliaments  of  Cromwell.  After  Cromwell's  death  he  had  sided  with 
parliament  against  the  army,  and  had  been  active  in  forwarding  the 
restoration  of  the  king.  Under  Clarendon  he  had  acted  as  chancellor  of 
the  exchequer  ;  in  the  Cabal  he  had  risen  to  be  lord  chancellor.  Through 
all  his  experiences,  however,  he  had  never  been  either  a  blind  supporter 
of  prerogative  nor  an  ecclesiastical  bigot.  Under  Clarendon  he  had 
opposed  the  Uniformity  and  Corporation  Acts,  in  the  Cabal  he  had 
favoured  the  Comprehension  Bill  and  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence.  His 
voice  had  also  opposed  the  'stop  of  the  exchequer,'  and  he  brought 
with  him  into  the  councils  of  the  *  country  party '  not  only  an  unrivalled 
experience  of  business,  but  a  ready  tongue,  a  facile  comprehension  of  the 
needs  of  the  moment,  undaunted  courage,  and  a  complete  mastery  of  the 
art  of  political  agitation. 

The  first  action  of  the  new  party  was  to  attack  Buckingham,  Arling- 
ton, and  Lauderdale  ;   and  so  strong  did  it  appear  that  Buckingham, 
whose  fickleness  was   proverbial,   immediately  joined   its    ~.i^   q    ,^ 
ranks,  while  the  other  two  sought  safety,  one  in  retirement,   of  Non- 
the  other  in  Scotland.     Danby  was  thus  left  supreme,  and 
in  1675  he  attempted  to  secure  the  favour  of  the  old  cavaliers  by  intro- 
ducing a  bill  to  compel  every  officer  in  church  and  state,  and  every 
member  of  either  House  of  Parliament,  to  declare  on  oath  that  *  it  was 
unlawful,  on  any  pretence  whatever,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king,' 
and  that  'he  would  not  endetivour  at  any  time  the  alteration  of  the 
government  in  church  and  state.'      Through  the  ingenuity,  however,  of 
Shaftesbury,  the  bill  never  got  beyond  the  House  of  Lords ;   and  the 
opposition  having,  in  their  turn,  brought  forward  a  bill  for  giving  better 
security  against  arbitrary  imprisonment,  which  afterwards  developed 
into  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  the  king  had  recourse  to  prorogation. 

This  he  was  enabled  to  do  by  the  aid  of  Louis  xiv.  To  carry  on  the 
Dutch  war  in  teeth  of  public  opinion  was  impossible,  and  in  1674  terms 
were  made  at  the  price  of  the  cession  to  England  of  the  Peace  with 
island  of  St.  Helena,  a  convenient  place  of  call  for  ships  ****^  Dutch, 
sailing  to  and  from  the  East  Indies.  Louis  was  afraid  that  the  opposition 
would  press  Charles  to  join  the  Dutch  in  war  against  him.  Such  an 
event  would  obviously  be  fatal  not  only  to  Louis'  plans  of  conquest,  but 


632  The  Stuarts  1675 

to  Charles'  Roman  Catholic  intrigues,  so  it  was  arranged  between  them 
that  on  the  one  hand  Charles  was  to  prorogue  parliament,  on  the  other 
Louis  was  to  furnish  Charles  with  an  annual  sum  of  £120,000. 

Parliament  was  accordingly  dismissed  for  fifteen  months  ;  and  to  put  a 
stop  to  political  criticism,  the  coffee-houses,  which  were  beginning  to 
take  the  place  of  modern  clubs,  were  peremptorily  closed, 
rogation  of  During  the  recess  the  opposition  was  powerless  ;  but  when 
ar  lamen  .  paj-jj^jj^gj^^  reassembled  in  1677,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
force  on  a  general  election  by  contending  that  parliament,  having  not 
sat  for  twelve  months,  was  ijyso  facto  dissolved.  The  plea,  however,  was 
not  admitted.  Shaftesbury,  Buckingham,  Salisbury,  and  Wharton  were 
sent  to  the  Tower  by  the  Lords  for  insulting  parliament  by  advancing  it ; 
and  though  the  three  others  were  soon  released,  Shaftesbury  was  kept  in 
confinement  for  more  than  a  year,  when,  on  apologising  for  his  conduct, 
he  too  was  sufiiered  to  go  free. 

Incited  by  Louis,  the  '  country  party '  now  demanded  the  dismissal  of 
the  army,  which  would  have  effectually  prevented  England  from  inter- 
.  fering  on  the  continent.     Danby,  on  the  other  hand,  revived 

William  the  policy  of  the  Triple  Alliance  by  arranging  a  marriage 

ary.  i^etween  Mary,  eldest  daughter  of  the  duke  of  York,  and 
heir  to  the  crown  after  her  father,  and  her  cousin,  William  iii.  of  Orange, 
stadtholder  of  Holland.  This  marriage  was  thoroughly  popular.  William 
was  now  twenty-seven  years  of  age  ;  he  had  early  shown  himself  possessed 
of  the  highest  order  of  talent,  and  had  made  himself  a  sort  of  '  Protestant 
hero '  by  his  magnificent  defence  of  Holland  against  the  apparently  over- 
whelming strength  of  the  Catholic  Louis  xiv.  His  possible  accession  to 
the  English  throne  was  regarded  with  hope  by  all  who  suspected  the 
religious  intrigiies  of  Charles  and  James,  or  who  feared  the  danger  to 
liberty  involved  in  the  success  of  the  French  arms.  Louis  never  forgave 
Danby  for  the  match,  and  its  importance  was  seen  not  only  in  fresh 
dealings  with  the  opposition,  but  in  the  opening  of  negotiations  with  the 
Dutch. 

All  England  hoped  for  a  French  war,  and  ^£300,000   was  voted  to 

strengthen  the  fleet ;  but  during  the  progress  of  the  negotiations  Charles 

made  a  secret  treaty  with  France,  by  which  he  agreed,  at 

Treaty  with    the  price  of  £300,000  a  year  for  three  years,  to  dissolve 

ranee.  parliament,  to  disband  the  army,  and  not  to  assist  the  Dutch 

if  they  continued  the  war. 

In  obedience  to  Charles'  order,  this  arrangement  was  entered  into  by 
Danby,  through  Sir  R.  Montagu,  the  English  ambassador  at  Paris.  For 
his  services  Montagu  expected  to  be  made  secretary  of  state,  but  being 


1678  Chwrles  11.  633 

disappointed,  he  disclosed  what  he  knew  to  the  members  of  the  opposition; 
and  though  Danby  contrived  to  get  an  order  of  the  council  for  seizing 
Montagu's  papers,  two  letters  in  Danby's  handwriting,  and  p^n  of 
endorsed  by  Charles  himself,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Shaftes-  Danby. 
bury  and  Russell.  From  these  it  appeared  that  the  negotiation  was  to  be 
kept  as  '  private  as  possible,  for  fear  of  giving  offence  at  home,'  and  that 
the  ^300,000  was  designed  to  provide  for  Charles  during  the  period  of 
resentment  which  parliament  was  expected  to  feel  when  it  learnt  how  it 
had  been  cozened.  Upon  this  the  Commons  impeached  Danby  of  high 
treason  ;  and  to  save  him  Charles  at  last  dissolved  parliament.  This 
was  exactly  what  the  opposition  wanted,  as  they  believed  themselves  to 
have  the  country  at  their  back  ;  and  the  '  country  party '  was  so  much 
stronger  in  the  new  House,  that  before  it  met,  James  found  it  convenient 
to  retire  to  Brussels.  Danby's  impeachment  was  at  once  renewed.  His 
general  defence  was  that  he  had  acted  by  the  direct  orders  of  the  king, 
and,  in  bar  of  further  proceedings,  he  produced  a  pardon  under  the  great 
seal.  As  such  a  defence  was  obviously  fatal  to  the  principle  of  ministerial 
responsibility,  it  was  stoutly  contested  ;  and,  in  defiance  of  it,  Danby  was 
committed  to  the  Tower,  where  he  remained  till  the  close  of  the  reign. 
His  place  at  the  Treasury  was  Uiken  by  Arthur  Capel,  earl  of  Essex,  son  of 
the  Capel  beheaded  in  1649.  He  was  an  honest  and  economical  adminis- 
trator, and  hivd  gained  a  high  reputation  as  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland, 
but  had  little  political  influence. 

Three  administrations — those  of  Clarendon,  the  Cabal,  and  Danby — had 
now  been  overthrown  by  the  votes  of  parliament.  Such  struggles  were 
fattU  to  efficient  administration  ;  but  it  Wiis  difficult  to  see   ^ 

Constitu- 

how  they  were  to  be  avoided  unless  Charles  was  willing   tionaldead- 
to  give  up  to  parUament  the  real  business  of  government, 
and  that  he  was  not  prepared  to  do.     Some  thought  that  the  solution 
of  the  difficulty  was  to  be  found  in  strengthening  the  Privy  Council  and 
making  the  members  directly  responsible  for  its  decisions,  so  that  on  the 
one  hand  it  might  act  as  a  bufler  between  the  king  and  the   Temple's 
parliament,  and  on  the  other  check  the  growing  practice  of   Scheme, 
putting  the  real  conduct  of  afiairs  into  the  hands  of  a  small  cabal.     In 
accordance  with  this  idea.  Sir  William  Temple  brought  forward  a  scheme 
for  making  the  Privy  Council  consist  of  thirty  members,  fifteen  of  whom 
were  to  be  royal  officials,  and  fifteen  nominated  by  the  crown  from  the 
independent  members  of  parliament.     It  was  also  arranged  that  the 
members  should  be  wealthy,  so  that  the  large  stake  they  had  in  the 
country  might  give  confidence  in  their  caution,  and  the  income  of  the 
first  members  was  calculated  at  ^300,000  a  year,  as  against  an  estimated 


634  The  Stuarts  1678 

.£400,000  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  new  council,  therefore,  was 
a  sort  of  microcosm  of  the  ruling  classes.  It  included  such  leading 
ministers  as  Eobert  Spencer,  earl  of  Sunderland,  a  man  who  had  lately 
acquired  great  influence  ;  Sir  William  Temple,  the  earl  of  Essex,  George 
Savile,  marquess  of  Halifax,  and  also  Shaftesbury,  who  acted  as  president, 
Lord  Russell,  Lord  Cavendish,  and  other  members  of  the  opposition.  The 
plan,  however,  did  not  work  well.  Power  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Sunderland,  Essex,  Halifax,  and  Temple,  who  practically  arranged  the 
business  of  the  whole  council ;  while  Charles,  when  it  suited  him,  set  its 
decisions  at  defiance. 

Meanwhile,  all  England  had  been  agitated  by  the  story  of  a  popish 
plot.  Ever  since  the  gunpowder  conspiracy  the  country  had  been  ready 
The  Popish  enough  to  believe  any  stories  against  the  Roman  Catholics. 
Plot.  Though  the  facts,  which  have  since  come  to  light,  were  then 

only  a  matter  of  inference,  it  was  strongly  suspected  that  both  Charles  and 
James  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  that  they  had  a  perfect  understanding 
with  Louis  XIV.  in  view  of  a  forcible  restoration  of  Roman  Catholicism. 
Indeed,  by  this  date,  the  fear  of  civil  war  which,  so  long  as  Oliver 
Cromwell's  soldiers  were  efficient,  had  manifested  itself  in  Clarendon's 
endeavour  to  break  up  the  nonconforming  congregations,  and  to 
exclude  Nonconformists  from  municipal  office,  had  changed  into  an 
apprehension  of  a  French  invasion  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

This  state  of  aflFairs  was  admirably  fitted  to  render  easy  a  belief  in  a 
Roman  Catholic  plot ;  and  in  September  1678,  a  month  after  parliament 
^.       ^  met,  a  rank  impostor,  Titus  Gates,  who  had  at  one  time  been 

Titus  Oates.  '  r-  '  ' 

a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  chaplain  in 
the  navy,  who  afterwards  became  a  sham  convert  to  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, and  was  expelled  from  every  post  he  had  held  in  either  church 
for  disgraceful  conduct  and  character,  came  forward  with  an  absurd 
story  of  a  Jesuit  plot  to  murder  Charles  and  James,  and  to  establish  Roman 
Catholicism  by  force.  The  story  was  in  itself  ludicrous,  for  Charles  and 
James  were  the  best  friends  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  their  deaths 
would  have  raised  to  the  throne  the  Protestant  Mary  and  her  husband 
William  of  Grange  ;  but  the  excitement  of  the  time  deprived  men  of  their 
critical  faculties,  and  his  tale  was  widely  believed,  even  by  so  reasonable 
a  man  as  Lord  Russell.  Gates'  depositions  were  made  before  Sir  Edmund 
Berry  Godfrey,  a  London  magistrate ;  and  a  fortnight  later  the  dead 
body  of  Godfrey,  impaled  on  a  short  sword,  was  found  in  a  dry  ditch  on 
Primrose  Hill.  Whether  the  case  was  one  of  murder  or  suicide,  it  was 
impossible  to  say.  Those  who  believed  Gates  declared  that  he  had  been 
murdered  by  the    Papists,   those   who    disbelieved  were    for   suicide, 


1679  Charles  11.  635 

while  a  few  declared  that  Godfrey  had  been  murdered  by  Gates'  friends 
in  order  to  throw  the  blame  on  the  Jesuits.  On  the  whole,  however, 
suicide  is  probably  the  right  explanation ;  and  the  fact  that  Grodfrey's 
friend,  Coleman,  was  one  of  Gates'  first  victims,  lends  colour  to  this. 
Coleman  was  a  Roman  Catholic  convert,  who  acted  as  secretary  to  the 
duchess  of  York.  He  was  a  silly  and  extravagant  fellow,  and  his  corre- 
spondence showed  that  he  had  asked  Pere  Lachaise,  the  confessor  of 
Louis  XIV.,  to  find  him  £20,000  for  certain  purposes  profitable  to  France 
and  to  Catholicism.  This  Gates  declared  to  be  the  plot.  Meanwhile, 
Gates'  fame  had  inspired  an  imitator  in  William  Bedloe,  a 
rascal  who,  while  acting  as  a  courier  on  the  continent,  had 
gathered  some  acquaintance  with  the  habits  of  the  Catholics.  He  came 
forward  with  a  circumsttintial  account  of  the  murder  of  Godfrey  by  the 
Papists.  The  evidence  of  these  two  scoundrels  drove  England  mad  with 
terror.  Five  Roman  Catholic  peers,  and  some  two  thousand  clergy  and 
commoners  were  arrested,  and  small  measure  of  justice  or  mercy  wa«  the 
lot  of  those  who  stood  fii-st  for  trial.  No  one  knew  better  the  falseness  of 
the  whole  story  than  Charles  ;  but  feeling  his  weakness  as  an  unacknow- 
ledged Roman  Catholic,  he  did  not  venture  to  interfere  in  their  behalf,  and 
before  common  sense  resumed  its  sway,  many  innocent  men  perished  on 
the  scafibld.  Gf  these,  the  first  victims  were  Coleman,  whose  foolish  cor- 
respondence had  so  unluckily  played  into  Gates'  hands,  three  Jesuits, 
Ireland,  Grove,  and  Pickering,  and  three  poor  fellows  who  were  convicted 
of  murdering  Godfrey.  In  1679  five  Jesuits  were  convicted  and  hanged, 
but  another  of  the  accused.  Sir  George  Wakeman,  the  queen's  physician, 
was  acquitted.  At  this  moment  another  impostor.  Danger- 
field,  came  forward  with  the  story  that  the  Roman  Catholics 
had  suborned  him  to  give  information  of  a  sham  Presbyterian  plot,  and  also 
to  murder  the  earl  of  Shaftesbury.  This  story,  known  as  the  Mealtub 
Plot,  revived  popular  apprehension.  Fresh  trials  and  executions  followed ; 
and  finally,  two  years  after  Gates'  original  disclosures,  the  aged  and 
respected  Viscount  Stafford  was  impeached  before  the  Lords,  convicted  of 
compassing  the  king's  death,  and  beheaded.  Two  things  in  particular 
were  fatal  to  the  accused — first,  the  incredulity  with  which  the  evidence 
of  Roman  Catholics  was  received  in  favour  of  their  co-religionists  ;  and 
secondly,  the  political  excitement  of  the  time,  which  almost  made  hatred 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  an  essential  part  of  the  creed  of  one  political 
party. 

Immediately  on  the  assembling  of  parliament,  after  Gates'  depositions, 
the  question  had  been  raised  whether  the  safety  of  the  Protestant  faith 
could  be  secured  under  a  Roman  Catholic  sovereign  ;  and  after  several 


636  The  Stuarts  1679 

offers  of  Charles  to  consent  to  any  special  limitations  on  the  prerogative 
which  parliament  should  think  needful  while  a  Roman  Catholic  was  on 
The  Exclu-  the  throne,  a  bill  was  brought  into  the  House  of  Commons  in 
sion  Bill.  j^^y  -^Q^g  f^j,  ^jjg  exclusion  of  the  duke  of  York  from  the 
throne,  and  his  banishment  from  the  country  for  life.  If  James  were 
excluded  it  was  proposed  to  put  the  Protestant  Mary  and  her  husband 
William  on  the  throne.  This  made  the  bill  popular,  and  secured  it  the 
goodwill  of  William  of  Orange,  who  wished  nothing  more  than  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  England  and  Holland  in  the  work  of  resisting  the 
ambition  of  Louis  xiv.  Charles,  however,  though  willing  to  agree  to  a 
regency,  was  not  willing  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  his 
tion  of  brother,  and,  to  gain  time,  he  dissolved  parliament.     Before 

ar  lamen  .  j^-^jg  g^^  however,  the  royal  consent  was  given  to  the 
Habeas  Corpus  Act,  long  honourably  known  as  Shaftesbury's  Act. 
The  Habeas  The  object  of  this  bill  was  to  give  additional  facility 
Corpus  Act.  f^j,  securing  to  an  Englishman  the  right  of  being  punished  or 
imprisoned  only  after  a  trial  by  his  peers,  which  had  formed  the  thirty- 
ninth  clause  of  the  Great  Charter,  Its  chief  provisions  were  two  :  first, 
any  unconvicted  prisoner,  committed  for  any  crime  except  treason  or 
felony,  may  require  a  judge  to  issue  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  ordering 
the  jailor  to  produce  him  in  court  in  order  that  he  may  be  released  on 
bail  ;  second,  a  prisoner  accused  of  treason  or  felony  must  be  tried  at  the 
first  assizes  held  after  his  committal,  or  released  on  bail,  unless  the 
witnesses  are  unavoidably  detained  ;  in  that  case  he  is  either  to  be  tried 
at  the  second  assizes  or  discharged.  These  enactments,  says  Hallam, 
'  cut  off  the  abuses  by  which  the  government's  lust  of  power  and  the 
servile  subtlety  of  crown  lawyers  had  impaired  so  fundamental  a  privi- 
lege.' By  a  third  clause  no  Englishman  could  be  imprisoned  in  Scotland, 
Ireland,  the  Channel  Islands,  or  any  other  of  the  foreign  dominions  of  the 
king — a  rule  afterwards  modified  to  admit  of  transportation  to  a  penal 
settlement.  In  its  next  session  parliament  struck  a  stout  blow  for  the 
purification  of  justice  by  the  impeachment  of  Chief- Justice  Scroggs,  an 
able  man  of  bad  character,  who  had  rendered  himself  notorious  by  his 
subserviency  to  the  Court,  and  the  brutality  of  his  conduct  on  the  bench. 
He  was  accused  of  illegally  dismissing  the  grand  jurymen  of  Middlesex 
when  they  were  on  the  point  of  presenting  the  duke  of  York  as  a  '  popish 
recusant '  ;  of  illegally  forbidding  the  sale  of  a  pamphlet  entitled  The 
Weekly  Packet  of  Advice  from  Rome,  and  for  acting  illegally  in  the 
imposition  of  fines,  the  refusing  of  bail,  and  the  issuing  of  general 
warrants.  A  dissolution  prevented  the  trial  of  Scroggs,  but  his  conduct 
was  so  notorious,  that  even  Charles  felt  it  unwise  to  keep  him  on  the 


1680  Charles  11.  637 

bench,  and  he  was  soon  afterwards  removed.     His  place,  however,  was 
taken  by  Saunders,  who  was  little  better  than  his  predecessor. 

During  the  discussion  of  the  Exclusion  Bill  James  had  withdrawn  to 
Brussels.  After  the  dissolution  he  returned,  but  was  sent  on  to  Scotland. 
That  country  had  lately  been  the  scene  of  a  rebellion.  When 
at  the  Restoration  Charles,  by  the  advice  of  Middleton  and 
Clarendon,  and  against  the  astute  council  of  Lauderdale,  had  restored  the 
bishops,  the  natural  consequence  was  a  wholesale  secession  of  Presby- 
terian ministers,  and  the  pastors  were  followed  by  their  congregations. 
In  vain  the  clergy  were  forbidden  to  come  within  twenty  miles  of  their 
former  parishes  ;  in  vain  it  was  declared  to  be  seditious  to  preach  in  the 
open  air  ;  in  vain  the  seceding  laity  were  fined,  imprisoned,  and  tortured  ; 
all  that  was  most  earnest  in  the  religious  life  of  Scotland  gathered  on  the 
hill-sides  to  listen  to  the  words  of  their  beloved  ministers.  A  regular 
dnigonnade  followed,  directed  by  the  subservient  Lauderdale  and  the 
renegade  Archbishop  Sharpe.  Reprisals  soon  followed,  but  only  served 
Charles  as  an  excuse  for  raising  the  Scottish  anny  to  20,000    .    ^^.  ^ 

,  ''  Archbishop 

men.  However,  in  1079,  Shai-pe  was  murdered  on  Magus  Sharpe 
Moor  by  a  body  of  fanatics,  and  a  regular  insunection  broke  *""*^ 
out  in  the  western  lowlands.  A  small  force  under  Jolm  Graham  of 
Claverhouse,  afterwards  Viscount  Dundee,  was  routed  at  Drumclog ; 
but  the  ill-armed,  and  ill-led  rebels  were  utterly  routed  at  Both  well 
Brigg  by  a  formidable  force  commanded  by  the  duke  of  Monmouth,  the 
reputed  son  of  Charles  ii.  The  result  of  this  abortive  rebellion  was  to 
strengthen  Charles'  hands  by  giving  excuse  for  raising  a  formidable  army, 
which  was  placed  under  Claverhouse ;  and  James,  on  his  ai-rival,  found 
liimself  able  to  coerce  the  Covenanters  with  impunity^a  task  into  which 
he  threw  himself  with  cruel  energy. 

The  election  for  a  new  parliament  had  occurred  in  1679,  immediately 
after  the  dissolution,  but  Charles,  knowing  that  the  majority  was  hostile, 
and  having  money  provided  by  Louis,  put  off  its  meeting  agjiin 
and  again,  and  it  did  not  assemble  for  business  till  October   Parliament 
1680.      This  delay  revived  all  the   piirty  feeling  of  the     ^  ^^^ 
previous  reign.     On  the  one  side  petitions  were  sent  to  the  king,  ui-ging 
him  to  assemble  parliament ;  on  the  other,  counter-petitions  ,  p    .  . 
from  those  who  'abhorred   the  action  of  promoting  peti-  and 
tions.'     From  these  came  the  names   of  '  Petitioners '  and 
'  Abhorrers,'  which  were  afterwards  replaced  by  those  of  '  Whigs '  and 
*  Tories.'    These  names  were  given  to  the  parties  by  their 
opponents.     Whig  was  supposed  to  denote  the  Nonconfor- 
mists of  Scotland.     There  had  been  a  '  Whiggamore  raid'  in  1650,  and 


638  *  The  Stuarts  1680 

the  name  *  Whig'  was  used  by  the  royalists  of  the  Scotch  rebels  in  1666. 
Its  application  to  the  country  party  was  designed  as  a  slur  on  their 
loyalty.  Tory  was,  properly  speaking,  an  Irish  brigand ; 
the  rebels  of  1641  were  spoken  of  by  the  English  as  '  cut- 
throat tories ' ;  and  the  term  might  be  supposed  to  suggest  the  Roman 
Catholic  tendencies  of  the  court  party.  However,  the  convenience  of 
having  short  and  more  or  less  meaningless  terms  to  distinguish  political 
parties  rapidly  brought  them  into  favour,  and  before  long  they  were 
adopted  as  honourable  distinctions  by  the  two  parties. 

Both  Whigs  and  Tories  accepted  government  by  king  and  parlia- 
ment as  the  settled  constitution  of  the  country  ;  but  the  Tories  laid  great 
Party  stress  on  the  hereditary  right  of  the  king,  and  the  duty  of 

Principles,  non-resistance,  while  the  Whigs  were  inclined  to  look  upon 
him  as  an  official,  amenable,  like  others,  to  the  rules  of  law,  and  bound 
to  act  through  ministers  responsible  to  parliament.  As,  however,  was 
the  case  in  the  civil  war,  religious  opinion  played  a  larger  part  in 
determining  the  attitude  of  individuals  than  theoretical  differences  on 
constitutional  points.  The  Tories  were  stout  supporters  of  the  church, 
while  the  Whigs,  even  when  churchmen  themselves,  leaned  to  alliance 
with  the  Protestant  Nonconformists,  and  would  gladly  have  seen  them 
tolerated.  With  the  Roman  Catholics  neither  showed  any  sympathy  ; 
because  both  honestly  believed  that  they  were  engaged  in  a  battle  with 
popery,  in  which  either  *they  would  destroy  it  or  it  would  destroy 
them.'  Members  of  both  parties  were  to  be  found  in  all  ranks  of 
society — for  in  England  Whig  and  Tory  have  never  been  class  dis- 
tinctions ;  but,  as  had  been  the  case  in  the  civil  war  with  the  cavaliers 
and  roundheads,  the  Tories  were  strongest  in  the  agricultural  districts — 
particularly  among  the  squires  and  country  clergy — the  Whigs  in  the 
towns. 

In  1680  the  Whigs  were  in  favour  of  the  Exclusion  Bill,  while  the 
Tories,  on  their  theory  of  hereditary  transmission  and  divine  right,  were 
The  Exciu-  opposed  to  altering  the  order  of  succession.  However,  in 
sion  Bill.  ^Q  Commons,  the  Whigs  had  an  overwhelming  majority, 
and  passed  the  bill  almost  without  opposition.  In  the  Lords,  however, 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  Shaftesbury,  it  was  vigorously  opposed, 
particularly  by  George  Savile,  marquess  of  Halifax — a  man  who  was  by 
temperament  a  most  ingenious  critic  of  the  policy  of  other  men,  and 
prided  himself  on  being  a  'Trimmer' — that  is,  one  who  held  himself 
aloof  from  party.  The  Trimmer's  eloquence  carried  the  day  against  the 
Whigs,  and  the  bill  was  rejected  by  63  votes  to  30,  The  success  of  the 
Court  in  the  Lords  was  largely  due  to  a  mistake  of  Shaftesbury,  which 


1681  .  Charles  11.  639 

had  alienated  the  Prince  of  Orange.  So  long  as  Mary  was  to  succeed 
Charles,  the  prince  had  been  favourable  to  the  bill,  but  some  of  the 
extreme  Whigs  were  now  pressing  the  claims  of  the  duke  of  Monmouth, 
who  was  a  strong  Protestant,  and  now  greatly  under  Shaftesbury's 
influence,  and  this  turned  the  prince  against  it.  So  violent  was  Shaftes- 
bury that,  on  the  rejection  of  the  Exclusion  Bill,  he  pressed  Charles 
to  declare  Monmouth  legitimate,  but  to  this  Charles  refused  to  agree. 
However,  the  fears  excited  by  the  Popish  Plot  showed  no  sign  of 
abating.  During  the  summer  of  1680,  Shaftesbury  had  presented 
James  as  a  recusant ;  immediately  after  the  rejection  of  the  Exclusion 
Bill,  the  peers,  by  55  to  31,  found  Staflford  guilty  of  treason ;  and  so 
long  as  these  actions  represented  the  general  feeling  James'  accession 
could  only  be  regarded  with  apprehension.  The  only  question  was 
whether  this  apprehension  was  sufl&ciently  strong  to  impel  the  mass  of 
the  nation  to  take  the  serious  step  of  altering  the  line  of  succession 
in  order  to  guard  against  an  evil  which,  as  yet,  was  entirely  prospec- 
tive. At  present,  however,  the  Whig  leaders  did  not  despair.  A 
message  of  Charles,  in  which  he  announced  plainly  his  determination 
never  to  agree  to  the  Exclusion  Bill,  was  met  by  a  resolution  declaring 
*  that  till  the  Exclusion  Bill  was  pjissed  they  could  not  grant  the  king 
any  manner  of  supply ' ;  and  government  having  thus  reached  an  absolute 
deadlock,  Charles  dissolved  parliament,  and  again  appealed  to  the 
country. 

The  elections  were  conducted  amidst  gre^t  excitement ;  but  for  the 
most  part  the  old  members  were  returned,  and  it  seemed  certain  that  the 
renewal  of  the  struggle  must  very  soon  lead  to  a  crisis.  In  The  Oxford 
these  circumstances  Charles  acted  with  a  skill  and  resolution  Parliament, 
which  completely  took  aback  those  who  had  fonned  their  opinion  of  his 
character  from  a  careless  observation  of  his  ordinary  habits.  Shaftesbury, 
Sunderland,  Essex,  and  Temple  were  expelled  from  the  council  in  order 
to  secure  unanimity  at  court.  The  meeting-place  of  parliament  was 
changed  from  Westminster  to  Oxford,  in  order  to  separate  the  Whigs 
from  the  city  of  London,  where  their  most  thoroughgoing  supporters 
were  to  be  found  ;  and  he  placed  his  regular  troops  between  Oxford  and 
London,  so  as  to  completely  isolate  the  Whig  members.  To  Oxford  the 
members  came  with  troops  of  servants  ;  those  of  the  London  members 
wearing  Mue  ribbons,  with  the  motto,  *  No  popery  !  No  slavery  ! '  Eight 
days  before  the  assembly  of  parliament  Charles  himself  went  to  Oxford, 
and  on  the  day  appointed  all  his  preparations  were  complete.  His  first 
care  was  to  make  such  a  moderate  offer  that  its  rejection  would  place  his 
opponents  in  the  wrong.     Accordingly,  he  proposed  that  in  case  of  the 


640  The  Stuarts  1682 

accession  of  a  Roman  Catholic  king,  *  the  administration  of  the  government 
should  remain  in  Protestant  hands ' ;  which  was  understood  to  mean  the 
regency  of  the  Princess  Mary.  To  this  the  Whigs  refused  to  consent ; 
and  then  Charles,  without  giving  the  members  a  moment  for  reflection, 
made  his  way  to  the  Schools  (i.e.  the  University  Buildings)  where  the 
parliament  was  sitting,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  assumed  the  royal  robes, 
called  the  members  before  him  and  dissolved  the  parliament. 

The  discomfiture  of  the  Whigs  was  complete.  From  Westminster  the 
bolder  spirits  might  have  retired  into  the  city  and  attempted  to  continue 
^.         ^         their  sittings  ;  at  Oxford  they  could  only  obey,  and  even 

Discomfi-  r<i     /.      1  ^  1        1 

ture  of  Shaftesbury  felt  that  parliamentary  opposition  was  hope- 

*^^'  less.  What  had  enabled  Charles  to  gain  his  great  victory 
was  the  intervention  of  Louis  xiv.,  who  had  been  so  alarmed  at  the 
prospects  of  such  a  practical  union  of  England  and  Holland,  as  would 
have  been  implied  by  the  accession  of  Mary  either  as  sovereign  or 
regent,  that  he  had  agreed  to  give  Charles  ^250,000,  on  condition  that 
no  parliament  should  be  called  for  three  years.  At  this  price  Charles  had 
been  willing,  as  before,  to  sell  his  independence.     Hence  the  dissolution. 

The  next  step  of  the  government  was  to  follow  up  their  success  by 
prosecuting  their  opponents.  Their  first  victim  was  a  foolish  talker  of 
the  name  of  Stephen  College,  who,  as  the  'Protestant 
of  the  joiner,'  had  been  made  much  of  by  some  of  the  Whigs.     In 

*^^"  London  there  would  have  been  little  chance  of  convicting 

him  ;  but,  by  a  monstrous  perversion  of  justice,  he  was  tried  in  Oxford, 
and  there,  by  a  Tory  jury,  he  was  convicted  of  treason  and  subsequently 
hanged.  With  Shaftesbury,  however,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  deal,  as  no 
London  grand  jury  would  find  a  true  bill  on  which  he  might  have  been 
tried  by  his  peers.  An  attempt,  however,  was  made,  and  backed  up  by  the 
publication  on  the  day  of  the  trial  of  Dry  den's  Absalom  and  A  chitophel.  It 
foiled,  however  ;  and  the  government  proceeded,  by  a  flagrant  violation 
of  the  rights  of  the  citizens,  to  force  on  London  two  Tory  sheriffs — North, 
a  Turkey  merchant,  brother  of  Chief- Justice  North  and  of  Roger  North, 
the  well-known  Tory  diarist ;  and  Colonel  Rich,  a  turncoat,  who  had 
formerly  voted  for  the  Exclusion  Bill.  With  such  sheriff's,  Shaftesbury 
well  knew  that  a  packed  jury  was  inevitable  ;  and,  despairing  of  raising 
an  insurrection,  he  slipped  away  to  the  continent  in  November  1682,  and 
within  two  months  died  in  Holland. 

Meanwhile,  violent  schemes  had  undoubtedly  been  discussed  by  the 
Whig  leaders.  Shaftesbury  had  talked  of  the  '  brave  boys '  he  would 
bring  from  Wapping.  Monmouth  had,  during  1682,  been  making  a  pro- 
gress through  England,  assuming  royal  state,  pretending  to  have  the 


1683  Cfiarles  11.  641 

power  of  touching  effectively  for  '  the  king's  evil,'  and  doing  aU  he  could 

to  make  himself  a  party.     Meetings  had  been  held  in  London  ;  but  it  is 

certain  that  no  organised  plan  had  been  formed,  and,  indeed,  most  of  the 

real  leaders  were  quite  convinced  of  the  futility  of  an  armed  rebellion. 

It  appears,  however,  that  some  of  the  more  violent  men,  among  whom 

was  Colonel  Rumbold,  an  old  Cromwellian,  had  at  least  talked  over  a 

a  plan  for  arresting  and  possibly  murdering  Charles  and    ^he  Rye 

James  as  they  passed  by  the  Rye  House,  an  isolated  resi-    House  Plot. 

dence  near  Hoddesdon,  on  the  road  from  Newmarket  to  London.     The 

whole  affiiir  is  wrapped  in  mystery  ;  but,  acting  on  the  information  of 

informers,  the  chief  of  whom  were  Lord  Howard  and  Colonel  Rumsey, 

the  government  arrested  not  only   Rumbold's   friends,   Walcot,   Hone, 

and   Rouse,  but  also  the  earl  of  Essex,  Lord  Russell,  John  Hampden, 

and   Colonel  Algernon  Sidney.      These,  with  the  duke  of  Monmouth 

and  Lord  Howard,  were  accused  of  fonning  a   council  of  six  for  the 

organising  of  an  insurrection.      Of  the  prisoners,  Walcot,   Hone,   and 

Rouse  were  hanged.     Lord  Russell,  who  had  certainly  been  present  at 

a  meeting  of  the  malcontents,  but  denied  having  taken  any  share  in  a 

conspiracy,  was  convicted  on  the  evidence  of  Howard  and 

lii  c^' 1  /T.11        Executions 

Rumsey,  and  beheaded  ;  and  Algernon  Sidney  suffered  the    of  Russell 

same  fate.  Russell  was  a  man  of  great  prudence  and  cir-  *"  '  "*^' 
cumspection,  not  at  all  likely  to  engage  in  such  a  rash  undertaking  as 
that  for  which  he  was  condemned,  and  a  man  beloved  and  respected  in 
every  relation  of  life.  Algernon  Sidney  was  a  rash  republictin,  who  had 
been  an  active  member  of  the  expelled  parliament  of  1653,  and  had  spent 
much  of  his  time  abroad.  He  had  done  his  best  to  get  aid  from  both  France 
and  Holland  towards  raising  a  rebellion  in  1666  and  1666,  and  was  quite 
capable  of  further  plotting.  His  trial,  however,  as  conducted  by  the 
brutal  Jeffreys,  was  a  parody  of  justice.  The  evidence  against  him  was 
sciindalously  insufficient,  and  the  want  of  a  second  witness  was  supplied 
by  an  unpublished  manuscript  found  in  his  desk,  from  which  it  was 
argued  that,  as  he  had  approved  of  insurrections  against  Nero  and 
Caligula,  he  therefore  approved  of  an  insurrection  against  Charles  ii. 
He  met  his  fate  with  firmness,  and  was  regarded  as  the  noblest  victim 
of  the  despotism  of  Charles.  Against  Hampden  even  the  evidence 
which  had  convicted  the  others  was  wanting,  but  he  was  sentenced  to  pay 
a  ruinous  fine  of  ^40,000  for  a  misdemeanour  ;  Essex  committed  suicide  ; 
and  Monmouth,  having  made  a  confession  in  general  terms,  was  par- 
doned and  permitted  to  retire  to  Holland.  Rumbold  also  made  his 
escape.  In  Scotland  the  earl  of  Argyll  was  arrested  and  condemned, 
but  he  too  contrived  to  make  his  way  to  Holland. 

2s 


642  The  Stuarts  1M8 

While  thus  attempting  to  strike  terror  into  his  opponents,  Charles  was 
taking  advantage  of  the  breathing-time  secured  him  by  Louis  to  make 
sure  of  a  permanent  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
ling  of  the    The  strength  of  the  Whigs,  as  we  have  seen,  lay  in  the 
tioiS°^^"      boroughs  ;  that  of  the  Tories  in  the  counties.     The  election 
of  borough  members  was  usually  in  the  hands  of  the  cor- 
poration, which  was  a  close  body,  filling  up  its  own  vacancies  as  they 
occurred.     It  was  suggested  by  Saunders — a  judge  who,  with  Scroggs 
and  Jeffreys,  earned  an  infamous  reputation  at  this  period — that  Charles 
might,  by  a  writ  of  quo  warranto^  recall  the  charters  of  such  corporations 
and  restore  them  after  nominating  a  new  corporation  of  Tories  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  members.     Accordingly  this  was  done,  not  only  in  all 
towns  which  had  sent  Whigs  to  parliament,  but  even  in  places  like  Leeds 
which  had  no  parliamentary  representation.     In  restoring  the  charters, 
the  king  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  confirming  all   elections   to 
municipal  offices,  and,  in  case  he  were  dissatisfied,  of  naming  the  officers 
himself. 

The  remodelling  of  the  corporations  completed  the  series  of  measures 
by  which  Charles  ii.  attempted  to  annul  the  effect  of  the  resistance 
Charles'  ^f  the  Long  Parliament  to  Charles  i.  His  efforts  had 
success.  \)QQYi  attended  with  surprising  success,  and  he  was  now 
little  less  than  an  absolute  king.  He  possessed  a  small  standing  army, 
which  gave  him  a  security  against  the  fiirst  violence  of  popular  insurrec- 
tion which  the  Tudors  and  Plantagenets  had  never  possessed.  He  named 
the  officers  of  the  militia,  and  the  governors  of  such  fortresses  as  had  not 
been  dismantled.  He  dismissed  the  judges  as  he  thought  fit,  and  had 
shown  that  among  the  bar  could  be  found  men  as  ready  to  do  his  will  as 
Scroggs,  Saunders,  and  Jeffreys.  Through  the  offices  of  the  sheriffs,  he 
could  command  the  services  of  compliant  jurymen.  The  appointment  of 
magistrates  was  practically  in  his  hands.  Through  the  goodwill  of  Louis 
he  was  in  possession  of  a  permanent  revenue  so  long  as  he  did  not  call  a 
parliament ;  and  if  Louis  failed  him,  the  remodelling  of  the  corporations 
had  given  him  the  means  of  seating  his  own  creatures  on  the  benches  of 
the  House  of  Commons. 

Such  was  the  position  of  this  clever  but  unprincipled  sovereign  when, 
on  February  6,  1685,  at  the  height  of  his  power,  and  apparently  in  the 
Death  of  ^^  vigour  of  health,  Charles  died  of  apoplexy.  He  was  a 
the  King.  j^2iA  of  consummate  ability,  who  concealed  under  the  appear- 
ance of  frivolity  a  talent  for  intrigue  and  a  calculating  hardness  of  heart 
which  baffled  the  ablest  statesmen  of  his  day,  and  surprised  even  those 
who  knew  him  best.      On  his  deathbed  he  admitted  that  he  was  a 


1683 


Charles  II. 


643 


Roman  Catholic,  and  received  absolution  from  a  Roman  Catholic  priest, 
Huddleston,  who  had  formerly  aided  him  in  his  escape  from  Worcester. 
By  his  wife,  Katharine  of  Braganza,  he  had  no  family  ;  but  he  left  a 
large  number  of  natural  children  by  different  mothers,  most  of  whom 
were  raised  to  the  peerage. 


CHIEF  DATES, 


A.D. 

The  Corporation  Act, 1661 

The  Act  of  Uniformity, 

1662 

The  Conventicle  Act, 

1664 

The  Five-MUe  Act,     . 

1665 

The  Plague, 

1665 

The  Fire  of  London,  . 

1666 

The  First  Dutch  War, 

1665-1667 

The  Cabal, 

1667 

The  Triple  Alliance, 

1668 

The  Treaties  of  Dover, 

1670 

The  Declaration  of  Indulgence, 

1672 

The  Second  Dutch  War, 

1672-1674 

The  Test  Act,     . 

1673 

The  Popish  Plot, 

1678 

The  Exclusion  Bill,     . 

1680 

The  Oxford  Parliament,     . 

1681 

The  '  Quo  Warranto  '  Writs, 

1682 

Executions  of  RusseU  and  Sidn 

ey, 

1683 

CHAPTEE  VI 

JAMES  11.  :   1685-1689 

Born  1633 ;  married  /  ^^Bl,  Anne  Hyde  (d.  1671). 

1 1673,  Mary  of  Modena  (d.  1718). 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Spain.  Holland. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.  Charles  ii.,  d.  1700.  William  III.,  d.  1702. 

Character  of  James— Monmouth's  Kebellion— The  Dispensing  Power— Hales' 
Case— The  Ecclesiastical  Commission — Attacks  upon  the  Universities— The 
Declaration  of  Indulgence— Adverse  Feeling  in  the  Country— Birth  of  James' 
Son— Trial  of  the  Seven  Bishops— Expedition  of  William  of  Orange— Flight 
of  James — The  Interregnum — The  Declaration  of  Right. 

When  an  event  has  been  long  anticipated  with  apprehension,  it  frequently 
happens  that  its  actual  accomplishment  surprises  by  its  apparent  simpli- 
Quietness  of  ^^^1-  ^^  it  was  in  the  accession  of  James  ii.,  which  occurred 
the  accession,  g^  quietly  and  SO  much  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  for  a 
time  it  seemed  that  the  apprehensions  of  the  exclusionists  had  been  com- 
pletely groundless. 

The  new  king  had  some  excellent  qualities,  marred  not  only  by  con- 
stitutional defects,  but  by  some  curious  inconsistencies.  Sir  John 
Character  of  Evelyn  describes  him  as  a  man  of  '  infinite  industry, 
James.  sedulity,  gravity,  and  great  understanding,  and  of  a  most 

sincere  and  honest  nature.  He  makes  a  conscience  of  what  he  promises, 
and  performs  it.'  The  great  Marshal  Turenne  had  formed  a  high  opinion 
of  the  talent  for  war  which  James  had  shown  as  a  young  man  ;  and  he 
had  seen  much  service  with  the  fleet.  At  the  Admiralty  Office  he  had 
been  most  diligent,  and  Bishop  Burnet  seems  to  express  the  general 
opinion  when  he  speaks  of  a  future  '  reign  of  action  and  business,  not 
•of  sloth  and  luxury.'  These  qualities,  however,  had  all  been  shown  in 
•subordinate  offices.     As  sovereign,  James  possessed  in  a  full  measure  the 

641 


1685  James  11.  645 

defects  which  had  been  so  fatal  to  his  father.  He  was  very  narrow- 
minded,  and  incapable  of  seeing  both  sides  of  a  question,  or  being  affected 
by  argument.  From  a  similar  cause,  his  imagination  was  deficient,  so 
that  he  failed  to  sympathise  with  the  views  of  others,  and  in  his  own 
opinions  he  was,  like  his  father,  extremely  obstinate.  Though  more  care- 
ful of  the  forms  of  his  religion  than  the  late  king,  he  was  little  less 
immoral.  These  bad  qualities  marred  all  the  rest,  and,  in  less  than  four 
years,  James  had  contrived  to  array  against  himself  'not  only  those 
classes  who  had  fought  against  his  father,  but  those  who  had  fought  for 
him.'  Immediately  after  the  death  of  Charles,  the  council  assembled, 
and  James,  on  taking  his  brother's  place,  declared  that  '  he  would  make 
it  his  endeavour  to  preserve  this  government,  both  in  church  and  state, 
as  it  is  now  by  law  established,'  and  that  '  as  he  would  never  depart 
from  the  just  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  so  he  would  never 
invade  any  man's  property.'  The  actual  words  of  the  spoken  speech  are 
not  quite  ascertained,  but  the  published  version  of  it  gave  great  satisfiic- 
tion  ;  and  the  cry  went  round,  *  We  have  the  word  of  a  king,  and  a  word 
never  yet  broken.' 

The  new  king  gave  his  chief  confidence  to  his  brother-in-law,  Lawrence 
Hyde,  earl  of  Rochester,  the  second  son  of  the  great  earl  of  Clarendon, 
who  became  lord-treasurer  ;  to  Halifax,  whose  speech  in 
the  House  of  Lords  had  brought  about  the  defeat  of  the  *  y  «  • 
Exclusion  Bill;  to  Lord  Godolphin  and  to  Lord  Sunderland.  It  soon 
appeared,  however,  that  Halifax  was  to  have  little  power.  From  being 
lord  privy  seal  he  was  promoted  to  the  more  dignified  but  less  important 
post  of  president  of  the  council,  a  process  described  by  himself  as 
'  being  kicked  upstairs.'  The  seal  was  then  given  to  Rochester's  brother, 
Ckrendon. 

The  brothers  Hyde,  though  they  had  been  stout  partisans  of  James 
while  duke  of  York,  were  chiefly  distinguished  by  their  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  the  church,  and  their  employment  was  a  sort  of 
guarantee  of  its  welfare.    Lord  Godolphin  was  an  admir-      °  °  '^ 
able  financier,  and  had  so  nmch  recommended  himself  to  Charles  by  his 
tact  and  efiiciency  as  to  earn  the  compliment  that '  Sidney  Godolphin  is 
never  in  the  way  and  never  out  of  it.'     Sunderland,  who 
was  now  secretary  of  state,  had  voted  for  the  Exclusion  Bill, 
'  not  by  his  own  inclination  for  the  preservation  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion, but  by  mistaking  the  ability  of  the  party  to  carry  it.'    He  was  now 
prepared  to  wipe  out  the  memoiy   of  his   error  by  a  thick- and- thin 
support  of  the  new  sovereign.      He,  Godolphin,  and  Lawrence  Hyde 
were  often  spoken  of  jocularly  as  the  '  Chits.' 


646  The  Stuarts  1685 

James'  first  act  was  to  order  that  the  customs  duties,  which  had  been 

voted  to  Charles  for  life,  should  be  collected  as  usual,  though  they  could 

not  be  renewed  till  parliament  met.     There  was  much  to 

Customs  be  said  for  avoiding  a  break.  An  intermission  in  the 
"  ^^^'  collection  would  cause  great  confusion  in  trade  ;  and  it  was 
so  obviously  unfair  that  a  merchant,  whose  goods  had  by  mere  accident 
entered  port  a  day  after  the  king's  death,  should  be  able  to  undersell 
another  who  had  paid  duty  the  day  before  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss  to 
the  revenue  through  goods  being  largely  imported  during  the  cessation, 
that  it  has  now  been  arranged  that  the  taxes  should  be  voted  for  a 
definite  period  without  regard  to  the  demise  of  the  crown.  At  that  time, 
however,  the  act  was  certainly  unconstitutional ;  but  it  seems,  on  the 
whole,  to  have  been  approved  by  the  mercantile  world,  judging  by  the 
ready  compliance  expressed  by  the  East  India  and  other  great  trading 
companies. 

James  had  made  great  professions  of  patriotism,  but  he  was  not  proof 

against  an  ofifer  of  a  sum  of  .£67,000  from  Louis  xiv.,  which  Louis  placed 

in  the  hands  of  Barillon,  the  French  ambassador,  remarking 
Louis  XIV.  ... 

that,  *  after  all  the  high  things  given  out  in  his  name, 

James  is  willing  to  take  my  money  as  his  brother  has  done.'  Some  of 
this  money,  however,  was  arrears  due  to  Charles  ;  and  in  reality  the  amount 
actually  received  by  James  during  his  whole  reign  was  insignificant. 

At  James'  accession,  the  prison  doors  were  opened  to  numerous  political 
and  religious  prisoners.  Danby  and  four  Koman  Catholic  lords  were  re- 
Release  of  leased  from  the  Tower,  and  several  thousand  Eoman  Catholics 
Prisoners.  ^^^  twelve  hundred  Quakers  were  discharged  from  other 
prisons.  Soon  after  the  accession,  also,  a  terrible  retribution  was  meted 
Punishment  ^ut  to  Oates  and  Dangerfield,  the  leading  witnesses  in  the 
of  Gates.  Popish  Plot,  who  were  answerable  for  the  lives  of  many 
innocent  men.  Before  Charles'  death,  Oates  had  been  indicted  for 
perjury,  and  his  trial  came  on  shortly  after  the  accession  of  James. 
Being  convicted  on  two  counts,  he  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  ^666 
on  each,  to  be  twice  publicly  flogged — once  from  Aldgate  to  Newgate, 
and,  two  days  later,  from  Newgate  to  Tyburn — to  stand  every  year  five 
times  in  the  pillory,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  life.  The  sentence  was 
probably  designed  to  be  fatal ;  but  Oates,  '  being  an  original  in  all 
things,'  survived  it,  and  lived  to  receive  a  pension  from  William  iii.  A 
little  later,  Dangerfield,  his  fellow-perjurer,  sufiered  a  similar  fate,  but 
had  the  ill-luck  to  die,  either  through  the  eff'ects  of  the  flogging,  or  of  a 
wound  from  a  cane  thrust  into  his  eye  by  a  law-student  named  Francis^ 
who  was  hanged  for  the  ofience.     About  the  same  time,  a  much  worthier 


1685  James  11,  647 

man,  Richard  Baxter,  also  suffered  from  the  ill-will  of  the  court.  He 
was  prosecuted  for  libelling  the  church  in  a  book  called  a  Paraphrase  of 
the  New  Testament^  and  tried  before  Jeffreys.  On  conviction,  he  was 
fined  ,£333,  6s.  8d.,  and  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  till  it  was  paid,  which 
he  was  unable  to  do. 

In  May,  parliament  met.  Full  use  had  been  made  of  the  king's  new 
power  in  the  boroughs.  Particularly  was  this  the  case  in  the  west, 
where  the  conduct  of  the  elections  had  been  handed  over  Meeting  of 
to  the  '  prince  elector,'  Lord  Bath,  who  had  freely  intro-  Parliament, 
duced  officers  of  the  guards  into  the  Cornish  municipalities.  The 
result,  however,  was  so  satisfactory  to  James,  that  he  declared  'that 
there  were  not  above  forty  members  but  such  as  he  himself  wished  for.' 
In  the  House  of  Commons,  however,  Edward  Seymour  had  the  courage 
to  make  a  vigorous  protest  against  the  new  charters,  but  he  received  no 
serious  support,  and  a  liberal  revenue  was  grantetl  without  difficulty. 
Of  Charles'  gross  income  of  £1,400,000,  about  £500,000  was  permanent, 
and  £900,000  parliamentary.  This  was  entirely  renewed,  and  besides,  a 
new  t<ix  on  sugar  and  tobacco,  wines  and  vinegar,  was  voted  to  James 
for  eight  years,  and  on  foreign  linen  for  five. 

Though  James  had  been  allowed  to  succeed  so  quietly,  the  Whig 
exiles  had  no  intention  of  giving  up  their  hoj^s  without  a  stniggle. 
Immediately  on  the  accession  of  James,  the  Prince  of  Argyll's 
Orange  had  required  Monmouth  to  leave  Holland.  He  Rising- 
retired  to  Brussels,  and  there  he,  the  earl  of  Argyll,  Lord  Grey,  Fletcher 
of  Salton,  Ferguson  and  Rumbold,  devised  a  scheme  for  a  simultaneous 
rising  in  favour  of  Monmouth  in  England  and  Scotland.  Monmouth  had 
faint  hopes  of  success,  as  he  well  knew  the  difficulty  of  leading  untrained 
rebels  against  drilled  troops ;  but  Argyll  was  eager ;  and,  against  his 
better  judgment,  Monmouth  yielded.  Argyll  sailed  first,  taking  with  him 
Rumbold,  and  made  his  way  to  his  own  country.  The  government, 
however,  being  warned  of  his  approach,  took  the  precaution  of  arresting 
all  the  leading  Campbells,  and  of  barring  with  troops  the  outlets  from 
the  Highlands.  Argyll,  therefore,  found  himself  powerless  in  his  own 
country,  where  his  chief  strength  lay,  and  an  abortive  attempt  to  raise 
the  western  Covenanters  only  led  to  the  capture  of  himself  and  Rumbold. 
Argyll,  who  had  already  been  condemned  to  death  in  the  last  reign,  was 
executed  on  his  old  sentence ;  Rumbold  was  tried  and  convicted,  after 
boldly  declaring  that  '  he  did  not  believe  that  God  had  made  the  greater 
part  of  mankind  with  saddles  on  their  backs  and  bridles  in  their  mouths, 
and  some  few  booted  and  spurred  to  ride  the  rest.' 

Six  days  after  Argyll's  capture,  Monmouth,  with  Grey,  Fletcher,  and 


648  The  Stuarts  1685 

Ferguson,  landed  at  Lyme  in  Dorsetshire,  and  issued  a  cleverly  worded 
manifesto,  in  which  he  demanded  toleration  for  all  Protestants,  annual 
Monmouth's  parliaments,  upright  judges,  elected  sheriffs  to  command 
Rising.  ^j^g   militia,   the   repeal   of  the  Corporation  Act,  and  the 

restoration  of  the  forfeited  charters.  He  was  soon  joined  by  some  two 
thousand  followers,  and  might  have  had  more  had  his  stock  of  weapons 
been  larger.  After  wasting  some  time  in  drilling  his  men,  Monmouth 
made  his  way  to  Taunton,  the  centre  of  the  manufacturing  district  of 
Somersetshire,  where  he  was  popular  with  the  clothiers  and  with  the 
miners  of  the  Mendip  hills.  By  the  lower  and  middle  classes  he  was 
received  with  enthusiasm,  but  he  obtained  no  support  from  the  gentry 
or  nobility.  Unhappily  for  Monmouth,  Fletcher  quarrelled  with  and 
shot  Dare  of  Taunton,  one  of  his  most  influential  supporters,  and  had 
to  be  sent  away  by  sea,  while  Lord  Grey,  who  commanded  the  cavalry, 
showed  himself  hopelessly  incompetent.  In  spite,  however,  of  these 
mishaps,  Monmouth  assumed  the  title  of  king,  and  pressed  on  towards 
Bristol  in  hopes  of  making  his  way  to  his  Cheshire  friends  ;  but,  his 
troops  being  repulsed  in  a  trifling  skirmish  at  Philip's  Norton,  he 
retreated  to  Bridgewater. 

Thither  he  was  pursued  by  the  royalist  troops,  commanded  by  the 
earl  of  Feversham,  a  nephew  of  Turenne,  and  by  John  Churchill, 
Battle  of  afterwards  duke  of  Marlborough.  As  a  last  resource, 
Sedgemoor.  Momnouth  attempted  a  night  attack  on  their  camp,  which 
had  been  pitched  near  the  village  of  Weston  Zoyland,  among  the  half- 
reclaimed  flats  of  Sedgemoor.  Had  the  surprise  been  ejffectual,  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  would  have  neutralised  the  want  of  discipline  in  the 
rebel  army  ;  but  accident  or  ignorance  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  attack- 
ing party  while  a  broad  ditch  still  separated  it  from  the  royalist  camp. 
Though  attacked  instead  of  attacking,  Monmouth's  foot-soldiers  fought 
well,  but  his  cavalry  under  Grey  disgraced  themselves  by  flight ;  and 
when  daylight  came,  Monmouth  recognising  that  all  was  lost  fled 
from  the  field.  Making  for  the  coast,  he  contrived  to  reach  the  New 
Forest,  but  was  there  ignominiously  captured  in  disguise,  and  with  his 
fellow-rebel.  Lord  Grey,  was  taken  to  London.  There  he  had  been 
already  attainted  by  parliament ;  but  he  begged  desperately  for  life, 
throwing  the  blame  on  the  '  false  and  horrid '  companions  by  whom  he 
had  been  led  on,  and  eventually  was  put  to  death,  after  such  an 
exhibition  of  pusillanimity  as  makes  it  difficult  to  believe  his  earlier 
reputation  for  courage  and  conduct.  Grey  completed  his  disgrace  by 
turning  king's  evidence,  and  procuring  the  conviction  of  some  of  his 
former  friends. 


1685  James  IT.  649 

Meanwhile,  the  victors  of  Sedgemoor  had  been  preparing  a  bloody 
revenge.  Under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Kirke,  a  man  who  had  learned 
his  brutality  among  the  Moors  of  Tangiers,  a  considerable  ti^  Bloody 
number  of  the  rebels  were  hanged  without  even  the  form  Assize, 
of  trial,  and  the  gaols  were  crowded  with  others  and  with  their 
harbourers  and  friends.  To  try  them,  a  conmiission  of  five  judges, 
headed  by  Jeflfreys,  was  sent  to  the  west.  At  Winchester  they  stopped 
to  try  Alicia  Lisle,  an  aged  lady,  widow  of  one  of  Cromwell's  lords, 
who  was  accused  of  harbouring  rebels.  There  was  no  evidence  that  she 
knew  what  her  guests  were,  but  Jeffreys  forced  a  conviction,  and  she 
was  beheaded,  as  much  in  posthumous  punishment  for  the  sins  of  her 
husband  as  for  her  own  crime.  Another  poor  woman  named  Gaunt,  con- 
victed in  London  of  a  similar  offence,  was  burnt  alive.  From  Winchester, 
Jeffreys  and  his  colleagues  passed  on  to  Salisbury,  Exeter,  Wells, 
Bristol,  and  other  western  towns,  and  their  efforts  resulted  in  over  three 
hundred  persons  being  hanged,  eight  hundred  transported  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  an  indefinite  number  flogged,  fined,  and  imprisoned.  An 
account  of  each  day's  proceedings  was  carefully  drawn  up  for  the 
personal  perusal  of  the  king.  Compared  with  the  wholesale  hangings 
of  Henry  viii.  after  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  or  of  Elizabeth  after  the 
rebellion  of  1569,  the  vengeance  of  Jeffreys  and  Kirke  was  not  specially 
bloody  ;  but  as  it  happened  at  a  moment  when  the  age  was  turning  in 
the  direction  of  a  milder  code  of  punishment,  public  opinion  was 
utterly  horrified,  and  the  proceedings  of  Jeffreys  will  always  be  piUoried 
as  *The  Bloody  Assize.'  As  a  reward  for  his  exertions,  Jeftreys 
was  made  lord-chancellor.  The  failure  of  Monmouth's  rebellion  showed 
clearly  what  a  change  had  been  made  by  the  introduction  of  a  standing 
army  ;  formerly  insurgents  could  bring  into  the  field  as  good  troops 
as  the  king,  and  often  better,  but  now  no  insurrection  had  any  chance 
that  was  not  backed  by  a  trained  force. 

As  Machiavelli  had  pointed  out,  government  is  never  so  strong  as 
after  it  has  just  put  down  a  rebellion,  and  James  was  encouraged 
to   develop   his   scheme   of   securing    ascendency   for  the    Emancipa- 
Roman  Catholics.     From  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  the    Roman^^^ 
interests   of  the   Roman  Catholics   had  been   specially  in   Catholics, 
charge    of   a    group    of   four    persons :    Richard    Talbot  —  known  as 
'lying   Dick   Talbot' — Henry  Jermyn,  Edward  Petre   a  Jesuit,   and 
Sunderland ;   and  they  asked  James  to  take  advantage  of  his  present 
strength  to  carry  out  his  policy.      As  its  objects,  James  had  in  view 
(1)   liberty  of  conscience,   by   which  he   understood   the   abolition   of 
religious  tests  as  a  qualification   for  office  ;    (2)  freedom  of  worship. 


650  The  Stuarts  1686 

In  desiring  to  secure  these,  James  was  actuated  not  by  any  love  for 

toleration  in  the  abstract,  but  by  an  instinct  of  self-preservation,  which 

compelled  him  to  believe  that  so  long  as  his  special  form  of  worship 

was  proscribed  by  law,  and  his  co-religionists  were  excluded  from  office, 

his  own  throne  could  never  be  safe.     Were  the  tests  removed,  therefore, 

he  designed  to  support  his  rule  by  surrounding  himself  with  a  ring  of 

Roman  Catholic  officials. 

After  an  adjournment  of  some  months,  parliament  re-assembled  in 

November   1685.      By  this  time  James  had  quite  decided  not  only 

on  carrying  the  points  above  mentioned,  but  also  on  se- 
Parliament.  .        „  ,.  ,  ^      ^    ^       -r-r  ■,  ^ 

curmg  from  parliament  the  repeal  of  the  Habeas  Corpus 

Act,  and  a  sanction  for  a  considerable  increase  in  the  standing  army. 
He  was  not,  however,  without  warning  of  the  reception  his  proposals 
would  meet  with.  Halifax  had  opposed  them  in  the  council,  and  been 
dismissed  in  consequence  ;  the  Protestant  officials,  headed  by  Rochester 
himself,  had  shown  distinct  scruples  at  doing  anything  which  might 
give  official  sanction  even  to  the  king's  public  attendance  at  mass  ; 
while,  in  the  last  session,  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
had  declared  that  the  established  church  was  *  dearer  to  them  than 
their  lives.'  Further  evidence  of  the  suspicion  in  which  Roman 
Huguenot  Catholicism  was  held  was  affi)rded  by  the  reception  given  to 
Refugees,  ^j^q^q  French  Huguenots  who  took  refuge  in  England  when 
Louis,  during  this  very  summer,  annulled  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  which 
Henry  iv.  had  secured  the  position  of  the  Protestants  of  France.  This 
action  of  Louis  was  in  itself  a  great  mistake,  as  the  Protestants,  who  for 
the  most  part  belonged  to  the  middle  classes,  were  the  most  industrious 
part  of  the  French  nation.  'France,'  Evelyn  relates,  'was  almost 
dispeopled ;  the  bankers  so  broken  that  the  tyrant's  revenue  was 
exceedingly  diminished  ;  manufactures  ceased  ;  and  everybody  there, 
save  the  Jesuits,  abhorred  what  was  done,  nor  did  the  Papists  them- 
selves approve  it.'  In  England  the  refugees  were  received  with 
enthusiasm  ;  subscriptions  were  raised  to  provide  for  the  poorer  of 
them  ;  while  the  Protestant  feeling  of  the  country,  and  the  suspicion 
with  which  anything  Roman  Catholic  was  regarded,  were  largely 
increased. 

When  parliament  assembled,  James'  speech  to  the  members  drew,  from 
the  ill-conduct  of  the  militia  in  Monmouth's  rebellion,  an  argument  for 
increasing  the  standing  anny,and  he  mentioned  favourably  the 
Catholic  case  of  Roman  Catholic  officers  to  whom,  in  the  emergency, 

Officers.  commissions  had  been  granted.     Opposition   immediately 

showed  itself;  led  in  the  Commons  by  Seymour  and  old   Sir    John 


1685 


James  IL  651 


Maynard  (who  had  been  a  manager  of  the  impeachment  of  Strafford), 
and  in  the  Lords  by  Devonshire,  Halifax,  Nottingham,  Mordaimt  (after- 
wards earl  of  Peterborough),  and  Compton,  bishop  of  London ;  and  so 
firm  was  their  attitude  that  James  hurriedly  prorogued  parliament  and 
fell  back  on  another  method  of  gaining  his  ends. 

James'  new  device  was  the  free  use  of  the  Dispensing  Power.  During 
the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James  much  had  been  said  of  the  suspending 
and  dispensing  power  of  the  sovereign.  From  time  imme- 
morial  the  crown  had  possessed  the  prerogative  of  pardon  ;  pensing 
but  these  claims  carried  their  right  two  steps  further,  for  ^ 
while  by  the  dispensing  power  it  was  claimed  that  the  sovereign  could  in 
advance  permit  an  individual  to  infringe  the  law,  by  the  suspending  power 
it  was  held  that  he  could  suspend  the  operation  of  any  law  he  chose  in  the 
case  of  all  and  sundry.  So  long  as  all  laws  were  either  to  restrain  the 
sovereign  power  or  to  secure  the  punishment  of  criminals,  such  claims 
could  hardly  be  put  forward  ;  but  so  soon  as  a  part  of  the  nation  imposed 
disabilities  and  restrictions  on  the  rest  based  on  religious  differences,  they 
became  of  the  highest  importance.  James'  first  step  was  to  take  the 
opinion  of  the  judges,  and,  some  of  these  being  doubtful,  to  weed  the 
bench  until  a  unanimous  decision  in  his  favour  could  be  obtained  ;  his 
second,  to  arrange  that  an  information  for  violating  the  Test  Act  should 
be  brought  against  his  master  by  a  coachman  of  Sir  Edward 
Hales,  a  Roman  Catholic  to  whom  James  had  given  a  com- 
mission as  colonel  in  the  army.  The  case  was  tried  before  Chief-Justice 
Herbert,  who  indeed  had  suggested  the  method.  He  decided  that  *  it  was 
part  of  the  king's  prerogative  to  dispense  with  penal  laws  in  particular 
cases,'  and  accordingly  the  case  was  decided  for  the  defendant.  Fortified 
with  this  decision,  James  freely  gave  posts  to  Roman  Catholics,  and  as 
he  was  as  economical  as  Charles  ii.  had  been  extravagant,  he  was  able  to 
support  even  an  army  of  14,000  men  without  further  resource  to  parlia- 
ment. In  July  1686,  Dr.  Fell,  dean  of  Christ  Church  and  bishop  of  Oxford, 
died,  and  James  divided  his  posts  between  Massey,  a  Roman  Catholic 
fellow  of  Merton  College,  and  Dr.  Parker,  who,  though  not  a  declared 
Roman  Catholic,  was  a  thoroughgoing  courtier  and  chiefly  distinguished 
for  his  wittiness  in  his  cups.  At  the  same  time  Obadiah  Walker,  a  con- 
vert, was  permitted  by  dispensation  to  retain  his  post  of  master  of  Uni- 
versity College.  These  appointments  were  obviously  violations  of  James' 
promise  to  maintain  the  church  as  by  law  established  ;  but  in  thinking 
he  could  act  so  with  impunity,  he  was  merely  taking  the  church  and  the 
universities  at  their  word,  for  the  sinfulness  of  rebellion  had  been  for 
years  a  standing  theme  of  pulpit  eloquence,  and  on  the  very  day  of  Lord 


652  The  Stuarts  1686 

Russell's  execution  the  Convocation  of  Oxford  had  declared  its  belief 
that  '  resistance  to  a  king  was,  under  any  circumstances,  unlawful.'  He 
therefore  believed  that  whether  the  church  and  the  universities  approved 
or  not,  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  them. 

However,  to  secure  his  hold  over  the  church,  James  set  up  a  new 
court  of  ecclesiastical  commission.  It  was  designed  to  be,  under  another 
.  name,  the  old  Court  of  High  Commission,  aboUshed  in  1641  ; 
asticai  Com-  but  advantage  was  taken  of  an  Act  passed  in  1662,  by  which 
mission.  ^^^  power  of  exercising  its  supremacy  was  reserved  to  the 
crown.  The  members  of  the  new  court  were  all  Protestants,  and  were 
the  bishops  of  Chester,  Durham,  Rochester  ;  the  earls  of  Rochester  and 
Sunderland ;  Chief-Justice  Herbert,  and,  chief  of  all,  Jeflfreys,  who  was 
always  to  be  present  when  business  was  done. 

To  overawe  London,  James  concentrated  on  Hounslow  Heath  an  army 
of  13,000  men,  and  this  done,  he  thought  himself  secure.  He  now 
The  Camp  at  began  to  put  Roman  Catholics  into  all  the  chief  posts.  His 
Hounslow.  brother-in-law.  Clarendon,  was  recalled  from  Ireland,  and  the 
office  of  the  lord-lieutenant  bestowed  on  Richard  Talbot,  who  was  created 
earl  of  Tyrconnel.  As  a  lad,  Talbot  had  been  present  at  the  storming  of 
Drogheda.  His  great  aim  was  to  secure  the  independence  of  Ireland, 
while  James  wished  to  repeat  Strafford's  policy  of  making  Ireland  a  basis 
of  operations  against  England.  For  the  time,  however,  there  was  no 
divergence  between  their  views,  and  Tyrconnel  had  full  powers  to 
remodel  the  Irish  army  and  transfer  the  civil  service  to  Roman  Catholics. 
At  the  same  time  advances  were  made  to  Rochester,  with  a  view  to 
making  him  a  convert,  and  on  his  refusal  he  was  deprived  of  his  post  of 
lord-treasurer.  Sunderland,  however,  was  more  compliant,  and,  in 
hopes  of  succeeding  Rochester,  declared  himself  ready  to  accept  the  creed 
of  his  king  ;  and  many  others  were  ready  to  do  the  same. 

In  1686  the  Ecclesiastical  Commission  suspended  Compton,  bishop  of 
London — who  had  given  offence  by  his  opposition  in  the  Lords — as  a 
punishment  for  refusing  to  silence  Dr.  Sharpe,  rector  of  St. 
Giles',  who  had  reflected  in  the  pulpit  on  the  honesty  of 
some  new  converts.     James  then  attacked  the  universities  of  Oxford  and 
The  Uni-     Cambridge.    As  the  law  stood,  no  Roman  Catholic  could  take 
versities.      ^^  degree  at  either  of  these  universities,  or  hold  office  in  any 
college.    This  law  James  determined  to  override  by  means  of  the  dispens- 
ing power.  Accordingly,  a  request  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Cambridge 
to  admit  to  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  Alban  Francis,  a  Benedictine 
monk,  who  was  working  as  a  Roman  Catholic  missionary  in  the  neighbour- 
hood.     Dr.   Peachell,   the  vice-chanceUor,  and   master  of    Magdalene 


1686  James  II.  653 

College,  acting  with  the  informal  concurrence  of  the  Senate,  declined  to 
admit  Francis  until  he  had  taken  the  usual  oaths  ;  upon  which  he  was 
deprived  of  the  vice-chancellorship  and  suspended  from  his  mastership. 
Victory,  however,  rested  with  the  university,  for  though  a  new  vice- 
chancellor  was  elected,  Francis  never  received  his  degree.  Oxford's  turn 
came  next.  James  was  exceedingly  desirous  on  many  grounds  of  seeing 
Roman  Catholics  freely  admitted  to  the  universities,  as  they  have  been 
since  1870  ;  but  his  method  of  proceeding  was  perhaps  more  reprehen- 
sible at  Oxford  than  it  had  been  at  Cambridge.  On  the  death  of  the 
president  of  Magdalen  College,  one  of  the  richest  foundations  in  the 
university,  James  sent  a  letter  to  the  fellows  ordering  them  to  elect 
Antony  Farmer,  a  Roman  Catholic,  distinguished  neither  for  learning  nor 
conduct,  and,  according  to  the  stiitutes  of  the  college,  ineligible  for  the 
post.  The  fellows,  therefore,  proceeded  to  elect  John  Hough,  one  of 
their  own  number,  in  every  way  a  suitable  candidate,  and  '  a  worthy, 
firm  man,  not  apt  to  be  threatened  out  of  his  rights.'  The  case  was  then 
referred  to  the  Court  of  Ecclesiastical  Commission,  which  advised  James 
to  drop  Farmer,  but  declared  Hough's  election  illegal.  Accordingly 
James  put  forward  Parker,  bishop  of  Oxford,  who  wa«  indeed  capable  of 
election  had  the  post  been  vacant,  though  he  was  shrewdly  suspected  of 
being  a  Roman  Catholic  in  disguise.  The  fellows,  however,  persisted  that 
Hough's  election  was  legal,  and  that  no  vacancy  existed.  Resistance 
appearing  from  such  an  unexpected  quarter,  increased,  doubtless,  by  a 
suspicion  that  a  mistake  had  been  made,  drove  James  to  fury.  In  person 
he  went  down  to  Oxford  and  administered  to  the  contumacious  fellows 
a  scolding  which  did  nothing  to  raise  the  respect  of  the  university  for  the 
dignity  of  his  office.  The  election  of  Hough  was  then  annulled  by  the 
Ecclesiastical  Commission,  and  Parker's  representative  was  installed  in 
the  president's  lodgings.  Hough  liimself,  with  twenty-five  of  the  fellows 
and  fourteen  demies,  was  expelled  from  the  college  and  declared 
incapable  of  holding  ecclesiastical  appointments.  In  the  course  of  the 
troubles  Parker  died,  and  in  his  place  James  nominated  a  Roman  Catholic 
bishop,  Bonaventura  Gifiard,  and  the  places  of  the  expelled  fellows  and 
demies  were  filled  with  Roman  Catholics  and  courtiers.  The  result  of 
his  quarrel  with  Magdalen  College  was  to  array  against  James  the  whole 
force  of  university  feeling,  which  existed  not  only  in  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, but  in  every  parsonage  in  the  country,  where  the  inmate,  who 
cared  little  about  the  appointment  of  Roman  Catholic  guardsmen,  was 
perfectly  alive  to  the  meaning  of  the  least  incident  which  aflfected  an 
ancient  and  loyal  college. 

For  some  time  James,  relying  on  the  'non-resistance '  professions  of  the 


654  The  Stuarts  1687 

Church  of  England,  had  hoped  to  affect  his  ends  by  an  alliance  between 
the  church  and  the  Roman  Catholics.  He  was,  however,  convinced  of 
the  futility  of  this  expectation,  and  fell  back  on  the  policy 
the  Non-  of  the  Cabal  ministry,  who  had  hoped  to  secure  tolera- 
^'  tion  by  an  alliance  between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
Nonconformists.  Accordingly,  he  affected  great  kindness  for  the  Non- 
conformists. He  released  Baxter  and  others  who  were  suffering  under 
The  First  the  penal  laws,  and  in  April  1687  issued  a  Declaration  of 
?f?ndiflV°"  Indulgence,  '  suspending  the  execution  of  all  penal  laws  for 
gence.  religious  offences,  and  forbidding  the  imposition  of  religious 

oaths  or  tests  as  qualifications  for  office.'  The  principles  of  toleration 
thus  announced  were  excellent  in  themselves,  and  have  gradually  been 
adopted  by  the  legislature  ;  but  at  this  date  they  were  subject  to  two 
serious  objections — first,  the  form  of  the  Declaration  was  such  that  if 
accepted  as  a  precedent,  no  law  could  be  regarded  as  safe  from  being 
at  any  moment  suspended  by  the  royal  prerogative ;  and  secondly, 
toleration  itself  was  not  in  accord  with  the  then  sentiments  of  the  English 
people.  These  two  facts  were  fatal  to  the  success  of  James'  measure. 
The  Church  of  England  looked  on  in  amazement,  while  even  among  the 
Protestant  Nonconformists  who  benefited  by  the  Declaration,  Baxter 
refused  to  render  any  acknowledgment,  while  others,  in  giving  James 
thanks,  laid  stress  on  their  hopes  that  the  new  policy  would  soon  receive 
the  consent  of  both  Houses  of  parliament.  A  few  received  the  grace 
with  acclamation,  and  set  about  repairing  their  meeting-houses,  to  fit 
them  for  places  of  public  worship.  Among  these  is  to  be  reckoned 
William  Penn,  the  'courtly  Quaker,'  son  of  Admiral  Penn,  who  had 
allowed  himself  to  be  completely  won  over  by  James'  professions  of 
tolerance,  and  was  now  giving  him  a  hearty  support. 

The  very  lukewarm  reception  which  the  Declaration  had  met  with 
might  have  warned  James  of  the  folly  of  the  cause  on  which  he  was  bent ; 
Confidence  hut  he  persisted  in  his  belief  that  though  the  church  might 
of  James.  grumble  it  would  never  resist,  took  Penn's  voice  as  that  of 
the  whole  Nonconformist  community,  and  even  rejected  with  scorn  the 
remonstrances  of  the  more  moderate  section  of  the  English  Roman 
Catholics,  who  were  perfectly  alive  to  the  risks  both  to  him  and  them- 
selves which  were  being  run  by  their  infatuated  champion.  So  sure, 
indeed,  did  he  feel  of  success  that  he  introduced  the  Jesuit  Petre  and 
four  Roman  Catholic  peers  into  the  privy  council,  made  Lord  Arundel  of 
Wardour  privy  seal,  gave  seats  on  the  treasury  board  to  two  other 
Roman  Catholics,  and  made  Sir  Edward  Hales  constable  of  the  Tower 
of  London.     These  acts  were  taken  by  the  nation  to  mean  that  when 


1687  James  IL  655 

James  talked  of  toleration  he  really  implied  Koman  Catholic  ascend- 
ency, and  that  he  meant  to  give  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  probably 
numbered  one  in  thirty  of  the  population,  an  altogether  disproportionate 
share  of  political  power.  It  was  also  believed  that  all  James'  acts  were 
merely  designed  to  pave  the  way  for  a  reconciliation  of  England  with 
Rome,  and  the  re-establishment  of  Roman  Catholicism  as  the  state 
church,  and  this  view  received  confirmation  when  James'  Chapel  in 
Whitehall  was  thrown  open  for  the  public  celebration  of  Roman  Catholic 
rites,  when  members  of  Roman  Catholic  orders  appeared  openly  in 
uniform,  and  especially  when,  on  July  3,  1687,  a  nuncio  from  the  pope 
was  ceremoniously  received  at  court. 

Parliament  had  not  sat  for  business  since  December  1685.  On  July  2, 
1687,  it  was  dissolved  ;  and  James  then  set  himself  to  secure  the  election 
of  a  parliament  which  should  give  legal  recognition  to  the 
Declaration  of  Indulgence.  With  this  end  he  formed  a  board 
of  '  regulators,'  designed  to  carry  out  a  further  remodelling  of  the  corpora- 
tions, and  requested  the  lords-lieutenant  to  furnish  him  with  a  list  of 
Roman  Catholics  and  Nonconformists  suitable  to  sit  in  parliament.  He 
also  directed  the  lords-lieutenant  to  call  together  the  magistrates  and 
princijml  freeholders  of  their  respective  counties,  and  to  inquire  from 
them  (1)  whether,  if  elected  members  of  parliament,  they  would  vote  for 
a  repeal  of  the  tests ;  (2)  whether  they  would  vote  for  candidates  who 
would  ;  and  (3)  whether  they  would  themselves  live  peaceably  with  men 
of  all  denominations.  The  lords-lieutenant  were  Tories  to  a  man,  and 
many  of  them  were  old  cavaliers,  with  scars  from  Edgehill  and  Naseby, 
but  the  requests  met  with  a  general  refusal.  The  earl  of  Northampton 
told  the  men  of  Warwickshire  that  it  was  his  duty  to  put  the  questions, 
but  that  for  himself  he  agreed  with  none  of  them  ;  and  most  of  the 
answers  followed  a  cleverly  devised  fonn  of  words  believed  to  have  been 
drawn  up  by  Halifax,  which  committed  to  nothing.  Even  James  was 
convinced  that  it  was  hopeless  to  get  a  parliament  favourable  to  the 
Declaration,  and  he  wreaked  his  vengeance  on  the  recalcitrant  nobles 
and  gentlemen  by  depriving  them  of  their  posts.  Among  others,  the 
duke  of  Somerset  was  dismissed  from  the  post  of  first  lord  of  the  bed- 
chamber for  refusing  to  present  the  papal  nuncio  ;  the  earl  of  Devonshire 
resigned  to  avoid  expulsion,  and  the  places  of  all  were  handed  over  either 
to  courtiers  or  to  Roman  Catholics.  Towns  which  seemed  likely  to  be 
refractory  had  their  corporations  remodelled. 

James  had  now  managed  to  offend  the  old  adherents  of  his  father 
— the  nobility,  the  country  gentry,  the  universities  and  the  church — 
but  it  was  yet  doubtful  what  line  would  ultimately  be  taken  by  the 


656  The  Stuarts  1687 

Nonconformists.  Their  treatment  by  the  church  since  the  Restoration  had 
been  most  exasperating,  and  it  could  hardly  have  been  wondered  at  if  at 
_.         ,  this  crisis  they  had  made   common  cause  with  the   king. 

The  attitude  ,111  -,      -,        ^-         ^       ■  ,    ,. 

of  the  Non-  Two  causes  held  them  back.  First,  having  separated  from 
con  ormis  s.  ^^^  church  because  its  government  and  rites  were  held  to 
be  too  nearly  akin  to  those  of  Rome,  they  could  hardly  look  with  favour 
upon  a  policy  which  seemed  likely,  in  the  long  run,  to  place  the  Roman 
Church  in  the  position  held  by  the  Church  of  England,  and  of  which 
the  appointment  of  four  Roman  Catholic  bishops  for  England  appeared 
to  be  a  foretaste.  Second,  they  judged  the  temper  of  the  nation  much 
better  than  James  was  doing  ;  they  saw  that  the  mass  of  the  nation  was 
attached  to  the  church,  and  that  the  king's  policy  was  certain  to  be 
reversed  by  a  free  parliament.  They  also  believed  that  James'  pro- 
ceedings, however  favourable  to  themselves  at  the  moment,  were  only  part 
of  a  general  plan  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  the  country.  The  majority, 
therefore,  determined  to  ally  themselves  with  the  church,  and  to  trust  to 
the  gratitude  of  parliament  for  reward.  Accordingly,  James'  attempt  to 
win  them  over  to  his  side  was  a  failure. 

Hitherto  the  country  had  borne  James'  proceedings  with  tolerable 
patience,  because  it  was  expected  that  in  the  course  of  nature  he  would 
An  Heir  ^^^^  ^®  succeeded  by  Mary  and  William ;  and  in  1687 
expected.  William  sent  over  Dyckveldt  to  England  with  orders  to 
bring  together  the  prince's  friends,  and  induce  them  to  act  in  concert 
and  with  the  prince.  Dyckveldt  played  his  part  with  address  and  tact, 
and  soon  Halifax,  Shrewsbury,  Danby,  Nottingham,  Russell's  old  colleague. 
Cavendish,  now  earl  of  Devonshire,  and  the  bishop  of  London,  were  in 
close  alliance  with  the  prince  and  princess.  Now,  however,  an  event 
happened  which  threatened  to  frustrate  all  their  hopes.  Hitherto  Mary 
of  Modena  had  never  borne  a  living  child,  but  in  December  1687  it  was 
formally  announced  that  she  was  expecting  to  become  a  mother.  If  the 
child  were  a  girl,  no  difference  would  be  made ;  but  if  it  were  a  boy, 
and  lived,  James  would  be  succeeded,  not  by  the  Protestant  Mary,  but 
by  a  Roman  Catholic  prince,  and  all  hope  of  reversing  his  policy,  except 
by  a  revolution,  would  be  at  an  end.  Naturally  the  Protestants  were 
dismayed,  while  the  Roman  Catholics  showed  every  symptom  of  hope, 
and  rapturously  anticipated  the  birth  of  a  son  and  heir. 

It  was  in  these  circumstances  that  James  was  reckless  enough  to  put 
Second  the  endurance  of  the  church  to  further  test.     In  April  1688 

onndSV°"  ^^  issued  a  second  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  and  ordered  it 
gence.  to  be  read  by  the  clergy  at  divine  service  on  two  succes- 

sive Sundays.      It  is  true  that  similar  royal  notices  had  already  been 


1688  James  11.  657 

published  by  the  clergy — for  example,  Charles'  manifesto  against  the  Whigs 
in  1681,  and  his  declaration  respecting  the  Rye  House  Plot  in  1683, — 
but  the  declaration  was  regarded  by  the  clergy  as  being  in  itself  illegal. 
Accordingly,  a  distinction  was  drawn  between  passive  and  active  diso- 
bedience, and  they,  headed  by  Archbishop  Bancroft  and  six  bishops,  drew 
up  a  respectful  and  temperate  remonstrance,  in  which  they  plainly  declared 
that  '  this  declaration  was  founded  on  such  a  dispensing  power  as  hath 
been  often  declared  illegal  in  parliament,  and  particularly  in  the  years 
1662  and  1672,  and  in  the  beginning  of  your  majesty's  reign,'  so  that  they 
could  not  in  *  prudence,  honour,  or  conscience,  so  far  make  themselves 
parties  to  it,  as  the  distribution  of  it  all  over  the  nation,  and  the  solemn 
publication  of  it  once  and  again,  even  in  God's  house,  must  amount  to 
in  common  and  reasonable  construction,'  and  therefore  they  requested  to 
be  excused.  This  petition  was  signed  by  Sancroft  of  Canterbury,  Lloyd 
of  St.  Asaph,  Turner  of  Ely,  Lake  of  Chichester,  Ken  of  Bath  The  Bishops' 
and  Wells,  White  of  Peterborough,  and  Trelawney  of  Bristol.  Petition. 
The  petition  was  conveyed  to  the  palace  by  the  six  bishops,  Sancroft 
staying  behind,  as  he  was  not  in  favour  at  court,  and,  after  being  shown 
to  but  not  read  by  Sunderland,  was  presented  to  James  in  person.  He 
wiis  very  angry.  '  Here  are  strange  words,'  said  he.  '  This  is  a  standard 
of  rebellion.  This  is  a  sounding  of  Sheba's  trumpet,  and  all  the  seditious 
preaching  of  the  Puritans  in  the  year  '40  were  not  of  so  ill  consequence 
as  this.'  Within  a  few  hours  the  petition  had  been  printed.  Six  other 
bishops  signified  their  approval,  and  James'  rash  words  about  'a standard 
of  rebellion,'  brought  about  their  own  fulfilment.  Next  day  the  declara- 
tion should  have  been  read  in  London,  and  a  fortnight  later  in  the 
provinces  ;  but  few  clergymen  ventured  to  read  it,  and  where  they  did, 
the  congregations,  as  a  rule,  marched  out  of  church.  James  became 
perfectly  furious,  and  decided  on  prosecuting  the  bishops  for  the  publica- 
tion of  a  seditious  libel.  On  June  8  they  appeared  before  the  council 
and  acknowledged  the  petition  as  their  own,  and  having  refused  to  give 
security  for  their  appearance  in  a  court  of  law,  there  was  no  alternative 
but  to  arrest  them  and  send  them  to  the  Tower.  The  result  was  to  make 
their  journey  thither  an  opportunity  for  a  great  demonstration.  Crowds 
knelt  to  receive  the  blessing  of  the  bishops,  even  the  soldiers  on  guard  at 
the  Tower  asked  it  as  they  passed.  Every  vessel  on  the  river  cheered 
their  barge,  and  the  contrast  between  the  popularity  of  the  bishops  now 
and  the  unpopularity  of  their  predecessors  in  1640  could  hardly  have 
been  more  marked.  Even  the  persecuted  Nonconformists  joined  in  the 
enthusiasm  for  the  Episcopal  martyrs,  and  a  deputation  of  ten  of  their 
ministers  waited  on  the  bishops  in  the  Tower. 

2  T 


658  The  Stuarts  1688 

Two  days  after  this  memorable  scene,  the  queen  bore  James  a  son. 
That  the  birth  was  genuine  is  not  now  contested,  but  for  months  rumours 

Birth  of       had  been  in  circulation  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  carefully 

an  Heir.  concocted  sham,  and  James,  even  with  the  knowledge  of  this, 
was  so  infatuated  that  he  neglected  the  most  obvious  precautions  to 
secure  that  the  genuineness  of  his  son  and  heir  was  placed  beyond  a 
doubt.  At  the  birth  itself,  the  chief  persons  present  were  Roman 
Catholics  and  courtiers,  on  whom  no  one  relied ;  neither  the  Princess 
Anne  nor  any  of  the  Clarendon  family  were  there,  and  it  was  easy  to  suggest 
that  their  absence  was  due  to  design.  Accordingly,  when  the  rumour 
went  round  that  the  baby  was  not  the  queen's  child  at  all  but  had  been 
introduced  into  the  palace  in  a  warming-pan,  it  found  ready  credence 
among  all  classes  ;  and  the  event  to  which  the  court  had  looked  forward 
as  the  completion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  triumph  was  taken  to  be  the 
culminating  iniquity  in  a  long  roll  of  treasons  against  the  liberties  and 
religion  of  the  nation. 

The  astute  Sunderland,  who  saw  clearly  the  probable  result  of  James' 
conduct,  wished  him  to  take  advantage  of  the  birth  of  the  prince  to 
The  Bishops'  declare  a  general  amnesty,  which  would  have  provided  an 
Trial.  escape  from  the  unpopular  course  of  prosecuting  the  bishops. 

The  nuncio,  too,  was  well  aware  of  the  king's  error,  and  even  Jeffreys 
would  have  drawn  back,  but  James  persisted  that  '  indulgence  had  ruined 
his  father,'  and  declared  that  the  trial  should  go  on.  Accordingly,  three 
weeks  later,  the  seven  bishops  appeared  before  the  Court  of  King's  Bench 
in  Westminster  Hall.  The  judges  were  "Wright,  Allibone  (a  Roman  Catho- 
lic), Hollo  way,  and  Powell.  The  jurymen  were  a  carefully  chosen  body  of 
citizens,  and  among  them  sat  the  court  brewer,  on  whose  interested  obstinacy 
the  crown  relied,  at  any  rate,  for  a  disagreement  of  the  jury.  In  opening 
the  case,  attorney-general  Powis  said  that  '  the  bishops  were  accused  of 
censuring  the  government,  and  giving  their  opinion  about  affairs  of  state ' ; 
and  '  no  man,'  said  he,  '  may  say  of  the  great  officers  of  the  kingdom  that 
they  act  unreasonably,  for  that  may  beget  a  desire  of  reformation,  and 
the  last  age  will  abundantly  show  whither  such  a  desire  doth  tend.' 
Against  such  an  astonishing  doctrine  the  counsel  for  the  bishops — among 
whom,  a  young  lawyer,  John  Somers,  was  distinguished — took  their  stand 
on  the  illegality  of  the  king's  dispensing  power,  and  the  lawful  right  of 
subjects  to  petition.  In  doing  so,  they  received  the  support  of  PoweU, 
who,  to  his  honour,  declared  that  *if  such  a  dispensing  power  were 
allowed,  they  would  need  no  parliament ;  all  the  legislature  will  be  in 
the  king.'  The  jury  retired  at  seven  in  the  evening,  and  were  locked  up 
all  night.     The  brewer  was  obstinate  ;  but  the  arguments  of  a  stout 


1688  James  II.  659 

juryman,  who  declared  that  '  he  would  starve  till  he  was  as  thin  as  a 
tobacco-pipe  before  he  would  find  such  a  petition  a  libel,'  finally  carried 
the  day  ;  and  when  the  court  reassembled  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  30th  of 
June,  a  verdict  of  *  not  guilty '  was  returned,  amidst  shouts  of  applause 
which  were  taken  up  far  and  wide,  till  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar  of 
enthusiasm.  In  the  evening  the  sky  was  bright  with  bonfires,  fireworks, 
and  illuminations,  and  the  pope  was  burned  in  effigy  before  the  windows 
of  Whitehall. 

Still  the  king  would  have  been  comparatively  safe  had  he  had  the 
army  with  him  ;  but  his  folly  in  bringing  it  so  near  London  had  lost  him 
its  support.  He  had  brought  his  men  to  Hounslow  to  overawe  the 
Londoners,  but  the  citizens  had  won  over  the  army.  The  camp  had  been 
made  a  pic-nic  gi-ound,  and  the  men  were  filled  with  popular  sentiments. 
The  morning  of  the  verdict  had  been  devoted  by  James  to  his  favoiu-ite 
amusement  of  reviewing  his  troops,  and  while  resting  in  Lord  Feversham's 
tent  the  sounds  of  a  mighty  shouting  came  to  his  ears.  '  What  is  that  ? ' 
said  he.  '  Nothing,'  replied  Feversham ;  *  except  that  the  soldiers  are 
glad  that  the  bishops  are  acquitted.'  *  Do  you  call  that "  nothing  ! " '  said 
James  ;  *  but  so  nmch  the  worse  for  them.'    He  then  rode  gloomily  away. 

Still,  after  the  experience  of  Monmouth's  failure,  the  popular  leaders 
felt  that  they  could  do  nothing  unless  they  could  secure  a  regular  army 
which  would  keep  James'  men  in  check  till  a  free  parlia- 
ment  could  declare  the  will  of  the  nation  ;  so  that  very  Wiiiiam  of 
night  Admiral  Herbert  left  London,  disguised  as  a  common  '■^"se. 
sailor,  carrying  with  him  a  letter  to  William  of  Orange  asking  him 
to  come  over  with  an  army  strong  enough  to  secure  the  safety  of  his 
adherents,  and  to  declare  for  a  free  parliament.  The  chief  agents  in  this 
conspiracy  were  Henry  Sidney,  brother  of  Algernon,  Admiral  Russell, 
cousin  of  William  Lord  Russell,  Danby,  Shrewsbury,  Lumley  (who  had 
efiected  the  capture  of  Monmouth),  and  Compton,  bishop  of  London;  and 
they  had  the  tacit  support  of  Halifax,  the  connivance  of  Nottingham, 
and  the  promised  assistiince  of  Churchill,  Kirke,  and  Trelawney,  the  most 
influential  officers  in  the  army.  Russell,  Sidney,  and  Devonshire  were 
Whigs,  but  Danby,  Lumley,  and  Compton  were  Tories;  and  among  them 
they  were  prepared  to  answer  for  a  general  movement  in  William's  favour, 
if  only  his  plans  could  be  kept  secret  till  the  moment  for  action  arrived. 

William  was  now  thirty-eight  years   of  age.      The  anticipation   of 
acquiring  a  dominant  authority  in  England  presented  an  alluring  pro- 
spect to  a  man  of  his  ambition,  especially  since,  tlirough  the    Position  of 
good   offices  of  Burnet,   her    chaplain,   Mary   had    lately   William, 
signified  her  intention  of  placing  in  the  hands  of  her  husband  all  the 


660  The  Stuarts  1688 

authority  she  might  come  to  exercise  as  queen  of  England  ;  and  it  was 
clear  that  if  he  did  not  act  at  once  the  birth  of  the  prince  would  for  ever 
shut  out  from  him  all  hopes  of  enjoying  it.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  by 
no  means  easy  for  him  to  respond  to  the  invitation.  He  had  three 
things  to  fear  :  (1)  that  Louis  xiv.  would  do  all  he  could,  not  only  to 
warn  and  help  James,  but  also  to  stir  up  William's  enemies  in  Holland 
to  prevent  his  sailing  ;  (2)  that,  if  he  went  to  England,  it  would  be 
thought  that  he  had  gone  to  head  a  religious  war,  which  would  alienate 
those  Catholics  who  were  his  allies  against  France  ;  (3)  that  if  he  went 
over  and  won  a  battle  with  his  Dutch  troops  over  the  English,  he  would 
rouse  the  patriotism  of  the  English,  and  so  incline  them  to  support 
James. 

Louis  did  indeed  warn  James,  and  offered  a  contingent  of  troops, 
which  by  Sunderland's  advice  were  declined  ;  but  he  played  into 
William's  hands  in  alienating  the  Dutch  burgher  party  by 
prohibiting  the  use  in  France  of  all  linen  or  woollen  goods 
of  Dutch  manufacture,  and  even  of  Dutch  herrings  unless  cured  with 
French  salt.  At  the  same  time,  Louis  quarrelled  with  the  pope  about 
the  right,  claimed  by  his  ambassador  at  Eome,  to  offer  sanctuary  to 
criminals,  so  that  the  Catholic  powers  were  divided  among  themselves  ; 
and  finally,  though  he  had  declared  that  any  movement  against  England 
should  be  made  a  casus  belli,  he  foolishly  directed  his  arms  against 
the  Rhine  i)rovinces,  and  so  left  W^illiam's  hands  free.  Such  luck, 
however,  was  hardly  to  be  expected  ;  and  still  less  was  it  to  be 
hoped  for  that  James,  whose  experience  at  Hounslow  ought  to  have 
shown  him  sufficiently  the  feelings  of  his  soldiers,  should  proceed  to  still 
further  exasperate  his  English  regiments  by  a  wholesale  introduction  of 
Irishmen.  He  began  with  the  regiment  of  the  duke  of  Berwick,  his 
illegitimate  son  by  Arabella  Churchill,  Lord  Churchill's  sister.  Here  he 
might  hope  for  success  ;  but  lieutenant-colonel  Beaumont  and  five  officers 
refused  to  serve  with  the  new-comers,  and,  though  they  were  iuune- 
diately  cashiered,  others  followed  their  example.  Before  long,  the 
*  murders  and  insults '  committed  by  the  Irish  soldiery  had  completely 
alienated  any  feeling  of  sympathy  with  the  royal  troops  which  might 
have  lingered  in  the  breast  of  the  English  nation.  Thus  relieved  from 
his  chief  difficulties  by  the  folly  of  his  principal  opponents,  William  made 
his  arrangements,  and  issued  a  declaration,  edited  by  Burnet,  in  which 
he  enumerated  James'  bad  acts,  and  declared  that,  as  the  husband  of 
Mary,  he  was  coming  with  an  army  to  secure  a  free  and  legal  parliament, 
by  whose  decision  he  would  abide. 

In  September  James  received  positive  information  from  Louis  that 


1688  James  11.  661 

William's  preparations  were  for  an  invasion  of  England,  accompanied  by 
an  offer  of  troops,  which  being  refused,  were  immediately  diverted  to 
the  Rhine.  However,  though  James  declined  Louis'  assis-  j  ames  tries 
tance,  wisely  thinking  that  the  arrival  of  a  French  regiment  conciliation, 
would  give  the  signal  for  instant  revolution,  he  was  at  length  alive  to  the 
extent  of  his  danger,  and  attempted  to  avert  it  by  a  series  of  hasty 
concessions.  He  consulted  the  bishops  whom  he  had  lately  prosecuted  ; 
he  ordered  the  dismissed  lords-lieutenant  and  magistrates  to  be  im- 
mediately restored ;  announced  that  for  defence  against  invasion  he 
reUed  solely  on  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects ;  removed  the  suspension 
of  the  bishop  of  London  ;  restored  the  ancient  charters  of  London  and 
other  cities  and  boroughs  ;  dissolved  the  Ecclesiastical  Commission ; 
restored  Dr.  Hough  and  the  expelled  fellows  of  Magdalen  ;  made  an 
attempt  to  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  new-bom 
prince  ;  and  published  a  general  pardon,  from  which  were  excepted  only 
a  few  persons  who  were  serving  with  the  Prince  of  Orange. 

William,  however,  had  gone  too  far  to  retreat.    The  great  lords  who 
had  sent  the  invitation  were  ready  to  raise  an  insurrection  in  the  north. 

Lord  Churchill — whose  wife  was  the  bosom  friend  of  the 

Preparations 
Princess  Anne — carrying  out  a  declaration  made  in  1685,  to  aid 

that  *  if  ever  the  king  was  prevailed  on  to  alter  our  religion 

he  would  serve  him  no  longer,  but  withdraw  from  him,'  had  planned 

a  secession  in  the  anny,  and  the  flight  of  Anne  to  the  rebels.     Men  who 

had  gone  so  far  knew  that  safety  could  only  be  purchased  by  success,  and 

they  urged  William  to  persevere.     Accordingly,  on  October  16th,  the 

prince  set  sail,  but  his  fleet  had  not  reached  the  English  shore  when  the 

wind  veered,  and  a  terrible  storm  scattered  the  ships  along  the  Dutch  coast. 

However,  by  dint  of  a  fortnight's  hard  work,  the  expedition  was  again 

ready  to  sail.     During  the  interval,  feeling  in  England  had  been  curiously 

confused.     The  bishops  prepared  a  form  of  prayer  against  invasions. 

Evelyn  recorded  his  fears  that  the  king  would  not  have  the  vigour  to 

repel  the  invaders  'either  by  land   or  sea.'     Others  were   praying  for 

an  east  wind,  which  would  keep  the  English  fleet  in  the  Thames.     James 

did  what  he  could  to  strengthen  the  army  and  navy,  and  conciliated 

opinion  by  the  dismissal  of  Sunderland  and  Petre. 

It  had  been  William's  intention  to  land  in  Yorkshire,  where  he  was 

expected  by  Danby,  and  whence  he  was  informed  that  the  '  roads  were 

good  to  within  fifty  miles  of  London';  but  an  east  wind   William's 

detaining  the  English  fleet  in  the  Thames,  he  altered  his    landing. 

mind,  passed  the  Straits  of  Dover,  and,  on  November  5,  landed  in  Torbay. 

Thence  William  marched  to  Exeter,  where  Burnet  preached  before  him 


662  The  Stuarts  1688 

in  the  cathedral,  and  where  Ferguson,  having  thrust  his  way  into  the 
meeting-house  of  the  Nonconformists,  addressed  his  friends  on  the  text, 
'  Who  will  rise  up  for  me  against  the  evildoers  1 '  The  west  had  been 
cowed  by  the  Bloody  Assize.  At  Exeter  William  was  joined  by  Sir 
Edward  Seymour  and  Admiral  Eussell ;  but  he  waited  over  a  fortnight 
without  being  joined  by  any  nobleman  of  greater  distinction  than  Lord 
Wharton.  For  a  moment  everything  turned  on  the  ability  of  Churchill 
to  carry  out  his  scheme  of  desertion.  That  oflftcer  contrived  to  arrange 
the  army  so  that  every  facility  was  given  to  those  regiments  on  whose 
disaffection  to  James  he  could  rely  ;  but  though  Lord  Cornbury,  eldest 
son  of  Lord  Clarendon,  endeavoured  to  lead  over  his  men,  they  refused  to 
follow  him,  and  he  had  to  escape  almost  alone.  The  incident,  however, 
was  fatal  to  the  morale  of  James'  troops.  No  man  dare  trust  another,  and 
each  was  hopeful  that  when  the  critical  moment  arrived  he  might  not  be 
the  last  to  range  himself  on  the  side  of  victory.  Report  even  exaggerated 
the  desertion,  and  Lords  Danby  and  Lumley  in  Yorkshire,  Lord  Dela- 
mere  in  Cheshire,  and  the  earl  of  Devonshire  in  Derbyshire  immediately 
Rising  in  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion.  At  first  James  had  pro- 
Yorkshire,  posed  to  fight  a  battle  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Salisbury, 
and  had  joined  his  troops  with  that  object  ;  but  disaffection  met  him  at 
every  turn.  Churchill  deserted  to  the  enemy  after  being  prevented,  by 
mere  accident,  from  handing  over  James  as  a  prisoner.  Prince  George  of 
Denmark,  accompanied  by  the  duke  of  Ormond,  also  joined  the  prince  ; 
and,  not  knowing  whom  he  could  trust,  James  withdrew  his  army 
across  the  Thames  and  returned  to  London.  There  he  learned  that 
Anne  had  followed  the  example  of  her  husband,  and  had  fled,  escorted  by 
bishop  Compton,  to  the  camp  of  the  northern  insurgents.  'God  help 
me,'  cried  James,  '  my  very  children  have  forsaken  me.' 

Meanwhile    William    was     steadily    advancing,    almost    unresisted. 
Danby  had  raised  York  with  cries  of  'A  free  parliament,  the   Pro- 
testant religion,  and  no  popery.'     Newcastle,  Hull,  Bristol, 
first  Plymouth,  Derby,  and  Nottingham  were  also  in  the  hands 

*^  ■  of  William's  friends  ;  and  a  general  cry  for  a  free  parliament 
had  been  raised,  not  only  by  the  rebels,  but  by  many  of  James'  best 
friends.  Accordingly  James  yielded,  and  after  making  arrangements 
for  the  escape  of  the  queen  and  her  child  to  France,  he  sent  Halifax, 
Nottingham,  and  Godolphin  to  treat  with  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and 
ordered  writs  to  be  issued  for  the  election  of  a  new  parliament. 
Suddenly,  however,  he  altered  his  mind  ;  burnt  the  writs  with  his  own 
hand,  and  crossed  the  river  to  Vauxhall,  taking  with  him  Sir  Edward 
Hales,  and,  with  a  childish   idea   of  leaving  everything  in  as  much 


1688  James  II.  663 

confusion  as  possible,  threw  the  great  seal  into  the  water.  From 
Vauxhall,  disguised  as  a  country  gentleman,  he  made  his  way  to  a  ship 
and  dropped  down  the  river,  but  near  the  isle  of  Sheppey  was  arrested 
by  some  fishermen,  who,  according  to  some  accounts,  took  him  for  9, 
smuggler ;  to  others,  as  a  runaway  priest.  By  them  he  was  taken  tq 
Faversham,  where,  his  disguise  being  penetrated,  he  was  escorted  to 
Rochester,  and  thence,  December  12,  returned  to  Whitehall,  where  and 
on  the  road  he  was  received  with  considerable  enthusiasm. 

On  the  news  of  the  king's  flight  London  was  thrown  for  some  hours 
into  a  state  of  simple  anarchy,  aggravated  by  a  rumour  that  a  Protestant 
massacre  had  already  been  begun  by  the  Irish  soldiers.  London 
Roman  Catholic  chapels  were  gutted  and  burnt ;  ambassa-  Riots- 
dors'  houses  pillaged  ;  and  Roman  Catholics  and  courtiers  were  in  peril 
of  their  lives.  Among  others,  none  were  sought  for  with  greater  energy 
than  Petre  and  Jeffreys.  The  fonner  had  made  good  his  escape,  but 
Jeffreys  was  seized  at  Wapping,  in  the  disguise  of  a  common  sailor, 
and  with  difficulty  carried  alive  to  the  Tower,  where  he  was  lodged 
with  Obadiah  Walker  and  other  unpopular  characters.  At  length  the 
exertions  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  mayor  and  corporation  restored  some 
kind  of  order,  and  William  was  earnestly  invited  to  come  up  to  town. 

The  reappearance  of  the  king  added  a  new  element  of  difficulty  to  the 
situation ;  but  William  insisted  on  his  again  quitting  Whitehall,  and 
James,  escorted  by  some  of  his  own  guards,  but  ctirefully 
guarded  by  Dutch  soldiers,  was  again  taken  to  Rochester.      second 
There  he  spent  four  days  in  uncertainty  ;   but  at  length,  *^ 

having  made  up  his  mind  that  William  meant  to  be  king,  and  every 
facility  being  offered  him,  he  again  made  his  escape.  Behind  him  he  left 
a  paper  in  which  he  stated  that  he  acted  in  fear  of  his  life,  and  that 
he  would  be  ready  to  return  as  soon  as  the  nation  had  recovered  from  itg 
delusion.  This  time  he  was  uninterrupted  ;  and  leaving  England  on 
December  23  he  joined  his  wife  and  child  in  France,  where  a  courteous 
and  honourable  reception  was  accorded  them  by  Louis  xiv.,  and  a 
pension  of  £40,000  allotted  by  him  for  their  support. 

On  December  19  William  came  to  London,  and  took  up  his  quarters 
in  St.  James'  Palace.  Some  of  his  advisers  wished  him  to  assume  the 
title  of  king,  but  as  this  would  have  been  contrary  to  his  The  Con- 
declaration,  he  contented  himself  with  calling  together  a  vention. 
meeting  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  peers,  of  all  those  who  had  sat  in 
any  of  the  parliaments  of  Charles  ii.,  and  of  the  lord  mayor,  the  alder- 
men, and  fifty  citizens  of  London,  and  asking  their  advice.  They 
recommended   a  Convention   (see   page    611),  which   was    accordingly 


664  The  Stuarts  1688 

summoned  for  January  22,  When  it  met,  the  House  of  Commons  passed 
two  resolutions  :  (1)  That  James  ii.,  having  endeavoured  to  subvert  the 
constitution  of  the  kingdom  by  breaking  the  original  compact  between 
king  and  people,  and  having  by  the  advice  of  Jesuits  and  other  wicked 
persons  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and  having  withdrawn  himself  out 
of  the  kingdom,  had  abdicated  the  government,  and  that  the  crown  was 
thereby  vacant ;  and  (2)  that  experience  has  shown  it  to  be  inconsistent 
with  the  safety  and  welfare  of  this  Protestant  kingdom  to  be  governed 
by  a  popish  prince.  The  reference  to  experience  in  the  second  resolution 
marks  exactly  the  difference  between  the  strength  of  the  Whig  position  in 
1688  and  its  weakness  in  1681.  Of  these  resolutions,  the  latter  was  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  peers  ;  about  the  first  there  was  more  debate,  occa- 
sioned by  the  dubious  sense  of  the  words  '  original  compact,'  and  by  the 
question  whether  the  throne  could  really  be  *  vacant.'  ITltimately  two 
parties  appeared,  one  of  which  would  immediately  have  offered  the 
crown  to  William,  the  other  would  have  retained  the  nominal  sovereignty 
of  James  under  a  regency.  The  former  was  headed  by  Shrewsbury, 
Danby,  and  Halifax,  and  had  a  majority  in  the  Commons  ;  the  latter, 
led  by  Nottingham,  Clarendon,  Rochester,  and  Sancroft,  commanded  a 
majority  among  the  peers.  As  a  compromise,  it  was  suggested  to  make 
Mary  queen  ;  but  this  plan  was  unacceptable  to  William,  who  gave  it 
to  be  plainly  understood  that  he  had  not  come  to  England  '  to  be  his  wife's 
gentleman  usher.'  After  further  debate,  therefore,  it  was  arranged 
that  William  and  Mary  should  be  asked  to  rule  jointly,  the  actual 
work  of  government  being,  with  Mary's  full  consent,  reserved  to  her 
husband. 

That  settled,  the  question  arose  whether  an  attempt  should  not  be 
made  to  lay  down  the  fundamental  principles  on  which  the  English 
constitution  was  based,  in  order  to  create  something  of  a  '  compact.'  To 
this  many  objections  were  urged,  but  eventually  it  was  decided  to  embody 
in  the  offer  of  the  crown  a  statement  of  James'  unconstitutional  actions, 
and  of  the  rights  of  Englishmen  under  the  constitution.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  memorable  Declaration  of  Right.  This  was 
Declaration  accepted  by  William  and  Mary,  who  were  declared  king 
*^  '  and  queen  on  February  18,  1689  ;  and  thus  the  great  crisis 
in  our  history,  known  as  the  Revolution,  was  brought  to  a  successful 
conclusion. 

The  Declaration  of  Right,  which  afterwards  was  turned  into  an  act  of 
parliament  under  the  title  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  documents  in  Ensjlish  history.  It  brought  to  a  close  the 
great  struggle  between  the  king  and  the  parliament,  which  had  lasted 


1688  James  II.  665 

nearly  one  hundred  years,  by  defining  the  law  on  a  number  of  disputed 
points,  all  of  which  had,  during  this  period,  been  matters  of  protest 
on  the  side  of  the  parliament.  After  taking,  one  by  one,  the  chief  un- 
constitutional acts  of  James  ii.,  it  proceeded  to  make  the  following 
declarations  : — 

1.  The  pretended  power  of  suspending  or  dispensing  with  the  laws, 

as  assumed  of  late,  is  illegal. 

2.  The  late  Court  of  Ecclesiastical  Commission,  and  all  other  such 

courts,  are  illegal. 

3.  Levying  money  by  pretence   of  prerogative,  without  gmnt  of 

parliament,  is  illegal. 

4.  Keeping  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  unless  with  consent  of 

parliament,  is  illegal. 

5.  Subjects  have  a  right  to  petition  the  king. 

6.  The  election  of  members  of  parliament  ought  to  be  free. 

7.  Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  in  parliament  oiight  not  to  be 

questioned  in  any  court  or  place  out  of  parliament. 

8.  Excessive  fines  must  not  be  imposed  ;  and  jurors,  in  cases  for  high 

treason,  must  be  freeholders. 

9.  For  redress  of  all  grievances,  and  for  the  strengthening  of  the 

laws,  parliament  ought  to  be  held  frequently. 
10.  William  and  Mary  were  declared  king  and  queen  of  England,  and 
all  who  are  papists,  or  who  shall  marry  a  papist,  are  declared 
incapable  of  possessing  the  crown.     After  the  deaths  of  both 
William  and  Mary,  the  crown  was  to  go  to  their  children,  if 
they  had  any  ;  if  not,  to  the  Princess  Anne  and  her  children  ; 
and  in  case  of  their  failure,  to  the  children  of  William  by  any 
other  wife. 
The  effect  of  the  Revolution  was  threefold.     In   the  first  place,  it 
destroyed  the  Stuart  theory  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  enunciated  in 
its  crudest  form  by  Filmer  in  his  de  Patriarchdj  by  setting  up  a  king  and 
queen  who  owed  their  position  to  the  choice  of  parliament.     In  the 
second,  it  gave   an   opportunity  for  reasserting  the   principles  of  the 
English  constitution  which  it  had  been  the  aim  of  the  Stuarts  to  set 
aside.     In  the  third,  it  began  what  may  be  called  the  reign  of  parliament. 
Up  to  the  Revolution  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  guiding  force  in  directing 
the  policy  of  the  nation  had  been  the  will  of  the  king.    Since  the  Revolu- 
tion the  guiding  force  has  been  the  will  of  the  parliament. 


CHAPTEK    VII 

WILLIAM  AND  MAEY :   1689-1702 
William,  bom  1650 ;  married  1677.     Mary,  bom  1662 ;  died  1694. 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY   SOVEREIGNS. 

France.  Emperor.  Spain. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.  Leopold  i.,  d.  1705.  Charles  ii.,  d.  1700. 

The  Revolution  in  Scotland  and  Ireland — War  with  France — Rise  of  Party 
Government — Financial  Measures — Treaty  of  Ryswick — The  Partition 
Treaties— The  Grand  Alliance. 

In  character,  the  new  sovereigns  were  the  complement  of  each  other. 
William,  though  beloved  by  his  intimate  friends,  and  admired  far  and  wide 
for  his  aljilities  as  a  statesman  and  a  soldier,  was  not  likely  to  character 
make  a  popular  sovereign.  Society  he  hated ;  talking,  and  all  °^  William, 
indoor  games  he  abhorred;  and  he  found  his  chief  recreation  in  the  solitary 
sports  of  the  chase,  where,  in  spite  of  his  frail  constitution  and  asthmatic 
lungs,  he  always  contrived  to  excel.  Dauntless  courage  and  resolute 
will  made  themselves  visible  in  the  fiery  eyes,  which  shone  out  in  striking 
contrast  to  his  cadaverous  face ;  but  his  thin  figure  and  rickety  frame  had 
nothing  about  them  to  attract  the  admiration  of  the  multitude.  Nor 
were  his  habits  more  popular  than  his  appearance.  Brought  up,  as  he  had 
been,  among  those  who  were  ready  to  put  the  most  sinister  interpretation 
upon  his  every  word,  a  cold  reserve  had  become  part  of  his  nature  ;  but 
among  his  intimate  friends,  or  when,  in  the  excitement  of  battle,  the 
mask  was  removed,  he  could  be  genial  and  witty  enough.  Even  to  his 
wife  he  maintained  the  same  reserve  of  manner ;  and  his  paroxysm  of 
agony  when  he  was  borne  fainting  from  her  deathbed  was  a  surprise 
to  almost  all.  In  religion  he  cared  little  for  outward  fonns,  and  showed 
to  the  full  the  Dutch  genius  for  toleration  ;  in  theology  his  views  were 
Calvinistic.  In  foreign  policy  he  was  chiefly  animated  by  hostility  to 
Louis  XIV.,  whose  ambition  he  rightly  regarded  as  dangerous  to  both 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  to  the  welfare  of  England  and  Holland,  and  to 

667 


668  The  Stuarts  1689 

the  balance  of  power.  At  home  he  detested  party  struggles,  was  simply 
desirous  of  finding  expedients  for  securing  a  stable  and  consistent  policy, 
and  for  bringing  the  force  of  a  united  England  to  bear  upon  foreign 
afiairs.  Being,  therefore,  neither  a  genial  king,  a  good  Englishman,  a 
good  churchman,  a  stout  Whig  or  a  hearty  Tory,  he  failed  to  secure  the 
popularity  that  would  have  been  readily  given  to  many  an  inferior  man. 
Mary,  on  the  other  hand,  with  not  a  tithe  of  William's  ability,  was  as 
genial  and  affable  in  society  as  her  husband  was  the  reverse,  and  her 
Character  simple  piety,  purity  of  life,  and  munificent  charities,  gained 
of  Mary.  f^j.  j^^j,  ^  ^oyq  and  admiration  to  which  he  could  make  no 
pretence.  Like  William,  however,  she  hated  idleness,  and  the  court  of 
the  Revolution,  under  the  guidance  of  a  queen  '  who  made  the  ladies 
about  her  ashamed  to  be  idle,'  soon  presented  a  marked  contrast  to  the 
Whitehall  of  Charles  and  James.  In  person  she  was  'majestic,'  her 
expression  noble,  her  courage  serene  ;  and  if  her  intelligence  was  not  of 
the  highest  order,  she  showed  herself  in  no  way  wanting  in  capacity 
when,  in  the  absence  of  her  husband,  she  was  called  on  at  several 
important  crises  to  act  alone.  In  the  early  years  that  followed  1688,  the 
new  sovereigns,  as  a  pair,  were  probably  stronger  than  either  would  have 
been  without  the  other ;  and  the  popularity  of  Mary,  as  the  direct 
representative  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  was  a  matter  of  the  first  political 
importance. 

Though  the  ultimate  result  of  the  Revolution  was  to  place  the  real 
choice  of  ministers  in  the  hands  of  parliament,  neither  William  nor 
Choice  of     his  subjects  doubted  that  the  duty  of  choosing  the  minis- 
Ministers.    ^gj.g  j.gg^g^   g^j^jy  ^.^j^   j^Ij^^^      ^.^j^   neither   Whigs   nor 

Tories  was  William  in  complete  sympathy.  While  his  views  on  foreign 
affairs  inclined  him  to  the  Whigs,  who  agreed  with  him  that  it  was 
better  to  fight  Louis  abroad  than  to  give  hhn  peace  to  arrange  an 
invasion  of  England,  his  wish  for  a  strong  executive  inclined  him  to 
the  Tories,  whose  principles  were  favourable  to  prerogative.  Moreover, 
he  was  well  aware  that  he  owed  his  place  to  a  temporary  alliance 
between  the  Whigs  and  the  Tories,  so  that  he  could  not  afford  to 
alienate  either ;  and  his  common  sense  showed  him  that  no  ministry 
would  be  efl'ective  which  did  not  command  the  goodwill  and  respect  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  Accordingly  he  tried  to  conciliate  aU  parties. 
He  chose  his  first  ministry  from  the  leaders  of  both  political  camps  ; 
and  by  putting  the  treasury,  the  admiralty,  and  the  chancery  into 
commission,  he  endeavoured  to  satisfy  as  many  as  possible  of  the  gi'eedy 
claimants  for  ofl&ce  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  WiUiam  himself  acted 
as  secretary  for  foreign  affairs  and  as  commander-in-chief ;  Danby  became 


1689  William  and  Mary  669 

president  of  the  council ;  Halifax,  privy  seal ;  Daniel  Finch,  earl  of 
Nottingham,  the  stoutest  of  high  churchmen,  was  one  secretary  of  state, 
the  Whig  Shrewsbury  was  the  other.  Godolphin  and  Charles  Mordaunt, 
afterwards  earl  of  Peterborough,  were  the  leading  members  of  the 
treasury  board  ;  Herbert  and  Eussell,  of  the  admiralty.  The  great  seal 
was  handed  to  commissioners,  of  whom  the  most  notable  was  the  veteran  Sir 
John  Maynard.  Besides  these  ministers,  William  placed  his  reliance  on  the 
advice  of  two  men  in  whom  he  had  especial  confidence.  These  were  William 
Bentinck,  created  earl  of  Portland,  a  Dutch  nobleman  who  had  risked 
his  own  life  to  nurse  the  prince  through  the  small-pox,  and  Henry 
Sidney,  the  brother  of  Algernon  Sidney,  who  wiis  created  first  Lord 
Sidney  and  then  earl  of  Romney.  The  obsequious  judges  of  James  ii. 
were  dismissed,  and  new  and  better  men  appointed  in  their  room.  In 
February  1689  the  convention  was,  without  re-election,  declared  to  be  a 
parliament,  and  all  its  acts  were  declared  to  be  good  at  law ;  and  in 
April  William  and  Mary  were  crowned  king  and  queen. 

To  secure  the  means  of  nipping  conspiracy  in  the  bud,  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  was  suspended ;  and  the  necessity  for  distinguishing  the 
friends  and  foes  of  the  new  sovereigns  caused  parliament  to  The  Non- 
devise  measures  for  weeding  out  all  persons  disafiected  to  the  J"*"°^s- 
government.  With  this  view,  a  new  oath  of  allegiance  and  supremacy 
was  imposed  on  all  members  of  parliament,  on  all  officers  in  the  army 
and  navy,  and  on  all  place-holders  both  in  church  and  state — such  as 
beneficed  clergy,  judges,  and  magistrates — under  pain  first  of  suspension 
and  then  of  deprivation.  Of  the  policy  of  enforcing  the  oath  on  the 
laity  there  were  no  two  opinions  ;  the  Ciise  of  the  clergy  was  more  open 
to  exception ;  and  William  himself,  while  enforcing  the  oath  on  the 
bishops,  would  have  preferred  to  excuse  the  beneficed  clergy.  Parlia- 
ment, however,  was  inexorable.  Some  members  of  the  House  of  Lords, 
two  Commoners,  and  a  few  of  the  laity,  refused  to  swear  ;  but  about 
four  hundred  clergy  and  university  men — among  whom  the  chief 
were  Sancroft,  Ken  of  Bath  and  Wells,  and  six  other  bishops,  Dodwell, 
Camden  professor  at  Oxford — declined  to  take  the  oath,  and  were 
deprived  of  their  places.  Holding  together  in  hopes  of  better  days, 
they  formed  the  sect  of  the  Nonjurors  ;  and  the  bishops  having 
consecrated  successors,  and  fresh  clergy  being  ordained  from  time 
to  time,  the  body  did  not  become  wholly  extinct  till  the  year  1805. 
From  government  they  met  with  no  persecution,  William  remarking  of 
one  of  them,  'that  Dodwell  wants  me  to  put  him  in  prison,  but  I 
will  disappoint  him.'  In  the  room  of  the  Nonjurors  Tillotson  was  made 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Stillingfleet  bishop  of  Worcester,  Hough  bishop 


670  The  Stuarts  1689 

of  Oxford,  and  Burnet  bishop  of  Salisbury.  On  the  whole,  these  men 
were  superior  in  ability  to  their  predecessors,  and  Burnet  set  an  example 
of  what  a  bishop  could  be  to  his  clergy,  which,  if  more  widely  imitated, 
might  have  had  a  great  influence  on  the  future  of  the  church. 

The  next  business  of  parliament  was  to  settle  the  revenue.     The 
income  of  James  ii.  was  found  to  have  fallen  little  short  of  £2,000,000  a 
The  year.      This   was    thought   too   much   to  settle   once   for 

Revenue,  ^^l  on  any  sovereign,  and  accordingly  the  king's  ordinary 
revenue  was  fixed  at  £1,200,000,  of  which  about  £700,000,  under  the 
name  of  the  civil  list,  was  given  to  the  king  for  the  support  of  the 
crown,  and  the  rest  was  voted  from  time  to  time  according  to  estimates 
prepared  by  the  ministers.  Special  grants  were  also  made  for  special 
purposes.  The  sum  of  £700,000  was  voted  for  the  improvement  of  the 
navy ;  £600,000  was  handed  over  to  the  Dutch  for  the  expenses  of 
WilUam's  expedition ;  and  as  soon  as  war  broke  out  with  France 
provision  was  also  made  for  it.  As  a  popular  measure,  the  hated 
hearth-tax  was  abolished,  and  the  additional  sums  required  were 
provided  chiefly  by  adding  to  the  excise  on  wine  and  beer.  These 
arrangements  inaugurated  the  modern  system  of  finance.  Further 
steps  were  taken  when  William  announced  that  for  the  future  the 
national  accounts  would  be  laid  before  parliament  whenever  they  were 
asked  for ;  and  when,  in  1697,  an  appropriation  clause  was  passed,  by 
which  all  the  supplies  of  the  session  were  definitely  apportioned  to  the 
services  for  which  they  had  been  allotted.  These  changes  supplied 
the  machinery  for  enforcing  the  ninth  section  of  the  Bill  of  Bights  ; 
and  Burnet  points  out  that  it  now  began  to  be  a  maxim  that  'a 
revenue  fixed  for  a  short  and  certain  term  was  the  best  security 
the  nation  could  have  for  frequent  parliaments.'  A  similar  principle 
was  applied  in  the  arrangements  for  a  standing  army. 

Since  the  Restoration,  the  standing  army  had  been  looked  upon  with 
great  dislike  by  the  Whigs,  and  it  was  hardly  more  popular  with 
The  Mutiny  the  Tories  ;  but  the  necessities  of  the  time  clearly  showed 
^^^'  that  England  could  no  longer  afi'ord  to  be  without  one. 

A  device,  however,  was  found  by  which,  while  the  advantages  of 
a  standing  army  were  secured,  its  danger  to  liberty  was  decreased. 
For  the  securing  of  discipline  and  the  prevention  of  desertion,  a 
Mutiny  Act  was  enacted,  by  which  military  officers  were  empowered 
to  deal  with  such  cases  according  to  martial  law.  The  first  Mutiny 
Act,  however,  was  passed  for  six  months  only,  and  v/as  then  renewed 
for  a  year,  and  no  longer ;  so  that,  though  the  passing  of  the  Mutiny 
Act  has  become  one  of  the  annual  duties  of  parliament,  its  omission 


1689  William  and  Mary  671 

would  at  any  time  terminate  the  legal  authority  of  government  over 
all  soldiers  and  sailors.  This  plan,  coupled  with  the  additional  security 
that  the  means  of  paying  them  would  cease  at  the  same  time,  gave 
parliament  such  a  complete  control  over  the  armed  forces  of  the  crown 
that,  by  a  mere  act  of  omission,  it  could  deprive  the  crown  of  their 
support.  The  remodelling  of  the  army  was  entrusted  to  John,  Lord 
Churchill,  now  created  earl  of  Marlborough. 

The  Protestant  Nonconformists  had  played  such  an  indispensable 
part  in  the  Kevolution  that  they  were  rewarded  by  the  passing  of  the 
Toleration  Act.  Some  movement  was  also  made  for  a  TheToiera- 
comprehension  bill ;  but  it  came  to  nothing,  partly  because  *'°"  ^'^^• 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  clergy  were  opposed  to  making  the  concessions 
which  commended  themselves  to  Tillotson  and  Burnet ;  partly  because 
the  Presbyterians  were  the  only  Nonconformists  who  were  favourable  to 
comprehension,  to  which  the  Independents,  Baptists,  and  Quakers 
were  decidedly  hostile.  The  comprehension  scheme,  therefore,  fell 
through  ;  but  it  was  provided  by  the  Toleration  Act  that  all  Protestant 
Nonconformists  who  accepted  the  belief  in  the  Trinity,  and  were 
willing  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  if  offered  them, 
and  who  held  their  services  with  open  doors,  should  be  fully  protected 
in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  rites.  The  act,  therefore,  became 
the  Magna  Carta  of  Nonconfonnity.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  solution 
of  the  religious  question  thus  arrived  at  was  in  substiince  the  same 
that  had  been  set  forth  by  Henry  Burton  in  1641  (see  page  547). 
What  made  that  possible  now,  which  had  seemed  inqjossible  in  1660, 
were  the  facts  that  there  was  now  no  fear  of  the  militjiry  strength 
of  Nonconformity,  and  also  that  the  church,  having  tested  its  strength 
in  defeating  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  felt  that  toleration  could  be 
granted  without  fear  of  domination.  William  himself  would  have 
liked  to  go  further,  and  to  make  room  in  his  service  for  the  admission 
of  '  all  Protestants  who  were  willing  and  able  to  serve.'  Parliament, 
however,  showed  no  desire  to  make  the  admission  of  Nonconfonnists 
easier,  and  accordingly  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  were  retained 
without  alteration.  Even  the  Koman  Catholics,  though  a  harsh  law 
forbade  them  to  live  within  ten  miles  of  London,  experienced  little  more 
interference  in  their  worship,  and  the  Unitarians,  though  excluded  from 
the  act,  enjoyed  in  an  irregular  fashion  the  advantages  of  its  provisions. 

As  a  satisfaction  to  their  families  and  a  vindication  of  justice,  the 
attainders   of  Kussell,  Algernon  Sidney,  Alice  Lisle,  and   Attainders 
several  others  were  reversed.     The  sentence  on  Gates  was   reversed, 
cancelled,  and  that  rascal  received  a  pension  of  £300  a  year.     So  many 


672  The  Stuarts  1689 

persons  were  liable  to  prosecution  for  the  share  they  had  officially  taken 
in  James'  proceedings,  and  in  the  various  conspiracies  and  disturbances 
of  the  two  last  reigns,  that  a  bill  of  indemnity  was  brought  forward  ; 
but  the  Whigs  tried  to  introduce  so  many  exceptions  that  it  had  to  be 
dropped.  Similarly,  an  act  for  restoring  the  forfeited  charters  was  with 
difficulty  saved  from  being  turned  by  the  Whigs  into  an  instrument  for 
excluding  hundreds  of  Tories  from  office  ;  and  the  struggle  between  the 
two  parties  became  so  violent  that  William,  appalled  at  the  prospect  of 
governing  with  such  a  distracted  assembly,  was  with  difficulty  restrained 
from  returning  to  Holland. 

As  a  last  resource,  parliament  was  dissolved  in  January  1690,  and 
William  appealed  to  the  country.  In  the  new  parliament  the  Tories 
The  Act  of  found  themselves  in  a  majority,  and  the  indemnity  question 
Grace.  ^g^g  readily  settled  by  the  passing  of  an  Act  of  Grace,  pre- 

sented to  parliament  by  the  king.  By  its  provisions  a  general  indemnity 
was  granted  for  all  offences  committed  prior  to  the  accession  of  the  new 
sovereigns.  A  few  exceptions,  however,  were  made,  including  Ludlow 
and  a  few  other  surviving  regicides,  Sunderland,  Sir  Edward  Hales, 
Obadiah  Walker,  Petre,  Chief- Justice  Herbert,  Judge  Jeffreys,  and  some 
others.  Of  these  Jeffreys  had  died  in  the  Tower ;  and  in  practice 
no  punishment  was  inflicted,  even  on  men  like  Hales  and  Walker,  who 
were  already  in  the  Tower.  The  others  were  either  abroad  or  were 
allowed  to  pass  unmolested,  and  Sunderland  was  soon  afterwards 
admitted  to  a  share  of  William's  confidence.  The  increased  strength  of 
Toryism  encouraged  William  to  make  several  changes  in  the  ministry. 
Halifax,  whose  character  was  always  that  of  a  dispassionate  critic  rather 
than  of  an  active  politician,  left  the  government,  and  the  Tory  Danby, 
who  had  been  created  marquess  of  Carmarthen,  took  the  lead.  The 
violent  Whigs,  Mordaunt  and  Delamere,  vacated  their  posts  at  the 
treasury,  and  Herbert  ceased  to  be  first  lord  of  the  admiralty. 

What  added  to  William's  ministerial  difficulties  was  the  fact  that  few 

people  thought  he  would  be  able  to  hold  his  own  against  James  and 

Louis,  so  there  was  hardly  a  statesman  who  did  not  wish 

Correspond-  \       ■,  •         Tn       n     •  /.i-^  •         -, 

ence  with  to  make  himself  safe  m  case  of  a  Restoration  by  stand- 
james.  .^^  ^^  ^^jj  ^^  possible  with  both  sides.     Many,  therefore, 

corresponded  with  James  and  the  English  exiles,  not  so  much  with  an 
idea  of  doing  anything  themselves  to  bring  James  back,  as  in  order  to 
escape  punishment  if  he  happened  to  be  successful.  Almost  all  the 
great  statesmen  of  the  day  did  this,  even  Marlborough  and  Shrewsbury 
and  Russell.  William  usually  knew  of  their  doing  so,  but  was  not 
strong  enough  to  take  much  notice  of  it.     Marlborough,  however,  was 


1689  William  and  Mary  673 

hi8  great  difficulty,  for  that  nobleman's  well-recognised  military  talents, 
and  his  influence  over  the  Princess  Anne,  giive  him  enormous  capacity 
for  mischief;  and  in  1692,  special  attention  having  been  drawn  to  his 
correspondence,  he  was  deprived  of  his  offices,  and  for  a  short  time 
lodged  in  the  Tower. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  events  in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  Scot- 
land the  policy  of  the  last  two  kings  had  been  in  complete  opposition  to 
the  wishes  of  the  people.  Episcopacy  had  been  established  The  Scottish 
by  law,  and  no  one  but  an  Episcopalian  had  been  allowed  to  Convention, 
sit  in  parliament  or  to  vote  at  elections.  The  Presbyterians  had  been 
subjected  to  severe  persecution,  and  during  the  last  reign  Roman  Catholics 
had  been  placed  in  the  chief  offices.  As  was  natural,  the  news  of  events  in 
England  produced  a  violent  reaction  in  Scotland.  Everywhere  the  people 
rose  against  their  persecutors,  attacked  the  houses  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
'  rabbled '  the  Episcopalian  ministers,  and  drove  them  from  their  churches 
and  manses.  A  Convention,  elected  according  to  the  letter  of  the  law, 
would  have  been  a  farce.  The  law,  therefore,  was  tacitly  set  aside,  and 
a  Convention  assembled  whose  members  were  chosen  by  a  majority  of 
Presbyterian  votes.  This  met  on  March  14,  1689,  and  it  was  unani- 
mously declared  that  James  had  '  forefaulted  his  right  to  the  crown.'  A 
'claim  of  right'  was  then  drawn  up,  in  which  it  was  asserted  that 
*  prelacy  and  the  superiority  of  any  office  in  the  church  over  Presbytery 
is  a  great  and  insupportable  grievance,  contrary  to  the  inclination  of  the 
generality  of  the  people,  and  ought  to  be  abolished.'  William  and  Mary 
were  then  accepted  as  king  and  queen. 

Meanwhile,  John  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  Viscount  Dundee,  holding  a 
commission  from  King  James,  had  retired  into  the  Highlands,  and  was 
doing  all  he  could  to  repeat  the  exploits  of  Montrose.  His  Rising  of 
hopes  rested  on  the  deadly  hatred  which  existed  between  i^""<*ee. 
the  Campbells  and  the  M'Donalds,  Camerons  and  Stewarts,  who  dwelt 
on  their  borders  ;  and  he  believed  that  the  fact  that  the  Revolution  was 
accepted  by  Archibald  Campbell,  earl  of  Argyll,  would  be  enough  to 
array  all  the  enemies  of  the  Campbells  under  the  banner  of  King  James. 
In  this  he  proved  at  any  rate  to  be  partially  right,  and  by  June  a  formid- 
able host  of  Highland  warriors  was  gathered  near  Blair- Athole.  The 
duty  of  opposing  Dundee  was  entrusted  by  William  to  General  Mackay, 
a  Highland  gentleman  who  had  long  served  in  the  Dutch  army,  and  who 
was  well  known  for  his  bravery,  efficiency,  and — what  was  rarer  still  in  a 
professional  soldier  of  that  day— his  earnest  piety.  Mackay  indeed 
embodied  in  his  own  person  the  virtues  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides.  Towards 
Blair- Athole  Mackay  marched,  and  had  just  passed  through  the  pre- 

2u 


674  The  Stuarts  li8f 

cipitous  ravine  of  Killiecrankie,  and  was  resting  his  men  on  a  small  plain 

patch  of  even  ground  between  the  river  Garry  and  the  hills,  when  he 

„     ,      ,      was  charged  in  front  and  on  both  flanks  by  Dundee's  High- 
Battle  of  °  . 
Kiliie-          landers.    In  a  charge  the  Highland  practice  was  to  fling  the 

le.  musket  away  after  a  single  volley,  and  then  to  lay  on  with 
dirk  and  broadsword.  Such  tactics,  which  were  practically  identical  with 
those  of  the  Soudanese  in  our  own  day,  were  most  formidable  to 
disciplined  troops,  and  Mackay's  men  were  not  only  without  the  swift- 
firing  weapons  of  modern  civilisation,  but  were  handicapped  by  a  difficulty 
peculiar  to  the  time.  The  bayonet  was  just  superseding  the  pike,  on 
which  the  infantry  of  Monk  had  relied  in  Highland  warfare  ;  but  as  yet 
it  was  a  clumsy  weapon,  which  was  fixed  in  the  muzzle  of  the  musket,  so 
that  when  fixed  firing  was  impossible.  Firing,  too,  was  a  long  business  ; 
and  while  Mackay's  men  were  fumbling  with  their  weapons  the  High- 
landers were  among  them.  A  couple  of  minutes  decided  the  day.  One 
regiment  alone  held  together ;  the  rest  fled  pell-mell,  pursuers  and  pur- 
sued, down  the  gorge  of  the  Garry.  With  difficulty  Mackay  rallied  his 
broken  troops,  but  the  pursuit  was  ill  maintained,  for  the  victory  of  the 
clansmen  had  been  rendered  useless  by  the  fall  of  Dundee,  who  had  been 
mortally  wounded  by  a  bullet  which  struck  him  as  he  stood  erect  in  his 
stirrups  adjuring  his  handful  of  horsemen  to  follow  him  to  the  charge. 

Dundee  was  succeeded  by  Cannon,  a  trained  officer  with  not  a  spark  of 
the  genius  of  Dundee  or  the  skill  of  Mackay.     Still  the  Highland  forces 

Failure  of  augmented  ;  but  an  attempt  to  storm  the  open  town  of  Dun- 
the  Rising,  j^^]^  ^^g  magnificently  repulsed  by  the  Cameronian  regi- 
ment, raised  from  among  the  fiercest  followers  of  the  preacher  Cameron, 
and  this  check  proved  fatal.  For  some  months  Cannon  kept  a  few  men 
together,  but  was  finally  routed  in  June  1690,  and  William  and  Mary 
became  undisputed  sovereigns. 

In  1690  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Scottish  Church  held  since 
1653  set  up  Presbyterianism,  which  has  since  been  the  established  religion 
of  Scotland.  In  his  dealings  with  Scotland,  William  was  mainly  advised 
by  William  Carstares,  a  Presbyterian  divine  of  great  foresight  and  modera- 
tion. His  settlement  was  of  the  nature  of  a  compromise,  for  Fletcher 
of  Salton  wished  to  set  up  an  aristocratic  republic,  and  the  Cameroniana 
regarded  even  the  Presbyterian  leaders  as  little  better  than  episcopalians; 
but  William's  determination  to  settle  Scottish  affairs  according  to  Scottish 
ideas  has  well  borne  the  test  of  time. 

In  1691  the  management  of  Scotland  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sir  John 
Dalrymple,  master  of  Stair  (who,  as  secretary  of  state  for  Scotland,  held 
in  his  hands  the  threads  of  all  business),  the  earl  of  Argyll,  and  another 


1689  William  and  Mary  675 

Campbell,  John,  earl  of  Breadalbane.  Dalrymple  gave  his  chief  atten- 
tion to  the  pacification  of  the  Highlands,  and  he  is  chiefly  responsible 
for  a  deed  which  has  attracted  more  notice  in  modem  times 

.       ,  ,  -    The  Mas- 

than  many  a  crime  of  greater  magnitude — the  massacre  of  sacre  of 
Glencoe.  This  cruel  act  was  due  to  the  ill-will  between  ^"<=°^- 
the  Highlanders  and  the  Lowlanders,  coupled  with  the  hereditary  feud 
between  the  M 'Donalds  and  the  Campbells.  A  proclamation  was  issued, 
ordering  the  Highland  chiefs  to  swear  allegiance  to  King  WiUiam  before 
January  1,  1692.  The  rude  warriors  made  it  a  point  of  honour  to  delay 
submission  as  long  as  possible,  and  one,  Maclan  head  of  the  M'Donalds  of 
Glencoe,  only  reached  Fort  William  on  December  31,  1691.  Unluckily, 
at  Fort  William  there  was  no  oflBcer  qualified  to  take  his  oath,  and  he 
had  to  make  the  best  of  his  way  to  Inverary.  There  he  arrived  on 
January  6,  and  was  duly  sworn  ;  but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  fact 
that  he  had  made  this  tardy  submission  was  ever  reported  to  London. 
On  the  contrary,  an  example  was  wanted  ;  the  M'Donalds  of  Glencoe 
were  few  in  number ;  they  bore  a  bad  character,  and  Sir  John  Dal- 
rymple, who  is  described  by  a  contemporary  as  '  cunning  as  a  fox,  wise  as 
a  serpent,  and  slippery  as  an  eel,'  reported  their  ciise  to  the  government  as 
giving  the  opportunity  desired.  AccortUngly,  directly  the  news  of 
M'lan's  default  reached  London,  an  order  was  hurried  off",  signed  by 
William  himself,  in  the  words :  *  If  the  tribe  of  Glencoe  can  be  well 
separated  from  the  rest,  it  will  be  a  proper  vindication  of  public  justice 
to  extirpate  that  sect  of  thieves.'  To  this  Dalrymple,  on  his  own 
responsibility,  added  instmctions  that  the  'aflfair  should  be  secret  and 
sudden,'  and  that  the  *  soldiers  were  not  to  trouble  the  government  with 
prisonei-s.'  These  cruel  orders  were  ciirried  out  with  unspeakable 
treachery.  The  afiiiir  was  entrusted  to  the  Campbells.  Captain  Camp- 
bell of  Glenlyon,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  Campbells  from  Argyll's 
own  regiment,  were  sent  into  the  glen  on  February  1  with  orders  to 
keep  on  friendly  tenns  with  the  M'Donalds  till  February  13,  by  which 
time  all  the  outlets  were  to  be  secured.  On  that  day  they  were  to  foil 
on  their  hosts  and  slay  them  all, — man,  woman,  and  child.  These  orders 
were  literally  carried  into  efi'ect ;  and  nothing  but  the  folly  of  the  soldiers, 
who  used  their  noisy  muskets  instead  of  trusting  to  the  silent  thrust  of 
the  bayonet,  prevented  the  complete  success  of  the  plan.  As  it  was,  only 
thirty-eight  M'Donalds  were  killed,  and  three-fourths  of  the  clan  made 
their  esaipe,  but  of  these  many  perished  in  the  bitterness  of  a  Highland 
winter.  Two  years  afterwards  the  tale  had  become  sufficiently  known  in 
England  to  attract  the  attention  of  parliament.  Dalrymple  was  dis- 
missed ;  but  so  many  were  implicated  in  the  deed  that  William  found 


676  The  Stuarts  1689 

punishment  impossible,  even  if  the  feeling  of  the  age  had  regarded  the 

atrocity  in  a  much  more  serious  light  than  that  in  which  the  massacre  of 

a  horde   of  cattle-stealing  natives   would   nowadays    be   regarded   by 

European  colonists.    The  cruelty  naturally  embittered  the  feelings  of  the 

Highlanders  towards  the  government  ;  but  the  discouragement  of  the 

rebel  clans,  the  opening  up  of  better  roads  through  the  passes,  and  the 

building  of  forts  in  such  strategical  points  as  Inverness,  Fort  Augustus, 

and  Fort  William  had  the  effect  of  keeping  the  Highlanders  in  awe  for 

almost  a  generation. 

In  Scotland  it  was  a  question  between  King  James  and  King  "William  ; 

in  Ireland  the  point  at  issue  was  whether  the  English  connection  should 

,    ,     ^       be  maintained  or  abolished.     In  that  country  the  Catholic 
Ireland.  '' 

proclivities  of  James  made  him  popular  ;  while  the  policy 

of  Tyrconnel  had  roused  all  over  the  country  the  hope  that  the  time  had 
arrived  for  the  declaration  of  Irish  independence  and  for  driving  the 
English  and  Scottish  colonists  from  the  lands  on  which  they  had  settled. 
Accordingly  during  the  closing  months  of  1688,  Tyrconnel  had  been  doing 
all  in  his  power  to  prepare  for  the  coming  conflict.  He  raised  an  army  of 
40,000  men,  and  attempted  to  secure  with  Eoman  Catholic  garrisons  all 
the  towns  in  which  the  colonists  could  take  refuge.  Of  these  by  far  the 
most  important  were  Londonderry  and  Enniskillen, — one  the  capital  of  the 
Scottish,  the  other  of  the  Cromwellian  district.  The  turn  of  London- 
derry came  first ;  but  on  the  approach  of  Tyrconnel's  soldiers  a  group  of 
apprentice  lads  shut  the  gates  in  their  faces ;  and,  encouraged  by  the 
example  of  Derry,  the  Enniskilleners  also  held  out. 

James  left  England  on  December  23,  1688,  and  on  February  1,  1689 
he  set  out  from  Versailles  to  take  command  in  Ireland.  For  his  safe 
Tames  in  convoy  Louis  provided  fifteen  sail  of  the  line,  and  also 
Ireland.  furnished  2500  troops.  James  landed  at  Kinsale,  and  made 
his  way  to  Dublin.  There  he  issued  brass  money,  worth  about  the 
hundredth  part  of  its  nominal  value,  and  summoned  a  parliament  to  meet 
on  the  7th  of  May.  His  next  act  was  to  hand  over  to  the  French 
ambassador  an  unhappy  Huguenot  named  Roussel,  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  be  broken  on  the  wheel  for  the  crime  of  preaching  to  his 
fellow-Protestants  amidst  the  ruins  of  his  church.  Only  fourteen  peers,  ten 
The  Dublin  of  whom  were  Roman  Catholics,  answered  James'  summons  to 
Parliament,  parliament ;  and  in  the  Commons'  House,  which  numbered 
250,  the  Protestants  were  represented  by  six  members.  The  first  act  of 
the  parliament  was  to  declare  the  legislative  independence  of  Ireland,  and 
having  done  this,  they  proceeded  to  carry  through  a  series  of  remarkable 
enactments.     The  Act  of  Settlement  was  repealed  by  acclamation.     The 


1689  William  and  Mary  677 

estates  of  all  absentees  were  vested  in  King  James.  Liberty  of  conscience 
was  secured  to  all  Christians  ;  but  Protestants  were  forbidden  to  assemble 
in  churches  or  elsewhere  under  pain  of  death.  All  schools  and  colleges 
were  restored  to  the  Koman  Catholics  ;  all  Protestant  churches  were 
handed  over  to  the  priests,  to  whom  also  all  tithes  were  to  be  paid  ; 
and  the  stipends  of  all  Protestant  ministers  in  cities  and  corporate  to-wns 
were  stopped.  The  sum  of  ^20,000  a  year  was  voted  to  Tyrconnel  to  be 
paid  out  of  forfeited  Protestant  estates  ;  and  lastly,  an  Act  of  Attainder 
condemned  to  death  on  capture,  not  less  than  two  thousand  persons, 
most  of  whose  names  were  inserted  without  the  pretence  of  investigation, 
unless  they  made  their  surrender  before  certain  dates.  Even  James  was 
horrified  at  the  length  to  which  his  Irish  friends  were  prepared  to  go. 
He  was,  however,  powerless  to  stay  the  tide  ;  and  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land  the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  Settlement  was  followed 
by  the  forcible  expulsion  of  the  English  and  Scottish  colonists,  the  slaying 
of  their  cattle,  and  the  burning  of  their  effects. 

Into  Londonderry  and  Enniskillen,  as  to  cities  of  refuge,  crowded  the 
Scottish  and  English  settlers  ;   and  their  capture  alone  was  necessary  to 
complete   the   work  of    extennination.      At   Londonderry 
Colonel  Lundy,  whom  William  had  sent  as  governor,  hiid   of  London- 
proved  a  traitor,  and  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  surrender     ^"^' 
of  the  town  by  sending  away  two   English   regiments,  under   Colonel 
Cunningham,  which  had  been  sent  to  aid  in  the  defence.     However, 
when  James  was  known  to  be  advancing,  the  refugees  took  the  law  into 
their  own  hands,  deprived  Lundy  of  his  command,  and  under  the  lead  of 
Major  Baker  and   Captain  Murray,  and   encouraged   by  the   eloquent 
preaching  of  Walker,  rector  of  the  parish  of  Donaghmore,  prepared  to 
stand  a  siege.     When  James  arrived  he  found  that  the  wretched  walls 
were  already  manned,  prepared  to  stand  a  siege,  and  that  every  available 
man  was  under  arms. 

The  siege  began  on  April  30,  1689.  Assaults  were  delivered  but 
repelled  ;  and  as  it  was  known  that  the  stock  of  provisions  was  scanty, 
the  sharp  violence  of  a  siege  and  bombardment  was  abandoned  in  favour 
of  the  slow  but  certain  horrors  of  a  blockade.  To  carry  out  the  new  plan 
James  selected  Kosen,  a  ruffian  from  the  east  of  Europe,  then  in  the 
service  of  Louis  xiv.  Rosen's  idea  of  conducting  the  blockade  was  to 
collect  all  the  old  men,  women,  and  children  who  yet  remained  in  the 
adjoining  districts,  and  to  drive  them  to  perish  of  hunger  or  wounds 
between  the  lines  of  the  besieged  and  besiegei-s.  For  forty-eight  hours 
Rosen  kept  these  unhappy  wretches  in  torture,  and  then,  alarmed  by  a 
threat  that  every  Roman  Catholic  prisoner  in  the  town  would  be  hanged 


678  The  Stuarts  16«0 

in  retaliation,  sullenly  permitted  the  survivors  to  withdraw.  Even  James 
was  horrified.  Rosen  was  superseded,  and  his  place  taken  by  Hamilton. 
In  June  a  relieving  fleet  under  Kirke  entered  Loch  Foyle,  but  a  strong 
boom  which  had  been  thrown  across  the  river  prevented  it  from  reaching 
the  town.  Week  after  week  passed  away,  and  the  heroic  garrison  were 
reduced  to  stave  off  hunger  with  cats,  rats,  dogs  and  salted  skins,  and 
yet  Kirke  remained  inactive.  At  length,  when  only  two  days'  provisions 
were  left,  Kirke  received  positive  orders  to  assault  the  boom.  Two 
merchantmen,  commanded  respectively  by  a  Derry  man,  Micaiah 
Browning,  and  Andrew  Douglas,  a  Scot,  supported  by  an  English 
officer.  Captain  Leake,  broke  their  way  through,  and  on  the  28th  of  July 
anchored  at  the  quay.  Two  days  afterwards  the  siege,  which  had  lasted 
no  less  than  a  hundred  and  five  days,  was  raised.  That  very  day  the  Ennis- 
Battle  of  ^^ill^ners,  too,  were  victorious.  Led  by  Colonel  Wolseley, 
Newtown  their  force  of  irregular  soldiers  attacked  James'  general 
Macarthy,  who  had  advanced  with  6000  regular  troops  as 
far  as  Newtown  Butler.  At  the  last  moment  Wolseley  gave  his  men  the 
choice  whether  they  would  '  advance '  or  '  retreat.'  The  descendants  of 
the  victors  of  Naseby  and  Rathmines  voted  unanimously  for  an  advance. 
With  shouts  of  '  No  popery  ! '  they  carried  all  before  them,  slew  Macarthy 
and  1500  of  his  followers,  and  drove  500  others  into  the  waters  of 
Loch  Erne. 

These  successes  secured  the  safety  of  the  colonists  of  the  north,  and  in 
August  Marshal  Schomberg,  a  veteran  of  eighty,  who  had  been  turned 
Th   B  tti     ^^*  ^^  *^^  French  service  for  the  crime  of  being  a  Protestant, 
of  the  came  over  with  a  mixed  force,  and  henceforth  the  efforts 

of  James'  troops  were  devoted  to  checking  his  advance. 
Schomberg's  troops  were  poor,  and  wretchedly  provisioned  by  Commissary 
Shales,  an  infamous  peculator  who  had  learned  his  business  at  Hounslow  ; 
and  it  was  all  Schomberg's  skill  could  do  to  hold  his  own  till  the  summer 
of  1690,  when  William  came  over  at  the  head  of  an  excellent  force  and 
took  the  command  in  person.  Before  William,  who  declared  that  'he 
had  not  come  to  Ireland  to  let  the  grass  grow  under  his  feet,'  James' 
forces  retreated,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  river  Boyne,  two  miles  above  Drogheda.  During  the  whole  of 
June  30  the  armies  faced  one  another,  and  James'  officers  took  advan- 
tage of  a  fair  opportunity  to  fire  two  cannon-balls  at  William  himself, 
one  of  which  grazed  his  shoulder.  At  daybreak  on  July  1  the  whole 
allied  force  advanced  to  the  river,  and  crossed  it  in  the  face  of  the 
foe.  The  French  soldiers  and  the  Irish  horse  fought  well ;  but  the  Irish 
foot  made  a  miserable   exhibition,  and  in  spite  of  the   death  of  old 


1690  William  and  Mary  679 

Schomberg  James'  army  was  soon  put  to  the  rout.  The  disaster  might 
have  been  more  complete  had  William  followed  Schoni  berg's  advice  and 
taken  advantage  of  night  to  seize  in  advance  the  pass  of  Duleek  through 
which  James'  retreat  lay— a  manoeuvre  from  which  he  was  probably 
deterred  from  fear  of  the  embarrassing  capture  of  James  himself.  He 
had  really  little  cause  for  apprehension.  Of  the  flying  host,  James 
himself  was  the  first  to  reach  Dublin,  where  he  politely  informed  Lady 
Tyrconnel  that  '  her  countrymen  had  ran  away,'  and  was  answered  with 
the  neat  repartee  :  *  If  they  have,  sire,  your  majesty  seems  to  have  won 
the  race.'  From  Dublin  he  hurried  on  to  Waterford.  On  the  third  day 
after  the  battle  he  had  sailed  for  France,  and  left  his  supporters  to 
their  fate. 

The  battle  of  the  Boyne  secured  Dublin  and  all  the  centre  of  Ireland 
without  a  further  blow  ;  but  an  Irish  army  under  Sarsfield,  a  noble 
Irishman,  and  Lauzun,  the  French  general,  still  held  the  line  First  Siege 
of  the  Shannon,  the  towns  of  Athlone  and  Limerick,  and  °^  L»nienck. 
the  ports  of  Cork  and  Kinsale.  William  himself  marched  against 
Limerick,  but  the  siege  was  from  the  beginning  a  failure.  The  Irish 
who  had  run  away  from  the  Boyne  fought  valiantly  behind  the  walls  of 
Limerick.  Sarsfield,  who  was  in  command,  showed  himself  an  admirable 
general,  and  distinguished  himself  by  adroitly  capturing  William's  siege 
train.  Without  heavy  artillery  William  could  make  no  impression  on 
the  fortifications  of  the  town.  Three  jissaults  failed  ;  and,  winter  coming 
on,  William  raised  the  siege  and  himself  retired  to  England,  leaving  the 
command  to  Ginkel,  Mackay,  and  Talmash.  Meanwhile  a  force  of 
5000  men  had  been  entrusted  to  Marlborough  for  the  reduction  of  Cork 
and  Kinsale.  Marlborough  performed  the  task  without  a  Capture 
hitch,  and  earned  from  William  the  hearty  praise  that  '  No  °^  Cork, 
officer  now  living  who  has  seen  so  little  service  is  so  fit  for  great  com- 
mands.' In  the  spring  of  1691,  St.  Kuth,  a  distinguished  French  officer, 
was  sent  over  to  take  the  command  of  the  Irish  army.  In  June  Ginkel 
advanced  to  the  siege  of  Athlone,  a  town  which  commanded  capture  of 
the  passage  of  the  Shannon,  and  was  probably  the  most  A*h^°"«- 
important  strategical  point  in  the  island.  The  English  town  on  the  east 
bank  was  easily  taken,  but  between  it  and  the  Irish  quarter  rushed  the 
deep  and  rapid  stream  of  the  Shannon,  and  the  only  bridge  was  stoutly 
held.  At  length  Ginkel  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to  cross  by  a 
ford  a  few  yards  below  the  bridge.  Mackay  was  to  lead  the  assault, 
and  though  he  did  not  approve  of  the  plan  he  executed  it  as  though  it 
were  his  own,  while  he  was  bravely  aided  by  the  duke  of  Wiirtemberg 
and  Talmash.      Up  to  their  necks  in  water,  and  carrying  their  oflUcers 


680  The  Stuarts  1690 

on  their  shoulders,  the  men  forded  the  river.  The  Irish  were  taken 
by  surprise,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  whole  town  was  in  Ginkel's 
hands. 

Meanwhile  St.  Ruth,  who  had  felt  so  sure  of  the  town  that  he  had 
declared  that  'Ginkel's  master  ought  to  hang  him  for  trying  to  take 

Battle  of      Athlone,  and  mine  to  hang  me  if  I  lose  it,'  had  encamped 

Aughrim.  ^^^  ^^  three  miles  from  the  place,  and  spent  his  time  in 
quarrelling  with  Tyrconnel  and  snubbing  the  brave  Sarsfield.  On 
hearing  of  the  disaster  he  broke  up  his  camp  and  retreated  to  the  hill  of 
Aughrim,  on  the  road  to  Galway.  There,  with  a  bog  in  front  of  his  lines, 
he  awaited  Ginkel's  assault.  The  Irish,  whom  St.  Ruth  had  roused  to  a 
frenzy  of  patriotism  and  religion,  fought  splendidly,  and  Talmash  with 
the  foot  was  driven  back  again  and  again.  At  length  Mackay's  horse 
with  difficulty  struggled  round  the  bog,  and  prepared  to  charge  the  Irish 
in  flank.  At  that  moment  St.  Ruth  was  killed  by  a  cannon-ball,  and  his 
foolish  attendants  concealed  the  fact  even  from  Sarsfi.eld.  In  conse- 
quence, at  the  critical  moment  there  was  no  one  to  give  orders,  and 
Sarsfield  with  the  reserve  waited  in  vain  for  directions  which  never  came. 
Meanwhile  Mackay  pressed  on  ;  Talmash  redoubled  his  efforts  ;  and  the 
Irish,  who  had  shown  a  bravery  of  which  their  conduct  at  the  Boyne  had 
given  little  indication,  were  scattered  in  hopeless  rout. 

Galway  then  fell,  and  Tyrconnel  and  Sarsfield  retired  to  make  a  last 

stand  behind  the  walls  of  Limerick  ;  but  before  the  siege  began  Tyrconnel 

died.     Ginkel,  being  properly  provided  with  artillery,  made 

Siege  of  better  progress  than  William,  and  when  he  had  defeated  the 
imenc  .  jj.jgjj  cavalry  without  the  walls,  and  had  made  himself 
master  of  the  Thomond  Bridge  over  the  Shannon,  Sarsfield  declared  his 
willingness  to  treat.  The  terms  agreed  on  were  two-fold :  a  military 
capitulation  signed  by  the  generals  ;  and  a  civil  treaty  signed  on  behalf 
of  William  by  the  lords-justices  of  Ireland.  By  the  first,  the  Irish 
soldiers  were  allowed  to  march  out  of  Limerick  and  to  disband,  enlist 
under  William,  or  follow  Sarsfield  to  France,  at  their  pleasure.  By  the 
second,  it  was  conceded  that  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  '  should  enjoy  such 
privileges  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion  as  were  consistent  with  the  law. 
The  Treaty  of  ^^  ^^  ^^^J  ^^^  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  Charles  ii.'  In  accord- 
Limerick,  ance  with  the  military  treaty,  about  11,000  men  declared  for 
service  in  France.  Many  deserted  before  they  reached  the  ships  ;  enough, 
however,  remained  to  fonn  the  celebrated  Irish  Brigade.  Sarsfield  bitterly 
remarked  that  'if  the  English  would  change  kings,  the  Irish  would 
gladly  fight  them  again';  and  under  a  sterner  discipline  than  that  of 
Tyrconnel,  and  led  by  generals  superior  to  James,  the  conquered  at  the 


1691  William  and  Mary  681 

Boyne  and  at  Aughrim  lived  to  vindicate  on  many  a  hard-fought  field 
the  innate  valour  of  the  Irish  race.  Had  William  and  the  statesmen  of 
England  had  their  way,  the  civil  treaty  of  Limerick  might  have  formed 
the  basis  for  an  equitable  settlement  of  the  long-standing  feud  between 
the  Roman  Catholic  Celts  and  the  Protestant  settlers.  Unhappily  the  in- 
dependent parliament  of  Ireland  was  more  bigoted  than  they  ;  the  repeal 
of  the  Act  of  Settlement,  the  Attainder,  and  the  horrors  of  1641  and 
1689  had  eaten  deeply  into  the  heart  of  the  Protestant  Irish,  and 
rendered  them  incapable  of  tjxking  a  fair  view  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
situation.  To  men  who  had  with  difficulty  thrust  off  the  yoke  of  an 
intolerant  and  vindictive  majority,  coercion  seemed  the  only  possible  safe- 
guard against  a  recurrence  of  similar  evils,  and  the  treaty  of  Limerick, 
instead  of  being  made  a  starting-point  for  gradual  concession,  was  itself 
never  carried  out. 

James  arrived  in  France  just  too  late  to  take  part  in  a  French  attempt 
to  invade  England.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Louis  xiv.  had  given 
active  assistance  to  James,  war  against  France  was  declared  Tourviile  in 
at  the  request  of  the  English  parliament,  which  assured  the  Channel. 
William  *  that  when  he  should  think  fit  to  enter  into  a  war  against  the 
French  king,  they  would  give  him  such  assistance  in  a  parliamentary  way 
as  to  enable  him  to  support  and  go  through  with  the  same.'  Accordingly 
William  was  enabled  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  a  great  European 
coalition,  in  which  the  forces  of  Great  Britain,  Holland,  Spain,  and  the 
Empire  were  united  against  France  ;  and  which  for  eight  years  waged  war 
against  Louis  xiv.  along  the  whole  extent  of  his  frontier,  both  by  land 
and  sea.  For  her  share.  Great  Britain  undertook  to  furnish  20,000  men 
for  the  land  war,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  Dutch  to  undertake  the 
naval  war.  In  1689  Marlborough  and  Talmash  led  a  British  contingent, 
under  the  prince  of  Waldeck,  and  distinguished  themselves  at  the  affair 
of  Walcourt ;  while  Herbert  fought  a  slight  and  indecisive  action  against 
the  French  fleet  off  Kinsale.  However,  in  1690,  while  William  was  in 
Ireland,  Tourviile,  the  French  admiral,  came  into  the  Channel  with 
eighty-two  ships,  prepared  to  sweep  the  English  fleet  from  the  sea,  inter- 
cept William's  return  from  Ireland,  and  cover  an  invasion  of  England  by 
James.  On  Jime  30,  the  very  day  William  was  wounded  on  the  Boyne, 
Herbert,  now  Lord  Torrington,  and  Evertsen,  the  Dutch  admiral,  with 
a  combined  fleet  of  sixty  vessels,  encountered  Tourviile  off  Beachy 
Head.  Torrington  was  personally  loyal  and  brave,  and  he  was  an 
experienced  if  somewhat  luxurious  seaman.  He  held  strongly  the  view 
that  the  best  defence  against  an  invasion  was  an  unconquered  fleet  *  in 
being,'  and  that  to  risk  its  destruction  at  such  a  crisis  was  sheer  folly. 


682  The  Stuarts  1691 

Nottingham,  however,  insisted  on  his  fighting ;  but  Torrington,  while 
obeying  orders,  took  care  not  to  risk  the  entire  destruction  of  his  inferior 
fleet ;  and,  after  a  partial  engagement,  in  which  the  Dutch  bore  the  brunt 
of  the  attack,  Torrington  took  their  vessels  in  tow  and  fled  into  the 
Thames,  pulling  up  the  buoys  as  he  passed  to  conceal  the  channel.  By 
this  means,  however,  he  checkmated  Tourville,  who  could  not  venture  to 
divide  his  fleet  while  Torrington's  squadron  was  intact ;  and  Torrington's 
conduct,  though  ill  understood  and  condemned  by  landsmen,  was  fully 
appreciated  by  sailors. 

The  crisis  was  terrible  ;  but  the  words,  '  the  French  are  coming,' 
acted  like  a  spell.  The  national  feeling  rose,  the  Jacobites  hung  back, 
Burning  of  ^^^  Dryden,  whose  views  on  any  occasion  are  a  pretty  fair 
Teignmouth.  ^^^^  ^f  popular  sentiment,  gave  voice  to  the  feeling  of  the 
hour  in  his  Gallic  Invasion.  Fortunately,  instead  of  acting  at  once, 
the  French,  being  short  of  transports,  hesitated  ;  and  in  lieu  of  landing 
an  army  of  20,000  veterans,  contented  themselves  with  giving  up  to  fire 
and  sword  the  insignificant  village  of  Teignmouth.  In  the  Netherlands, 
or  on  the  Rhine,  such  an  event  would  have  passed  unnoticed,  but  English- 
men were  not  accustomed  to  experience  in  their  own  country  the  horrors 
of  French  warfare.  The  action  roused  the  nation  as  one  man.  It  was  soon 
clear  that  to  burn  English  villages  was  not  the  way  to  help  James.  All  hopes 
of  a  Jacobite  rebellion  faded  away  ;  and  by  the  time  the  news  of  James' 
defeat  and  flight  reached  London,  the  crisis  was  passed.  Loyal  ofi'ers  of 
assistance  reached  Mary  from  all  sides ;  and  when  William  returned 
from  Ireland  he  found  himself  more  firmly  seated  on  the  throne  than 
before. 

Between  1691  and  1697  William — taking  advantage  of  the  fact  that 
while  parliament  sat  during  the  winter  months,  military  operations  were 
conducted  only  during  the  summer — spent  half  the  year  at  the 
on  the  head  of  his  armies  in  Flanders,  and  half  with  his  parliament 

^  '  at  Westminster,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  which  was  the  more 
arduous  work  of  the  two.  On  the  continent  he  was  the  head  of  a  coali- 
tion, large  in  numbers  but  divided  in  interests,  operating  against  the  French 
in  Catalonia,  in  Lombardy,  on  the  Rhine,  and  in  Flanders,  and  confronted 
by  the  forces  of  a  single  nation,  directed  by  a  despotic  sovereign,  having 
everywhere  the  advantage  of  the  central  position,  and  directed  by  generals 
of  first-rate  ability.  For  many  years  William's  actual  antagonist  was  the 
celebrated  Luxembourg,  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel,  assisted  by  the 
celebrated  engineer  Vauban,  a  master  of  the  art  of  fortification  ;  against 
whom  William  had  enlisted  the  services  of  the  great  Coehom.  In  the 
Netherlands,  where  William  was  personally  engaged,  the  natural  defences 


1692  William  and  Mary  683 

of  the  country  are  few,  but  have  been  improved  by  fortification,  and  in 
general  the  war  was  one  of  sieges,  varied  by  pitched  battles  between 
the  covering  army  of  the  besiegers  and  the  relieving  force  of  the  besieged. 
Of  these  fortresses  the  chief  were  Lille,  Tournay,  Mons,  and  Namur, 
which  barred  the  road  along  the  French  frontier.  Besides  the  war  on 
land,  there  was  constant  fighting  by  sea,  and  a  number  of  more  or  less 
successful  expeditions  were  sent  to  harass  the  towns  and  villages  on  the 
French  coast,  which,  if  they  effected  nothing  striking,  diminished  the 
main  French  armies  by  compelling  them  to  keep  a  number  of  men  in 
garrison  along  the  coast.  In  1691,  under  the  eyes  of  Louis,  the  French 
gained  a  decided  advantage  by  capturing  Mons  before  William  could 
get  his  army  in  motion  ;  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign 
Luxembourg  successfully  baffled  all  William's  efforts  to  bring  on  a 
decisive  engagement. 

In  1692,  though  William  was  again  in  Flanders,  the  interest  shifted  to 
the  English  Channel ;  for  Louis  had  collected  a  large  army  on  the  coast 
of  Normandy,  three  hundred   transports  were  ready,   and   ^|,g  j^aval 
James  himself  was  only  waiting  the  expected  victory  of  War. 
Tourville  over  the  English  fleet  to  carry  out  an  invasion  of  England. 
The  danger  was  pressing,  as  in  the  last  naval  battle  the  French  had  been 
victorious,  and   the  government  knew  that  Russell,  the   admiral,  had 
been  corresponding  with  James.     Fortunately  at  this  crisis, 
James  drew  up  and  published  a  proclamation,  in  which  he    Proclama- 
declared  that,  if  he  were  successful,  he  would  punish  not 
only  men  like  Carmarthen,  Nottingham,  Tillotson,  and  Burnet,  but  the 
mob  who  had  jeered  him  at  Faversham,  and  all  magistrates,  judges,  jury- 
men or  gaolers  who  had  served  under  William,  or  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  arrest,  conviction,  or  execution  of  any  Jacobite  whatsoever.     This 
proclamation  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  queen,  who  at  once  published  it 
with  explanatory  notes  ;  and  this  clever  move  roused  the  whole  country 
to  indignation.     Russell,  too,  though  he  was  not  unfriendly  to  James, 
had  no  idea  of  allowing  an  English  fleet  to  be  beaten  by  a  French  one  : 
'  Understand,'  he  said  to  a  Jacobite  agent,  '  that  if  I  meet  them,  I  fight 
them — aye,  though  his  majesty  himself  should  be  on  board.' 

Consequently,  when  the  hostile  fleets  met  off  Cape  La  Hogue,  nothing 
could  withstand  the  vehemence  of  the  English  atttick.  The  action 
began  on  May  19  in  mid-channel,  and  after  a  running  fight  of  three 
days,  the  mass  of  Tourville's  fleet  was  glad  to  make  its  Battle  of 
escape  through  a  dangerous  channel  in  the  race  of  Alderney  ;  ^*  Hogue. 
while  three  French  vessels,  including  the  largest  ship  in  the  French  navy, 
were  burnt  at  Cherbourg,  and  the  remainder  took  refuge  under  the 


684  '  The  Stuarts  1692 

batteries  which  commanded  the  port  of  La  Hogue.  On  the  23rd  the 
transports  were  attacked,  and  by  the  24th  the  greater  number  of  them 
had  been  burnt  under  the  eyes  of  James  himself.  Russell,  Rooke,  and 
Delaval  were  the  heroes  of  the  engagement,  and  so  magnificent  was  the 
conduct  of  the  seamen,  that  James  himself  exclaimed,  in  a  moment  of 
involuntary  enthusiasm,  '  See  how  my  brave  English  fight.'  La  Hogue 
was  distinctly  the  greatest  naval  victory  won  by  the  English  between 
the  defeat  of  the  Armada  and  the  battle  of  Trafalgar,  and  it  com- 
pletely removed  all  fear  of  a  French  invasion.  As  a  reward  to  the  sailors, 
the  royal  palace  of  Greenwich  was  turned  into  a  naval  hospital. 

Unfortunately,  the  same  summer  saw  William  defeated  at  Steenkerke. 
Luxembourg  had  made  himself  master  of  Namur,  and  as  a  set-off  to  this 
Battle  of  disaster,  William  attempted  to  surprise  him  with  an  inferior 
Steenkerke.  for^e.  The  action  began  well,  but  William  was  deceived  as 
to  the  ground,  which  proved  to  be  so  broken  that  he  was  unable  to  make 
the  rush  on  which  he  had  reckoned  for  victory.  In  consequence,  Luxem- 
bourg was  able  to  throw  his  whole  force  upon  the  forlorn  hope  of  the 
English.  Its  leader  Mackay  fell,  and  five  British  regiments  were  utterly 
cut  to  pieces.  Much  blame  was  attached  to  Count  Solmes,  a  Dutch 
officer,  who  might  have  given  them  support,  and  who  was  reported  to 
have  said,  during  the  heat  of  the  action,  '  Let  us  see  what  sport  these 
English  bull-dogs  will  make  us.' 

In  1693,  by  an  ingenious  ruse,  Luxembourg  induced  William  to 
weaken  his  force  by  detaching  a  body  of  20,000  men,  and  then,  on 
Battle  of  the  29th  of  July,  attacked  him  where  he  lay  strongly 
Landen.  entrenched  behind  the  little  river  Landen,  between  the 
villages  of  Romsdorf  and  Neerwinden.  From  eight  in  the  morning 
till  four  in  the  afternoon  the  allies  held  their  ground,  and  the  village  of 
Neerwinden  was  retaken  by  their  valour  as  often  as  it  was  carried  by 
the  impetuosity  of  the  French ;  but  at  length  numbers  prevailed,  and 
the  whole  line  gave  way.  William  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and, 
while  Talmash  arranged  the  retreat,  he  strove,  '  sword  in  hand,'  to  check 
the  tide  of  pursuit.  On  the  allied  side  fell  Solmes  ;  on  the  French  the 
gallant  Sarsfield  ;  while  the  duke  of  Ormond,  having  been  captured,  was 
exchanged  for  the  duke  of  Berwick,  James'  illegitimate  son  by  Arabella 
Churchill,  who  displayed  the  valour  of  his  mother's  family  in  repeated 
assaults  on  Neerwinden.  Fortunately,  Luxembourg  failed  to  press  his 
advantage,  and  in  a  few  days  William  was  ready,  and  even  wishful,  to 
fight  him  again.  William,  as  a  strategist  and  tactician,  was  no  match 
for  Luxembourg,  and  the  British  soldiers  had  not  as  yet  had  sufficient 
training  to  cope  with  the  veterans  of  Louis  ;  but  Steenkerke  and  Landen 


1694  William  and  Mary  685 

showed  that,  in  valour  and  tenacity,  they  were  the  true  sons  of  the 
victors  of  Agincourt  and  Crecy,  and  they  were  rapidly  gaining  the 
experience  which  enabled  Marlborough  to  lead  them  to  victory  at 
Blenheim  and  Kamillies. 

At  sea,  too,  1693  was  an  unlucky  year.  In  June  the  Smyrna  fleet  of 
four  hundred  vessels,  carrying  several  millions  worth  of  goods,  sailed 
from  the  Thames  for  the  Mediterranean.  The  main  Smyrna 
English  and  Dutch  fleets  escorted  it  past  Brest,  and  then  ^^^^^  ^°st. 
left  it  to  make  the  remainder  of  the  voyage  under  the  convoy  of  Rooke. 
Meanwhile,  unknown  to  the  English  admirals,  Tourville  had  slipped 
off"  to  Gibraltar,  efi^ected  a  junction  with  the  Toulon  fleet,  and  was 
lying  in  wait  in  the  Bay  of  Lagos.  Rooke  fell  into  the  trap,  and  though 
both  the  English  and  Dutch  men-of-war  fought  admirably,  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  merchantmen  were  captured,  sunk,  or  dispersed.  To  the 
London  merchants  the  loss  was  well-nigh  irreparable ;  but  the  Jacobites 
were  delighted,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  exaggerate  the  magnitude  of 
the  disaster.  The  government,  however,  was  Ann,  and  Mary's  personal 
courage  and  popularity  did  much  to  restore  confidence  in  the  eventual 
success  of  its  policy.  As  in  many  another  contest,  dogged  perseverance 
was  beginning  to  tell  its  tale  ;  and  the  steadiness  with  which  the  British 
settled  down  to  reform  their  naval  administration  gave  the  best  augury 
for  eventual  success. 

The  year  1694,  however,  was  marked  by  a  disaster  which,  though  of 
no  great  magnitude,  was  singularly  disgraceful.  An  attack  had  been 
planned  on  Brest,  and  entrusted  to  Talmash.  Now  that  The  Attack 
Mackay  was  dead,  Talmash  was  the  best  of  the  rising  men,  °"  ^•'^s^- 
and,  as  such,  incurred  the  jealousy  of  Marlborough,  who  actually  disclosed 
the  plan  to  James,  and  through  him  to  the  French  government.  Possibly 
the  French  knew  of  the  expedition  without  Marlborough's  assistance ; 
but,  in  any  case,  the  fortifications  were  strengthened  under  the  care  of 
Vauban  himself ;  and  when  Talmash  landed,  batteries  opened  upon  his 
troops  in  all  directions,  the  force  was  cut  to  pieces,  and  Tahnash  himself 
was  mortally  wounded.  At  the  time,  Marlborough's  treachery  was  un- 
suspected. 

Another  event  which  contributed  to  restore  Marlborough  to  favour 
was  the  death  of  Queen  Mary.  Unlike  her  husband,  she  had  always 
been  strong  and  vigorous,  but  in  December  1694  she  was  The  Death 
attacked  with  small-pox.  That  terrible  disease,  then  °^  Mary, 
unmitigated  by  vaccination,  claimed  thousands  of  victims  annually  ;  and 
Mary's  case  was  a  very  bad  one.  She  met  it  with  her  usual  calm 
courage ;   sent  away  from  the  palace  every  soul  who  had  not  had  the 


686  The  Stuarts  1694 

disease,  arranged  her  papers,  and  then  calmly  awaited  the  course  of  the 
malady.  In  a  few  days  it  was  fatal.  The  shock  to  William  was  the 
more  terrible  because  it  was  so  wholly  unexpected,  and  for  a  few  weeks 
he  was  completely  prostrated.  Before  her  death,  however,  kind 
messages  passed  between  Mary  and  her  sister  Anne,  and  after  her  death 
the  princess  was  received  by  William  himself.  Henceforth  Anne  was 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  court,  and  the  position  of  Marlborough  and 
his  wife  changed  accordingly. 

Within  a  few  days  of  Mary's  death  died  William's  great  antagonist 
Luxembourg ;  and  when  the  war  was  renewed  in  the  spring,  it  was  at 

Capture  of  once  apparent  that  the  balance  of  skill  had  been  altered. 

Namur.  Luxembourg's  successors— Villeroy  and  Boufflers — showed 
themselves  in  every  move  of  the  game  inferior  to  William.  The  allies, 
therefore,  attempted  the  recapture  of  Namur  ;  and  in  October  that  great 
fortress,  whose  capture  was  the  proudest  event  of  Louis'  military  career, 
was  again  in  the  hands  of  William.  The  siege  began  on  the  2nd  of 
July,  and  after  a  series  of  assaults  in  which  General  Cutts  distinguished 
himself  so  much  that  his  men  called  him  the  '  Salamander,'  the  town 
was  taken.  The  citadel  only  remained ;  and  to  save  it,  Villeroy 
attempted  to  divert  William  by  a  cruel  bombardment  of  Brussels. 
William,  however,  was  firm  ;  and  in  September  the  citadel  also  fell. 

The  capture  of  Namur  was  William's  crowning  achievement.  France 
was  now  exhausted,  and  though  the  war  dragged  on  two  years  longer,  it 

Peace  of      was  not  distinguished  by  any  brilliant  events.     Negotia- 

Ryswick,  tions  were  opened,  and  in  1697  a  treaty  was  signed  at 
Ryswick.  In  this,  Louis  agreed  to  give  up  all  conquest  taken  since  the 
treaty  of  Nimeguen  in  1678,  and — what  was  of  vital  importance  to 
Great  Britain — to  acknowledge  William  as  king  of  England.  The 
treaty  of  Ryswick  brought  to  a  close  the  second  stage  of  William's  long 
contest  with  France.  In  the  first  he  had,  as  stadtholder  of  the  Dutch 
republic,  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  Protestant  Europe  by  his  noble,  but 
not  always  successful,  defence  of  the  stronghold  of  Protestant  freedom 
against  the  strongest  of  the  Catholic  powers.  In  the  second,  he  appeared 
at  the  head  of  a  great  coalition,  and  as  the  sovereign  of  the  country 
which  had  supplied  the  heroes  of  Crecy  and  Agincourt.  Even  in  this 
stronger  position  fortune  had  not  always  been  on  his  side  ;  but  since 
1693  the  tide  had  been  turning  ;  the  terms  of  the  peace  of  Ryswick  left 
no  doubt  whatever  on  which  side  victory  had  been,  and  the  rejoicings 
which  hailed  its  completion  testified  the  satisfaction  of  Britain  with  the 
results  that  had  been  attained. 

Having  brought  the  war  to  a  termination,  it  is  now  time  to  revert  to 


1697  William  and  Mary  687 

domestic  affairs.  Between  1690  and  1697  a  great  revolution  had  been 
effected  in  the  constitution  of  the  executive  government.  At  his  accession 
William  had  tried  the  experiment  of  forming  an  administra-  Party  Go- 
tion  from  the  leaders  of  both  political  parties.  The  plan,  vernment. 
however,  did  not  work  well.  The  opinions  of  the  Whigs  and  Tories 
were  so  different  that  they  could  not  act  together  ;  and — what  was  more 
serious  still — the  House  of  Commons,  left  without  the  guidance  of 
responsible  leaders  confident  in  the  possession  of  a  steady  majority,  was 
little  better  than  a  political  mob  swayed  hither  and  thither  by  the 
passions  of  the  hour.  For  this  extremely  serious  state  of  affah-s  a 
remedy  was  suggested  by  the  astute  but  unprincipled  Sunderland. 
That  statesman  had  made  his  peace  with  William  by  disclosing  to 
him  the  secrets  of  his  fallen  master,  and  though  his  name  appeared 
among  those  who  were  excepted  from  the  Act  of  Grace,  there  was  no 
intention  of  prosecuting  him.  By  degrees  he  acquired  fresh  influence, 
and  though  he  held  no  office  himself,  his  acute  judgment  on  the  conduct 
of  affairs  was  always  at  William's  disposal.  Accordingly,  in  1693, 
he  advised  William  to  form  a  united  Whig  ministry  by  gradually 
weeding  all  the  Tories  out  of  the  government.  His  advice  was  taken  ; 
and  between  1693  and  1695  it  was  carried  into  effect  with  the  best 
results,  not  only  on  the  working  of  the  executive  government,  but 
on  that  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  rise  of  the  Whigs  meant  the  elevation  to  power  of  four  very 
remarkable  men — Edward  Russell,  John  Somers,  Charles  Montagu, 
and  Thomas  Wharton.  Russell  had  taken  a  leading  pirt  The 
in  the  revolution,  had  won  the  battle  of  La  Hogue,  was  'J""^°-' 
the  most  efficient  naval  administrator  of  the  time,  and  though  at  one 
period  he  had  entered  into  correspondence  with  James,  he  had  probably 
been  led  to  do  so  more  by  his  dislike  of  William's  employment  of  Tories 
than  for  any  other  reason.  John  Somers  had  distinguished  himself 
in  the  bishops'  trial,  and  was  the  best  constitutional  lawyer  of  his 
time.  Charles  Montagu,  who  first  gained  celebrity  by  writing  with 
Prior  The  Town  and  Country  Mouse,  was  an  admirable  debater, 
and  a  bold  and  original  financier.  Thomas  Wharton,  son  of  the  old 
Puritan,  Philip  Lord  Wharton,  with  vices  of  magnitude  enough  to  have 
ruined  the  reputation  of  the  ablest  statesman  in  a  more  austere  age,  had 
secured  an  influence  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  in  the  constituencies 
which  made  his  services  invaluable.  Different  as  these  men  were, 
in  politics  they  were  all  agreed  ;  and  so  close  was  their  political  partner- 
ship that  they  were  usually  classed  together  as  the  'junto.' 

Accordingly,  in  1693,  Somers  became  lord  keeper  of  the  great  seal, 


688  The  Stuarts  1694 

and,  in  1697,  lord  chancellor.  In  1694,  Russell,  who  had  been  treasurer 
of  the  navy  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  became  first  lord  of  the 
The  Whig  admiralty.  The  same  year,  Montagu,  who  had  been  a  mem- 
M  inistry .  ^^j,  ^^  ^j^^  treasury  board,  became  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 
Trenchard,  an  ardent  Whig,  who  had  been  deep  in  all  Shaftesbury's 
plans,  and  had  been  made  secretary  of  state  in  1692,  was  joined  by 
the  Whig  Shrewsbury  in  the  place  of  the  Tory  Nottingham;  while 
Wharton,  who  all  along  kept  his  place  as  controller  of  the  household, 
became  more  and  more  influential.  In  1695  the  Tory  duke  of  Leeds 
(formerly  Danby  and  Carmarthen)  was  proved  to  have  used  his  influence 
to  aid  a  friend  in  securing  a  bribe  from  the  East  India  Company,  and  was 
forced  to  give  up  his  post.  Godolphin,  who  was  a  clever  financier,  and 
had  never  identified  himself  strongly  with  party  politics,  remained  the 
only  Tory  in  the  government ;  but,  in  1696,  he  too  gave  up  his  post. 

So  long  as  the  war  lasted,  the  necessity  of  providing  money  for  the 
troops,  and,  consequently,  of  keeping  on  good  terms  with  the  financiers 
of  the  city,  was  the  keystone  of  domestic  administration. 
National  The  series  of  measures  taken  with  this  object  were  due  to 
the  genius  of  Montagu.  In  1693  he  originated  the 
national  debt.  It  had  long  been  the  practice  for  English  kings  to 
borrow  on  their  own  security,  and  parliament  had  often  been  asked 
to  pay  their  debts.  William's  expenses,  however,  had  been  absolutely 
unprecedented.  In  1693,  the  estimated  expenditure  was  over 
^4,000,000,  the  estimated  revenue  about  £3,000,000,  and  it  seemed 
impossible  to  add  to  the  weight  of  taxation  at  the  risk  of  an  outburst 
of  discontent.  Accordingly  Montagu  adopted  the  device  of  a  loan 
raised,  not  on  the  security  of  the  king,  but  on  that  of  the  nation,  and 
for  that  reason  known  ever  after  as  the  nucleus  of  the  national  debt. 
The  plan  found  ready  acceptance,  for  at  that  date,  while  city  men  were 
prosperous,  facilities  for  lending  money  on  good  security  were  few. 
The  Whig  capitalists  took  up  the  loan  at  once,  and  the  plan  once  at 
work,  its  extension  was  rapid.  Besides  relieving  the  financial  distress 
of  the  government,  Montagu  was  acute  enough  to  perceive  that  he  was 
also  adding  immensely  to  its  political  strength.  Nothing  was  more 
certain  than  that,  if  James  were  restored,  all  responsibility  for  the  debt 
would  instantly  be  repudiated,  so  those  who  had  lent  money  were  not 
only  stout  supporters  of  the  government  at  ordinary  times,  but  at 
critical  moments  saw  the  best  security  for  their  investments  in  again 
coming  forward  to  help  the  government  out  of  its  difficulty. 

In  1694  the  Bank  of  England  was  established.     Up  to  this  date  mer- 
chants had  either  kept  their  cash  in  strong  boxes  in  their  own  premises, 


1697  William  III.  689 

or  had  intrusted  it  to  the  care  of  goldsmiths,  who  invested  the  money, 
but  agreed  always  to  meet  bills  drawn  upon  them  by  the  depositor 
to  the  amount  of  the   sum   deposited.      In  this  way  the  The  Bank  of 
goldsmiths'  shops  became,   to  all    intents  and  purposes,  England, 
private    banks.      There    had,  however,   been    in    existence  for    some 
time  public  banks,  such  as  the  Bank  of  St.  George  at  Genoa,  founded  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  that  of  Amsterdam,  founded  about  1610. 
Under  William  iii.  the  idea  of  starting  such  a  bank  in  England  was 
frequently  mooted,  and  the  notion  eventually  took  shape  in  the  hands  of 
William  Paterson,  a  Scottish  projector,  Michael  Godfrey,  a  London  mer- 
chant, and  Montagu.     Accordingly  the  subscribers  to  a  new  government 
loan  of  j£l, 200,000  were  formed  into  a  banking  company.     In  return  for 
their  loan  they  received  eight  per  cent,  interest.     This  gave  them,  with 
a  further  sum  of  ^4000  for  management,  an  income  of  ;£100,000  yearly. 
They  were  allowed  by  act  of  parliament  to  receive  deposits  of  money,  to 
lend  money  at  interest,  and  to  issue  promises  to  pay  on  demand,  which 
were  called  bank-notes.    By  a  special  clause,  however,  the  bank  was  for- 
bidden to   advance   money  to   government   without  a  special   act   of 
parliament,  the  object  of  which  was  to  avoid  the  risk  of  government 
making  itself  independent  of  parliamentary  control     This  institution 
was  of  great  advanttige  to  the  country,  because  persons  who  had  capital 
felt  that  they  could  Siifely  trust  it  to  the  bank,  whose  regular  income  of 
;£  100,000  a  year,   independent  of  their  banking  transactions,  was  a 
guarantee  against  failure  ;  while  the  bank  in  its  turn  advanced  money 
on  moderate  interest  to  enterprising  people,  on  whose  integrity  and 
ability  the  directors  of  the  bank  relied.     In  this  way  trade  was  bene- 
fited, and  both  the  depositor  and  the  borrower  advantaged.     Such  was 
the  origin  of  the  Bank  of  England,  which  became  the  model  for  the 
numerous  joint-stock  banks  which  now  exist,  while  the  private  banking 
companies  are  the  successors  of  the  goldsmiths  of  an  earlier  stage  of 
commercial  development.     The  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  England 
still  further  united  the  mercantile  classes  in  support  of  the  government, 
and  as  the  bank  was  always  ready  to  lend  to  the  government  whenever 
parliament  authorised  a  loan,  the  collection  of  money  on  an  emergency 
became  easier  than  ever  before. 

This  was  well  shown  in  1696.     In  that  year  the  country  gentry,  led 
by  Kobert  Harley,  a  man  of  moderate  ability  but  with  a  genius  for 
making  himself  necessary,  wished  to  form  a  Land  Bank,    The  Land 
which  was  to  advance  money  on  the  security  of  land  only.    ^^"''• 
For  this  they  agreed  to  lend  to  the  government  no  less  than  £2,500,000 
at  a  rate  of  seven  per  cent.     But  the  country  gentlemen,  unlike  the 

2x 


690  The  Stuarts  X694 

merchants,  had  very  little  money  in  hand,  and  no  capitalist  would  put 
his  money  into  a  concern  which  was  restricted  to  lend  on  land  at  a  rate 
of  four  per  cent.,  whereas  he  could  get  six  per  cent,  in  the  open  market ; 
and  when  the  day  came  for  the  production  of  the  £2,500,000,  only 
£7100  was  produced,  of  which  £5000  had  been  advanced  by  William 
himself  in  order  to  give  a  fillip  to  the  undertaking.  The  position  of  the 
government  was  most  serious,  for  the  money  was  wanted  immediately  to 
pay  the  troops  in  Flanders  ;  but  the  emergency  was  got  over  by  the 
public  spirit  of  the  shareholders  of  the  Bank  of  England,  who  advanced 
£200,000  at  a  few  days'  notice.  In  consequence,  the  Whigs  and  the 
merchants  became  better  friends  than  ever ;  but  the  failure  of  the 
Land  Bank  was  a  sore  disappointment  to  the  Tories. 

The  same  year  that  the  Land  Bank  was  projected,  the  government  did 
a  great  service  to  the  whole  country  by  renewing  the  coinage.  Since  the 
State  of  the  great  renewal  of  the  coinage  under  Elizabeth  (see  pp.  423  and 
Currency.  ^gg^  ^^ie  Standard  of  quality  had  been  well  maintained  ;  but 
the  method  of  manufacture  had  become  antiquated,  and  a  system  which 
worked  fairly  well  in  an  agricultural  country  where  transactions  were 
few  was  not  suitable  to  a  thriving  commercial  community  such  as  was 
growing  up  in  England  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
method  in  use  had  been  introduced  in  the  time  of  Edward  i.,  and  con- 
sisted of  cutting  the  coins  from  a  sheet  of  metal  and  reducing  them  to 
the  proper  shape  by  the  blows  of  a  hammer.  Such  coins  were  rude  in 
form  and  easily  imitated,  and  it  was  so  easy  to  clip  them  that  under 
William  really  good  coins  were  rare.  Trade  naturally  suffered,  because 
no  one  knew  what  the  value  of  money  was  ;  and,  as  merchants  wished 
to  weigh  the  money  before  they  parted  with  their  goods,  business  could 
not  be  carried  on  between  people  at  a  distance  from  each  other.  About 
the  time  of  the  Restoration,  however,  a  mill  had  been  set  up  in  the  Tower 
which  turned  out  a  superior  coin — round,  exact  in  weight,  and  with  a 
serrated  or  'milled'  edge  which  showed  at  a  glance  whether  the  coin  had 
been  clipped  or  not.  The  milled  coins  were  excellent,  but  no  one  who 
possessed  a  milled  shilling  would  make  a  payment  with  it  if  he  could 
secure  one  of  the  old  make.  He  preferred  to  melt  it  down,  or  to  send  it 
out  of  the  country.  Consequently,  the  milled  coins  disappeared  as  fast 
as  they  were  produced.  As  time  went  on,  the  old,  from  clipping  and 
wear,  became  worse  than  ever  ;  and  the  medium  of  exchange  became 
thoroughly  out  of  order.  Prices,  too,  rose  at  a  rate  which  far  surpassed 
the  power  of  wages  to  keep  up  with  them.  A  shilling  would  go  no 
further  than  sixpence  did  a  few  years  before.  So  great  was  the  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  value  of  the  currency  that  quarrelling  was  incessant,  for 


1697  William  III,  691 

buyers  and  sellers,  after  haggling  over  the  price,  began  a  new  bargain 
over  the  coin.  Every  one  was  inconvenienced  ;  and  among  the  poor, 
who  could  protect  themselves  least,  inconvenience  amounted  to  positive 
suffering.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  was  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the 
country.  Penal  laws  proved  an  ineffectual  remedy  ;  and  it  was  impera- 
tive that  by  some  device  or  other  the  bad  coins  should  be  withdrawn 
from  circulation  and  good  ones  supplied  in  their  place.  Among  others 
who  devoted  their  attention  to  the  subject  were  John  Locke,  who  had 
already  conferred  an  obligation  on  the  world  by  his  tract  on  Toleration  ; 
and  Isaac  Newton,  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of  gravitation.  In  a  happy 
moment  they  were  consulted  by  Montagu  and  Somers. 

The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  renewing  the  coinage  was  to  settle 
whether  individuals  should  bear  the  loss  in  exchanging  their  old  coins  for 
new,  or  whether  it  should  fall  on  the  nation  at  large.  At  The  Coinage 
length,  on  the  motion  of  Montagu,  it  was  decided  by  jDarlia-  ""encwed. 
ment  that,  on  and  after  a  certain  day,  the  use  of  the  old  coinage  should  be 
forbidden  ;  but  that  all  who  brought  in  coins  before  that  date  should,  as 
soon  as  possible,  receive  their  nominal  value  in  new  milled  coins.  By 
this  plan  the  loss  fell  on  the  nation  at  large.  The  management  of  the 
transaction  was  entrusted  to  Somers,  Montagu,  Locke,  and  Newton. 
Newton  had  been  chosen  by  Montagu  to  be  master  of  the  mint,  and  so 
rapidly  did  he  improve  the  system  of  coining  that  at  length  he  was  able 
to  turn  out  no  less  than  eight  times  as  many  shillings  per  week  as  had 
ever  been  coined  before.  The  2nd  of  May  1696  was  the  last  day  for 
bringing  in  the  old  coins,  and  with  all  Newton's  expedition  it  was  the  end 
of  August  before  even  a  fair  amount  of  the  new  money  was  in  circulation. 
During  these  four  months  every  one  lived  on  credit ;  but  so  strong  was 
the  faith  in  the  honesty  of  the  government,  and  so  patient  and  good- 
humoured  was  the  temper  in  which  the  people  met  their  difficulties,  that 
the  time  passed  off  without  disturbance  ;  and  when  the  new  coins  were 
in  full  circulation  it  was  found  that  a  great  boon  had  been  conferred  on 
the  community  at  large.  The  establishment  of  the  national  debt  and 
the  Bank  of  England,  and  the  renewal  of  the  coinage,  form  an  epoch  in 
the  history  of  English  commerce,  and  won  for  the  government  the  good- 
will of  all  who  were  concerned  in  trade. 

Until  the  accession  of  William  iii.  the  great  object  of  Whig  statesmen, 
and  indeed  of  all  Englishmen,  had  been  to  oblige  the  king  to  call  frequent 
parliaments.     To  this  spirit  was  owing  the  Act  of  Edward   The  Trien- 
III.  enjoining  annual  sessions  ;  the  Triennial  Act  of  the  Long   "^*^  ^^^' 
Parliament ;  and  the  clause  in  the  Bill  of  Eights  declaring  that  parlia- 
ments ought  to  be  held  frequently.     However,  since  supplies  had  been 


692  The  Stuarts  uh 

voted  annually,  and  the  Mutiny  Act  had  to  be  renewed,  there  was  no 
fear  that  parliament  would  not  meet  every  year.  But  this  was  replaced 
by  the  apprehension  that  if  the  king  got  a  House  of  Commons  to  his 
mind,  he  would  never  dissolve  it ;  and  so  that  for  long  periods  parliament 
•might  be  out  of  accord  with  the  country.  Such  an  instance  had  occurred 
In  the  case  of  the  Long  Parliament  of  Charles  ii.,  which  had  existed  for 
seventeen  years.  To  prevent  this,  in  1692  a  Triennial  Bill,  fixing  three 
years  as  the  longest  term  of  any  parliament,  was  introduced  by  the 
Whigs,  and  passed  through  both  Houses.  William,  however,  thought 
that  the  bill  trenched  seriously  upon  the  prerogative  of  the  crown ;  and 
though  Sir  William  Temple,  who  had  been  consulted,  explained  through 
his  secretary,  Jonathan  Swift,  that  in  his  opinion  the  king  had  nothing 
to  fear,  he  met  it  by  the  exercise  of  his  veto.  In  1693  it  was  introduced 
again,  but  defeated  at  the  third  reading  in  the  Commons.  In  1694, 
however,  the  bill  was  more  fortunate,  and  William,  who  had  long  decided 
not  to  oppose  it  again,  gave  his  consent.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  par- 
liament which  passed  the  bill  was  not  allowed  to  run  its  full  course,  but 
was  dissolved  by  William  on  his  return  from  the  capture  of  Namur,  in 
order  that  the  elections  might  be  held  while  that  glorious  exploit  was 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  voters. 

Ever  since  the  Reformation,  government  had  claimed  to  regulate  the 
printing  and  publication  of  books,  with  a  view  to  forbid  such  as  might  be 
Freedom  of  injurious  either  to  religion  or  to  morality,  or  were  likely  to 
the  Press.  spread  seditious  opinions.  Till  the  meeting  of  the  Long 
Parliament  this  duty  had  been  exercised  by  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  persons  who  printed  unlicensed  books  had  been  prosecuted  in 
the  courts  of  Star  Chamber  and  High  Commission.  After  the  dissolu- 
tion of  these  courts,  the  press  for  a  short  time  was  free  ;  but  the  Long 
Parliament,  alarmed  by  the  flood  of  pamphlets  which  inundated  the 
country,  and  absolutely  unmoved  by  the  abstract  reasoning  in  favour  of 
liberty  of  thought  which  Milton  addressed  to  it  in  his  Areopagitica,  again 
obliged  books  to  be  licensed.  At  the  Restoration  a  Licensing  Act  was 
passed,  by  which  the  whole  control  of  printing  was  vested  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  printing  was  allowed  only  at  London,  York,  and  the  univer- 
sities. This  restriction,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  affected  not  only  books 
but  also  newspapers,  pamphlets,  and  literature  of  every  description  ;  and 
meant  that  no  one  could  get  a  hearing  for  any  views  either  on  politics  or 
religion  which  did  not  accord  with  the  views  of  government.  Indeed, 
under  Charles  ii.  it  was  laid  down  by  the  judges  that, '  To  print  or  pub- 
lish any  newsbooks,  or  pamphlets  of  news  whatever,  is  illegal ;  that  it  is 
a  manifest  intent  to  the  breach  of  the  peace,  and  the  offenders  may  be 


1697  William  III.  693 

proceeded  against  by  law  for  an  illegal  thing.'  Such  a  power  was  too 
great  to  place  in  any  hands  ;  but  more  efficient  than  general  arguments  in 
favour  of  a  free  press,  which  could  not  have  the  weight  then  which  they 
have  since  gained  from  the  experience  of  two  centuries,  were  those 
derived  from  the  anomalous  manner  in  which  the  right  of  veto  was 
exercised.  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  passed  the  ordeal  with  difficulty, 
while  the  most  scurrilous  and  indecent  productions  of  the  Restoration 
drama  were  printed  as  a  matter  of  course.  No  Whig  newspaper  could 
appear,  while  the  Tory  Sir  Roger  L'Estrange,  whose  name  was  omitted 
from  the  Act  of  Grace,  could  libel  the  '  country  party '  in  his  Observator 
without  any  check.  Ludicrous  cases  could  be  cited  to  show  how  per- 
functorily the  work  of  examination  was  done  by  the  licenser  and  his 
deputies.  A  book  which  entitled  King  WiUiam  and  Mary  '  conquerors  ' 
had  passed,  while  a  history  of  the  'Bloody  Assize'  had  been  stopped. 
Cases  like  these  undermined  the  reputation  of  the  Act ;  and  when,  in 
1695,  the  Licensing  Act,  which  was  a  temporary  measure,  expired,  par- 
liament refused  to  renew  it.  Since  that  year  there  has  been  complete 
liberty  to  publish  ;  libels  have,  of  course,  been  liable  to  prosecution  like 
any  other  criminal  offence  ;  but  so  long  as  they  can  keep  out  of  the 
clutches  of  the  law,  writers  may  abuse  either  the  government,  the  oppo- 
sition, or  each  other  to  their  hearts'  content. 

This  revolution,  though  little  noticed  at  the  time,  was  as  important  in 
the  world  of  thought  as  the  much  more  celebrated  Revolution  in  the  world 
of  politics.  No  sooner  was  the  publication  of  thought  free  Effects  of  a 
than  both  thinking  and  writing  themselves  improved,  and,  ^^^^  Press, 
as  Milton  had  foretold,  virtue  herself  wiis  benefited  and  strengthened  by 
often  meeting  her  antagonists  in  '  a  free  and  open  encounter.'  In  politics 
the  effect  was  instantaneous.  Within  a  fortnight  reappeared  the  [ntelli- 
gence  Domestic  and  Foreign^  which  had  been  promptly  suppressed  on 
its  first  appearance  in  the  days  of  the  Exclusion  Bill  It  was  quickly 
followed  by  other  papers  ;  and  in  a  few  years  the  remotest  villages  were 
able  to  command  intelligence  which,  though  it  may  appear  meagre  to  us, 
was  full  and  accurate  compared  to  what  a  few  years  before  had  been 
accessible  even  to  Londoners,  and  the  consequence  was  the  rise  of 
a  pubUc  opinion  which  statesmen  of  neither  party  could  afford  to 
neglect.  Nor  was  the  effect  on  moraUty  at  all  what  had  been  expected. 
Instead  of  the  press  becoming  coarser  it  became  purer.  Writers  who 
depend  on  the  general  sale  of  their  works  must  produce  what  the  public 
will  buy  ;  and  nothing  proves  more  clearly  that  the  morality  of  the 
court  of  Charles  ii.  was  not  the  morality  of  the  average  reading  public, 
than  the  difference  between  the  tone  of  the  works  which  had  the  best 


694  The  Stuarts  1694 

sale  and  of  those  which  obtained  most  readily  the  patronage  of  the 
court. 

While  engaged  in  this  great  series  of  constitutional,  financial,  and  social 
reforms,  and  in  waging  a  great  European  war,  ministers  had  to  be 
Assassina-  constantly  on  the  alert  to  detect  and  frustrate  a  series  of 
tion  Plots.  pjQ^g  which  from  time  to  time  were  formed  against  William's 
government  or  life.  As  early  as  1691  Viscount  Preston,  a  Roman  Catholic, 
who  had  been  secretary  of  state  under  James  ii.,  was  arrested  on  board 
a  vessel  in  the  Thames  when  actually  sailing  to  France  with  letters 
for  James  and  Louis  urging  a  renewal  of  Tourville's  attempt.  Condemned 
to  die,  he  purchased  his  life  by  betraying"  his  fellows,  and  received  an 
ignominious  pardon.  In  1692,  probably  with  the  concurrence  of  James, 
a  Frenchman  named  Grandval  was  despatched  to  Flanders  in  order  to 
murder  William.  He  was,  however,  betrayed  by  his  accomplices  and 
shot.  So  long,  however,  as  Mary  lived,  her  popularity  was  William's 
security,  but  her  death  made  him  much  more  liable  to  assassination,  for 
his  single  life  might  be  thought  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  restoration. 
From  that  time  forward  he  was  in  constant  peril,  and  made  the  work 
of  guarding  his  life  more  arduous  by  his  fearless  disregard  of  danger. 
The  most  formidable  of  these  conspiracies  was  detected  in  1696.  It 
combined  two  designs  :  one,  the  raising  an  insurrection  in  England, 
supported  by  a  French  invading  force  ;  the  other,  the  assassination  of 
William.  The  former  of  these  was  to  be  managed  by  Berwick,  the 
latter  by  a  group  of  desperate  conspirators  headed  by  Sir  George  Barclay, 
a  Scottish  follower  of  Dundee,  and  Robert  Charnock,  formerly  a  fellow  of 
Magdalen  College,  who  are  said  to  have  received  a  commission  from 
James  authorising  them  to  attack  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  his  winter 
quarters.  Under  this  euphemism  was  concealed  a  design  to  surround 
his  coach  in  a  dark  lane  near  Turnham  Green,  as  he  was  on  his  way 
to  Hampton  Court,  to  kidnap  him  if  he  made  no  resistance^  but  to 
cut  his  throat  if  he  did.  Happily  this  diabolical  plot  was  betrayed 
to  the  government,  and  the  conspirators  were  seized  in  their  beds. 
The  whole  design  therefore  came  to  nothing  ;  and  James,  after  waiting 
in  vain  at  Calais  for  the  lighting  of  the  beacon  which  was  to  announce . 
from  Dover  cliffs  the  death  of  his  son-in-law,  retired  in  disappoint- 
ment to  St.  Germains.  The  government,  on  the  other  hand,  made 
the  best  use  of  their  good  fortune.  The  opportunity  was  seized  to 
band  together  the  whole  nation  in  an  association  similar  to  that  formed 
in  1584  for  the  protection  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Four  hundred  and 
twenty  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  and  eighty-three  peers 
signed  a  parchment,  binding  them,  in  case  of  the  king's  murder,  to  aid  in 


1697  William  III.  695 

taking  a  signal  revenge  on  the  assassins,  and  to  support  the  accession  of 
Anne  as  arranged  in  the  Bill  of  Rights.  Signatures  were  then  invited 
from  the  general  public  ;  and  so  great  was  the  indignation  aroused  by  the 
infamous  assassination  plot,  and  the  scarcely  less  terrible  project  of  a 
French  invasion,  that  the  document  was  signed  by  the  vast  majority  of 
the  population,  and  the  red  'ribbon  of  the  association  was  to  be  seen 
on  almost  every  hat.  At  no  moment  before  or  after  did  William  enjoy 
such  unanimous  popularity  as  when  he  had  just  escaped  from  what 
appeared  to  his  enemies  certain  destruction.  Of  the  intending  murderers 
Charnock  and  seven  others  were  hanged,  but  Barclay  escaped. 

Just  before  the  conspiracy  was  detected,  but  not  in  time  to  give  the 
conspirators  the  benefit  of  its  provisions,  parliament  had  passed  an 
important  Act  regulating  trials  for  treason.  Up  to  this  time  Treason 
the  conduct  of  these  trials  had  given  every  assistance  to  the  Trials, 
government,  and  put  the  accused  at  a  great  disadvantage.  Till  the  trial 
began  a  prisoner  was  neither  informed  of  the  names  of  the  jury  nor  of  the 
exact  charge  which  was  to  be  brought  against  him,  and  witnesses  for  his 
defence  were  not  allowed  to  be  examined  on  oath.  This  state  of  things 
arose  from  the  old  fonn  of  trial  based  on  the  ordeiil,  which  regarded  the 
process  as  an  attempt  of  the  prosecution  to  prove  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner, 
the  business  of  the  jury  being  to  return  a  verdict  of  not  guilty,  unless 
the  guilt  of  the  prisoner  admitted  of  no  possible  doubt.  This  method, 
excellent  in  theory,  had  in  practice  proved  quite  inefficient  to  secure  fair 
play,  especially  in  trials  for  treason.  For  a  long  time,  however,  no 
change  had  been  made,  partly  because  so  long  as  Whigs  only  were  tried 
Tories  felt  that  there  was  much  to  be  said  for  making  treasonable 
practices  dangerous,  partly  because  the  case  of  persons  accused  of  treason 
was  no  worse  than  that  of  other  accused  persons,  and  it  seemed  anomalous 
to  give  Guy  Fawkes  or  Anthony  Babington  advantages  which  were  denied 
to  a  poor  shoplifter.  However,  fortune's  wheel  had  now  made  the  Tories 
the  conspiring  party,  and  before  William  had  been  long  on  the  throne  all 
parties  were  agreed  that  something  must  be  done.  Accordingly,  by  the 
new  Act,  the  prisoner  was  to  have  a  copy  of  the  indictment  and  a  list  of 
the  jury  five  days  before  the  trial,  and  his  witnesses  were  to  be  examined 
on  oath.  By  the  law  of  Edward  vi.  two  witnesses  were  necessary  for 
conviction  ;  but  the  safeguard  conveyed  by  this  rule  had  been  narrowed 
by  the  crown  lawyers  to  such  an  extent  that  Algernon  Sidney  was 
convicted  on  the  evidence  of  one  witness  and  the  testimony  afi'orded  by 
some  unpublished  papers  found  in  his  desk.  By  the  new  law  two 
witnesses  were  required  to  one  open  act  of  treason,  or  one  to  one,  and  one 
to  another  open  act  of  the  same  kind  of  treason.     (See  page  434.) 


696  The  Stuarts  1697 

This  law,  while  it  secured  the  safety  of  innocent  men,  undoubtedly 
made  it  harder  to  convict  the  guilty.      Indeed,  it  was  said  satirically 
Fen  wick's    that  the  object  of  the  Act  was  '  to  make  treason  as  safe  as 
Case.  possible ' ;  and  in  the  case  of  Sir  John  Fenwick,  who  was 

accused  of  treason  in  1697,  a  guilty  man  nearly  escaped  through  its 
provisions.  Fenwick  was  an  old  member  of  parliament  who  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  forwarding  the  Bill  of  Attainder  under  which  Monmouth 
had  suffered.  The  Kevolution  made  him  a  conspirator,  and  in  1695  he 
was  certainly  generally  cognisant  of  the  intentions  of  Charnock  and 
Barclay.  For  some  months  he  lay  hidden,  but  was  at  length  arrested  ; 
and  an  intercepted  letter  which  he  had  sent  to  his  wife  left  no  doubt 
whatever  of  his  guilt.  A  London  grand  jury  returned  a  true  bill,  but 
before  his  trial  came  on  he  attempted  to  purchase  mercy  by ,  sending 
to  William  a  rambling  statement  in  which  Shrewsbury,  Kussell,  Marl- 
borough and  Godolphin  were  accused  of  treasonable  correspondence  with 
St.  Germains.  To  William  this  was  no  news,  and  he  wisely  determined 
to  leave  Fenwick  to  his  fate  ;  but  before  the  day  of  trial  came  on  it  was 
announced  that  Goodman,  one  of  the  two  witnesses  against  him,  had 
absconded.  The  Whigs,  however,  were  not  to  be  thus  baulked.  They 
voted  Fenwick's  confession  to  be  scandalous  ;  then  having  satisfied 
themselves  what  Goodman's  evidence  would  have  been,  passed  a  Bill  of 
Attainder  against  Fenwick,  to  which  the  Lords  agreed,  and  William, 
having  given  his  consent,  Fenwick  was  beheaded. 

The  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Ryswick  in  1697  proved  in  another  way 
a  turning-point  in  English  politics.     So  long  as  the  war  continued,  the 
nation  recognised   the  paramount   importance  of  military 
larity  of  a     success,  and  had  cheerfully  borne  the  burdens  entailed  by 
Army*"^      the  war  ;  but  with  peace  a  reaction  set  in,  and  the  national 
dislike  to  taxation,  the   unpopularity  of  standing  armies, 
and  insular  prejudice  against  foreigners,  had  opportunity  to  assert  them- 
selves.   Accordingly,  in  the  general  election  of  1698,  the  cry  of  the  Tories 
was  for  peace  and  retrenchment,  and  a  majority  of  that  party  were 
returned.     These  men  had  little  sympathy  with  William.     Most  of  them 
belonged  to  the  class  of  landed  gentry  on  whom  taxation  for  the  war, 
especially  the  land-tax  of  ^2,000,000  a  year,  had  fallen  very  heavily  ;  and 
they  had  not  only  failed  to  obtain  a  share  in  the  prosperity  secured  to 
the  mercantile  classes  by  Montagu's  measures,  but  also  had  been  bitterly 
disappointed  by  the  failure  of  Harley's  Land  Bank,  and  they  most  unfairly 
ascribed  the  fiasco  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Whigs.     Moreover,  they  had, 
and  could  have,  no  such  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  condition  of 
European  affairs  as  was  necessary  to  appreciate  William's  foreign  policy  ; 


1700  William  111.  697 

and  they  did  not  understand  his  view  that  it  was  as  needful  to  keep  up 
a  strong  standing  army  and  to  be  ever  on  the  watch  against  the  ambition 
of  Louis  XIV.  England,  they  said,  would  do  well  to  avail  herself  of  her 
insular  position,  keep  out  of  foreign  complications,  and  trust  for  defence 
to  her  fleet  and  her  militia. 

Accordingly  the  army,  which  had  already  been  reduced  to  10,000  men, 
was  further  cut  down  to  7000,  and  a  proviso  was  added, '  these  to  consist 
of  his  majesty's  natural-born  subjects.'  The  object  of  the  Army 
last  clause  was  to  compel  William  to  part  with  his  Dutch  reduced, 
guards,  who  formed  the  most  obvious  subjects  for  an  attack  upon 
foreigners  so  savage  that  Daniel  Defoe  was  moved  to  write  his  satire  of 
the  Triie-born  Englishman,  in  which  he  derides  the  English  claim  to 
purity  of  descent,  and  reminds  those  people  '  who  deride  the  Dutch  and 
rail  at  new  come  foreigners  so  much,'  that  they  were  themselves  descended 
from  swarm  after  swarm  of  foreign  conquerors  and  refugees,  and  thiit 
their  vaunted  motto,  'A  True-born  Englishman,'  was  but  'a  metaphor 
invented  to  express  a  man  akin  to  all  the  universe.' 

Another  excellent  subject  for  combining  an  attack  upon  William  and 
the  Dutchmen  with  an  ostentatious  care  for  economy  was  found  in  the 
Irish  grants.  William,  like  many  other  men  who  have  no  The  Irish 
gift  for  general  popularity,  was  dearly  attached  to  a  small  ^'■^"*^- 
body  of  friends,  such  as  Bentinck,  Keppel,  and  Auverquerque,  and  he 
had  lavished  upon  them  extensive  grants  of  land,  especially  in  Ireland. 
Such  grants  had  also  been  given  to  Lord  Romney,  who,  as  Henry  Sidney, 
had  been  one  of  his  chief  advisers,  to  such  stout  soldiers  as  Ginkel 
Lord  Athlone,  and  Euvigny  Lord  Galway  ;  and  a  large  estate  belonging  to 
James  ii.  had  been  given  to  Elizabeth  Villiers,  now  Lady  Orkney,  who 
had  been  William's  mistress  before  he  came  to  England,  and  who  after  her 
marriage  had  been  the  confidential  and  valued  adviser  of  some  of  the 
leading  Whigs.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  Irish 
grants,  and  its  report  showed  that  much  land  had  been  given  away 
contrary  to  a  promise  of  William  that  '  he  would  not  make  any  grants 
of  the  forfeited  lands  in  England  and  Ireland  till  there  had  been  another 
opportunity  of  settling  that  matter  in  parliament.'  This  promise  had 
been  made  in  1691,  and  parliament  had  done  nothing  since ;  but  the 
worst  part  of  the  matter  was  that  the  shares  of  Auverquerque,  Keppel, 
and  Portland's  son,  William  Bentinck,  whose  public  services  were  little 
or  nothing,  were  very  much  larger  than  those  given  to  Eomney,  Athlone, 
and  Galway.  Of  this  undoubtedly  strong  case  the  Tories  made  the  very 
most,  and  in  1700  an  Act  was  passed  through  parliament  by  which  the 
whole  of  the  grants  were  resumed. 


698  The  Stuarts  1700 

The  differences  of  opinion  between  the  Tory  House  of  Commons  and 
the  Whig  House  of  Lords  gave  rise  at  this  time  to  a  constitutional 
,  struggle  of  considerable  importance.  By  a  usage  which 
dated  since  the  time  of  Henry  v.,  the  Lords  had  no  right  to 
amend  a  money  bill  which  had  passed  the  Commons.  Accordingly, 
when  a  measure  was  in  hand  of  which  the  Lords  were  certain  to  disap- 
prove, an  ingenious  Tory  devised  the  expedient  of  '  tacking '  it  to  a  money 
bill.  The  Lords  had  then  either  to  pass  both,  or  to  render  themselves 
unpopular  and  throw  government  into  confusion  by  stopping  supplies. 
In  the  case  of  the  Resumption  Bill  this  was  done  with  success  ;  but  it 
remained  to  be  seen  whether  the  country  would  approve  of  a  plan  which 
put  the  whole  control  of  public  affairs  into  the  hands  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  reduced  the  power  both  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  of  the 
king  to  an  absolute  nullity. 

Confronted  with  this  difficulty,  William  effected  a  change  of  ministers. 

In  1692  he  had  begun  to  modify  the  construction  of  his  ministry,  in 

A  Tory        order  to  bring  it  into  better  agreement  with  a  majority  of 

Ministry.  "v^Thigg  j  he  now  reversed  the  process,  and  began  cautiously 
to  recall  the  Tories.  In  1697  Shrewsbury  resigned,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Jersey  ;  in  1697  Montagu's  place  was  given  first  to  Tankerville 
(formerly  the  Lord  Grey  of  Monmouth's  rebellion),  and  in  1700  to 
Godolphin  ;  Russell  resigned  in  1699,  and  was  replaced  by  Bridge  water  ; 
and  Soniers,  who  had  been  the  subject  of  vehement  parliamentary  attack, 
gave  up  the  chancellorship.  In  1700  Rochester  took  office  as  lord- 
lieutenant  of  Ireland.  The  presence  of  Jersey,  Godolphin,  and  Rochester 
was  designed  to  appease  the  Tories  ;  but  the  ill  effects  of  endeavouring 
to  amalgamate  the  heads  of  both  parties  in  a  coalition  ministry  were  soon 
apparent. 

In  1700  the  question  of  the  succession  again  became  pressing.  Of 
Anne's  seventeen  children  most  had  been  born  dead,  and  four  daughters 
The  Act  of  ^^d  one  son  had  died  in  infancy ;  but  one  son  born  in 
Settlement.  1539^  created  duke  of  Gloucester,  and  called  William  in 
compliment  to  the  king,  reached  the  age  of  twelve.  Marlborough  was 
appointed  his  governor  ;  and  the  king  had  been  pleased  with  the 
child's  fondness  for  martial  exercise,  and  his  telling  him,  on  one  occa- 
sion, 'that  he  was  learning  to  help  to  beat  the  French.'  However, 
in  July  1701,  he  too  died,  and  it  became  necessary  to  make  a  new 
arrangement  for  the  succession.  James'  reliance  on  France,  and  his 
unlucky  proclamation,  had  done  nothing  to  win  him  favour ;  and  in 
1698  an  act  had  been  passed  to  forbid  all  intercourse  with  the  exiled 
royal  family  either  by  word  or  writing,  and  no  Jacobite  exile  (as  James' 


1701  William  III.  699 

followers  were  now  called)  was  permitted  to  return  and  settle  in  William's 
dominions  without  a  government  licence.  Accordingly,  in  1701,  parlia- 
ment, though  Tory,  passed  the  Act  of  Settlement,  by  which,  in  case  of 
the  death  of  both  Anne  and  William  without  children,  the  crown  was 
settled  on  Sophia,  wife  of  the  elector  of  Hanover,  and  daughter  of  Elizabeth, 
Electress  Palatine,  the  daughter  of  James  i.,  and  on  her  lawful  heirs. 
Sophia  stood  by  no  means  next  in  succession  to  Anne.  Henrietta,  duchess 
of  Orleans  (see  page  626),  had  left  descendants  who  are  now  represented 
by  the  reigning  family  of  Italy  ;  and  Sophia  had  numerous  elder 
brothers  and  sisters  who  had  left  children.  She  was,  however,  the 
nearest  to  the  direct  line  who  beloDged  to  the  Protestant  faith,  and 
consequently,  as  all  Roman  Catholics  were  excluded  by  the  Bill  of 
Rights,  she  was,  after  Anne,  the  next  legal  heir  to  the  throne.  Parlia- 
ment, therefore,  chose  the  fittest  member  of  the  royal  family,  just  as 
the  Witenagemot  used  to  do  in  the  days  before  the  Norman  Conquest. 
The  circumstance  that  the  Act  of  Settlement  was  passed  by  a  parlia- 
ment in  which  the  Tories  were  predominant,  turned  out  to  be  of  great 
importance,  for  it  committed  the  Tories,  as  a  party,  to  the  principle  of  the 
Hanoverian  succession,  and  as  it  was  an  arrangement  heartily  approved 
by  the  Whigs,  the  matter  was  thus  placed  outside  the  lines  of  party 
politics. 

The  Tories,  though  they  passed  the  Act  of  Settlement,  showed  their 
hostility  to  William  by  adding  a  series  of  fresh  limitiitions  to  the  royal 
prerogative,  which  were  to  take  effect  when  the  Act  came   constitu- 
into  force.     By  these,  among  other  things,  (1)  the  king  wa.s   Ji°"^* 
not  to  leave  Great  Britain  or  Ireland  without  the  consent  of  the  Act  of 
parliament ;   (2)  no  foreigner  could  be  a  member  of  the      *    emen  . 
Privy  Council,  hold  any  post  under  the  crown,  or  receive  any  grant  of 
lands  ;  (3)  no  person  who  held  office  under  the  crown,  or  received  a 
pension,  could  be  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons ;  (4)  no  pardon 
under  the  great  seal  could  be  pleaded  as  .a  bar  to  an  impeachment ; 
(5)  judges  were  to  hold  their  places  quamdia  se  bene  gesserint,  and  were 
only  to  be  removed  from  office  on  an  address  of  both  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment.  With  the  exception  of  the  fourth  and  fifth,  none  of  these  were  ever 
operative.  The  first  and  second  were  repealed  to  oblige  George  i.  The  third, 
which  would  have  rendered  our  present  system  of  government  impossible, 
was  repealed  in  1705,  and  it  was  provided  that  henceforward,  though  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Commons  who  receive  a  salaried  office  from  the  crown 
ipso  facto  vacate  their  seats,  they  are  not  ineligible  for  re-election. 

In  1701  the  Tories  impeached  Bentinck  (duke  of  Portland),  Somers, 
Orford  (formerly  Russell),  and  the  earl  of  Halifax  (formerly  Montagu), 


700  The  Stuarts  1700 

for  their  share  in  the  partition  treaties.  These  treaties  were  the  outcome 
of  a  European  difficulty.  Charles  ii.,  who  had  been  king  of  Spain  since 
The  Spanish  1665,  when  at  the  age  of  four  he  had  succeeded  his  father, 
Succession.  Philip  IV.,  had  always  been  weak  both  in  mind  and  body, 
and  had  no  children.  One  of  his  sisters,  Maria  Theresa,  had  married 
Louis  XIV.  ;  another,  Margaret,  married  the  emperor  Leopold  i.  More- 
over, his  aunt  Maria  was  herself  the  mother  of  Leopold.  It  was  doubtful, 
therefore,  whether  Maria,  Theresa,  Margaret,  or  Maria  was  the  true  heir 
of  Charles.  The  claims  of  these  three  princesses  were  represented  respec- 
tively by  the  dauphin  of  France,  Joseph,  electoral  prince  of  Bavaria,  and 
the  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria. ^  ' 

The  question  was  very  important ;  for  in  Europe  the  Spanish  king 
possessed  Spain,  ten  provinces  in  the  Netherlands,  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
and  Sicily,  the  duchy  of  Milan,  and  the  islands  of  Sardinia,  Majorca  and 
Minorca ;  in  the  New  World,  large  dominions  in  America,  such  as 
Mexico,  which  at  that  time  included  California  and  other  large  portions 
of  the  modern  United  States,  Central  America,  and  all  South  America 
except  Brazil  and  Guiana ;  Cuba,  Trinidad,  and  other  West  Indian  islands, 
and  the  Philippine  Islands  off  the  coast  of  Asia.  If  the  French  prince  suc- 
ceeded, it  was  thought  that  French  influence  would  be  predominant  in 
Spain,  and  also  that  it  was  not  impossible  that  the  crowns  of  France  and 
Spain  might  actually  be  united,  and  that  in  that  case  the  power  of  France, 
both  in  Europe  and  in  the  colonies,  would  be  overwhelming.  If  the 
Austrian  were  chosen,  very  great,  though  not  overwhelming,  power  in 
Europe  would  be  given  to  the  Austrians.  The  English  dreaded  most  the 
union  of  the  French  and  Spanish  colonies  ;  William  himself  feared  the 
aggrandisement  of  France  in  Europe.  The  Austrians  naturally  wished 
either  for  a  share  or  for  the  whole  ;  the  French,  of  course,  the  same  ;  the 

1  THE  SPANISH  SUCCESSION. 

Philip  III.,  King  of  Spain,  d.  1621. 


Philip  IV.,  d.  1665.  Maria = Emperor  Ferd.  in. 

I 


Charles  II.,  Maria  (1)  Margaret = Leopold  l,=: (2)  Princess 


d.  1700.      Theresa  =  Louis  XIV.  I     d.  1705. 

I  Electress  of 

Louis,  dauphin,  d.  1711.  Bavaria, 


of  Neuburg. 


Louis,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  Philip.          Joseph,  Joseph  I.,  Archduke 

d.  1712.  Electoral  d.  1711.      Charles, 

I  Prince,                         d.  1740. 

Louis  XV.  d.  1699. 


1701  fFUliam  III.  701 

Dutch  feared  for  their  colonial  trade,  and  were  aghast  at  the  idea  of 
seeing  French  influence,  and  possibly  the  French  standards,  permanently 
established  on  their  southern  frontier.  In  these  circumstiinces  William 
desired  to  take  the  lead,  and  to  devise  some  plan  by  which  war  could  be 
avoided.  There  were  three  courses  open  to  him :  first,  to  abandon  all 
care  for  the  Spanish  succession ;  second,  to  come  to  some  arrangement  with 
France  beforehand ;  third,  to  prepare,  as  France  was  doing,  to  make  an 
advantageous  war  whenever  Charles  ii.  should  die.  The  first  seemed  to 
William  foolish.  The  third  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  temper  of  the 
English  parliament,  who  refused  to  grant  a  single  soldier.  He,  therefore, 
fell  back  on  the  second  ;  sent  Portland,  on  whose  judgment  he  completely 
relied,  to  Paris,  and  endeavoured  to  come  to  terms  with  Louis  xiv. 

Accordingly  a  compromise  was  effected,  by  which  the  crown  of  Spain 
was  given  to  the  electoral  prince,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  whose  accession 
would  have  avoided  most  of  the  difficulties  ;  and  shares  were  The  Partition 
also  allotted  to  France  and  Spain  in  consideration  of  their  Treaties, 
claims  being  abandoned.  However,  in  1699,  the  electoral  prince  died, 
BO  a  new  partition  had  to  be  made  between  the  Austrian  and  French 
claimants.  William  secured  Spain,  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  Sardinia, 
and  the  colonies  for  the  Austrian  Archduke  Charles,  a  plan  which  secured 
the  interests  of  Holland  and  England  ;  while  the  dauphin  was  to  receive 
Naples  and  Sicily,  the  province  of  Guipuscoa,  Elba,  one  or  two  other 
small  islands  off  the  Italian  coast,  and  the  duchy  of  Milan.  Of  these, 
Guipuscoa  was  important,  because  it  gave  Louis  an  outpost  across  the 
Pyrenees  ;  Elba,  as  a  naval  station  off  the  Italian  coast.  Milan  was  to 
be  exchanged  for  Lorraine,  in  order  to  round  off  the  French  dominions  on 
the  north-east. 

For  these  arrangements  there  was  much  to  be  said  ;  but  they  turned 
out  a  complete  failure.  The  Austrians  took  no  pains  whatever  to 
ingratiate  themselves  with  the  Spaniards,  and  Louis  xiv.  Louis' 
was  willing  to  seize  any  opportunity  to  better  the  position  Action, 
of  France.  The  second  treaty  was  concluded  in  1699.  Charles  died 
in  November,  1700 ;  and  between  the  two  events  the  French  party  at 
court  had  gained  such  an  ascendency  over  the  mind  of  Charles,  that  he 
made  a  will  leaving  the  whole  of  the  Spanish  dominions,  not  indeed  to 
the  dauphin,  but  to  the  dauphin's  second  son,  Philip,  duke  of  Anjou. 
Louis  at  once  declared  for  the  will ;  and  the  Spaniards,  who  naturally 
disliked  seeing  their  empire  disintegrated,  and  whose  opinion  in  our  day 
would  have  been  regarded  as  decisive,  declared  enthusiastically  for  the 
French  prince.  Accordingly,  Louis,  remarking  'that  the  Pyrenees  had 
ceased  to  exist,'  despatched  his  grandson  to  take  possession  of  Spain, 


702  The  Stuarts  1701 

while  he  hmiself  seized  the  Netherlands,  and  sent  home  the  Dutch 
garrison  which  the  Spaniards  had  permitted  to  garrison  some  of  their 
frontier  towns. 

William  was  indignant  ;  but  he  could  do  nothing,  for  the  mass  of  his 

subjects  drew  a  great  distinction  between  the  accession  of  the  dauphin 

and  that  of  a  younger  son  ;  and  were  also  indignant,  not  only 

ment  of  at  the  partition  treaties  being  made  at  all,  but  also  at  the 
readiness  with  which  William  had  agreed  to  hand  over,  to 
one  who  would  some  day  be  king  of  France,  the  kingdoms  of  Sicily  and 
Naples,  The  Tories,  therefore,  seized  the  opportunity  to  injure  the 
Whigs  by  impeaching  Bentinck,  Kussell,  Somers  and  Montagu  of  treason 
for  their  share  in  these  negotiations,  and  actually  asked  the  king  to 
dismiss  the  four  lords  before  they  had  been  tried.  Besides  the  general 
charge  connected  with  the  partition  treaties,  special  charges  were  brought 
against  each.  Somers  was  accused  of  putting  the  great  seal  to  unreason- 
able grants  of  crown  lands ;  Portland  with  receiving  such  grants ; 
Halifax  with  embezzlement  and  nepotism  ;  Orford  with  corruption  ;  and 
over  and  above  this,  the  ill-doings  of  Captain  Kidd,  who,  having  been  sent 
to  the  South  Seas  to  put  down  piracy,  had  himself  turned  pirate,  were,  by 
an  excess  of  party  malevolence,  charged  against  Orford  and  Somers,  who 
had  been  in  part  responsible  for  sending  him.  The  charges  against 
Somers  were  taken  first,  but  by  that  time  the  outrageous  violence  of  the 
Tories  had  produced  a  reaction  ;  and  the  relations  between  the  Lords  and 
Commons  had  been  strained  by  the  practice  of  '  tacking.'  The  Lords, 
feeling  themselves  on  the  winning  side,  threw  obstacles  in  the  Commons' 
way,  and  when  the  members  of  that  House  refused  to  appear  on  the  day 
fixed  for  the  trial,  the  Lords  declared  Somers  acquitted  ;  a  few  days 
later,  Orford  was  equally  fortunate  ;  and  parliament  was  prorogued  with 
a  view  to  a  dissolution. 

The  House  of  Lords  was  not  alone  in  resenting  the  party  violence  of 
the  lower  House.  In  1701  the  grand  jury  of  the  county  of  Kent,  led  by 
The  Kentish  William  Colepepper,  drew  up  a  petition,  well  known  as  the 
Petition.  Kentish  Petition,  in  which  they  respectfully  asked  the  House 
to  throw  away  'the  least  distrust  of  his  most  sacred  majesty,'  and  'to  turn 
their  loyal  addresses  into  bills  of  supply.'  When  this  was  presented,  the 
house  showed  itself  almost  as  angry  with  the  petitioners  as  James  ii.  had 
been  with  the  seven  bishops.  The  petition  was  voted  to  be  '  scandalous, 
insolent,  and  seditious,'  and  the  five  gentlemen  were  put  into  custody. 
It  was  soon  plain,  however,  that  the  action  of  the  Commons  was  little 
more  popular  than  that  of  James.  A  clever  and  pointed  memorial, 
probably  drawn  up  by  Daniel  Defoe,  and  generally  known  as  the  Legion 


1702  William  III,  703 

Memorial^  was  widely  circulated,  and  did  much  to  inflame  the  feeling  of 
the  country  against  the  Tories. 

The  tide  was,  therefore,  already  on  the  turn  when  parliament  was  dis- 
solved ;  but  before  the  elections  took  place  an  event  occurred  which 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs ;  for  on  the  death  of  Death  of 
James  ii.  in  September,  1701,  Louis  xiv.,  in  a  fit  of  quixotic  James  il. 
generosity,  and  in  complete  violation  of  his  engagements  at  Ryswick, 
acknowledged  James  Edward,  afterwards  known  as  the  Old  Pretender,  then 
aged  thirteen,  as  king  of  England.  Louis  could  hardly  have  done  William 
a  better  turn.  The  idea  of  a  king  of  France  presuming  to  dictate  who 
should  be  king  of  England  roused  the  whole  nation,  both  Whigs  and 
Tories,  and  for  the  moment  united  both  parties  in  support  of  William's 
policy.  Everywhere  Whig  candidates  were  returned  by  large  majorities, 
and  some  of  the  leading  Tories  had  difficulties  in  finding  seats.  Loyal 
addresses  came  in  from  every  side.  The  '  pretended  prince  of  Wales ' 
was  attainted  of  high  treason  ;  and  it  was  resolved  that  no  peace 
should  be  made  with  France  till  Louis  had  made  reparation.  Abundant 
supplies  were  voted  ;  to  secure  the  Protestant  succession  parliament 
imposed  an  oath  '  to  uphold  it '  on  all  those  who  held  employment  in 
church  or  state  ;  and  William  was  able  again  to  recall  his  Whig 
ministers,  to  increase  his  army,  and  to  gather  together  the  scattered 
threads  of  the  Grand  Alliance. 

All  Europe  was  anning,  and  William  saw  himself  about  to  fulfil 
the  dream  of  his  life  by  leading  a  victorious  army  to  the  invasion  of 
France,  when,  on  Febniary  20,  a  fall  from  his  horse  broke  Death  of 
his  collar-bone.  Such  a  slight  accident  would  have  been  William, 
nothing  to  a  strong  man,  but  to  one  worn  out  with  anxiety  and  work  it 
was  fatal ;  and  on  March  8  the  king  died.  William  was  a  great  king, 
but  not  a  popular  one.  His  manners  never  won  him  the  affection  of  the 
nation  ;  and  his  far-reaching  schemes  were  appreciated  only  by  a  few.  In 
attempting  to  rule  with  a  free  parliament  he  had  a  difficult  part  to  play. 
The  experiment  was  new  ;  his  own  character  was  too  positive  and  inde- 
pendent to  submit  itself  readily  to  a  policy  of  which  he  disapproved, 
merely  because  it  was  supported  by  a  parliamentary  majority.  The 
statesmen  with  whom  he  had  to  deal  had  been  brought  up  in  the  bad 
school  of  the  Restoration,  where  corruption  and  self-seeking  had  gone  far  to 
poison  public  life.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  he  made  mistakes  ; 
and  he  has  also  suffered  in  the  estimation  of  posterity  by  the  attempts 
which  have  been  made  to  exhibit  him  as  faultless.  But,  when  the  worst 
has  been  told — and  it  has  been  fully  admitted  that  there  were  many  things 
]bo  cavil  at,  both  in  his  private  life  and  his  political  career — he  has  the 


704  The  Stuarts  1702 

glory  of  having  brought  England  safely  through  a  great  crisis,  and  of 
being  the  first  sovereign,  not  only  in  England  but  in  the  world,  to  work 
a  parliamentary  government,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  with  some 
approach  to  success. 


GHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Killiecrankie, 1689 

Siege  of  Londonderry, 1689 

Battle  off  Beachy  Head, 1690 

Battle  of  the  Boyne, 1690 

Battle  of  Cape  La  Hogue, 1692 

Battle  of  Steenkerke, 1692 

National  Debt  founded, 1693 

Battle  of  Landen, 1693 

Bank  of  England  founded 1694 

Triennial  Act  passed, 1694 

Death  of  Mary 1694 

Censorship  of  the  Press  expires,       .        .        .  1695 

Coinage  renewed 1696 

Peace  of  Ryswick 1697 

Act  of  Settlement,       .        .        .        .        .        .  1701 

Death  of  James  II 1701 


CHAPTEK    VIII 

ANNE:  1702-1714 

Bom  1665  ;  married,  1683,  Prince  George  of  Denmark. 

CHIEP^   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Emperors. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715.  Leopold  i.,  d.  1705. 

Joseph  I.,  d.  1711. 
Charles  VL,d.  1740. 

Character  of  Marlborough— The  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession— Blenheim 
Raniillies,  Oudenarde,  and  Malplaquet — The  Union  of  England  and  Scotland 
— Ministerial  Intrigues— Prosecution  of  Sacheverell  and  Fall  of  the  Whigs — 
The  Treaty  of  Utrecht— The  Schism  Act— Death  of  Anne. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  greater  contrast  than  existed  between  the 
character  of  William  and  that  of  his  successor.  William  had  towered 
head  and  shoulders  above  most  of  the  statesmen  of  his  character  of 
time  ;  he  had  been  his  own  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  ^""^• 
his  own  commander-in-chief;  and  his  wishes  had  been  the  principal 
influence  in  determining  the  policy  both  of  England  and  Holland. 
Anne,  though  not  exactly  what  would  be  called  deficient,  was  certainly 
not  clever.  She  took  her  ideas  from  others  ;  and  from  girlhood  had 
been  under  the  influence  of  her  friend  Sarah  Jennings,  who  had  married 
John  Churchill,  now  earl  of  Marlborough,  and  was  wholly  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  her  husband.  Nevertheless,  the  character  of  Anne  was  not 
without  its  influence.  With  her  accession,  the  personal  popularity  of  the 
English  sovereign  was  restored.  Her  domestic  misfortunes  ensured 
sympathy  and  consideration  ;  her  real  piety  and  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  the  church  conciliated  churchmen  ;  plots  against  her  life  were  unknown; 
and,  at  her  accession,  all  parties  set  themselves  to  make  her  path  easy 
instead  of  merely  giving  her  the  half-hearted  support  which  was  the 
most  that  William  had  been  able  to  command,  even  from  his  friends. 
Above  all,  if  William  was  entirely  Dutch,  and  the  Pretender  entirely 
French,  Anne,  as  she  told  parliament,  was  in  heart  '  entirely  English ' ; 

2y 


?06  The  Stuarts  1702 

and  the  insular  prejudice  against  foreigners,  which  had  been  injurious  to 
William,  was  now  enlisted  on  the  side  of  Anne.  Except,  however,  in 
connection  with  the  church,  Anne  took  little  active  interest  in  the 
politics  of  the  country.  It  was  Marlborough,  therefore,  rather  than 
the  queen,  who  really  succeeded  William  as  ruler  of  England,  and 
for  a  long  time  his  was  the  guiding  spirit  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

John  Churchill,  earl  of  Marlborough,  was  now  fifty-two  years  of  age, 
and  in  full  vigour  both  of  mind  and  body.  Though  his  character  was 
marred  by  much  insincerity  and  much  meanness,  he  was, 
Marl-  both  in  politics  and  in  war,  a  great  man.      As  a  youth  his 

oroug  .  g^^  presence  and  engaging  manners  had  won  him  notice 
and  admiration,  and  throughout  his  life  he  had  turned  all  his  gifts  to  the 
advancement  of  his  personal  ends.  Though,  hitherto,  he  had  had  no 
opportunity  of  displaying  his  talents  on  a  great  scale,  he  had  always 
shown  himself  equal  to  the  performance  of  everything  which  he  had 
undertaken.  In  natural  gifts  he  had  indeed  been  fortunate.  His  health 
was  uniformly  good,  and  he  was  capable  of  enduring  extreme  fatigue  ; 
his  temper  was  admirable  ;  his  courage  undaunted ;  his  nerve  un- 
shaken ;  and  whether  dealing  with  friends  or  foes,  his  manners  were 
distinguished  by  a  politeness  that  never  varied.  With  these  moral 
qualities  he  united  intellectual  gifts  of  a  very  high  order.  His  views 
on  current  affairs  were  large,  clear,  and  eminently  practical.  Though 
so  badly  equipped  with  book  learning  that '  he  did  not  love  writing,'  his 
despatches  and  state  papers  were  perspicuous  and  forcibly  expressed. 
His  parliamentary  oratory  was  suited  for  its  purpose  ;  above  all,  he 
knew  how  to  make  everything  he  did  subordinate  to  his  main  end.  For 
example,  though  a  general  of  such  uniform  success  that  he  never  fought 
a  battle  without  winning  it,  or  besieged  a  town  without  taking  it,  he 
kept  fighting  in  its  proper  place  as  a  means  to  an  end,  and  is  said  never 
to  have  fought  '  unless  he  saw  great  political  results  certain  to  arise  out 
of  a  victory  certain  to  be  obtained.'  His  patience  was  inexhaustible  j 
and  he  fortified  himself  against  disappointment  by  a  certain  dash  of 
fatalism.  '  As  I  think,'  he  wrote,  '  that  most  things  are  governed  by 
destiny,  having  done  all  that  is  possible  one  should  submit  with  patience.^ 

Marlborough  had  always  been  a  strong  Tory,  and  he  gave  the  chief  places 
in  the  government  to  Tories.     He  himself  was  commander-in-chief  and 

^he  ambassador  to  Holland.     Godolphin,  who  completely  shared 

Ministry,  hig  yiews,  and  whose  interests  had  been  allied  to  his  own 
by  the  marriage  of  their  children,  took  the  chief  charge  of  English  affairs 
as  lord  treasurer.  The  high  Tory  Nottingham,  whose  solemn  face  and 
sententious  manner  had  won  him  the  sobriquet  of  '  Don  Dismallo,'  waS 


1703  Anne  707 

one  secretary  of  state,  and  Sir  Charles  Hedges,  another  Tory,  was  the 
other.  A  place  was  even  found  for  Jack  Howe,  who  had  been  the  most 
virulent  of  all  the  maligners  of  William.  On  the  other  hand,  the  names 
of  Halifax,  Orford,  and  Somers  were  omitted  from  the  list  of  the  new 
privy  council.  Tory,  however,  as  the  new  ministers  were,  their  policy 
was  Whig.  The  Grand  Alliance — composed  of  England,  Holland,  the 
Emperor,  the  new  king  of  Prussia,  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  the  Elector 
of  Hanover — was  fully  maintained  ;  and  parliament  resolved  that  '  too 
much  cannot  be  done  for  the  encouragement  of  our  allies,  and  to  reduce 
the  exorbitant  power  of  France.'  War  was  declared  ;  and  though  in  the 
general  election  which  followed  the  accession  of  Anne  the  Tories  won 
largely,  40,000  troops  were  voted  for  the  land  service,  and  40,000  sailors 
and  marines  for  the  fleet. 

At  first  the  designs  of  the  allies  were  somewhat  indefinite,  but 
eventually  the  Archduke  Charles,  the  younger  son  of  the  Emperor 
Leopold,  was  set  up  as  a  claimant  to  the  Spanish  crown. 
The  war  was  carried  on  in  the  Netherlands,  on  the  Rhine, 
in  north  Italy,  and  in  Spain  itself.  In  the  Netherlands  Marlborough, 
who  had  been,  through  the  influence  of  William's  friend  Heinsius, 
made  commander-in-chief  of  the  Dutch,  as  well  as  of  the  English,  took 
the  chief  command  ;  the  Margrave  Louis  of  Baden  was  on  the  Rhine  ; 
and  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy  was  usually  intnisted  with  the  conduct  of 
the  war  in  Italy.  Louis  of  Baden  was  brave,  steady,  but  exceedingly 
slow  and  mechanical.  Eugene,  who  was  the  cousin  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  and  who,  being  refused  a  commission  by  Louis  xiv.,  had  taken 
service  under  the  emperor,  was  probiibly  the  best  general  the  Austrians 
ever  possessed,  and  also  a  man  of  excellent  temper  and  of  unselfish 
devotion  to  the  cause  which  he  had  espoused. 

The  Spanish  Netherlands,  which  were  for  a  time  the  chief  seat  of  the 
war,  are  in  shape  an  irregular  quadrilateral  figure,  of  which  the  southern 
face  was  guarded  by  the  great  fortresses  of  Lille,  Toumay,  The  Nether- 
Mons,  and  Charleroi ;  the  eastern  by  Namur  and  Liege  ;  the  ^^"«^s. 
northern  by  the  Rhine  ;  the  western  by  the  sea  ;  and  at  the  opening  of 
the  war  the  whole  district  was  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  In  1702 
Marlborough's  great  exploit  was  to  capture  Li^ge,  for  which  he  was  made 
a  duke,  and  received  a  pension  of  £5000  a  year.  In  1703  he  made 
himself  master  of  the  lower  part  of  the  Rhine,  on  which  Bonn  is  the 
chief  fortress ;  and  thus  secured  both  an  entry  into  the  Netherlands 
and  communication  with  his  allies  on  the  Rhine. 

These  successes,  however,  were  neutralised  by  the  defeat  of  Louis  of 
Baden  at  Friedlingeii,  and  by  the  action  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  who 


708 


The  Stuarts 


1708 


The  Cam- 
paign in 
Bavaria. 


suddenly  declared  for  Philip,  and  admitted  a  French  force  into  his  elec- 
torate. This  opened  to  the  French  the  valley  of  the  Danube  and  the 
road  to  Vienna ;  and  to  aid  the  Elector  Louis  despatched 
first  Villars,  then  Marsin,  and  finally  Tallard.  It  seemed 
clear  that,  unless  vigorous  steps  were  taken,  the  war  would 
be  brought  to  an  abrupt  conclusion  by  the  capture  of  Vienna  itself.  In 
these  circumstances  Marlborough  determined  on  a  bold  stroke.  Leaving 
the  Dutch  frontier  under  a  strong  guard,  he  marched  across  country  into 
Bavaria,  uniting  his  forces  with  those  of  Louis  of  Baden,  and  arranged 
with  Prince  Eugene  for  a  grand  attack  on  the  French.  At  Donauwerth, 
on  July  2,  1V04,  Marlborough  and  Louis  of  Baden  routed  the  Bavarians, 
who  occupied  a  strong  position  on  the  Schellenberg,  and  thus  secured 


Battle  of 
BLENHEIM 

?,ii;//,;.AuGUST   13,  1704. 


English, 

BBW French. 

^i^^cr Marshy  Ground. 


the  passage  of  the  Danube.     The  Elector,  however,  refused  to  come  to 

terms  ;  and  Marlborough,  though  '  reluctantly,'  gave  over  Munich  and 

the  neighbourhood  to  fire  and  sword.     Meanwhile,  Tallard  had  joined 

the  Bavarians  ;  and  Louis  of  Baden  having  withdrawn  himself  to  the 

siege  of  Ingoldstadt,  to  the  great  content  of  Marlborough  and  Eugene, 

the  two  friends  advanced  up  the  Danube  and  attacked  the  French  and 

Bavarians  at  Blenheim  (Blindheim)  on  August  13. 

Tallard,  Marsin,  and  the  elector  of  Bavaria  had  drawn  up  their  forces 

on  a  low  ridge  of  ground  lying  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  north  bank 

^^    o  ^^,     of  the  Danube — there  about  one  hundred  yards  wide  and 
The  Battle  "^ 

unfordable.    Their  right  was  at  Blenheim,  their  centre  behind 
Unterglau,  their  left  at  Oberglau  ;  and  their  whole  line  was 
defended  by  the  marshy  stream  of  the  Nebel.     [Their  force  numbered 


of  Blen- 
heim. 


1704  Anne  709 

about  60,000  men  ;  that  of  the  allies  52,000.  The  attack  began  at  noon ; 
but  the  brave  Cutts  and  his  men  could  make  no  impression  upon 
Blenheim,  the  streets  of  which  were  barricaded  and  the  houses  loopholed  ; 
and  on  the  allied  right,  Eugene,  hampered  by  the  ground  and  by  the  ill 
conduct  of  some  Austrian  cavalry,  fared  little  better.  In  these  circum- 
stances Marlborough — who  is  described  by  an  eye-witness  as  '  being  in 
all  places  wherever  his  presence  was  requisite,  without  fear  of  danger,  or 
in  the  least  hurry,  giving  his  orders  with  all  the  calmness  imaginable ' — 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry,  and  inflicted  a  fatal  blow  on 
the  French  centre.  This  decided  the  day.  The  French  and  Bavarian 
forces  were  cut  in  two  ;  Eugene  was  able  to  drive  the  elector  and  Marsin 
from  their  positions  on  the  left ;  and  11,000  of  Tallard's  best  troops, 
being  left  isolated  in  Blenheim,  were  forced  to  surrender.  Before  night- 
fall, .Marlborough  despatched  to  the  duchess  a  pencil  note,  written 
characteristically  on  the  back  of  an  old  hotel  bill,  to  tell  her  to  *  give  his 
duty  to  the  queen,  and  let  her  know  that  her  anny  has  won  a  glorious 
victory.  M.  Tallard  and  two  other  generals  are  in  my  coach,  and  I  am 
following  the  rest.'  The  importance  of  the  victory  was  immense.  Had 
Marlborough  been  beaten  at  Blenheim,  Vienna  would  almost  certainly 
have  been  taken,  England  would  have  been  invaded,  and  probably  the 
line  of  James  ii.  restored.  Southey,  in  his  poem  of  Blenheim^  makes 
Caspar  declare  that  '  what  they  fought  each  other  for '  he  was  never  able 
to  tell ;  but  the  English  of  Anne's  day  had  no  such  difficulty.  The 
principle  at  stake  was  that  of  national  freedom,  or,  in  other  words, 
whether  England  or  France  should  choose  the  English  dynasty ;  and 
they  were  so  proud  of  Marlborough's  success,  and  so  thankful  for  their 
relief,  that  parliament  asked  the  queen  to  give  him  the  estate  of  Wood- 
stock, near  Oxford,  and  a  pension  for  himself  and  his  descendants.  The 
estate  accordingly  was  given,  and  Blenheim  House  erected  on  it.  It 
is  still  held  by  Marlborough's  descendants  in  the  female  line  on  condi- 
tion that  a  flag  is  placed  by  them  in  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Windsor 
on  each  anniversary  of  the  gi*eat  victory. 

The  same  year  another  brilliant  achievement  gave  England  something 
which,  though  not  appreciated  at  the  time  as  equal  to  the  victory  of 
Blenheim,  has  been  recognised  by  succeeding  ages  as  of  capture  of 
little,  if  any,  less  importance.  On  August  1,  the  prince  Gibraltar, 
of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  with  Sir  George  Eooke,  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel,  and 
Sir  George  Byng,  fonned  the  siege  of  Gibraltar  ;  and  on  the  4tb,  one  of 
the  moles  having  been  stormed,  and  some  sailors  having  scaled  the  rock 
while  the  Spanish  sentries  were  at  mass,  the  fortress  surrendered.  The 
merit   of  appreciating   the    importance  to  England   of  possessing  this 


710  The  Stuarts  1M4 

fortified  rock,  which  guards  the  narrow  straits  which  unite  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Mediterranean,  is  to  be  largely  ascribed  to  John  Methuen,  then 
ambassador  at  Lisbon,  and  his  son  Paul ;  and  the  correctness  of  his 
opinion  has  been  amply  recognised  by  his  successors.  The  same  states- 
man also  united  England  and  Portugal  in  a  long-enduring  alliance  by 
the  negotiation  of  the  Methuen  Treaty,  in  1703,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  Portugal  should  give  a  free  market  to  English  wools,  and 
that,  in  return,  England  should  admit  Portuguese  wine  at  a  duty  one- 
third  less  [than  that  levied  on  the  wines  of  France.  Up  to  this  date 
French  burgundy,  French  claret,  and  Spanish  sack  or  sherry  had  been 
the  chief  wines  drunk  in  England.  Their  place  now  began  to  be  taken 
by  port. 

In  1705  Marlborough  wished  to  advance  into  France  itself  by  the  line 
of  the  Moselle— along  the  same  route  as  was  employed  by  the  Germans 
in  1870— but  partly  because  he  was  ill-supported,  and  partly 
in  the  because  Marshal  Villars  had  occupied  a  position  too  strong 

to  be  forced,  he  desisted  from  his  design,  and  turned  aside 
to  attack  the  line  of  earthworks  with  which,  after  the  fall  of  Liege,  the 
French  had  guarded  their  right  flank  from  Antwerp  to  Namur.  These 
were  forced,  and  nothing  but  the  impracticability  of  the  Dutch  generals 
prevented  Marlborough  from  attacking  the  French  at  Waterloo,  and 
gaining,  as  he  said,  '  a  greater  victory  than  that  of  Blenheim.'  The 
opportunity,  however,  was  lost ;  but  in  1706  Marlborough  found  himself 
more  independent,  and  utilised  his  freedom  to  gain  the  great  victory  of 
Ramillies. 

In  this  battle  the  French  army,  consisting  of  60,000  men  under  the 
command  of  Villeroy  and  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  was  drawn  up  in  the 

Battle  of      shape  of  a  crescent,  with  the  hollow  side  towards  the  allies. 

Ramilhes.  Their  line  occupied  a  ridge  of  comparatively  high  ground, 
and  stretched  from  near  Autre  Eglise,  on  the  river  Gheet,  to  near  Tavieres, 
on  the  Mehaigne.  The  key  of  the  whole  position  was  a  tumulus  called  the 
Mound  of  Ottomond,  situated  on  their  right  centre,  and  near  it  their  line 
was  cut  by  a  Roman  road.  Except  along  the  line  of  this  road  their 
position  was  covered  by  the  marshy  ground,  through  which  ran  the  two 
sluggish  rivers.  The  allied  forces  numbered  62,000  men,  and  were 
drawn  up  opposite  to  the  French  and  at  the  farther  side  of  the  marshes. 
Marlborough,  however,  recognising  that  if  he  could  not  get  across  the 
marshes  neither  could  the  French,  first  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
French  generals  to  their  extreme  left,  and  then  concealing  his  movements 
behind  some  undulating  country,  concentrated  the  mass  of  his  forces  for 
an  attack  along  the  firm  ground  by  the  Roman   road.     Having  the 


1706 


Anne 


11 


shorter  distance  to  march,  he  was  thus  superior  at  the  point  of  attack, 
and  succeeded  in  taking  from  the  French  the  Mound  of  Ottomond,  from 
which  his  cannon  could  sweep  the  whole  of  the  French  lines.  This 
clever  move  won  the  day  ;  and  the  French  fled  from  the  field  in  disastrous 
rout,  losing  all  their  baggage  and  most  of  their  artillery,  and  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners,  no  less  than  15,000  men. 


BATTLE  OF  RAMILLIES,    MAY   1706 

The  position  of  Ramillies,  near  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  Nether- 
lands, made  the  victory  of  immense  political  importance,  for  Marl- 
borough was  now  in  a  position  to  take  in  the  rear  all  the  Results  of 
French  troops  who  were  farther  than  he  was  from  the  Ramiihes. 
French  frontier,  and  they  were  obliged  either  to  evacuate  or  surrender 
Brussels,  Ostend,  Antwerp,  and  Ghent,  and  confine  themselves  to 
defending  the  frontier  towns,  of  which  the  chief  were  Lille,  Toumay, 
Mons,  Charleroi,  and  Namur,  'We  have  done  in  four  days,'  wrote 
Marlborough,  *  what  we  should  have  thought  ourselves  happy  if  we 
could  have  been  sure  of  in  foiu*  years,'  and  '  so  many  towns  have  sub- 


712  The  Stuarts 


1706 


mitted  since  the  battle  that  it  really  looks  more  like  a  dream  than  the 
truth.' 

In  other  quarters,  too,  the  year  1706  was  a  fortunate  one  for  the  allies. 
Prince  Eugene  won  a  great  victory  at  Turin,  and  in  Spain  Madrid 
Peterborough  itself  fell  for  a  time  into  the  hands  of  the  allies.  After  the 
in  Spain.  capture  of  Gibraltar,  the  English  troops  in  Spain  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Charles  Mordaunt,  earl  of  Peterborough,  who  had 
been  well  described  as  '  the  last  of  the  knight-errants.'  He  was  an  erratic 
but  able  man,  celebrated  for  the  recklessness  and  rapidity  of  his  move- 
ments, but  possessing  a  real  genius  for  war,  and  a  temperament  so  ardent 
that  he  spared  neither  toil  nor  money  in  pushing  on  the  dilatory 
Spaniards  and  the  lazy  Germans  who  surrounded  the  Archduke  Charles 
—'the  Vienna  crew,'  as  he  contemptuously  called  them.  In  1705  Peter- 
borough captured  the  important  seaport  of  Barcelona,  the  capital  of 
Catalonia,  the  district  most  friendly  to  Charles ;  and  also  made  himself 
master  of  the  province  of  Valencia  ;  and  in  1706  Lord  Galway,  advancing 
from  Portugal  by  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Salamanca  (see  map  for  year  1808), 
made  himself  master  of  Madrid.  Meanwhile  Barcelona  was  besieged  by  the 
French  under  Marshal  Tesse,  and  was' in  imminent  risk  of  capture,  when 
Peterborough  flew  to  its  defence.  Holding  a  commission  from  the  queen 
to  command  when  present  in  person  both  by  land  and  sea,  he  put  oft'  in 
an  open  boat,  and  for  two  nights  sought  the  English  fleet,  which  was  ofi" 
the  coast  under  Admiral  Leake  (see  p.  678).  On  the  second  night  he  fell 
in  with  it,  and  sailed  with  all  speed  to  Barcelona.  However,  the  French 
had  been  warned  of  his  approach,  and  had  already  abandoned  the  siege. 
Their  fleet  was  gone,  and  Peterborough's  '  flattering  hopes '  of  a  great 
naval  victory  were  disappointed.     The  town,  however,  was  saved. 

These  great  successes,  which  might  be  thought  to  have  sufficiently 
'  reduced  the  exorbitant  power  of  France,'  naturally  raised  the  question 
Peace  Ne-  of  ^  peace.  To  this  Louis  would  have  been  prepared  to  agree 
gotiations.  Qj^  ^YiQ  very  favourable  conditions  of  leaving  Spain,  the 
Netherlands,  and  the  Indies  in  the  possession  of  the  archduke,  granting 
the  Dutch  a  barrier  of  garrison  towns  along  the  Netherlands  frontier, 
recognising  Queen  Anne's  title,  and  giving  some  commercial  advantages 
to  the  English  and  Dutch,  on  condition  that  Philip  should  keep  Naples, 
Sicily,  and  Milan  with  the  title  of  king.  These  terms  seemed  very  fair, 
and  the  Dutch  would  have  accepted  them  ;  but  in  Marlborough's  opinion 
they  were  inadequate,  and  he  persuaded  the  allies  to  reject  them — a 
decision  which  it  is  not  easy  to  defend.  The  war,  therefore,  entered 
upon  a  second  stage  ;  but  no  fighting  of  great  importance  occurred  till 
1708. 


1707  Anne  713 

Meanwhile  several  important  events  had  occurred  at  home.  In  1702 
and  1703  the  attention  of  the  Tory  majority  in  the  Commons  had  been 
devoted  less  to  the  war  than  a  struggle  over  '  Occasional  occasional 
Conformity.'  By  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  no  one  Conformity, 
could  be  a  member  of  a  corporation,  or  hold  a  civil  or  military  office 
under  the  crown,  unless  he  had  taken  the  sacrament  according  to  the 
forms  of  the  Church  of  England.  Many  Protestant  Nonconformists  had 
no  objection  to  do  this  once  and  then  attend  their  own  chapels  as  usual. 
For  example,  the  queen's  husband,  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  had 
taken  the  sacrament  in  order  to  qualify  himself  for  the  office  of  lord 
high  admiral ;  but  usually  attended  the  services  held  in  a  private 
Lutheran  chapel ;  and  numbers  of  mayors,  aldermen,  and  others  did  the 
same.  This  practice  was  called  occasional  conformity,  and  was  strongly 
denounced  by  some  churchmen,  whose  eagerness  to  keep  office  for  them- 
selves blinded  them  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  Nonconfonnists  and  not 
the  churchmen  who  were  in  danger  of  losing  their  reputation  for  con- 
sistency. Accordingly,  under  the  guidance  of  Nottingham,  Rochester, 
and  Seymour,  bills  forbidding  the  practice  were  passed  by  the  Com- 
mons in  1702,  1703,  and  1704  ;  but  were  each  time  thrown  out  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  where  they  received  little  support  from  the  government, 
and  were  stoutly  opposed  by  Bishop  Burnet  and  the  junto  of  Whig  peers. 

Other  matters  tended  to  alienate  the  extreme  Tories.     Rochester  had 
long  been  out  of  accord  with  his  colleagues,  and  so  marked  was  the 
opposition  of  other  ministers  to  the  general  policy  of  the    Ministerial 
government  that  even  the  patient  Marlborough  wrote  *  we  are   Changes, 
bound  not  to  wish  for  anybody's  death ;  but  if  Sir  E.  Seymour  should  die, 
I  am  convinced  it  would  be  no  great  loss  to  the  queen  or  to  the  nation.'   In 
1704  Rochester,  Nottingham,  Sir  Charles  Hedges  and  Seymour  left  office ; 
Harley  became  secretary  of  state,  and  St.  John  secretary  at  war.     Robert 
Harley  was  the  son  of  Sir  Robert  Harley,  a  Herefordshire 
squire  of  Presbyterian  principles  who  had  fought  against 
Charles  i.      At  the  Revolution  the  son  had  distinguished  himself  by 
raising  a  troop  of  horse  for  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  soon  afterwards 
he  had  entered  parliament.     Harley's  leading  principle  was  a  dislike  of 
party  violence  and  party  watchwords,  as  he  said  of  himself,  '  he  had  no 
inclination  to  any  party  ;  he  had  no  objection  to  any  party  ;  he  had  no 
antipathy  to  any  party.'    He  was  a  poor  orator,  but  he  had  a  genius 
for  intrigue  and  management,  and  was  chosen  '  Speaker  of  the  House '  in 
1700.     Marlborough  was  his  friend,  and  it  was  to  his  in- 

®  .  St.  John. 

fluence  that  he  owed  his  place.     Unlike  Harley,  Henry  St. 

John  was  a  young  man  of  most  brilliant  gifts,  a  great  speaker,  a  great 


714  The  Stuarts  1707 

writer,  a  great  administrator,  but  of  little  or  no  principle,  who  had 
attached  himself  to  the  Tory  party  chiefly  because  he  saw  that  his 
talents  fitted  him  to  give  voice  to  the  discontent  of  the  Tory  squires,  to 
whom,  according  to  his  own  phrase,  he  '  was  able  to  show  game.'  He 
was  now  quite  ready  to  take  office,  and  as  secretary  for  war  he  found  ample 
occupation  for  his  talents.  Harley  and  St.  John,  when  they  took  office, 
were  both  in  favour  of  the  war  ;  but  after  the  rejection  of  the  peace  pro- 
posals of  1706  the  views  of  both  underwent  a  change.  During  the  redis- 
tribution of  posts  Marlborough  also  found  a  place  at  the  admiralty  for  a 
young  Whig  squire,  Robert  Walpole,  whose  vote  and  influ- 
ence it  was  most  desirable  to  secure.  Ministerial  changes, 
however,  did  not  stop  with  the  introduction  of  moderate  Tories,  and 
when  the  elections  of  1705  proved  extremely  favourable  to  the  Whigs, 
the  junto  were  wishful  that  the  ministry  should  include  some  thorough- 
going Whig  member  of  their  party.     For  this  purpose  they  put  forward 

„     ,    ,     ,    the  claims  of   Charles   Spencer,  earl  of  Sunderland,  son 
Sunderland.  , ,        .    .  ^    ^  tx  i  • 

of  the   old  minister  of  James   11.     He   was   now  thirty 

years  of  age,  son-in-law  of  Marlborough,  very  able,  but  of  an  awk- 
ward temper  and  violent  disposition.  However,  in  1705  he  was  sent 
as  ambassador  extraordinary  to  Vienna,  and  in  1706  his  accession  to 
office  as  secretary  of  state  marks  the  point  at  which  the  Whig  in- 
fluence began  to  be  predominant  in  what  had  at  its  beginning  been  so 
clearly  a  Tory  administration. 

At  home  decidedly  the  greatest  undertaking  of  Marlborough's  ministry- 
was  the  negotiation  of  a  legislative  union  between  England  and  Scot- 
land.    Since  the  accession  of  James  i.  the  two  countries, 

Scottish 

Union  except  for  a  short  time  under  Cromwell,  had  had  separate 

propose  ,  parliaments,  and  had  in  fact  been  independent  of  each  other. 
This  arrangement  had  not  worked  well,  and  both  countries  had  some- 
thing to  complain  of.  The  chief  grievances  of  the  Scots  were  that  by  the 
terms  of  the  English  Navigation  Acts  they  were  not  permitted  to  trade 
with  the  English  colonies,  and  that  they  were  exposed  to  the  hazards  of 
war  in  accordance  with  English  policy. 

The  ill-will  of  the  Scots  to  England  was  much  aggravated  by  the  failure 
of  the  Darien  Scheme.  In  1693  the  Scottish  parliament  had  given  its  sanc- 
The  Darien  tion  to  the  formation  of  a  Scottish  East  India  Company  to 
Scheme.  trade  with  Africa  and  the  Indies.  The  leading  spirit  of  this 
body  was  William  Paterson,  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Bank  of  England ; 
and  he  devised  a  far-reaching  scheme  for  colonising  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien,  and  there  establishing  a  mart  which  should  be  the  emporium  of 
the  New  World  much  as  Alexandria  had  been  of  the  Old.   The  Scots  took 


1707  Anne  715 

up  the  idea  with  avidity  ;  but  their  eagerness  and  the  glowing  reports 
which  Paterson  circulated  of  the  prospects  of  the  new  company  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  the  Dutch  and  also  of  the  English  East  India  Company, 
which  saw  that  although  the  enterprise  was  nominally  Scottish,  many  of 
the  shares  were  in  English  hands,  and  naturally  feared  that  its  monopoly 
was  in  danger.  However,  with  the  ^£400,000  subscribed  in  Scotland, 
three  stout  ships  and  two  tenders  were  equipped,  and  set  sail  from  Leith 
in  July  1698,  carrying  twelve  hundred  able-bodied  colonists  besides 
women  and  children,  and  were  followed  by  other  ships  in  the  course  of 
the  next  year.  The  colonists  landed  on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and 
erected,  near  Panama,  a  fort  named  after  St.  Andrew  ;  but  the  enterprise 
proved  a  complete  failure.  Instead  of  setting  about  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil,  the  colonists  wasted  their  strength  in  a  fruitless  search  for 
gold.  The  climate  was  so  unhealthy  that  numbers  perished  from  fever. 
The  English  colonies  in  America  and  the  West  Indies  were  hostile,  and, 
according  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  Navigation  Laws,  refused  to  supply 
them  even  with  bread.  These  causes  were  in  themselves  suflScient  to 
ruin  the  scheme  ;  but  besides  this  the  Spaniards  claimed  the  soil  on 
which  the  colonists  had  settled,  and  as  they  saw  that  the  colony  could 
only  have  been  formed  to  trade,  contrary  to  Spanish  law,  with  the 
Spanish  colonies,  were  naturally  hostile.  Eventually  in  1700  they 
blockaded  the  settlement,  and  starved  the  Scots  into  surrender.  By 
this  time  most  of  the  colonists  had  perished  miserably  ;  Paterson  and 
others  had  returned  home,  and  the  survivors  with  difficulty  made  their 
way  back  to  Scotland.  Even  under  the  most  favourable  conditions  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  how  the  plan  could  have  succeeded,  for  Scotland  had  not 
at  that  time  the  commercial  resources  to  create  a  flourishing  trade  ;  but 
the  failure  in  itself  caused  much  misery,  and,  aggravated  as  it  was  by 
the  open  hostility  of  the  English,  produced  the  utmost  bitterness  between 
the  two  countries.  The  English  felt  that  while  things  remained  as  they 
were,  the  union  of  the  crowns  might  be  dissolved  at  Anne's  death  by  the 
refusal  of  the  Scots  to  accept  the  successor  named  in  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment. On  the  other  hand,  the  Scots  feared  that  if  they  consented  to  a 
legislative  union  between  the  two  countries,  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland  might  suffer,  that  the  laws  and  customs  of  their  country  might 
be  altered,  and  that  they  might  have  to  raise  additional  taxes  to  pay  off 
the  English  national  debt. 

William  saw  clearly  that  the  true  remedy  was  to  be  found  in  the 
union    of  the  two   parliaments,   and  the   opening    of  all    opposition 
trade  to  both  countries,  and  his  dying  suggestion  was  that   of  the  Scots, 
commissioners  should  meet  to  settle  the  terms  of  union.     Commissioners 


716  The  Stuarts  1707 

accordingly  were  nominated  by  Anne ;  but  though  they  were  agreed 
in  general  as  to  the  desirability  of  a  union,  they  failed  to  agree  about 
financial  details,  and  their  sittings  were  discontinued.  At  this  the 
Scots  were  much  chagrined.  Accordingly,  the  Scottish  parliament  of 
1703  exhibited  a  most  hostile  spirit ;  resolved  that  Presbyterianism  was 
the  only  true  Church  of  Christ  in  the  kingdom  ;  passed  a  Bill  of  Security, 
by  which  it  reserved  to  the  Scottish  parliament  the  right  of  refusing  to 
acknowledge  the  successor  to  the  throne  named  by  England,  'unless 
there  should  be  such  forms  of  government  settled  as  should  fully  secure 
the  religion,  freedom,  and  trade  of  the  Scottish  nation '  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  transferred  the  nomination  of  Scottish  ministers  of  state  from  the 
crown  to  the  parliament. 

On  this,  Somers  took  the  lead  in  passing  a  measure  by  which  he 
designed  to  show  the  Scots  what  was  the  logical  outcome  of  the  separa- 
Somers'       ^^*^^  ^^  ^^^  crowns.      By  this  it  was  enacted  that,  after 
A«=t'  Christmas  1705,  unless  the  succession  to  the  crown  of  Scot- 

land should  be  decided  by  that  time,  every  native  of  Scotland,  not  a 
settled  inhabitant  of  England,  or  serving  in  her  majesty's  forces,  should 
be  taken  and  held  for  an  alien  ;  and  that,  after  the  same  date,  no  Scottish 
cattle,  sheep,  coals,  or  linen,  should  be  brought  into  England.  Orders 
were  also  given  to  repair  the  fortifications  of  Berwick,  Carlisle,  Newcastle, 
and  Hull,  and  to  exercise  the  militia  of  the  four  northern  counties.  The 
Scots  now  saw  that  England  was  in  earnest,  and  again  gave  their  consent 
to  the  nomination  of  commissioners,  upon  which  the  hostile  clauses  of 
the  Act  of  1704  were  at  once  repealed. 

As  before,  the  chief  difficulties  in  the  way  of  an  agreement  lay  in  the 
church,  the  law,  and  the  taxes  ;  and  on  all  these  points  England  gave 
The  Terms  way.  The  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  Scottish 
of  Union,  jg^^g  .^^^  judicial  procedure  were  secured.  To  equalise  the 
burdens  of  the  two  countries,  England  paid  Scotland  ^£398,000,  which 
was  to  be  used  to  pay  off  the  Scottish  national  debt  and  to  indemnify 
the  shareholders  of  the  Darien  Company.  The  commercial  advantages 
of  England  were  thrown  open  to  the  Scots  without  reserve.  The  Scots 
were  not  to  be  liable  to  any  of  the  terminable  taxes  which  had  already 
been  voted  by  the  English  parliament ;  and  a  sum  of  ^20,000  was  sent 
to  Scotland  to  pay  up  to  date  the  salaries  of  all  the  Scottish  officials — a 
transaction  which  has  sometimes  been  spoken  of  as  bribery.  On  the 
other  side,  the  Scots  agreed  that  the  title  of  the  united  kingdom  should 
be  Great  Britain.  There  was  to  be  no  separate  parliament  for  North 
Britain  ;  but  forty-five  members  for  Scottish  counties  and  boroughs  were 
to  sit  in  the  British  House  of  Commons  ;  and  sixteen  peers,  chosen  at 


1707  Anne  717 

each  general  election  to  represent  the  peers  of  Scotland,  were  to  sit  in  the 
House  of  Lords,     No  new  Scottish  peers  were  to  be  created. 

When  the  commissioners  had  completed  their  deliberations,  an  Act 
embodying  their  views  was  submitted  to  the  Scottish  parliament,  and 
was  accepted  by  it  with  some  slight  modifications.  In  her  fhe  Union 
speech  recommending  the  bill  to  the  English  parliament,  completed. 
Anne  told  the  members  '  that  they  had  now  an  opportunity  of  putting 
the  last  hand  to  a  happy  union  of  the  two  kingdoms,  which  she  hoped 
would  be  a  lasting  blessing  to  the  whole  island,  a  great  addition  to  its 
wealth  and  power,  and  a  firm  security  to  the  Protestant  religion.'  In 
this  spirit  the  bill  was  considered ;  and  the  whole  of  the  Scottish 
amendments  having  been  accepted  without  demur,  the  Act  of  Union 
received  the  royal  consent ;  and  the  united  parliament  of  Gteat  Britain 
met  for  the  first  time  on  October  23,  1707. 

It  is  certain  that  the  Union  was  and  remained  for  a  long  time  exces- 
sively unpopular  in  Scotland  ;  in  1706  the  articles  of  union  were  burnt 
by  the  mob ;    a  considerable  number  of  the  nobility  and   ^ 

.  .       .  Question  of 

all  the  Jacobites  were  against  it ;  and  it  is  prob.able  its  Popu- 
that,  during  the  early  years  of  its  existence,  the  feeling  *"  ^* 
against  it  increased  rather  than  diminished.  This  was  largely  due  to  the 
injudicious  introduction  of  English  officials  into  Scotland,  to  the  churlish 
spirit  exhibited  to  the  Scottish  members  in  London,  and  to  the  passing 
in  1712  of  the  Veto  Act,  by  which,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Scots,  private  patronage  was  restored  in  the  Scottish  Church.  Happily 
the  British  government  soon  recognised  the  folly  of  such  conduct ;  and 
after  Walpole  came  into  power,  he  was  careful  to  set  a  precedent  of 
administering  Scottish  affiiirs  through  Scotsmen,  and  of  paying  careful 
regard  to  the  feelings  and  prejudices  of  the  North  Britons.  In  conse- 
quence, the  principle  of  a  legislative  union  received  fair  play  ;  and  in 
time  its  solid  advantages  secured  it,  if  not  the  love,  at  any  rate  the 
appreciation  of  the  Scottish  people.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  both 
nations  gained  largely  by  the  arrangement.  England  was  relieved  from  a 
great  danger  ;  and  while  Scottish  susceptibilities  on  mattei-s  of  religion 
and  law  were  fully  considered,  the  advantage  which  she  gained  by  being 
allowed  free  trade  with  England  and  with  the  English  colonies  was 
well  worth  a  small  sacrifice  of  sentiment.  The  Union,  indeed,  made 
the  fortune  of  Scotland  ;  but  it  is  remarkable  how  much  her  chance  of 
profiting  by  it  had  been  secured  by  the  provisions  of  a  single  act  of  her 
national  parliament.  This  was  a  law,  made  in  1697,  by  which  it  was 
enacted  that  in  every  parish  in  Scotland  a  school  should  be  established, 
and  a  schoolmaster  maintaifaed.     It  is  to  the  system  of  national  education 


718  The  Stuarts  1707 

thus  inaugurated  that  Scotland  owes  her  long  enjoyment  of  the 
reputation  of  having  the  best-educated  peasantry  in  Europe  ;  and,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  in  every  walk  of  life  where  education  is  needed 
Scotsmen  have,  all  over  the  world,  taken  a  position  quite  out  of 
proportion  to  their  numbers.  To  this,  also,  is  largely  due  the  immense 
rapidity  with  which  Scotland  was  able  to  profit  by  the  new  openings 
offered  to  her  by  the  Union  ;  and  the  rapid  growth  of  Glasgow  and  of 
the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  Lowlands  soon  gave  the  most 
satisfactory  evidence  of  increasing  commercial  prosperity.  Hardly 
of  less  importance  than  this  was  the  change  of  English  sentiment 
towards  Scotsmen,  and  particularly  towards  the  Highlanders,  who, 
within  a  hundred  years  from  the  time  when  they  had  been  regarded 
as  a  curse  to  the  country,  came  to  be  looked  on  as  one  of  the  most 
popular  sections  of  the  community.  In  our  own  time,  too,  the  popu- 
larity of  Highland  scenery,  which  yearly  attracts  thousands  of  English 
visitors,  and  the  settlement  of  the  court  at  Balmoral,  have  carried  this  still 
further  ;  and  the  union  of  two  races  who,  having  met  each  other  without 
loss  of  honour  on  many  a  hard-fought  field,  have  decided  to  throw  the 
glories  of  each  into  a  common  stock,  and  to  consign  to  a  well-merited 
oblivion  everything  that  might  imperil  the  existing  goodwill,  has  become 
indissoluble. 

The  year  after  the  Union,  the  discontent  of  the  Scots  encouraged 
Louis  to  attempt  to  stir  up  a  Jacobite  rebellion  in  Scotland.      The  plan 
The  ^^^  weU  laid,  and  intrusted   to  Forbin,  the  best  of  the 

Pretender.  French  sailors.  He  was  to  take  the  Pretender  on  board  at 
Dunkirk,  and  land  him,  with  4000  men,  on  the  shore  of  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  when  it  was  hoped  that  the  English  garrison  of  1700  men  would 
be  easily  beaten,  and  that  the  country  would  rise  eagerly  in  the 
Pretender's  favour.  However,  the  expedition  was  kept  waiting  a  week 
while  the  young  prince  was  laid  up  with  the  measles ;  and  before  it 
sailed  the  government  had  been  warned.  Accordingly,  Byng,  with  sixteen 
ships,  was  close  on  the  heels  of  Forbin's  five.  Against  such  overwhelming 
odds  Forbin  could  do  nothing ;  and  when  Byng  overtook  him  off"  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  he  was  glad  to  escape  with  the  loss  of  only  one  ship,  and 
to  bring  the  Pretender  safely  home  again. 

The  year  1707  was  distinguished  by  a  series  of  remarkable  and  un- 
expected French  successes  in  Flanders,  Germany,  and  above  all  in  Spain ; 
but  in  1708  Marlborough  and  Eugene  efi'ected  a  junction  in  Flanders, 
Battle  of      ^^^  *h®  "^^i"  was  resumed  with  vigour.    In  the  early  spring, 
Oudenarde.  ^he  French,  aided  by  some  of  the  inhabitants,  again  secured 
Ghent  and  Bruges ;   and  in  order  to  secure  their  communication  with 


1707  Anne  719 

these  towns,  laid  siege  to  the  fortress  of  Oudenarde.  Eugene's  troops 
had  not  yet  come  up,  but,  hurrying  forward  in  person,  he  joined  Marl- 
borough, and  the  two  advanced  to  save  the  town.  The  French  were 
commanded  by  the  duke  of  Vendome  and  by  Louis'  grandson,  the  duke 
of  Burgundy.  Vendome  was  a  soldier  of  great  ability,  but  of  such 
brutal  manners  as  disgusted  the  young  prince.  Consequently  their 
counsels  were  divided ;  while  Marlborough  and  Eugene  displayed  here, 
as  everywhere,  the  most  perfect  harmony.  The  decisive  battle  was 
fought  near  Oudenarde  itself.  The  armies  were  on  the  march,  and  there 
was  no  regular  position  or  formation  on  either  side  ;  but  whilst  Eugene 
and  Marlborough  directed  all  their  efforts  to  the  common  advantage,  the 
orders  of  Vendome  were  twice  countermanded  by  his  young  and 
inexperienced  colleague.  In  these  circumstances  the  allies  gained  a 
decisive  victory.  Marlborough  would  have  preferred  to  follow  up  their 
success  by  an  immediate  invasion  of  France,  but  even  Eugene  thought 
this  plan  too  bold  until  Lille  had  fallen  ;  and  accordingly  the  allied 
forces  fonned  the  siege  of  that  town,  Eugene  undertaking  the  siege  of 
siege  itself,  and  Marlborough  covering  his  operations.  The  ^iiie. 
defence  was  intrusted  to  Marshal  Boufflers,  formerly  governor  of  Namur ; 
and  the  siege  attracted  the  attention  of  all  Europe.  On  the  allied  side 
Marlborough,  of  course,  stood  on  the  defensive  ;  and  the  chief  incident 
was  the  skinnish  of  Wynendale,  where  Generals  Webb  and  Cadogan, 
two  of  Marlborough's  best  officers,  recalling  the  exploit  of  Sir  John 
Fastolf  (see  page  326),  successfully  defended  a  convoy  of  provisions 
against  much  superior  numbers.  The  siege  lasted  from  August  22  till 
December  9,  when  Bpufliers,  after  doing  all  that  man  could  do,  sur- 
rendered the  citadel.  Bruges  and  Ghent  were  recovered  immediately 
afterwards. 

In  1709  Louis  put  the  command  of  his  troops  into  the  hands  of 
Villars,  the  marshal  who  had  successfidly  defended  the  Moselle  in  1705  ; 
and  though  his  forces  were  inferior,  his  dispositions  were  Battle  of 
so  judicious  that  even  Marlborough  and  Eugene  did  Malplaquet. 
not  venture  upon  an  attack.  Accordingly,  on  July  7,  they  formed  the 
siege  of  Tournay  ;  and  on  September  3  the  citadel  capitulated,  after  a 
defence  which  seemed  feeble  by  the  side  of  that  of  the  heroic  Boufflers 
the  year  before.  Mons  was  next  invested.  To  save  it,  Villars  and 
Boufflers  advanced  with  90,000  men,  and  fortified  themselves  in  a  strong 
position  near  Malplaquet,  between  the  woods  of  Liiniere  and  Taisnieres, 
which  they  defended  by  entrenchments  and  by  breastworks  of  felled 
timber.  There,  on  September  11,  they  were  attacked  by  Marlborough 
and  Eugene  with  an  army  of  equal  strength.     Never  before  had  such  an 


720  The  Stuarts  1709 

obstinate  struggle  been  ''seen  in  this  war.  Marlborough  and  Eugene 
each  fought  in  the  very  front  rank.  Eugene  was  struck  on  the  head  by 
a  musket  ball ;  Villars  was  disabled  by  a  wound  in  the  knee.  In  the 
allied  army,  the  Highlanders  of  Athol,  fighting  under  Lord  Tullibardine, 
specially  distinguished  themselves  ;  among  the  French  were  conspicuous 
the  exiles  of  the  Irish  brigade.  On  both  sides,  but  especially  among  the 
assailants,  the  slaughter  was  frightful ;  but  eventually  the  French  centre 
was  pierced,  and  Boufflers  was  forced  to  lead  his  men,  still  fighting  and 
still  unbroken,  from  the  bloody  field.  The  French  lost  12,000  men,  the 
allies  not  less  than  20,000.  It  was  a  terrible  sacrifice  of  life,  but  it 
served  the  purpose  of  securing  an  uninterrupted  siege  of  Mons,  and  on  ' 
October  20  the  garrison  capitulated.  Lille,  Tournay,  and  Mons  were 
thus  in  the  hands  of  the  allies,  and  the  road  into  France  was  fully  open. 
Meanwhile  in  Spain  fortune  had  been  very  fickle.  In  1707  Peter- 
borough had  been  recalled,  and  his  place  taken  by  General  Stanhope. 
"War  in  However,  while  Stanhope  was  detained  at  Barcelona  the 
Spain.  allied  army  in  Castile  was  attacked  by  the  French  forces 

under  the  duke  of  Berwick,  who  had  by  this  time  risen  to  be  one 
of  the  best  officers  in  the  French  service,  and  was  utterly  routed  at 
the  battle  of  Almanza.  This  battle  restored  the  central  provinces  to 
Philip,  and  henceforward  the  character  of  the  war  recalled  the  old 
rivalries  of  Arragon  and  Castile — Arragon  with  its  chief  towns,  Barcelona 
and  Valencia,  being  for  Charles  ;  and  Castile,  with  Madrid,  for  Philip. 
In  1708,  however,  an  allied  force  under  Staremberg  and  Stanhope  took 
Sardinia ;  and  the  same  year  Stanhope,  by  the  capture  of  Port  Mahon, 
Capture  of  sccured  for  Great  Britain  the  possession  of  the  island  of 
Minorca.  Minorca,  which  has  the  best  harbour  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  was  thought  by  him  to  be  so  important  that  '  it  would  give 
the  law  to  the  Mediterranean  both  in  war  and  peace.'  In  Italy,  on  the 
whole,  owing  to  the  absence  of  Eugene,  the  French  gained  ground  ;  but 
there  seemed  little  chance  of  decisive  success,  while  the  battle  of  Mal- 
plaquet  had  fully  demonstrated  that  there  was  no  diminution  in  the 
valour  either  of  the  French  soldiers  or  of  their  commanders. 

Louis,  however,  was  particularly  desirous  of  bringing  the  war  to  a 

close.     His  armies  had  uniformly  been  defeated,  his  finances  were  in 

complete  disorder ;  and  for  some  time  he  had  been  taking 

Abortive  ,         ,  ^  .  .  .  ,  ^ 

Negotia-      advantage  oi   every  opportunity  to  negotiate  with  one  or 

tions.  other  of  the  allies.     He  was  now  ready  not  only  to  renew  in 

their  fuUest  interpretation  the  offers  he  had  made  in  1706,  but  even  went 

further,  and  offered  to  give  up  all  pretensions  to  any  of  the  Spanish 

dominions.     The  allies,  however,  were  now  desirous  of  pressing  for  more, 


1710  Anne  721 

and  met  Louis'  advances  by  the  preposterous  demand  that  Louis  should 
not  only  give  up  the  Spanish  claims  of  his  grandson,  but  actually  take  an 
active  part  in  expelling  him  from  Spain.  To  such  a  request  no  self- 
respecting  king  could  possibly  agree.  Louis  declared  that  '  if  he  must 
wage  war,  he  would  rather  wage  it  against  his  enemies  than  his  children.' 
Accordingly  the  war  was  suffered  to  drag  on.  Little  good,  however,  came 
to  the  allies  from  their  obstinacy.  Marlborough,  indeed,  invaded  France 
and  captuued  Douay  in  1710,  and  Bouchain  in  1711  ;  but  in  Spain  the 
allies  suffered  an  overwhelming  disaster.  When  the  campaign  opened, 
Stanhope  seemed  to  be  carrying  all  before  him  and  won  over  the 
French  the  battles  of  Almenara  and  Saragossa ;  but  by  a  Battle  of 
turn  of  fortune  he  was  forced  to  capitulate  at  Brihuega  by  B»"»huega. 
Marshal  Vendome,  who  had  been  despatched  by  Louis  to  retrieve  the 
falling  fortunes  of  his  grandson. 

We  must  now  return  to  affairs  at  home.  The  election  of  1708,  which 
took  place  at  the  moment  of  the  scare  caused  by  the  attempt  of  the  Pre- 
tender to  land  in  Scotland,  turned  out  well  for  the  Whigs,  and  Ministerial 
further  ministerial  changes  were  made.  For  some  time  the  J"*''»g"<=s. 
personal  relations  between  the  ministers  had  been  anything  but  happy,  and 
in  1708  Godolphin  wrote,  '  the  life  of  a  slave  in  the  gaUeys  is  paradise  as 
compared  to  mine.'  Harley  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  trouble  ;  and  that 
born  intriguer  was  making  use  of  a  bedchamber  quarrel  to  push  his  own 
fortunes  to  the  injury  of  his  colleagues.  During  the  course  of  the  last  reign 
the  duchess  of  Marlborough  had  taken  compassion  on  a  family  of  penniless 
cousins,  and  had  charitably  provided  for  each  of  them  at  the  expense  of 
the  state.  One  got  a  commission  in  the  army,  another  a  place  in  the 
customs,  one  daughter  became  honorary  laundress  to  the  little  duke  of 
Gloucester,  and  a  second,  Abigail,  became  a  bedchamber 
woman  to  the  Princess  Anne,  and  held  the  same  office 
when  her  mistress  became  queen.  Abigail  was  a  lady  of  sweet  temper 
and  pleasant  manners.  Presently  she  attracted  the  notice  of  the  queen, 
who  was  gradually  learning  to  resent  the  imperious  behaviour  of  the  duchess 
of  Marlborough.  Anne  found  pleasure  in  the  society  of  the  younger  lady, 
took  interest  in  her  love  affairs,  and  when  she  married  Francis  Masham,  a 
gentleman-in-waiting,  honoured  the  wedding  with  her  presence.  The 
rise  of  the  new  favourite  was  watched  with  the  utmost  disgust  by  the 
duchess  ;  but  her  efforts  to  thwart  her  fortune  turned  against  herself,  for 
the  kind-hearted  queen  was  shocked  with  her  '  inveteracy  against  poor 
Masham,'  and  her  obvious  design  to  '  ruin  her  cousin.' 

The  political  importance  of  all  this,  however,  lay  in  the  fact  that 
Abigail  was  also  a  cousin  of  Harley,  and  that  he  found  means  to  use  her 

2z 


722  The  Stuarts  1710 

as  his  representative  at  court  with  a  view  to  undermine  the  influence  of 
Marlborough  and  Godolphin.  To  eflfect  this  he  worked  upon  Anne's  fears 
Harley  for  the  welfare  of  the  church,  which  had  all  along  inclined 
dismissed,  j^^j,  ^^  ^^^  Tories,  of  whom  she  was  accustomed  to  speak 
as  the  '  Church  Party ' ;  and  the  first  symptom  the  queen  showed  of 
returning  independence  was  the  appointment  of  several  Tory  bishops 
without  consulting  the  leading  ministers.  At  this  Godolphin  and 
Marlborough  took  alarm,  and  detennined  on  the  first  opportunity  to  rid 
themselves  of  their  intriguing  colleague.  Their  chance  came  when  a 
clerk  in  Harley'g  office  was  detected  in  sending  to  the  Pretender  copies 
of  Harley's  state  papers.  Though  Harley  was  guilty  of  nothing  but 
great  carelessness,  it  was  easy  to  throw  doubts  on  his  fidelity.  The 
queen,  however,  stood  finn,  and  Marlborough  and  Godolphin  were  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  resignation  in  order  to  compel  the  queen  to  abandon 
him.  Eventually,  however,  their  tactics  succeeded.  In  February  1708 
Harley  resigned,  and  was  followed  by  Henry  St.  John  and  other  Tories, 
whose  places  were  filled  by  Whigs  —  St.  John's  place  in  particular 
being  taken  by  Robert  Walpole.  The  ministry  had  now  become  to  all 
practical  purposes  a  Whig  ministry,  but  the  Junto  still  pressed  for  more 
power.  Their  chief  weapons  of  attack  were  found  in  the  admiralty 
office,  which  was  presided  over  by  Prince  George  of  Denmark  and  Marl- 
borough's brother.  Admiral  Churchill ;  and  by  dexterously  making  use  of 
these,  and  even  threatening  to  bring  forward  the  Prince's  name,  when  he 
was  lying  on  his  deathbed,  the  queen  was  compelled  to  receive  Somers 
as  lord-president  of  the  council,  Wharton  as  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
On  the  death  of  Prince  George,  Edward  Russell,  Lord  Orford,  again 
became  first  lord  of  the  admiralty. 

These  changes  occurred  between  1708  and  1710,  but  though  apparently 
triumphs  for  the  Whig  party,  they  were  won  at  the  expense  of  much 
Sacheverell's  irritation,  and  ultimately  paved  the  way  for  a  great  Tory 
Sermons.  reaction.  As  in  most  other  cases,  it  was  a  mistake  of  the 
government  which  fired  the  train.  For  some  time  a  pulpit  controversy 
had  been  going  on  between  the  High  Churchmen,  who  pressed  the 
doctrine  of  passive  obedience  to  an  extent  which  could  barely  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  Revolution,  and  Low  Churchmen,  who  extolled  the  Revolu- 
tion almost  to  the  extent  of  removing  all  check  upon  rebellion.  How- 
ever, on  November  5,  1709,  Dr.  Sacheverell,  a  city  clergyman  of  more 
pretensions  than  ability,  preached  before  the  corporation  of  London  a 
sermon  entitled  'The  perils  among  false  brethren  both  in  Church  and 
State.'  In  this  and  in  a  previous  discourse  preached  at  Derby  Assizes  in 
the  preceding  summer,  he  violently  attacked  the  Revolution  ;  inveighed 


1710  Anne  723 

against  '  the  toleration  of  the  Genevan  discipline ' ;  spoke  of  '  the  wily 
Volpones  in  high  places,  whose  atheistical  double-dealing  was  propagating 
all  sorts  of  heresies  and  schisms ' ;  and  declared  that  the  church  was  at 
that  very  moment  '  in  great  peril  and  adversity.'  The  sermon  created  a 
considerable  sensation ;  and  Sacheverell's  next  step  was  to  publish  it 
along  with  his  Derby  discourse,  in  which  the  ministry  had  been  spoken 
of  as  'a  band  of  associated  malignants  intent  on  persecuting  the  church 
and  betraying  the  constitution.'  The  combination  of  audacity,  ribaldry, 
and  party  poUtics  of  course  made  everybody  read  the  sermons,  and 
no  less  than  40,000  copies  were  sold. 

In  these  circumstances  the  ministers  determined  to  strike  a  blow,  not 
so  much  from  personal  anger  at  Sacheverell,  but  because  it  seemed  a 
favourable  opportunity  to  get  an  authoritative  condemnation  sacheverell 
of  the  principles  of  the  clerical  party.  For  this  reason,  »"^peached. 
instead  of  an  ordinary  prosecution,  Sacheverell  was  impeached  by  the 
Commons  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanours,  and  tried  before  the  House 
of  Lords  in  "Westminster  Hall.  As  time  went  on,  however,  it  became 
clear  that  the  ministers  had  made  a  great  mistake.  To  the  mind  of  the 
average  Englishman  the  employment  of  the  whole  machinery  of  parlia- 
mentary judicature  to  punish  a  flighty  and  insignificant  clergyman  for  the 
offence  of  preaching  and  publishing  a  foolish  sermon  appeared  very  like 
persecution  ;  and  accordingly  the  mass  of  the  nation,  whether  approving 
of  Sacheverell's  views  or  not,  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  what 
seemed  to  be  the  victim  of  tyranny.  At  his  trial  the  most  respectable 
clergymen  appeared  by  his  side.  Anne  herself  attended  it,  and  her 
coach  was  surrounded  by  the  mob,  shouting — '  We  hope  your  majesty  is 
for  High  Church  and  Dr.  Sacheverell.'  In  spite,  however,  of  this 
display  of  feeling,  it  was  impossible  that  the  Lords  should  avoid  con- 
demning the  extreme  views  on  non-resistance  which  Sacheverell  had  put 
forward,  and  accordingly  he  was  found  guilty ;  but  his  punishment 
merely  consisted  of  a  prohibition  to  preach  for  three  years,  and  an  order 
that  his  sennon  should  be  burnt  by  the  coimnon  hangman  along  with 
the  famous  decree  which  the  Oxford  convocation  had  seen  fit  to  publish 
on  the  day  of  Lord  Kussell's  execution.  For  some  time,  however, 
Sacheverell's  popularity  was  immense.  At  every  to-svn  which  he  passed 
on  his  way  from  London  to  a  Welsh  living  to  which  he  had  been  pre- 
sented, he  was  received  by  shouting  crowds.  Thousands  flocked  to  hear 
him  read  prayers^  and  his  services  were  in  general  request  among  Tory 
magnates  for  the  christening  of  their  babies. 

Of  this  reaction  the  queen  took  advantage  to  get  rid  of  her  Whig 
ministers.       The    trial    ended    on    March    20,    1710,    and    in    April 


724  The  Stuarts  mi 

Shrewsbury,  who,  though  formerly  a  Whig,  had  now  joined  the  Tories  and 
voted  for  Sacheverell's  acquittal,  was  made  lord-chamberlain.     In  June, 
Tory  Sunderland  was  deprived  of  his  secretaryship,  and  in  Sep- 

Reaction.  timber,  Godolphin,  who  had  stuck  to  his  post  in  spite  of 
the  fall  of  Sunderland,  was  himself  deprived  of  office  ;  and  the  fall  or 
resignation  of  Somers,  Orford,  Wharton,  Haliftix,  and  Walpole  quickly 
followed.  Their  places  were  taken  by  Tories.  Harley  became  chancellor 
of  the  exchequer,  and  soon  afterwards  treasurer ;  St.  John,  secretary  of 
state  ;  Harcourt,  Sacheverell's  leading  counsel,  chancellor ;  Ormond 
succeeded  Wharton  as  lord-lieutenant ;  and  Admiral  Sir  John  Leake 
took  Orford's  post  as  first  lord  of  the  admiralty.  Marlborough  alone 
retained  his  post  as  commander-in-chief.  In  September  parliament  was 
dissolved.  At  the  general  election  the  Tories,  who  rallied  their  forces  to 
the  cry  of  '  The  Church  in  danger,'  carried  all  before  them  ;  and  the 
Whigs,  who  had  steadily  gained  at  the  elections  of  1705  and  1708,  found 
themselves  in  a  hopeless  minority. 

In  1711  an  incident,  trivial  in  itself,  served  further  to  strengthen 
the  administration.  A  French  refugee  named  Guiscard,  thinking  his 
The  Duchess  Services  ill  requited  by  the  new  ministers,  wrote  to  Paris 
borough  ^^^   offered  to  betray  what  he   knew.     His  letters  were 

dismissed.  intercepted ;  and,  being  brought  before  the  council  for 
examination,  he  seized  the  opportunity  to  stab  Harley  in  the  breast  with 
a  small  penknife.  The  wound  was  trifling,  but  the  attack  called  out  such 
an  outburst  of  popular  feeling  that  the  ministers  felt  themselves  strong 
enough  to  attack  Marlborough.  The  duchess  had  already  been  dismissed, 
and  her  offices  divided  between  the  duchess  of  Somerset  and  Mrs. 
Masham.  In  the  course  of  the  year,  therefore,  a  commission  of  public 
accounts  was  named  to  examine  into  the  financial  operations  of  the  late 
administration,  and  among  other  irregularities  it  reported  that  no  less 
Marlborough  than  £177,000  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  duke  of 
attacked.  Marlborough,  for  which  he  was  accountable  to  the  state. 
The  report  was  presented  in  December  1711,  and  the  queen  at  once 
deprived  Marlborough  of  all  his  posts,  '  that  the  matter  might  have  an 
impartial  examination.'  Every  effort  was  made  to  convict  the  duke  of 
peculation  ;  but  he  was  able  to  show  conclusively  that  the  sums  named 
had  been  paid  to  him,  according  to  the  evil  practice  of  the  time,  as  per- 
centages on  the  victualling  of  the  army  and  the  pay  of  the  foreign  troops, 
and  that  such  sums  had  always  been  paid  to  the  commanders-in-chief  of 
the  allied  troops  in  Flanders.  Unsatisfactory  as  it  was  that  a  commander 
should  make  money  in  this  way,  this  defence  was  complete,  and  the 
charge  fell  to  the  ground.     In  1712  a  somewhat  similar  accusation  was 


1711  Anne  725 

brought  against  Walpole,  who  was  reported  by  the  same  commission  to 
have  been  guilty  of  corruption  in  connection  with  the  bestowal  of  a 
certain  contract  for  forage.  By  a  strictly  party  resolu-  waipole 
tion  of  the  House  of  Commons  he  was  expelled  from  parlia-  ^n^prisoned. 
ment  and  sent  to  the  Tower,  where  he  remained  till  the  dissolution  of 
1713.  As  to  the  facts,  however,  he  made  an  exceedingly  strong  defence  ; 
and  the  whole  affair  must  be  regarded  as  an  attempt  of  the  Tories  to  rid 
themselves  of  an  opponent  whom  Harley  had  already  declared  to  be 
worth  '  half  the  Whig  party.'  Its  result  was  to  add  immensely  to 
Walpole's  popularity  and  influence. 

The  first  object  of  the  new  ministers  was  the  conclusion  of  peace  with 
France.  In  this  they  were  opposed  both  by  the  Whigs  and  also  by 
the  Tory  high  churchman,  Nottingham,  whom  Harley  had  peace  Policy 
pointedly  excluded  from  office.  Piqued  at  the  slight,  of  the  Tories. 
Nottingham  agreed  to  make  common  cause  with  his  old  opponents  ;  but 
stipulated  as  the  price  of  his  alliance  that  no  further  opposition  should  be 
offered  to  the  passing  of  a  bill  to  forbid  occasional  conformity.  To  these 
terms  the  Whigs  agreed  ;  and  though  they  had  successfully  opposed  the 
Occasional  Conformity  Bills  of  1702,  1703,  and  1704,  they  suffered  a  pre- 
cisely similar  measure  to  pass  in  1711. 

The  alliance  with  Nottingham  offered  to  the  Whigs  some  hopes  of  a 
return  to  office,  which  were  further  strengthened  by  the  accession  to  the 
coalition  of  the  dukes  of  Somerset  and  Marlborough  ;  and  creation  of 
they  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  plan  an  administration,  in  '^°^y  Peers, 
which  Somers  was  to  be  the  chief,  and  Walpole  the  leiider  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  At  this  crisis,  Harley  and  St.  John  determined  to  baulk  their 
opponents  by  creating  a  Tory  majority  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  to  do 
this  they  created  twelve  new  peers.  This  high-handed  act,  which  was 
virtually  a  coup  d'etat,  was  carried  out  in  December,  1711  ;  and  when 
parliament  met  after  the  Christmas  holidays,  it  was  found  that  the  allies 
had  lost  the  majority  on  which  they  had  relied.  The  indignation  of  the 
Whigs  was  intense,  but  nothing  could  be  done.  Even  the  new  peers 
themselves  seem  not  to  have  felt  wholly  comfortable  in  their  new  position, 
a  feeling  which  was  not  lessened  when  the  sarcastic  Wharton  inquired 
whether  they  meant  to  vote  singly,  or  through  their  foreman,  aa  though 
they  had  been  a  common  jury. 

Having  thus  secured  their  position  at  home,  the  ministers  pushed  on 
their  negotiations  with  all  rapidity  ;  and  Ormond,  who  succeeded  Marl- 
borough as  commander  in  Flanders,  was  forbidden  to  make   Treaty  of 
any  hostile  movement.     Ostensibly,  the  terms  of  peace  were    Utrecht, 
considered  by  a  congress  at  Utrecht ;  in  reality,  they  were  negotiated 


726  The  Stuarts 


1711 


between  Harley,  St.  John,  and  the  Marquis  de  Torcy,  through  the  agency 
of  a  French  priest  living  in  London,  the  Abbe  Gaultier  ;  and  eventually 
Bolingbroke,  accompanied  by  Matthew  Prior,  went  over  in  person  to 
Versailles.  The  chief  obstacle  arose  from  the  difficulty  of  making  a  satis- 
factory formula  for  the  renunciation  of  the  crown  of  France  by  Philip, 
who,  by  the  rapid  deaths  of  two  successive  dauphins,  in  1711  and  1712, 
stood  next  in  succession  to  the  French  crown  after  Louis'  great-grandson, 
afterwards  Louis  xv.,  then  a  delicate  child  of  two  years  old.  Eventually, 
however,  Philip  gave  the  required  promise,  and  the  treaty  was  then  fully 
concluded  at  Utrecht,  and  signed  on  March  31,  1713. 

The  peace  was  a  compromise,  made  possible  by  several  unforeseen  events, 
especially  the  death  in  1711  of  the  childless  Emperor  Joseph,  and  the  elec- 

Terms  of      ^^^^  ^^  his'place  of  Archduke  Charles  ;  so  that  his  elevation  to 

Peace.  ^jjg  crown  of  Spain  would  have  simply  restored  the  dangerous 
superiority  of  Charles  v.  Accordingly,  it  was  agreed  that  Philip  of 
France  should  be  king  of  Spain  ;  but  the  fullest  guarantees  were  given 
that  the  crowns  of  Spain  and  France  should  never  be  united.  With 
Spain  went  the  Indies,  and  other  colonial  possessions  of  Spain.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  new  Emperor  kept  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  henceforward 
to  be  known  as  the  Austrian  Netherlands ;  and  the  Barrier  Treaty  of 
1709,  by  which  it  had  been  arranged  that  the  Dutch  were  to  retain  the 
right  to  garrison  the  chief  frontier  towns  as  a  barrier  against  France,  was 
maintained  in  force.  To  Austria  also  went  Milan,  Naples,  and  Sardinia. 
Sicily  was  given  to  Savoy  with  the  title  of  king,  sometime  afterwards 
was  exchanged  for  Sardinia,  and  henceforward  the  head  of  the  House  of 
Savoy  was  styled  King  of  Sardinia.  In  Europe,  England  kept  Minorca 
and  Gibraltar.  She  also  received  the  valuable  monopoly  of  the  slave 
trade,  known  as  the  Assiento,  and  the  right  of  sending  one  ship  a  year 
to  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies.  To  England  also  were  assigned 
Acadie  (now  called  Nova  Scotia),  and  the  island  of  St.  Christopher, 
often  called  St.  Kitt's,  in  the  West  Indies.  Her  right  to  Newfoundland, 
subject  to  certain  French  fishing  rights  which  still  exist,  and  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  territory  was  also  secured.  Louis  agreed  to  acknowledge 
the  Protestant  succession. 

The  whole  treaty  was  bitterly  disliked  by  Austrians,  who  were  indignant 
at  the  aggrandisement  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  at  the  commercial 
disabilities  which  the  English  and  Dutch  imposed  on  her  new  Nether- 
landish subjects.  At  first  she  refused  her  consent,  but  her  inability  to 
Desertion  of  carry  on  the  war  by  herself  was  demonstrated  by  the  series 
our  Allies.  ^f  defeats  which  followed  the  withdrawal  of  Ormond,  and 
she  was  compelled,  eventually,  to  consent  to  a  general  peace  to  which 


1713  Anne  727 

also  the  Dutch  also  agreed.  Such  conduct  towards  the  allies  who  had 
for  so  long  fought  by  our  side,  especially  the  almost  treacherous  conduct 
by  which  Prince  Eugene  had  been  left  in  the  lurch  by  Ormond,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  neglect  to  secure  terms  for  the  Catalans,  who  had  been  firm 
supporters  of  Charles'  cause  in  Spain,  were  disgraceful  to  the  English  minis- 
ters, and  were  commented  on  severely  by  the  opposition.  The  Whigs, 
however,  were  powerless  to  stay  the  course  of  events,  for  even  in  the  House 
of  Lords  the  votes  of  the  twelve  new  peers  carried  the  day  for  the  Tories. 

Having  settled  this  important  matter,  the  Tory  leaders  had  time  to 
consider  the  policy  of  the  future.  Anne's  death  could  not  be  long 
delayed  ;  and  though,  as  a  party,  the  Tories  had  committed  T^e  guj.. 
themselves  to  the  Act  of  Settlement  and  the  succession  of  cession, 
the  Electress  Sophia,  a  considerable  section  of  the  supporters  of  the 
ministry  were  prepared  to  make  a  bold  push  in  favour  of  the  Pretender. 
Though  subsequent  events  showed  that  the  mass  of  the  nation  was  tnie 
to  the  principle  of  the  Hanoverian  succession,  there  was  so  little  enthusiasm 
that  it  was  easy  to  mistake  the  feeling  of  the  country,  and  the  Jacobites 
appear  to  have  thought  that  the  prompt  action  of  a  detennined  ministry 
would  turn  the  scale  in  favour  of  the  Stuart  claimant.  Probably  the 
event  turned  on  the  action  of  the  Pretender  himself.  If  he  had  consented 
to  change  his  religion  as  his  gi'eat-grandfather,  Henry  iv.,  had  done,  his 
restoration  would  have  been  highly  probable ;  and  the  step  was  urged 
on  him  even  by  some  of  his  Catholic  adherents.  Nevertheless,  to  the 
honour  of  his  principles,  he  refused  to  be  a  party  to  such  hypocrisy. 
In  these  circumstances,  his  chances  were  more  than  doubtful ;  and 
so  cautious  were  the  actions  of  the  ministers,  that  to  this  day  it  is 
difficult  to  say  what  their  plans  were,  or  even  that  there  was  any  plan 
at  all.  At  such  a  time,  the  contrast  between  the  two  leaders — 
Harley  (now  earl  of  Oxford),  and  St.  John  (now  Viscount  Boling- 
broke) — showed  itself  in  clear  colours.  Oxford  was  all  hesitation,  and 
though  it  is  certain  that  he  entered  into  communication  with  the  Pre- 
tender, he  did  his  best  at  the  same  time  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
the  electress.  Bolingbroke,  on  the  other  hand,  was  all  for  energy 
and  action,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  really  designed  more  than 
to  make  himself  and  his  party  necessary  to  the  expected  Hanoverian 
sovereign. 

However,  whatever  was  their  ultimate  intention,  the  ministry  worked 
hard  to  secure  the  ascendency  of  the  Tories.     They  intrusted  the  Cinque 
Ports  to  Ormond  (who,  though  he  had  fought  by  the  side  of  Tory  Pre- 
William  at  Steenkerke  and  Landen,  was  now  a  decided  Jaco-    parations. 
bite),  expecting  that  as  warden  he  could  either  take  measures  to  hinder 


728  The  Stuarts 


1713 


any  attempt  to  land  troops  in  aid  of  the  electress,  or  make  the  way  easy 
for  a  descent  of  the  Pretender.  Shrewsbury,  on  whom  a  similar  though 
unfounded  reliance  was  placed,  was  made  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
The  earl  of  Mar  became  secretary  of  state  for  Scotland.  About  the  same 
time,  Atterbury  was  made  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  Swift  was  put  off 
with  the  deanery  of  St.  Patrick's.  Meanwhile,  the  reduction  of  the 
army,  which  followed  on  the  conclusion  of  peace,  was  used  to  get  rid  of 
those  officers  and  regiments  which  were  believed  to  be  most  strongly 
imbued  with  Whig  principles. 

In  face  of  these  measures,  however,  the  Hanoverian  party  was  by  no 
means  idle.  Stanhope,  who  had  been  released  from  captivity  by  the 
peace,  was  their  chief  agent  in  arranging  the  military 
of  the  measures  which  might,  in  the  last  resort,  become  necessary ; 

*^^'  while  the  duke  of  Marlborough,  who,  since  his  dismissal, 

had  resided  abroad,  established  himself  at  Brussels  ready  to  return  to 
England  at  a  moment's  warning.  As  soon  as  parliament  met,  in  February, 
1714,  every  effort  was  made  by  the  Whigs  to  compel  the  ministers  to 
commit  themselves  on  the  question  of  the  Protestant  succession  ;  and  in 
order  to  secure  the  presence  in  England  of  an  actual  member  of  the  House 
of  Hanover,  Schutz,  the  minister  of  the  elector  in  London,  made  an 
application  for  the  summons  to  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords,  which  the 
electoral  prince,  afterwards  George  ii.,  was  entitled  to  demand  as  duke  of 
Cambridge.  This  move,  however,  had  tragic  consequences  ;  for  Queen 
Anne,  bitterly  resenting  such  an  attempt  to  bring  her  a  prospective  heir 
to  England,  wrote  in  such  a  bitter  strain  to  the  electress,  that  the  morti- 
fication of  reading  it  was  shortly  followed  by  an  apoplectic  fit,  from  which 
the  aged  electress — she  was  then  eighty-three — never  recovered.  She 
was  a  kindly  personage,  whose  one  ambition  was  to  die  queen  of 
England.  Her  place  in  the  line  of  succession  was  taken  by  her  son 
Greorge ;  and  the  idea  of  the  electoral  prince  visiting  England  was 
dropped. 

These  events,  and  the  excitement  caused  by  the  repeated  illnesses  of 
the  queen,  which  indicated  that  her  death  could  not  be  long  delayed, 
roused  party  feeling  to  fever  heat.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
of  the  Tories  in  the  Commons   expelled  from  the  house  Richard 

ountry.  Steele,  who  had  offended  the  party  by  the  publication  of  a 
pamphlet  named  The  OWsis,  in  which  he  discussed  the  succession  question  ; 
while  the  Whig  peers,  unable  to  strike  in  person  at  Swift,  who  was  well 
known  to  be  the  author  of  a  violent  publication  entitled  The  Public 
Spirit  of  the  Whigs,  compelled  the  government  to  prosecute  the  printer. 
At  length  parties  joined  issue  over  the  celebrated  Schism  Act,  a  measure 


1714  Anne  729 

designed  by  Bolingbroke  to  crush  the  dissenters,  and  to  win  for  ever 
the  favour  of  the  High  Tory  party.    This  Act  enjoined  that  no  one,  either 
in  England  or  Ireland,  should  keep  either  a  public  or  private 
school  unless  he  were  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng-    Schism 
land,  and  licensed  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  that 
no  one  be  licensed  unless  he  had  received  the  communion  accordinty  to 
the  forms  of  the  Church  of  England  within  the  year,  and  subscribed 
the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy.      The  second  reading  of  this 
Act  passed  the   House  of  Commons   by   237  against  126  ;   and  the 
third  reading  in  the  Lords  by  77  against   72  ;  but  a  strong  protest  was 
entered  against  it  in  the  journals  of  the  upper  house,  which  was  signed, 
not  only  by  all  the  most  noted  of  the  Whig  peers,  but  also  by  several 
bishops.  : 

Its  passing  was,  however,  fiatal  to  the  concord  of  the  ministry.  By 
birth  and  education  Oxford  was  a  Nonconfonnist,  and  had  no  sympathy 
with  such  a  measure  ;  and  the  eagerness  with  which  it  was  Oxford's 
pressed  forward  by  Bolingbroke  brought  to  a  head  the  long-  dismissal, 
suppressed  antipathy  between  the  lord-treasurer  and  the  secretary.  In 
vain  Swift,  who  Vas  keen-sighted  enough  to  see  that  discord  meant  ruin, 
strove  to  reconcile  them.  Lady  Masham,  to  whom  Oxford  had  owed  his 
rise,  went  over  to  his  rival ;  and  bedchamber  intrigue,  to  which  Oxford 
had  so  long  trusted,  proved  in  the  end  his  destruction.  On  July  27, 
after  a  heated  altercation  carried  on  at  a  council  meeting,  presided 
over  by  the  queen  in  person,  Oxford  was  dismissed,  and  for  a 
moment  Bolingbroke  and  the  Jacobites  seemed  to  have  the  game  in  their 
hands. 

At  this  moment,  however,  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs  was  changed  by 
the  sudden  illness  of  the  queen,  who  was  seized  with  an  apoplectic  fit  on 
the  morning  of  July  30.     The  crisis,  therefore,  came  before    inness  of 
Bolingbroke  and  his  friends  were  prepared  with  their  plans,    *^^  Queen, 
and  while  they  hesitated  the  Whigs  acted  with  decision  and  vigour. 
Marlborough  was  still  abroad,  but  Shrewsbury  (who  at  the         ,  . 
eleventh  hour  declared  for  the  principles  he  had  supported   action  of 
in  1688),  Somerset,  the  lord-chamberlain,  who  had  long  held       *       *^^' 
himself  aloof  from  the  party,  and  Argyll,  made  their  way  to  the  council- 
chamber  and  insisted  that  the   post  of  lord-treasurer,  which  was  then 
vacant,  should  be  given  to  Shrewsbury.    To  this,  in  a  lucid  interval,  Anne 
agreed,  and  almost  immediately  sank  back  into  lethargy.     Two  days 
later,  on  August  1,  she  died.     Atterbury  implored  Bolingbroke  to  pro- 
claim the  Pretender  at  Charing  Cross,  and  even  offered  to  head  the 
procession  in  his  lawn  sleeves.     The  impetuous  prelate  found  no  sup- 


730  The  Stuarts  1714 

porters.  The  collapse  of  the  Tories  was  for  the  time  complete,  and  the 
Whig  lords,  with  Shrewsbury  at  their  head,  carried  into  effect  without 
opposition  the  arrangements  which  had  been  prepared  to  secure  the 
succession  of  the  Protestant  heir.  Even  Bolingbroke  confessed  that 
fate  had  been  too  much  for  him. 


CHIEF  DATES, 

A.D. 

Battle  of  Blenheim, 1704 

Battle  of  Bamillies, 1706 

Scottish  Union, 1707 

Battle  of  Oudenarde, 1708 

Battle  of  Malplaquet 1709 

Impeachment  of  Sacheverell 1709-10 

South  Sea  Company  formed 1710 

Treaty  of  Utrecht, 1713 

Schism  Act  passed 1714 


Book  VIII 
THE    HOUSE    OF    HANOVER 


XIX.— THE  KINGS  OF  FRANCE  SINCE  1609. 

Louis  XIII., 

1609-1643. 

I 


Louis  XIV., 
1643-1715. 

Louis  (dauphin), 
d.  1711. 

I 

Louis, 

Duke  of  Burgundy, 

d.  1712. 

I 
Louis  XV., 
1715-1774. 

Louis  (dauphin), 
d.  1765. 


Philip,  King  of  Spain, 
d.  1746. 

I 


Ferdinand 
of  Spain. 


Louis  XVL, 
1774-1793. 

I 

Louis  XVII., 

never  reigned, 

d.  1795. 


Louis  XVIIL, 
1815-1824. 


Charles, 
King  of  Naplt 


Charles  X., 

1824-1830, 

abdicated. 

Grandfather 

of  the  Count 

de  Chambord, 

who  died 

without  children, 

1884. 


Philip, 

Duke  of  Orleans, 

d.  1710. 

Philip  (Regent), 
d.  1723. 
Great-great-grand- 
father of 


Louis  Philippe, 

1830-1848. 


Duke  of 
Orleans, 
d.  1842. 


Duke 
d'Aumale. 


Count  de 

Paris, 
d.  1894. 

I 

Philip, 

Duke  of  Orleans. 


XX.— THE  HOUSE  OF  STUART. 


James  II., 
1685-1688,  d.  1701. 

I 


I 

James  iii. 

(the  Old  Pretender), 

d.  1765. 

I       


Charles  Edward 

(the  Young  Pretender), 

d.  1788. 

732 


Louisa  Maria  Theresa, 
b.  1692,  d.  1712. 


Henry,  Cardinal,  of  York, 
d.  1807. 


XXL— THE  HOUSE  OF  HANOVER. 

George  I., 
1714-1727. 


George  II.,      Sophia  =  Frederick  William, 
1727-1760.  King  of  Prussia. 

Frederick  the  Great. 


Frederick,     '  ==      Augusta 


Prince  of  Wales, 
d.  1751. 


of  Saxe-Gotha. 


William, 

Duke  of  Cumberland, 

d.  1765. 


George  III.,  =       Sophia  Charlotte 
1760-1820.      I  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 


George  I V. ,  =  Caroline  Frederick, 

1820-1830.            of  Duke  of 

I             Brunswick.  York, 

Princess  d.  1827. 
Charlotte, 
d.  1817. 


William  IV, 
1830-1837. 


I 
Edward, 
Duke  of 

Kent, 
d.  1820. 


Victoria 
1837- 


Albert 

of  Saxe-Coburg, 

d.  1861. 


Victoria 
Princess 
Royal. 


Frederick, 

German 

Emperor. 


Albert  Edward, 
Prince  of  Wales. 


Alfred, 

Duke  of 

Edinburgh. 


Arthur, 

Duke  of 

Conuaught. 


Leopold, 
Duke  of 
Albany, 
d.  1884. 


William  II. 
German 
Emperor. 


Albert  Victor 
Edward, 
d.  1892. 


George 
duke  of 
York. 


Princess  May 
of  Teck. 


Greorge  Patrick  Andrew  David. 


CHAPTEE     I 

GEORGE  I. :  1714-1727 
Born  1660  ;  married  1682,  Sophia  Dorothea  of  Brunswick. 

CHIEF    CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Spain.  Emperor. 

Louis  XIV.,  d.  1715,         Philip  v.,  d.  1746.        Charles  vi.,  d.  1740. 
Louis  XV.,  d.  1774. 

The  Whig  Ministers — Jacobite  Rebellion  of  1715 — Foreign  Policy — Stanhope  and 
Sunderland — The  South  Sea  Bubble— Walpole  in  Power — Wood's  Halfpence. 

Contrary  to  all  expectations,  the  proclamation  of  the  new  king  passed 
off  without  disturbance.     The  sudden  death  of  the  queen  seems  to  have 
Quiet  paralysed  the   Jacobites,   and   it  soon  became   clear  that 

Accession,  throughout  the  country  the  friends  of  the  Hanoverian  suc- 
cession had  an  overwhelming  majority.  So  quiet,  indeed,  was  every- 
thing that  George  made  no  hurry  to  appear  among  his  new  subjects,  and 
did  not  land  in  England  till  September  18.  Till  his  arrival  the  govern- 
ment was  carried  on  by  the  seven  great  officers  of  state,  and  eighteen 
'Lords  Justices,'  to  whom  Addison  acted  as  secretary.  Among  these 
were  Shrewsbury,  Somerset,  Argyll,  Nottingham,  Cowper,  Halifax,  and 
Townshend  ;  but  the  names  of  Marlborough,  Somers,  and  Sunderland 
were  omitted.  Marlborough's  exclusion  was  probably  due  to  the  offence 
which  George  had  taken  at  the  great  captain's  reticence  on  military 
affairs  ;  that  of  the  other  two  to  a  determination  to  keep  at  a  distance 
the  great  party  leaders  ;  but  whatever  were  his  motives,  Marlborough 
received  ample  compensation  in  the  magnificent  and  spontaneous  recej)- 
tion  which  was  given  him  by  his  countrymen  on  his  return  from  the 
continent,  and  neither  Somers  nor  Sunderland  suffered  any  abatement  of 
influence. 

The  new  king  had  a  few  useful  qualities  ;  but  he  was  not  likely  to 

make  a  popular  sovereign,  for  his  merits  made  little  show,  while  his 

Character    failings  were  easily  seen.     In  appearance  he  was  a  small, 

of  George,    heavy-looking  man,  of  kindly  disposition  and  faithful  to 

his  friends.      His   intellectual  capacity  was  second-rate,  but   he   was 

734 


1714  George  I.  735 

diligent  and  business-like.  As  a  soldier  he  had  fought  bravely  at  Landen 
and  Steenkerke,  and  had  for  some  time  commanded  an  army  on  the  Rhine, 
but  though  he  had  certainly  discussed  the  march  to  Blenheim  with  Marl- 
borough he  had  no  pretensions  to  be  a  great  commander ;  and  in  civil 
matters,  though  he  had  made  a  good  elector  of  a  second-rate  German 
state,  and  was  beloved  by  the  Hanoverians,  he  was  not  the  man  to  shine 
on  a  larger  field.  Moreover,  he  was  fifty-four  years  of  age,  of  fixed 
habits,  knew  no  English  and  little  French  ;  naturally  cared  more  for 
Hanover  and  the  Hanoverians  than  for  his  new  subjects  ;  and,  though 
honest  himself,  was  surrounded  by  courtiers,  both  men  and  women, 
whose  one  wish  was  to  make  as  much  as  they  could  out  of  a  new  field 
for  corruption  and  intrigue.  But  when  this  has  been  said,  the  worst 
has  been  told  ;  and  George  had  one  great  merit,  which,  in  the  eyes  of 
Englishmen,  ought  to  outweigh  all  defects.  He  thoroughly  trusted  his 
ministers,  and  though  he  often  wished  to  have  his  own  way  where  the 
interests  of  Hanover  were  involved,  he  allowed  them  to  do  what  they 
thought  best  in  England.  Such  a  king  was  exactly  what  England 
wanted  ;  for  under  George's  unostentatious  rule,  the  system  of  party 
government,  which  we  have  seen  growing  up  during  the  last  two  reigns, 
took  root,  and  became  a  recognised  principle  of  the  English  constitution. 
At  the  commencement  of  each  of  the  last  two  reigns,  the  experiment  of 
a  mixed  ministry  had  been  tried,  but  with  such  ill  success  that  both 
William  and  Marlborough  had  been  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  a 
homogeneous  administration.  Warned  by  their  experience,  George  at 
once  gave  his  confidence  to  the  Whigs,  and,  avoiding  the  great  party 
leaders,  chose  for  his  ministers  a  set  of  younger  men,  of  which  Townshend, 
Stanhope,  and  Walpole  were  the  chief,  along  with  Sunderland  and 
Nottingham. 

Lord  Townshend,  then  aged  thirty-eight,  was  the  son  of  a  Norfolk  cava- 
lier, and  had  married  Walpole's  sister.     He  was  a  man  of  rough  exterior, 

but  of  excellent  heart — feared  by  strangers,  but  beloved  by   _ 

,       ,  ,  .       ,      .         «.  •   1  .     1  .  .       Townshend. 

those  who  knew  him  best ;  of  upright  character,  energetic 

and  assiduous  in  business  ;  no  orator,  but  always  listened  to  with 
attention  because  he  spoke  to  the  point.  So  far  his  chief  claim  to 
distinction  had  been  the  negotiation  of  the  Barrier  Treaty.  He  was  now 
made  secretary  of  state  in  succession  to  Bolingbroke.  His  colleague 
Stanhope,  aged  forty-one,  was  both  a  statesman  and  a  soldier,  dis- 
tinguished for  bravery  on  many  fields.  He  had  taken  a  leading 
part  in  the  impeachment  of  Sacheverell,  but  being  cap- 
tured at  Brihuega,  and  imprisoned  till  the  peace,  he  had 
been  absent  from  England  at  the   fall  of  the  Whig  ministry.     Since 


736  The  Hanwerians  1714 

his  return  he  had  been  deep  in  the  councils  of  the  Whigs,  and  in 
Marlborough's  absence  had  been  their  most  trusted  military  adviser. 
As  a  soldier  he  was  beloved  by  his  men,  to  whom  it  is  related  that 
he  always  said, '  Come  on,'  and  not  '  Go  on.'  In  civil  life  Steele  speaks  of 
'his  plain  dealing,  generosity,  and  frankness,  his  natural  and  pleasing 
eloquence  in  assemblies,  and  his  agreeable  and  winning  behaviour  in 
conversation.'  Walpole  (see  p.  714)  had  distinguished  himself  as  secre- 
tary at  war,  and  his  prosecution  in  1712  had  raised  him  to  the  front 
rank  among  the  Whig  leaders. 

Parliament  sat  for  six  months  after  Anne's  death,  and  was  then 
dissolved.  At  the  general  election  the  country  reversed  the  verdict  of  1 710 
and  1713  by  sending  back  a  large  majority  of  Whigs.  In  consequence, 
the  government  felt  itself  strong  enough  to  attempt,  according  to 
the  practice  of  the  time,  to  set  on  foot  a  prosecution  of  the  late  ministers. 
As  soon  as  Parliament  reassembled,  a  committee,  of  which  Walpole 
was  the  chairman,  was  appointed  to  enquire  into  the  guilt  of  the  late 
ministers.  Its  report,  drawn  by  Walpole,  advised  the 
of  the  Tory  impeachment  of  Oxford,  Bolingbroke,  and  Onnond,  on  a 
general  charge  of  having  treacherously  sacrificed  British 
interests  and  British  honour  at  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  also  of  having 
intrigued  to  restore  the  Pretender.  As  soon  as  the  decision  was  known, 
Bolingbroke  escaped  to  the  continent,  whither  he  was  eventually 
followed  by  Ormond,  and  Oxford  alone  remained  to  brave  the  storm. 
He  was  arrested,  and  sent  to  the  Tower.  The  flight  of  Bolingbroke  and 
Ormond  was  taken  by  parliament  as  equivalent  to  a  confession  of  guilt, 
and  they  were  at  once  attainted.  With  regard,  however,  to  Oxford,  the 
more  his  case  was  examined,  the  less  likely  did  it  appear  that  his 
conviction  could  be  secured.  His  conduct  in  negotiating  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht  had  received  the  approval  both  of  parliament  and  of  the  queen, 
while  the  evidence  of  his  connection  with  the  Pretender  was  to  be  found 
only  at  Versailles.  Accordingly,  a  year  later,  the  charge  was  reduced 
from  treason  to  misdemeanour,  and  in  1718  the  proceedings  were  allowed 
to  drop,  and  the  fallen  minister  was  set  at  liberty.  By  the  flight  of 
Bolingbroke  the  Jacobites  lost  little,  but  that  of  Ormond  was  a  great 
blow  to  their  cause,  as  it  had  been  hoped  that  he  would  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  western  insurrection ;  but  his  natural  hesitation — and 
possibly  his  military  instinct  that  such  an  insurrection,  unless  backed  by 
French  troops  or  Highlanders,  would  be  of  no  avail — deterred  him  from 
the  attempt. 

The  elections  had  passed  over  quietly,  but  during  the  spring  and 
summer  Jacobite   riots   occurred   in   many  places,  particularly  in  the 


1715  George  I.  737 

midland  counties.      At  Oxford   the  cry  of  the  mob  was,  'James  iii. 
and  no  pretender  ! '     In  Staffordshire  the  Tory  rabble  pulled  down  the 
meeting-houses  of  the  obnoxious  nonconformists,  with  shouts 
of  '  High  church  and  Ormond  for  ever  ! '     Such  occurrences 
required  prompt  measures  ;  and  in  order  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
local  authorities.  Parliament  passed  the  Riot  Act,  which  is    The  Riot 
still  in  force.     This  provides  that,  if  twelve  or  more  persons   ^^^' 
unlawfully  and  riotously  assemble  against  the  peace,  and  do  not  disperse 
within  one  hour  after  being  ordered  to  do  so  in  the  king's  name  by  a 
justice  of  the  peace  or  other  lawful  authority,  they  shall  be  guilty  of 
felony  ;    and  if  after  such  order  any  one  is  killed   in  resisting  those 
who  are  charged  to  disperse  them,  no  one  shall  be  held  guilty  of  his 
murder. 

The  riots  were  only  symptoms  of  the  prevalence  of  a  very  dangerous 
feeling.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jacobitism  was  very  widespread  ;  and 
short  of  Jacobitism,  there  was  a  strong  suspicion  of  every- 
thing which  savoured  of  Whiggism,  a  feeling  which  had  '"' 
been  stimulated  by  the  publication  in  1708  of  Lord  Clarendon's  History 
of  the  Great  Rebellion.  For  years  it  was  the  text-book  in  which  the 
history  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  studied  in  every  parsonage  and 
country  house,  and  its  strong  partisan  colouring  cast  a  glamour  over  the 
royalist  cause  which  was  most  favourable  to  the  interests  of  the  Stuarts. 
Jacobitism  was  strongest  in  the  west,  where  Sir  William  Wyndham  had 
great  influence,  and  in  Lancashire,  where  the  number  of  Roman  Catholic 
families  was  very  considerable.  In  Scotland,  too,  dissatisfaction  with 
the  Union,  joined  with  the  usual  antagonism  of  many  of  the  Highland 
clans  to  constituted  authority,  and  especiaUy  to  any  government  which 
was  favoured  by  the  Campbells,  gave  the  Jacobites  hopes  of  organising  a 
successful  rebellion.  The  best  hope  of  the  Jacobites  lay  in  a  simultaneous 
rising  in  England  and  Scotland,  supported  by  the  presence  of  the  Pre- 
tender, in  person  at  all  events  and,  if  possible,  backed  by  a  body  of  foreign 
troops.  Of  this  Bolingbroke  was  well  aware,  but  even  his  skill  could  not 
overcome  the  difl&culties  in  his  path.  First,  the  flight  of  Ormond 
deprived  them  of  their  only  military  leader  ;  then  the  dying  condition  of 
Louis  XIV.  paralysed  the  politics  of  the  French  court ;  then  the  British 
government  arrested  Wyndham,  who  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the 
western  Jacobites  ;  and,  finally,  the  Pretender  gave  orders  to  the  earl  of 
Mar  to  begin  an  insurrection  in  Scotland,  without  waiting  till  England 
was  ready  to  move. 

Accordingly,  on  August  1,  Mar  set  out  from  London,  and  making  his 
way  by  sea  to  Scotland,  raised  the  Highland  clans.     In  this  he  showed 

3a 


738  The  Hanoverians  1715 

much  address,  and  by  the  end  of  September  was  at  the  head  of  a  far  larger 
force  than  any  Montrose  had  ever  commanded.     To  cope  with  him  the 
Mar's        government  despatched  Argyll  to  the  north.    He  found  him- 
Rising,      ggjf^  however,  far  outnumbered,  and  had  to  content  himself 
with  encamping  his  scanty  forces  under  the  walls  of  Stirling.     Fortu- 
nately for  him,  Mar  showed  at  this   crisis   none  of  the  qualities  of  a 
great  commander,  and  instead  of  pushing  on  and  overwhelming  Argyll, 
Forster's      ^^  allowed  himself  to  be  detained  at  Perth.     Meanwhile, 
Rising.         Thomas  Forster,  member  of  parliament  for  Northumberland, 
assisted  by  the  earl  of  Derwentwater,  had  collected  a  body  of  cavalry  on 
the  border,  and  had  been  joined  by  another  party  of  horse  raised  by  Lord 
Kenmure  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dumfries.      To  aid  them.  Mar   de- 
spatched brigadier-general  Mackintosh  with  a  corps  of  Highlanders  to 
Kelso,  whence  the  whole  body  crossed  the  border,  and  made  their  way 
into  Lancashire.     They  reached  Preston  at  the  end  of  November,  and 
occupied  the  town  with  a  badly  armed  force  of  some  three  thousand  men. 
There  they  were  attacked  by  General  Wills  with  a  small  but  efficient 
force  ;   and  Forster,  who  had  been   named   commander — not  for  any 
military  qualities,  but  solely  because  he  was  not  a  Koman  Catholic — 
showed  his  incompetency  by  not  even  defending  the  bridge  over  the 
Ribble,  and  confined  his  exertions  to  barricading  the  main  streets.   There, 
Surrender    however,  his  men  fought  well,  and  the  first  assault  was 
at  Preston,  repulsed;  but  when  General  Carpenter  joined  Wills,  Forster 
abandoned  hope,  and — much  to  the  disgust  of  his  officers  and  men— 
surrendered  at  discretion. 

On  the  very  day  of  the  surrender  at  Preston,  Mar  at  length  summoned 
courage  to  march  against  Argyll ;  and  as  he  had  10,000  men  to  Argyll's 
Battle  of  3300,  no  difficulty  was  expected.  Argyll,  however,  marched 
Sheriffmuir.  q^^^  to  meet  him,  and  drawing  up  his  forces  on  the  open 
ground  of  the  Sheriff'muir,  on  the  road  to  Dunblane,  offered  battle.  The 
fight  which  followed  was  one  of  the  most  singular  in  history.  Each 
commander  fought  on  his  own  right,  each  carried  all  before  him,  and 
each,  on  hearing  of  the  disaster  to  his  left,  returned  to  the  field  ;  but 
Argyll's  men  were  the  fewer  and  apparently  the  more  exhausted,  and, 
above  all,  had  to  be  drawn  up  at  the  foot  of  a  slope,  while  the  rebels 
were  on  its  summit.  At  this  moment  a  vigorous  charge  would  have 
carried  the  day ;  and  Argyll  was  making  the  best  dispositions  for  a 
desperate  defence,  when,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  Mar  gave  the 
signal  for  retreat.  It  was  then  that  one  of  the  disgusted  Highlanders 
gave  voice  to  the  well-known  sentiment,  '  Oh,  for  an  hour  of  Dundee  ! ' 
The  battle  of  Sheriff'muir,  though  it  was  rather  a  defeat  for  Mar  than 


1715  George  I.  739 

a  victory  for  Argyll,  was  decisive  of  the  issue  of  the  campaign,  and 
Mar  made  no  further  effort  to  break  the  bridUng  line  of  the  Forth. 
Even  the  arrival  of  the  Pretender  in  person  was  unable  to  The  Old 
restore  the  energy  of  the  troops.  On  both  sides  the  dis-  ^''^tender. 
illusionment  was  complete.  He  expected  to  find  a  numerous,  well- 
disciplined,  and  victorious  army  ;  they  a  handsome,  active,  and  energetic 
leader.  He  found  a  disheartened  and  ill-armed  rabble  ;  they  saw  before 
them  a  tall,  thin,  pale  young  man,  slow  of  speech,  and  without  a  smile. 
Nothing  further  was  attempted.  In  January  the  rebels  retreated 
from  Perth,  and  on  February  4  the  Pretender  and  Mar  abandoned  their 
followers,  and  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  France.  Of  the  noblemen 
taken  at  Preston,  Lords  Derwentwater  and  Kenmure  alone  were 
beheaded  ;  and  the  fact  that  this  was  done  with  the  full  approval  of  the 
kindly  and  lenient  Walpole  is  strong  evidence  that  a  stern  example  was 
necessary.     Forster  and  Mackintosh  both  escaped. 

The  miserable  failure  of  these  insurrections,  even  making  allowance 
for  the  incompetency  of  Mar  and  Forster,  showed  clearly  that  no  rising 
was  likely  to  be  successful  which  was  not  aided  by  a  foreign  chances  of 
force.  Such  an  army  might  be  supplied  by  France,  Spain,  Po''e»en  aid. 
or  Sweden,  and  the  foreign  policy  of  George's  ministers  was  chiefly 
directed  to  prevent  such  aid  being  given.  Fortunately  the  death  of 
Louis  XIV.,  which  occurred  on  September  1,  1715,  completely  changed  the 
policy  of  the  French  court.  His  successor  was  his  great-grandson,  Louis 
XV.,  a  little  boy  of  five  years  old,  in  delicate  health,  who  was  under  the 
regency  of  his  cousin,  the  duke  of  Orleans,  generally  known  as  Philip  the 
Regent.  By  blood  the  next  heir  to  the  throne  was  Louis'  uncle,  Philip 
of  Spain,  but  his  claim  was  barred  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  Philip 
the  Regent,  as  next  in  succession  after  him,  was,  therefore,  desirous  of 
maintaining  the  treaty  (see  pedigree,  p.  732).  In  accordance  with  this 
view,  and  advised  by  the  clever  Abb6  Dubois,  the  regent  negotiated 
a  treaty  with  England ;  recognised  the  Hanoverian  succession,  and  for 
some  years  this  alliance  between  England  and  France  was  the  dominat- 
ing fact  in  European  politics.  For  the  first  time,  therefore,  since  1688, 
the  government  of  France  was  really  friendly  to  England. 

Spain  was  more  dangerous.  Philip  himself  was  a  feeble  personage, 
wholly  under  the  dominion  of  his  wife,  but  his  minister,  Alberoni,  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  day.  By  birth  the 
son  of  a  gardener,  he  had  raised  himself  to  be  the  chief 
power  in  Spain.  Alberoni  had  the  good  sense  to  perceive  that  the  loss 
of  her  outlying  possessions  in  Italy  and  the  Netherlands  had  not  really 
destroyed  the  power  of  Spain,  and  he  had  sufficient  address  to  secure  a 


740  The  Hanoverians  1715 

period  of  peace,  during  which  the  finances,  the  army,  and  the  navy- 
could  be  placed  on  a  sound  footing.  With  returning  prosperity  the 
ambition  of  Alberoni  expanded,  and  he  now  looked  forward  to  restoring 
Spain  to  her  place  among  the  Great  Powers,  and  regaining  the  pro- 
vinces she  had  lost  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  His  plans  were  viewed 
with  suspicion,  both  at  Paris  and  Vienna.  In  1717,  incensed  by  the 
arrest  of  a  Spanish  subject,  Spain  declared  war  against  Austria.  As  a 
first  step  she  attacked  and  conquered  the  island  of  Sardinia,  and  in  1718 
sent  an  expedition  to  Sicily.  In  consequence  of  the  threatening  attitude 
of  Spain  the  triple  alliance  was  extended  to  include  Austria,  under  the 
title  of  the  quadruple  alliance,  and  Admiral  Byng  received  orders  to 
hinder  any  attack  on  Sicily.  Accordingly,  when  he  arrived 
Cape  there   he  brought  on  an  action  with  the  Spanish  fleetjoif 

Passaro.  (Jape  Passaro,  in  which  the  British  were  victorious.  This 
check  to  his  plans  roused  the  anger  of  Alberoni,  and  he  at  once 
retaliated  by  taking  up  the  cause  of  the  Pretender. 

His  first  scheme  was  to  foment  the  anger  of  Charles  xii.,  the  eccentric 
soldier  who  then  reigned  in   Sweden,  and  who  had  been  exasperated 

«^    ,     ^TT    against  Britain  by  the  circumstance  that  George  had  recently 

Charles  XII.  ,,^V^  tit,.  f-r.  , 

purchased  from   Denmark   the    duchies    of   Bremen  and 

Verden,  between  the  Lower  Elbe  and  the  Weser,  which,  till  overrun  by 
the  Danes  in  1710,  had  belonged  to  Sweden  since  the  year  1648. 
Accordingly,  Alberoni  had  little  difficulty  in  inducing  him  to  fall  in  with 
his  suggestion  of  an  invasion  of  Scotland.  Such  an  event  would  have 
been  most  formidable,  for  Charles  was  no  contemptible  general,  and  his 
appearance  in  the  Highlands  at  the  head  of  a  strong  force  would  have 
been  a  signal  for  a  rising  to  which  Mar's  rebellion  would  have  been  a 
trifle.  Happily  for  England,  the  conquest  of  Norway  was  to  be  under- 
taken as  a  preliminary,  and  Charles'  death  before  the  fortress  of  Fredericks- 
hall  in  December  of  1719  removed  a  very  serious  danger. 

Charles  having  failed  him,  Alberoni  then  invited  the  Pretender  to 
Spain,  and  prepared  a  Spanish  expedition  to  England.     It  consisted  of 

5000  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Ormond,  with  weapons 
invasion  of  for  30,000  more,  but  it  was  shattered  by  a  storm  in  the  Bay 

of  Biscay.  Only  two  ships  with  300  men  reached  Kintail  in 
Ross-shire,  and  the  small  force  they  carried  was  utterly  routed  in  1719 
at  the  pass  of  Glenshiel.  In  Spain  itself,  and  at  sea,  Alberoni  sufi'ered 
numerous  disasters  at  the  hands  of  the  British  and  French,  and  at 
length  his  removal  from  office  was  made  a  condition  of  peace  by  the 
allied  powers.  The  condition  was  accepted.  Alberoni  feU  from  power 
and  left  Spain  for  his  native  Italy,  and  a  general  peace  was  concluded 


1720  George  I.  741 

in  1720,  of  which  the  most  interesting  item  was  the  acceptance  by  the 
newly- crowned  King  of  Sicily  (see  p.  726)  of  the  island  of  Sardinia 
in  lieu  of  Sicily  ;  and  a  general  pacification  followed,  mainly  due  to  the 
joint  influence  of  the  unusual  alliance  between  England  and  France.  The 
chief  credit  for  the  defeat  of  Alberoni  must  be  ascribed  to  Stanhope. 

At  home  the  chief  measure  of  the  government  had  been  the  passing  of 
the  Septennial  Act.  For  some  time  the  policy  of  the  Triennial  Act  had 
been  called  in  question,  and  it  had  been  bitterly  declared 
that  under  it  parliameijt  spent  its  first  year  in  trying  Septennial 
election  petitions ;  its  second  in  discussing  measures  ;  and 
its  third  in  awaiting  dissolution.  However,  in  1716,  it  was  found  that 
unless  some  change  were  made  a  general  election  would  have  to  take 
place  in  1717.  Considering  the  agitated  state  of  the  country,  ministers 
refused  to  run  the  risk,  and  proposed  to  extend  the  life  of  the  existing 
and  future  parliaments  to  seven  years.  The  bill  passed  both  Houses  by 
large  majorities,  and  appears  to  have  excited  little  opposition  outside  the 
House.  Its  importance  was  very  great.  It  strengthened  the  House  of 
Commons  against  the  House  of  Lords,  partly  by  adding  to  its  perman- 
ence, partly  by  relieving  individual  members  of  their  dependence  on 
individual  peers  who  then  nominated  a  large  number  of  the  members  of 
the  Lower  House  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  from  the  date  of  its  passing 
more  pains  were  taken  by  ministers  to  keep  some  of  their  best  men  in  the 
Lower  House.  It  also  made  the  policy  of  the  House  less  fluctuating, 
and  aided  the  Whigs  to  consolidate  their  power  between  one  general 
election  and  the  next.  The  aged  Somers  praised  it  on  the  ground  that 
'  it  would  be  the  greatest  support  to  the  liberties  of  the  country '  ; 
Carteret,  as  *  increasing  the  credit  of  England  abroad  by  adding  to  the 
stability  of  ministers.'  Its  chief  efiects  at  present  are  to  give  greater 
security  against  violent  changes  of  policy ;  to  insure  that  the  policy  of 
any  set  of  ministers  has  a  fair  trial ;  and  to  secure  time  for  the  subsidence 
of  the  party  passions  which  are  kindled  by  a  general  election.  It  also  gives 
greater  independence  to  the  members  than  they  would  have  if  elections 
were  more  frequent,  and  saves  the  country  much  expense. 

In  1717  the  Whig  triumvirate  broke  up.  Like  all  parties  with  a  large 
majority  the  Whigs  were  peculiarly  liable  to  internal  quarrels,  and  at  this 
date  the  loyalty  of  members  of  the  same  cabinet  to  one  cabinet  of 
another  was  not  so  strong  as  it  has  subsequently  become.  ^^*"v^^s. 
Very  early,  therefore,  there  were  symptoms  of  strained  relations  between 
ministers,  and  Lord  Sunderland,  who  was  exasperated  at  being  relegated 
to  the  unimportant  position  of  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  did  what  he 
could  to  foment  them.     The  difficulties  arose  not  so  much  from  any  one 


742  The  Hanoverians  1717 

cause  as  from  a  series  of  petty  piques  and  misunderstandings — for  on 
general  politics  the  ministers  were  agreed ;  but  among  other  things 
the  King  was  annoyed  by  Townshend  being  friendly  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  whose  comparative  popularity  made  him  odious  to  his  father. 
Moreover,  the  fact  that  Stanhope  and  Sunderland  were  at  Hanover 
while  Townshend  was  in  London,  and  that  all  dealings  between  them 
were  by  letters  exchanged  at  long  intervals  was  most  unfavourable  to 
harmony.  Accordingly,  George  dismissed  Townshend  from  his  post  of 
secretary  of  state,  but  endeavoured  to  appease  his  anger  by  making  him 
lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland.  Townshend  for  a  time  submitted,  but  the 
relations  of  the  ministers  were  little  improved,  and  in  1717  George 
suddenly  dismissed  Townshend  from  the  lord-lieutenancy.  Walpole, 
contrary  to  George's  strongly  expressed  wishes,  immediately  resigned, 
and  with  him  William  Pulteney,  who  was  an  excellent  speaker  and  a 
close  ally  of  Walpole.  Their  retirement  was  followed  by  a  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  government.  Stanhope  became  first  lord  of  the  treasury 
and  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  Sunderland  reaped  his  reward  by 
being  made  secretary  of  state,  with  Addison  as  his  colleague.  A  little 
later  Stanhope  was  raised  to  the  peerage,  and  gave  up  his  post  as  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer  to  Aislabie.  In  1718  Sunderland  became  first 
Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and  Stanhope  took  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State. 

Stanhope  was  an  able  and  broad-minded  minister.     Sunderland,  with 
great  ability  and  industry,  was  of  an  exclusive  and  oligarchical  turn  of 
.  mind.     The  influence  of  the  one  is  seen  in  the  repeal  of  the 

and  Acts  against  Schism  and  Occasional  Conformity  ;    of  the 

other  in  the  abortive  Peerage  Bill.  Both  Stanhope  and 
Sunderland  were  firm  believers  in  toleration,  and  with  Sunderland's  full 
concurrence  Stanhope  introduced  a  bill,  ingeniously  entitled,  '  An  Act 
for  Strengthening  the  Protestant  Interest,'  by  which  it  was  proposed  to 
repeal  the  Schism  Act,  and  the  Act  against  Occasional  Conformity,  and 
those  portions  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Act  which  applied  to  Pro- 
testant Dissenters.  It  w^as  soon  apparent  how  little  hold  the  theory  of 
toleration  had  secured  over  the  minds  of  Englishmen.  All  the  bishops 
but  four  opposed  the  measure  ;  many  peers,  among  others  the  Whig 
Devonshire  and  the  Tory  Nottingham  supported  them  ;  and  eventually 
the  second  reading  was  only  carried  by  86  to  68.  Warned  by  this, 
Stanhope  dropped  the  proposal  to  touch  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  ; 
but  even  with  this  modification,  the  second  reading  in  the  Commons  was 
only  passed  by  243  to  202  ;  and  to  his  great  disgrace  Walpole,  who  had 
formerly  described  the  Schism  Act  as  more  worthy  of  Julian  the 
Apostate  than  of  a  Protestant  parliament,  spoke  and  voted  in  the  minority. 


1720  Ge(yrge  I.  743 

The  fate  of  this  measure  showed  clearly  that  Sunderland  had  been  right  in 
declaring  that  any  '  attack  on  the  Test  Act  would  ruin  all,'  and  Stanhope, 
who  would  gladly  have  done  away  with  all  the  disabilities,  both  of  the 
Protestant  Dissenters  and  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  felt  that  he  could  go 
no  further  without  rousing  the  hostility  of  the  Anglican  Church,  which 
had  already  proved  fatal  to  Godolphin  and  Marlborough. 

Sunderland's  scheme  was  even  less  successful.  Its  nominal  design  was  to 
secure  the  House  of  Lords  from  any  repetition  of  the  coup  d'etat  of  Queen 
Anne,  by  restricting  th,e  number  of  peers  ;  but  in  reality,  The  Peerage 
it  was  designed  to  serve  Sunderland's  oligarchical  views  by  ^*^^- 
increasing  the  relative  importance  of  the  nobility,  and  by  putting  the  House 
of  Lords  in  a  position  to  set  at  defiance  the  wishes,  either  of  the  House 
of  Commons  or  the  crown.  He  hoped  to  make  it  palatable  to  the  Commons 
by  indirectly  preventing  the  Hanoverian  kings  from  conferring  peerages 
upon  foreigners.  The  bill  provided  that  only  six  more  peerages,  beyond 
the  then  number  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  might  be  created. 
Extinct  peerages  were,  however,  to  be  filled  up,  and,  to  insure  frequent 
vacancies,  the  new  peerages  were  to  be  confined  to  heirs  male.  The  six- 
teen elective  Scottish  peers  were  to  be  replaced  by  twenty-five  hereditary 
peers  from  that  country.  The  bill  passed  the  Lords  readily  enough,  and 
would  probably  have  passed  the  Commons  too,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
determined  opposition  of  Walpole,  who  saw  more  clearly  than  any  other 
man  of  his  time  the  importance  of  securing,  at  all  hazards,  the  predomin- 
ance of  the  Lower  House.  His  speech  was  a  masterpiece,  appealing  both 
to  the  political  instincts  of  the  members,  and  to  their  family  and  social 
prejudices  and  ambitions.  The  bill,  he  declared,  would  take  away  a 
great  inducement  to  virtue,  *  for  there  would  be  no  way  of  arriving  at 
honour  but  through  the  winding  sheet  of  an  old  decrepit  lord  or  the  grave 
of  an  extinct  noble  family.'  '  It  was  obvious,'  he  said,  '  that  whatever 
the  lords  gained,  must  be  acquired  at  the  loss  of  the  Commons  and  the 
royal  prerogative '  ;  and  finally  he  asked  his  fellow-commons  how  the 
lords  could  expect  them  to  consent  to  a  bill  to  prevent  themselves  and 
their  descendants  from  being  made  peers.  With  these  homely  arguments 
he  '  bore  down  everything  before  him,'  and  the  bill  was  rejected  by  209 
to  177.  Had  it  passed,  the  rule  of  the  Whig  oligarchy,  who  were  then 
in  power,  would  have  been  made  perpetual,  and  nothing  short  of  a  revolu- 
tion could  have  broken  down  the  opposition  of  the  House  of  Lords  when 
it  chanced  to  disagree  with  the  Commons. 

The  same  year  that  saw  the  rejection  of  the  peerage  bill  witnessed  the  rise 
of  the  South  Sea  scheme.  The  South  Sea  Company  had  been  founded  by 
the  Tory  ministry  in  1711.      In  principle,  the  new  company  was  created 


744  The  Hanoverians  1717 

on  the  same  lines  as  had  been  followed  by  Montagu  in  the  formation  of 
the  Bank  of  England.    The  holders  of  bonds  or  floating  debt,  to  the  value 
The  South    ^^  £19,000,000,  were  formed  into  a  company,  which  was  to  re- 
Sea  Com-     ceive  from  the  government  an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  guaran- 
teed on  certain  customs  duties,  the  sum  of  £8000  a  year 
for  management  and  the  exclusive  right  of  trading  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  and 
along  the  east  coast  of  South  America  from  the  Orinoco  to  Cape  Horn. 
The  new  company  was  regarded  as  a  Tory  institution,  and  at  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht  special  care  was  taken  of  its  interests.     For  its  benefit,  the 
monopoly  of  the  African  slave  trade  or  assiento  had  been  secured  for 
England,  and  also  the  right  to  send  one  ship  a  year  to  trade  with  the 
Spanish  colonies.     The  company,  therefore,  flourished,  and  in  1717  the 
value  of  its  shares  was  considerably  above  par. 

In  the  early  days  of  George  i.,  the  increase  in  the  national  debt,  and 
especially  the  heavy  burden  of  the  terminable  annuities,  were  creating 
much  apprehension.  As  the  stability  of  government  increased,  its  credit 
improved,  and  the  rate  of  interest  steadily  declined.  In  1717,  govern- 
ment took  advantage  of  this  to  reduce  the  interest  on  the  debt  payable 
both  to  the  South  Sea  Company  and  to  the  Bank  of  England  from  6  to 
5  per  cent.,  and  the  two  companies  advanced  4^  millions  at  5  per  cent,  to 
enable  the  government  to  pay  ofl*  those  of  its  creditors  who  preferred  it. 

The  South  Sea  scheme  of  1719  was,  in  its  origin,  a  proposal  to  carry  this 

process  a  step  further.     The  subject  was  mooted  between  Sir  John  Blunt, 

the  chairman  of  the  company,  Aislabie,  chancellor  of  the 

of  the  exchequer,  and  Sunderland,  the  first  lord  of  the  treasury. 

mpa  y.    rpj^g  scheme,  as  it  first  stood,  was  moderate  ;  but  the  friends 

of  the  Bank  of  England  obtained  leave  for  it  to  make  a  proposal,  and  in 

consequence  of  this  the  two  companies  bid  against  one  another  till  all  idea 

of  prudence  had  disappeared.     Eventually  the  South  Sea  Company  won 

the  race,  and  agreed  to  take  over  the  whole  of  the  debt  at  5  per  cent.,  and 

to  pay  the  government  no  less  than  7J  millions  of  money  to  pay  off  its 

floating  liabilities  and  such  fund-holders  as  did  not  fall  in   with  the 

scheme. 

At  first  it  was  doubtful  what  the  fund-holders  would  do  ;  but  within  a 
few  days  the  vast  majority  of  them  accepted  shares  in  the  company  to 
the   value   of  8j  years'  purchase  of  their  annual  income. 
Success  of    Not  a  doubt  of  the  success  of  the  scheme  crossed  the  public 
mind,  and  confidence  was   increased   by  the  circumstance 
that  at  Paris  a  similar  scheme  was  on  foot,  and  that  glowing  accounts  of 
the  untold  wealth  conferred  on  France  by  the  transactions  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Company  were  circulated  in  London.     Another  influence  which 


1720  Gewge  I.  745 

added  to  the  rage  for  speculation  was  the  fact  that  at  that  date  the 
opportunities  for  investment  were  few,  the  wealth  of  the  country  was 
rapidly  increasing,  and  consequently  a  tremendous  rush  was  made  to 
secure  shares  in  an  undertaking  which  seemed  to  be  guaranteed  by  all  the 
authority  of  the  statesmen  of  the  day.  In  consequence,  the  £100  shares, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  were  at  130,  rapidly  rose  in  value. 
All  through  the  spring  and  sunmier  of  1720  the  value  continued  rising, 
and  in  August  it  reached  the  gigantic  price  of  £1000  per  share  of  £100. 
To  make  this  value  profitable,  the  company  would  have  to  pay  at  least  50 
per  cent.  ;  but  so  sanguine  or  infatuated  were  the  directors,  that  they 
made  a  public  announcement  that  after  Christmas  1721  the  dividend 
should  Tiever  fall  below  this  sum. 

Meanwhile,  the  rage  for  speculation  was  so  great  that  other  companies 
came  into  the  field.  Some  were  sensible  but  premature  ;  others  were 
absurd.  One  was  for  smelting  iron  by  pit  coal ;  another  for  Rival 
*  insuring  masters  and  mistresses  against  losses  caused  by  the  Companies, 
carelessness  of  servants ' ;  another  '  for  a  wheel  for  perpetual  motion ' ;  and 
a  fourth  for  carrying  on  an  undertaking  of  great  advantage,  but  nobody 
to  know  what  it  is.  As  chairmen  of  the  companies  appeared  the  names 
of  dukes  and  earls,  and  even  the  Prince  of  Wales  came  before  the  public 
as  chairman  of  a  Welsh  copper  company.  Most  of  these  companies  had 
no  legal  standing,  and  the  South  Sea  Company  commenced  proceedings 
against  them.  Their  action,  however,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  public  to  the 
recklessness  of  the  original  speculation.  Shares  immediately  fell.  By 
October  the  stock  had  follen  to  300  ;  by  the  end  of  November  it  was  at  135, 
and  there  it  stayed  ;  but  all  those  who  had  been  foolish  enough  to  pay 
above  that  price,  and  failed  to  sell  out,  lost  their  money,  panic  and 
Terrible  ruin  followed  ;  for  men  and  women  of  all  classes,  R"*"- 
statesmen  and  cobblers,  ladies  and  laundresses,  had  alike  joined  in  the  race 
for  wealth.  Sunderland  lost,  Walpole  gained  ;  the  prudent  Pope  added 
to  his  income,  the  careless  Gay  lost  his.  Public  credit  seemed  likely  to  be 
annihilated,  and  no  one  could  foresee  what  would  happen.  The  Jacobites 
were  triumphant.  In  these  circumstances  one  name  was  on  every  lip  as 
that  of  the  man  who  might  save  the  country.  From  the  first  Walpole  had 
opposed  the  scheme  as  too  gigantic  for  safety,  though  he  had  no  scruple 
in  making  money  by  it  himself;  but  as  he  had  opposed  everything 
proposed  by  Stanhope  and  Sunderland,  his  advice  had  been  unheeded, 
and  moreover  he  had  since  rejoined  their  administration.  Now, 
however,  his  warnings  were  remembered,  and  his  advice  was  eagerly 
listened  to. 

At  the  same  time  a  loud  cry  was  raised  for  the  punishment  of  the 


746  The  Hanoverians  1720 

directors  ;  and  an  investigation  was  demanded.  Its  researches  soon  laid 
bare  a  mass  of  corrupt  dealing,  which,  though  probably  not  unusual 
in  the  case  of  companies  at  that  date,  caused  intense  excitement.  It 
The  Dilin-  "^^  found  that  large  quantities  of  wholly  fictitious  stock  had 
quents.  \)eeT].  assigned  to  ministers  and  others  as  the  price  of  their 
support.  Ten  thousand  pounds  each  had  been  given  to  the  duchesses  of 
Kendal  and  Sufi"olk.  The  names  of  Sunderland,  Craggs,  Aislabie,  and 
Charles  Stanhope,  a  cousin  of  the  earl,  were  all  mentioned  as  persons  who 
had  received  complimentary  assignments  of  stock.  Of  these,  Sunderland 
and  Stanhope  were  with  difficulty  acquitted.  Craggs  died  of  small-pox 
the  very  day  the  report  was  published.  His  father  committed  suicide. 
Aislabie  was  expelled.  The  culpable  directors  were  fined.  Gibbon's 
grandfather  had  to  give  up  i;95,000  out  of  a  fortune  of  ^100,000.  Earl 
Stanhope  was  not  badly  implicated  ;  but  his  fury  at  the  gibes  of  Lord 
Wharton  was  so  great  that  he  was  taken  ill  in  the  House  of  Lords  and 
died  a  few  days  later.     Sunderland  was  compelled  to  resign. 

These  changes  made  way  for  Walpole,  who  succeeded  Sunderland  as 

first  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  Aislabie  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.     By 

his  advice  it  was  arranged  that  the  capital  of  the  company 

Company        should   be   £33,000,000,  on  half  of  which   an  interest  of 

reorganised.    ^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^  p^^^  ^^  ^j^^  government  down  to 

1727,  and  4  per  cent,  afterwards  ;  and  shareholders  were  to  have  33  per 
cent,  of  their  nominal  capital.  In  this  way  the  nation  was  able  to  look 
forward  to  a  reduction  of  1  per  cent,  in  the  interest  on  the  national  debt 
after  six  years.  Gradually  the  disturbance  in  trade  subsided.  Happily 
there  had  been  no  destruction  of  capital,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Darien 
scheme.  Some  were  richer,  and  some  were  poorer,  but  the  wealth  of  the 
nation  remained  the  same  ;  by  degrees  confidence  was  restored  and  trade 
settled  down  into  its  accustomed  channels. 

Walpole  now  became  first  lord  of  the  treasury  and  prime  minister  of 

England.     He  is  the  first  to  whom  this  title  is  usually  given,  though  as 

early  as  1677  Evelyn  speaks  in  his  diary  of  Lord  Arlington 

Prime  as  having  been  '  secretary  of  state  and  prime  minister.'     By 

Minister,      ^j^.^^  however,  he  merely  means  the  leading  minister,  and 

from  the  earliest  times  one  among  the  king's  ministers  could  usually 

be   thus  distinguished.      Under  the  Normans   and  early  Plantagenets 

it  was  the  justiciar,  such  as  Roger  le  Poer,  or  Hubert  de  Burgh  ;  under 

the  later  Plantagenets  and  early  Tudors  it  was  usually  the  chancellor, 

such  as  William  of  Wykeham,  Morton   or  Wolsey.     Under  the  later 

Tudors  and  the  Stuarts  it  was  sometimes  the  chancellor,  sometimes  the 

lord-treasurer,  sometimes  the  secretary   of  state.     Burleigh  was   first 


1721  Walpole  747 

secretary  of  state,  and  then  lord-treasurer.  Clarendon  was  chancellor  ; 
but  after  his  fall  the  office  of  lord-treasurer  was  generally  filled  by 
the  leading  minister,  and  was  held  as  such  by  Danby  and  Godolphin. 
It  had,  however,  been  often  the  custom  not  to  appoint  a  lord-treasurer, 
but  to  place  the  treasury  under  the  management  of  a  board  of  com- 
missioners, each  of  whom  was  entitled  a  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  their 
chairman  was  called  the  first  lord.  In  a  similar  way  we  now  have  a 
board  of  admiralty,  which  takes  the  place  of  the  lord  high  admiral. 
There  was  then  no  fixed  rule  as  to  precedence,  and  under  George  i.  both 
Townshend  and  Stanhope,  when  really  leading  minister,  had  held  the 
office  of  secretary  of  state. 

Circumstances,  however,  had  arisen  which  of  necessity  made  the 
position  of  leading  minister  more  definite  than  heretofore.  Of  these,  the 
most  important  was  the  absence  of  the  sovereign  from  meet-  The 
ings  of  the  cabinet.  Hitherto  it  had  been  the  practice  for  Premiership, 
the  sovereign  always  to  be  present  whenever  he  was  in  England,  and  to 
take  the  chair.  George  i.,  however,  found  the  task  irksome  and  useless, 
from  his  ignorance  of  the  English  language,  and  soon  gave  up  the  habit. 
Henceforward,  therefore,  the  leading  minister  was  recognised  as  the  chair- 
man of  the  cabinet  council,  and  to  him  was  invariably  given  the  title  of 
prime  minister,  and  a  little  later  of  premier.  Walpole's  long  tenure  of  office 
associated  the  position  with  that  of  first  lord  of  the  treasury  ;  but  there  is 
no  fixed  rule  on  the  matter,  and  in  both  the  ministry  of  1885  and  that  of 
1886  Lord  Salisbury  reverted  to  the  older  practice,  and  held  the  position 
of  prime  minister  along  with  that  of  secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affiiirs, 
giving  that  of  first  lord  of  the  treasury  to  the  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  position  of  prime  minister,  however,  is  not  to  be  found 
in  English  law  ;  it  is  merely  a  title  of  courtesy,  and  is  given  to  the 
person  who  is  asked  by  the  sovereign  to  form  a  cabinet.  The  change 
thus  initiated  was  of  great  importance  in  the  history  of  party  govern- 
ment ;  and,  combined  with  George's  practice  of  choosing  his  ministers 
from  one  political  party,  did  a  great  deal  to  make  the  The 
ministers  a  united  and  disciplined  body,  a  change  which  Cabinet, 
was  recognised  by  the  new  practice  of  speaking  of  the  whole  body  of 
ministers  as  the  ministry.  Henceforward  the  ministry  includes  aU  the 
political  officers  of  the  crown  who  are  changed  in  accordance  with  the 
fiuctuations  of  political  opinion  ;  the  cabinet  includes  those  members  of 
the  ministry  who  sit  as  a  secret  committee  under  the  chairmanship  of 
the  prime  minister.  Cabinet  ministers,  if  they  are  not  so  before,  are 
always  made  members  of  the  privy  council,  and  as  such  have  the  title  of 
Right  Honourable. 


748  George  I.  1721 

Walpole's  chief  colleagues  were  Townshend  and  Carteret,  the  two 
secretaries  of  state,  and  Pnlteney,  cofferer,  or  treasurer,  of  the  king's 
Walpole's  household.  Fortunately  for  Walpole,  he  assumed  ofl&ce  at 
Colleagues.  ^  moment  when  accident  or  death  was  removing  from  the 
l^olitical  stage  all  the  men  who  might  have  been  his  successful  rivals.  All 
the  members  of  the  old  Junto  were  dead.  Godolphin  had  died  in  1714, 
Marlborough  in  1722  ;  Stanhope,  too,  was  gone.  Sunderland,  whose 
insinuating  tongue  was  busy  to  the  last  in  undermining  Walpole,  as  it 
had  undermined  Townshend,  died  in  1722  ;  Harley  died  in  1726  ;  Boling- 
broke  was  discredited  ;  Craggs  was  dead  ;  Aislabie  had  been  expelled. 

The  first  prime  minister  of  England  was  a  typical  Englishman  of 
his  own  time.  Born  in  1676,  the  third  among  the  nineteen  children  of  a 
Character  country  squire,  he  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge,  and 
of  Walpole.  acquired  a  knowledge  of  business  and  of  his  fellow-men  on 
the  magistrates'  bench  and  in  the  hunting  field.  He  entered  parliament 
in  1700,  and  as  he  controlled  the  elections  at  Lynn  and  Castle  Rising, 
and  was  a  strong  Whig,  he  soon  attracted  attention.  In  1704  Marl- 
borough gave  him  a  seat  on  the  admiralty  board ;  in  1708  he  became 
secretary  of  war,  and  his  imprisonment  in  1712  raised  him  to  the  front 
rank  among  Whig  statesmen,  and  henceforth  his  personal  history  becomes 
part  of  that  of  his  country.  In  appearance  he  was  the  country  squire, 
with  an  open  and  genial  countenance,  well-knit  frame,  and  habits  of 
steady  endurance,  either  in  the  field  or  at  the  desk.  Of  easy  morals,  and 
intelligent  enough  to  lead,  but  not  too  far  ahead  of  his  contemporaries 
to  be  out  of  sympathy  with  their  ideas  and  prejudices  ;  plain-spoken  and 
good-natured ;  a  hard  worker  but  a  lover  of  sport,  with  a  capital  knowledge 
of  human  nature  and  of  the  art  of  managing  men  ;  he  knew  what  he 
wanted  to  get  and  how  to  get  it,  and  if  he  found  that  insuperable 
difficulties  lay  in  his  way,  he  was  willing  either  to  turn  back  and  wait  for 
a  more  convenient  season,  or  to  devise  some  less  ostentatious  method  of 
compassing  his  ends.  Thoroughly  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a 
period  of  repose  after  the  long  series  of  agitations  through  which  England 
had  passed  during  the  preceding  eighty  years,  he  avoided  anything  that 
might  revive  either  political  or  religious  rancour.  In  foreign  politics  he 
recognised  the  maintenance  of  peace  as  the  best  security  against  Jacobite 
intrigue ;  and  while  never  truckling  to  foreign  powers,  and  keeping  a 
steady  eye  on  the  preservation  of  British  interests,  he  steadily  avoided 
complications  that  might  lead  to  war,  and  when  forced  to  fight  did  his 
best  to  confine  hostilities  within  the  smallest  practicable  limits.  Either 
at  home  or  abroad  he  had  no  liking  for  heroic  measures,  and  always  acted 
on  the  principle  of  letting  well  alone. 


1722  Walpole  749 

The  need  of  this  caution  was  very  soon  demonstrated  by  the  revelation 
of  a  Jacobite  conspiracy.  In  1720  the  friends  of  the  Pretender  had  been 
much  elated  by  the  birth  of  a  grandson  of  James  ii.,  Jacobite 
named  Charles  Edward  Lewis  Casimir  Stuart,  who  was  P^°*s. 
afterwards  the  unfortunate  leader  of  the  rising  of  1745.  They  also  had 
conceived  the  singular  idea  that  George  was  tired  of  his  new  power  ;  and 
the  Pretender  actually  wrote  to  him  and  offered  to  secure  him  the  title  of 
king  of  Hanover  if  he  would  retire  in  his  favour.  It  was  also  believed 
that  the  country  was  exasperated  by  the  failure  of  the  South  Sea  scheme, 
for,  with  the  credulity  of  exiles,  the  Stuarts  and  their  friends  interpreted 
every  event  in  their  own  favour.  At  this  time  the  affairs  of  the  Jacobites 
were  managed  by  a  committee  of  five  persons,  of  whom  Atterbury, 
bishop  of  Kochester,  was  the  ablest  and  most  energetic  ;  and,  though  the 
correspondence  of  the  conspirators  had  been  most  artfully  concealed, 
a  chance  incident  enabled  the  government  to  identify  the  work  of 
Atterbury.  He  was  accordingly  arrested,  and  in  spite  of  an  eloquent 
defence  before  the  House  of  Lords,  a  Bill  of  Pains  and  Penalties  against 
liim  passed  through  both  Houses,  and  in  accordance  with  its  provisions  he 
was  deprived  of  his  bishopric  and  banished  in  1722.  There  is  no  doubt  of 
his  guilt ;  but  among  the  high  church  party  great  scandal  was  caused  by 
such  an  attack  on  a  bishop,  and  during  his  imprisonment  in  the  Tower 
prayers  were  offered  for  him  in  many  London  churches  on  the  plea  that 
he  had  the  gout.  The  detection  of  Atterbury  was  a  great  blow  to  the 
Jacobites,  and  Walpole  followed  it  up  by  imposing  a  tax  on  all  Catholic 
recusants,  and  this  was  afterwards  extended  so  as  to  apply  to  Nonjurors. 
This  intolerant  measure  admits  of  no  defence  ;  but  as  the  Roman  Catholics 
and  Nonjurors  furnished  the  Jacobite  conspirators,  Walpole  seems  to 
have  thought  that  their  sins  should  be  visited  on  all  alike. 

So  powerful  did  Walpole  feel  after  Atterbury's  trial  that  he  ventured 
at  this  date  to  permit  Bolingbroke  to  retiurn  to  England.     Since  his 
flight  that  statesman  had  met  with  a  singular  experience. 
Within  twelve    months   he    had  been  dismissed  from  the     broke  "s 
service  both  of  the  king  and  the  Pretender ;  attainted  by 
the  parliament  of  one  ;    denounced  as  a  traitor   by  the  adherents  of 
the  other.     His  dismissal  by  James,  which  seems  to  have  been  due  to 
the  jealousy  of  Onnond^  and  Mar,  made  him  the  bitter  enemy  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  he  was  delighted  to  enter  into  any  bargain  which  should 
restore  him  to  England.     Walpole,  however,  was  careful.     The  sincerity 
of  his  repentance  was  tested  by  six  years  of  delay ;  and  when,  as  the 
result  of  a  bribe  of  ^11,000  to  the  duchess  of  Kendal,  the  king's  mis- 
tress, a  pardon  under  the  great  seal  was  granted,  his  estates  were  restored 


750  George  I.  ^  1722 

by  Act  of  Parliament,  nothing  was  done  to  reverse  the  attainder,  and 
Bolingbroke  was  therefore  excluded  from  parliament. 

In  1724,  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  internal  dissensions  broke  out  in 
the  cabinet.     The  causes  of  these  were  both  general  and  special.     In  the 

first  place,  the  tendency  of  party  government  had  been  to 
with  compel  the  administration  to  adopt  a  united  policy,  and 

to  stand  or  fall  together,  and  it  was  obvious  that  if  this  were 
to  be  the  rule,  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  man  to  retain  his  place  in 
the  cabinet  who  was,  on  vital  questions,  opposed  to  the  views  of  his 
colleagues  and  especially  to  those  of  the  prime  minister.  In  the  second, 
several  of  Walpole's  original  colleagues  were  men  of  so  much  character 
and  ambition  that  it  was  difficult  for  them  to  acquiesce  in  a  principle 
which  involved  so  much  sacrifice  of  individual  opinion.  Of  these  the 
first  to  go  was  Lord  Carteret.  This  nobleman,  who  was  born  in  1690, 
was  recognised  by  his  contemporaries  as  one  of  the  most  notable  and 
accomplished  men  of  his  time,  and  when  he  died  Lord  Chesterfield 
asserted  that,  '  take  it  for  all  in  all,  the  ablest  head  in  England  dies  with 
him.'  Having  become  a  peer  as  a  boy,  he  never  sat  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  but  soon  after  taking  his  seat  in  the  Lords  he  had  attached 
himself  to  Lord  Sunderland,  and  distinguished  himself  for  his  address  in 
debate  and  for  his  devotion  to  Whig  principles.  In  private  life  he  was 
a  most  amiable  and  upright  man,  extremely  well-read,  both  in  ancient 
and  modern  literature,  and  possessed  of  the  rare  accomplishment  of  speak- 
ing German,  a  power  which  gave  him  great  influence  over  the  king.  In 
politics  he  had  distinguished  himself  as  ambassador  to  Sweden,  and,  young 
as  he  was,  Walpole  intrusted  him  with  the  post  of  secretary  of  state. 
Unfortunately,  between  Carteret  and  his  chief  there  were  marked  diff'er- 
ences  of  character  and  temperament.  The  secretary's  ambition  lay  mainly 
in  the  direction  of  foreign  afiairs,  and  he  cared  very  little  either  for  the 
details  of  administration  or  for  the  arts  necessary  in  the  management  of 
men.  '  What  does  it  matter  to  me,'  he  would  say, '  who  is  a  judge  or  who 
is  a  bishop  1  It  is  my  business  to  make  kings  and  emperors,  and  to  main- 
tain the  balance  of  Europe.'  Carteret,  in  fact,  had  ideas  of  his  own  ;  and 
Walpole's  jealousy,  once  aroused,  was  aggravated  by  Carteret's  personal 
friendliness  with  the  king,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Stanhope  and  Townshend, 
by  Carteret's  prolonged  absences  with  George  in  Hanover.  Eventually, 
an  obscure  intrigue  at  the  French  court,  in  which  Walpole's  brother, 
Horatio,  outwitted  Carteret's  friend.  Sir  Luke  Schaub,  the  regular  English 
ambassador,  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and  Carteret's  fall  followed. 
Though  he  ceased  to  be  a  secretary  of  state,  Carteret  did  not  leave  the 
cabinet.     As  Townshend  had  been  in  1717,  he  was  nominally  promoted 


1724  Walpole  751 

to  the  post  of  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  as  it  chanced   arrived 
there  at  a  moment  when  an  opportunity  for  distinction  presented  itself. 

Since  the  capitulation  of  Limerick,  Ireland  had  been  in  a  condition  of 
complete  stagnation.  Power  had  been  eflfectually  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  Protestant  minority,  and  had  been  exercised  so 

Ireland. 

much  under  the  direct  superintendence  of  English  ministers 
that  a  series  of  commercial  measures,  designed  to  prevent  the  growth  in 
Ireland  of  any  manufactures  likely  to  compete  successfully  with  English 
industries,  had  been  passed  by  the  Irish  parliament.  So  thoroughly, 
indeed,  was  the  independence  even  of  the  'English  interest'  subdued, 
and  so  little  danger  did  there  appear  to  be  of  trouble  from  an  Irish  parlia- 
ment, that  in  1708,  when,  after  the  legislative  union  with  Scotland,  the 
Irish  parliament  petitioned  for  a  similar  measure,  the  ministry  did  not 
consider  the  request  worthy  of  attention  ;  and  an  Act  passed  in  1719,  by 
which  the  Irish  parliament  was  declared  ^o  be  a  subordinate  body  and  the 
English  parliament  empowered  to  make  laws  binding  in  Ireland,  was 
hardly  regarded  in  England  as  doing  more  than  register  a  patent  fact. 
In  Ireland,  however,  the  taking  away  of  the  last  semblance  of  independent 
legislation  was  naturally  regarded  with  jealousy. 

Of  this  feeling  the  English  ministers  became  aware  when,  in  1722,  Wal- 
pole,  finding  that  Ireland  was  in  need  of  a  new  copper  coinage,  granted 
a  patent  for  coining  copper  to  an  ironmaster  named  Wood.   >vood's 
The  need  of  a  new  coinage  was  unquestioned,  for  wages  had    Halfpence, 
lately  been  paid  in  tokens,  or  even  with  cards  stamped  with  a  promise  to 
pay.     Wood  was  one  of  the  first  great  English  ironmasters  and  held 
mining  rights  in  no  less   than  thirty-nine  counties.    Specimens  of  the 
new  coins  had  been  tested  at  the  mint  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  pro- 
nounced to  be  of  excellent  quality.     On  the  other  hand,  the  amount, 
^108,000,  was  in  excess  of  what  was  wanted  ;  and  there  had  been  the 
usual  amount  of  jobbery  over  the  issue  of  the  contract.    In  Ireland,  how- 
ever, the  true  cause  of  the  unpopularity  of  the  scheme  lay  in  the  fact 
that  Ireland  had  not  been  consulted  at  all,  but  that  the  whole  scheme  was 
English  or  German  from  beginning  to  end.     In  this  Swift,  who  was  then 
residing  in  Ireland  as  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  and  who  had  long  been  nurs- 
ing his  anger  at  the  neglect  with  which  he  had  been  treated  by  the 
English  ministers,  saw  his  opportunity,  and  poured  out  the  whole  vials 
of  his  wrath  in  an  attack  upon  the  scheme,  which  he  published  under 
the  assumed  signature  of  the  '  Drapier.'    In  these  no  slander 
or  exaggeration  was  omitted  that  might  serve  his  purpose.    Drapier's 
Wood  was  a  *  tinker ' ;  the  money  was  '  base.'     It  was  to      ^^^^''s- 
be  forced  upon  the  reluctant  Irish  by  an  army   of  English  soldiers. 


752  George  I.  1724 

Wood,  he  declared,  was  like  the  giant  Goliath,  and  himself  like  little 
David  come  out  to  do  battle  for  his  people.  These  lies,  enforced  with  the 
whole  power  of  the  homely  rhetoric  of  which  Swift  was  a  master,  stirred 
all  Ireland  to  indignation,  and  at  the  time  when  Carteret  assumed  the  post 
of  lord-lieutenant  it  seemed  highly  probable  that  persistence  in  the  scheme 
would  array  against  the  government  the  united  force  of  Irish  opinion 
both  Protestant  and  Catholic.  In  these  circumstances  Carteret  perceived 
the  necessity  of  concession,  and  his  views  were  adopted  by  the  govern- 
ment. The  patent  was  withdrawn,  a  compensation  was  paid  to  Wood, 
and  Ireland  again  settled  down  into  gloomy  quiescence. 

The  magnitude  of  the  agitation,  however,  convinced  government  that  the 

political  power  of  the  Eoman  Catholics  must  be  still  further  curtailed  ;  and 

in  1727  an  act  passed  by  the  Irish  parliament  took  away  the 

Ascend-  franchise  from  the  Eoman  Catholics.  This  law  continued  in 
force  till  1793,  so  that  for  more  than  sixty  years  the  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestants,  who  did  not 
form  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  whole  population  of  the  country.  Of  the 
general  condition  of  Ireland  at  this  date  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  form 
any  trustworthy  estimate.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  this  depri- 
vation of  political  power  had  the  effect  of  closing  the  eyes  of  the  Irish 
parliament  to  the  wants  of  all  Irishmen  who  were  neither  government 
officials,  manufacturers,  nor  landlords,  and  consequently  that  the  condition 
of  the  mass  of  the  agricultural  population,  if  it  did  not  go  from  bad  to 
worse,  made  little  or  no  progress.  The  stagnation  of  trade,  the  want  of 
a  free  market  for  produce  in  England,  and  the  reliance  of  the  mass  of  the 
rural  population  on  the  precarious  subsistence  afforded  by  the  potato,  re- 
sulted in  the  recurrence  of  frequent  periods  of  distress,  amounting,  in  some 
cases,  to  actual  famine,  to  which  Dean  Swift  drew  attention  by  a  satirical 
pamphlet  entitled  a  Modest  Proposal,  in  which  he  advocated  the  rear- 
ing of  Irish  children  as  an  article  of  diet.  In  these  terrible  times,  the 
chief,  almost  the  only  friends,  of  the  Irish  peasants  were  the  Roman 
Catholic  priests,  who  set  the  law  at  defiance  to  secure  for  their  flocks  the 
ministrations  of  religion  and  an  opportunity  of  securing  some  tincture  of 
education,  without  which  a  relapse  into  comparative  barbarism  would 
seem  to  have  been  probable. 

In  1725,  Walpole  quarrelled  with  Pulteney,  another  of  his  colleagues. 
William  Pulteney  was  born  in  1682.     He  was  a  man  of  great  wealth,  and 

^         ,        was  reckoned  by  some  'the  greatest  House  of  Commons  orator 

Quarrel  •'  ^ 

with  Pul-     that  had  ever  appeared' ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  of 

^"^■^'  very  uncertain  temper,  apt  to  change  his  mind,  and  '  full 

of  little  enmities.'    Pulteney  had  won  a  great  name  in  the  debates  of  the 


1725  Walpole  753 

last  reign,  and  on  George's  accession  he  became  secretary  at  war.    In  the 

cabinet  quarrels  he  had  attached  himself  to  Walpole  and  Townshend,  and 

retired  with  them  in  1717.     However,  when  Walpole  became  premier, 

Pulteney  was  only  offered  a  peerage.     This  he  refused,  though  he  took 

the  post  of  cofferer  of  the  household,  but  in  1725,  when  he  found  that 

this  did  not  lead  to  promotion,  he  threw  it  up  in  disgust. 

The  retirement  of  Pulteney  marks  an  epoch,  not  only  in  the  history  of 

Walpole,  but  in  that  of  parliament ;  for  the '  vindictiveness,'  which  was 

noted  as  one  of  Pulteney 's  characteristics,  caused  him  not    ^. 

1  1  .     1  11  1  11      ^*se  of  an 

only  to  oppose  his  late  colleagues  but  to  attempt  the  task    'Opposi- 

of  creating  a  systematic  opposition,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  expel  the  existing  government  from  ofl&ce  and  to  take  its  place. 
Henceforward,  an  Opix)sition  was  recognised  as  an  institution  insepar- 
able from  party  government,  and  it  has  been  shown  by  experience  that 
the  existence  of  a  coherent  and  well-led  opposition  is  almost  as  important 
a  factor  in  securing  the  well- working  of  parliamentary  government  as  a 
coherent  and  weU-led  ministerial  party.  Since  the  accession  of  George  i. 
there  had  been  no  systematic  opposition  to  the  Whig  administration, 
just  as  after  the  Kestoration  the  royalists,  for  a  few  years,  had  almost 
unquestioned  power  ;  and  a  comparison  might  be  instituted  between  the 
growth  of  the  so-ciiUed  '  country  party '  under  Charles  ii.  and  of  Pulteney's 
party  of  opposition  under  George  i. 

In  attempting  to  create  a  compact  opposition  by  combining  the  regular 
Tories  with  the  discontented   Whigs,  Pidteney  received  most  valuable 
assistance  from  Bolingbroke.     Since  his  return  to  England 
that  discredited  but  versatile  politician  had  been  posing  as  a   broke 's 
sincere  convert  to  the  principles  of  the  Hanoverian  succession,     "  rigues. 
and  had  even  been  permitted  to  explain  his  views  to  George  i.,  without, 
however,  producing  on  the  king  an  impression  of  his  sincerity.     He  was 
now  little  better  than  a  political  adventurer,  and  as  he  recognised  that 
he  had  no  chance  of  regaining  influence  so  long  as  Walpole  was  at  the 
helm,  he  was  ready  to  join  with  any  party  or  to  advocate  any  principles 
which  were  likely  to  lead  to  a  change  of  government. 

Accordingly  these  two  able  and  vindictive  men  set  themselves  to  form 
an  organised  opposition  to  the  ministry,  both  in  parliament  and  in  the 
country.  In  parliament  Pulteney  gathered  round  himself  The 
a  band  of  discontented  Whigs,  induced  them  to  act  as  much  '  Craftsman.' 
as  possible  in  concert  with  the  Tories,  and  exerted  all  his  powers  to  attach  to 
his  standard  all  the  young  men  of  ability  who  from  time  to  time  found  their 
way  into  parliament.  Outside  parliament,  Bolingbroke  strove  to  excite 
the  country  by  attacking  ministers  in  the  Craftsman.     This  paper,  which 

3l3 


754  George  I.  1726 

appeared  daily,  was  the  first  regular  opposition  newspaper,  and  the 
frequency  of  its  publication  and  the  extent  of  dts  sale  prove  that  an 
increase  in  the  reading  public  had  followed  the  abolition  of  the  censorship 
of  the  press.  Its  principles  were  those  of  every  thoroughgoing  opposition 
paper — i.e.  it  attacked  the  government  of  the  day  impartially,  whatever  it 
did.  If  Walpole  advocated  peace,  it  said  he  was  bent  on  sacrificing  the 
best  interests  of  his  country  ;  if  he  remonstrated  with  foreign  powers,  it 
declared  that  he  was  dragging  the  country  into  war. '  Such  methods 
seem  to  be  inevitable  in  party  warfare.  As  David  Hume  wrote  in  1741, 
the  enemies  of  a  minister  '  are  sure  to  charge  him  with  the  greatest 
enormities,  both  in  domestic  and  foreign  management ;  and  there  is  no 
meanness  or  crime,  of  which,  in  their  judgment,  he  is  not  capable '  ;  on  the 
other  hand,  his  partisans  '  celebrate  his  wise,  steady  and  moderate  conduct 
of  his  administration.'  Indeed  the  Craftsman  was  only  the  forerunner 
of  a  long  band  of  successors.  To  win  favour  with  the  multitude  the 
opposition  assumed  what  Dryden  called  the  '  all-atoning  name '  of  Patriot. 
The  headquarters  of  the  new  party  was  Leicester  House,  the  residence 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  It  was  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  early 
The  Prince  Hanoverian  sovereigns  that  they  always  quarrelled  with  their 
°  ^  ^^'  heirs.  George  the  First  was  jealous  of  his  son,  who,  being 
able  to  speak  English,  had  better  opportunities  than  his  father  of  making 
himself  popular,  and  the  amount  of  his  allowance  was  a  constant  source 
of  dispute.  The  discredit  of  this  must  be  divided  equally  between  the 
king  and  the  prince,  but  as  matters  then  stood  the  opposition  between 
them  must  be  regarded  as  a  good  thing  for  the  country.  Had  father  and 
son  been  united,  any  one  who  was  discontented  with  the  court  or  the- 
minister  would  have  been  sorely  tempted  to  ally  himself  with  the 
Pretender.  As  it  was,  he  merely  allied  himself  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales  ;  and  even  the  Tories,  though  for  the  most  part  Jacobites  at  heart, 
found  themselves  drawn  towards  what  thus  became  the  natural  centre  of 
opposition.  Moreover,  in  those  days  the  influence  of  the  king  in  choosing 
between  rival  members  of  the  same  party  was  still  unimpaired,  and 
Pulteney  hoped  that  by  making  himself  agreeable  to  the  prince  he  was 
making  his  own  selection  secure  when  his  patron  became  king. 

At  home  these  intrigues  occupied  the  chief  attention  ;  but  abroad,  in 
spite  of  all  his  care,  Walpole  was  unable  to  avoid  taking  part  in  a  war 
Foreign  which  arose  from  the  annoyance  felt  by  the  Spaniards  when 
Affairs.  Louis  XV.  was  married  to  Maria  Leczinska  of  Poland,  and 
a  little  Spanish  princess  who  was  being  educated  in  Paris  as  the  future 
queen  of  France  was  unceremoniously^  sent  home.  The  result  was  the 
First  Treaty  of  Vienna,  an  alliance  against  France  between  the  emperor 


1727  Walpole  755 

and  the  king  of  Spain.  As  Great  Britain  was  now  friendly  to  France,  she 
was  included  in  their  enmity,  and  a  scheme  was  formed  for  the  recapture 
of  Gibraltar,  and  for  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts.  This  movement  was 
met  in  1726  by  a  counter-alliance  between  England,  France,  and  Prussia, 
known  as  the  treaty  of  Hanover.  Happily  the  war  was  kept  within 
narrow  limits,  and,  so  far  as  Great  Britain  was  concerned,  was  confined 
to  the  defence  of  Gibraltar,  and  to  the  sending  of  an  English  fleet  to  the 
West  Indies,  under  Captain  Hozier,  with  orders  to  remain  strictly  on  the 
defensive.  Nevertheless,  the  excitement  caused  among  the  Jacobites  and 
their  ill-concealed  hopes  of  a  foreign  invasion,  showed  conclusively  how 
easily  war  abroad  might  be  followed  by  insurrection  at  home.  Seeing 
this,  Walpole  did  all  he  could  to  bring  hostilities  to  a  conclusion,  and,  in 
1729,  peace  was  restored  by  the  treaty  of  Seville. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  George  i.  died  suddenly  at  Hanover  on 
June  10,  1727,  leaving  behind  him  the  name  of  a  cautious  and  well- 
meaning  sovereign,   who,   without    any   shining  qualities.    Death  of 
had   contrived   during  his   thirteen   years'   reign   to    steer   ^^°^^^' 
safely  through  the  difficulties  of  party  and  parliamentary  warfare,  and  to 
leave  his  family  in  safe  possession  of  the  British  throne. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

The  Riot  Act, 1716 

Jacobite  Rebellion, 1715 

Septennial  Act, 1716 

Occasional  Conformity  and    Schism    Acts    re- 
pealed,       1718 

South  Sea  Bubble, 1720 

Walpole  becomes  Prime  Minister,      .        .        .  1721 

Drapier's  Letters, 1724 


CHAPTEE   II 

GEORGE  II.:    1727-1760 
Born  1683;  married  1705,  Caroline  of  Anspach. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France.  Emperor.  Prussia. 

Louis  XV.,  cl.  1774.  Charles  v.,  d.  1740.  Frederick  the  Great, 

1740-1786. 

Walpole  in  Power — The  Wesleyans — The  Opposition— Spanish  War  and  Fall  of 
Walpole— Carteret  in  Power — Foreign  Affairs— Henry  Pelham — The  '45 — Rise 
of  Pitt  and  Fox — Domestic  Affairs— The  Seven  Years'  War — Triumphs  of  Pitt. 

It  was  expected  that  the  accession  of  the  new  king  would  be  followed  by 
a  change  of  ministry,  and  his  first  act  was  to  dismiss  Walpole,  and  to 
offer  his  post  to  Sir  Spencer  Compton,  speaker  of  the  House 
retains  of  Commons.  Compton,  however,  who  is  described  as  '  a 
power.  ^^^^  heavy  man,'  had  little  aptitude  for  business,  and  so 
little  readiness  that  he  actually  asked  Walpole  to  assist  him  in  composing 
the  short  address  which  the  new  king  was  to  deliver  to  the  privy  council. 
Of  course  Walpole  complied,  but  took  care  to  let  the  new  queen  know 
what  he  had  done  ;  and  Caroline,  who  knew  Walpole's  worth,  soon 
pointed  out  to  her  husband  the  absurdity  of  Compton's  position. 
Walpole  also  let  it  be  known  that,  if  he  had  been  continued  in  power,  it 
had  been  his  intention  to  propose  a  large  increase  in  the  civil  list ;  and 
George  soon  perceived  that  he  had  little  to  gain  and  much  to  lose  by  dis- 
missing the  old  minister.  Accordingly,  before  forty-eight  hours  had 
elapsed,  Walpole  was  reinstated  ;  Compton's  house,  which  since  his  eleva- 
tion had  been  crowded  by  politicians,  eager  to  place  their  services  at  his 
disposal,  was  again  deserted  ;  and  Walpole  repaid  the  king  by  an  extra 
grant  of  £130,000  a  year,  and  by  carrying  a  declaration  through  the  House 
of  Commons  that  the  death  of  the  late  sovereign  was  '  a  loss  to  the  nation, 
which  your  majesty  alone  could  possibly  repair.' 

The  new  king  was  now  in  his  forty-fourth  year.  In  all  respects  he 
Character  of  was  a  smaller  man  than  his  father,  and  had  less  general 
George.  capacity  for  affairs.     At  the  same  time  he  had  something  of 

his  father's  capacity  for  distinguishing  ability  in  others,  and  when  he 


1730  Walpole  757 

had  selected  his  friends  was  not  easily  turned  against  them.  In  foreign 
politics  his  first  care  was  for  the  interests  of  Hanover  ;  in  home  affairs 
he  took  little  interest,  his  most  active  enthusiasm  being  for  the  army. 
He  had  fought  bravely  under  Marlborough  at  Oudenarde,  and  believed 
that  he  had  talents  for  command. 

Queen  Caroline,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  much  more  remarkable 
personage.     As  a  girl  she  had  shown  her  independence  of  character  by 
stoutly  refusing  to  marry  a  Eoman  Catholic  ;  and  on  arriving 
in  England  she  rapidly  made  herself  mistress  of  English   Queen 
politics,  and  of  the  true  character  of  the  chief  public  men. 
She  interested  herself  also  in  literature  and  learning  ;  offered  a  place  in 
the  household  to  Gay,  who  had  written  his  Fables  for  the  diversion  of 
her  little   son  William,  afterwards   duke   of  Cumberland  ;    made  the 
acquaintance  of  Swift ;  delighted  in  metaphysical  discussions  ;  and  was 
an  appreciative  patron  of  the  musician  Handel.      Over  the  king  she 
exercised,  though  at  the  expense  of  much  trouble,  an  almost  unbounded 
influence.     Indeed,  so  long  as  she  lived,  it  was  she  and  not  her  husband 
who  really  directed  the  politics  of  the  court ;  and  as  she  had  a  perfect 
understanding  with  Walpole,  his  position  during  her  life  was  impregnable. 

At  the  accession,  Walpole's  chief  attention  was  engrossed  by  foreign 
affairs  ;  and  at  home  he  confined  himself,  as  before,  to  carrying  on  the 
routine  business  of  the  country.  The  one  question  pressing  walpole's 
for  immediate  attention  was  the  position  of  the  Noncon-  policy, 
formists  in  reference  to  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts.  These  Stanhope 
would  have  ventured  to  repeal ;  but  Walpole  was  far  too  much  alive  to 
the  danger  of  raising  the  old  cry  of  *  the  church  in  danger '  to  run  so 
much  risk,  and  he  contented  himself  with  the  less  heroic  policy  of 
reducing  them  to  a  dead  letter  by  passing  an  annual  Act  of  Indemnity 
for  all  who  had  been  guilty  of  violating  their  provisions.  This  was  not  a 
satisfactory  way  of  dealing  with  the  matter,  but  it  was  eminently 
characteristic  of  its  inventor. 

In  1730  Carteret  resigned  the  Lord-Lieutenancy  of  Ireland,  and  openly 
joined  the  ranks  of  the  opposition  ;  and  in  the  same  year  Lord  Townshend 
also  left  the  ministry.  Townshend  and  Walpole  had  been  on  Quarrel  with 
the  most  intimate  terms  for  thirty  years,  but  of  late  various  Townshend. 
circumstances  had  arisen  to  cause  an  estrangement.  Lady  Townshend, 
Walpole's  sister,  was  dead.  A  partnership,  in  which  Townshend,  as  the 
elder  man,  had  taken  the  lead,  became  less  agreeable  to  him,  when  its 
title  in  Walpole's  words  was  changed  from  '  Townshend  and  Walpole '  to 
'  Walpole  and  Townshend.'  The  old  grievance  that  Townshend,  who 
accompanied  George  to  Hanover,  used  his  opportunities  to  increase  his 


758  George  II.  1730 

own  influence,  was  a  constant  source  of  friction ;  and  Townshend  was 
exasperated  at  Walpole's  persistent  habit  of  allowing  obnoxious  bills, 
which  though  popular  were  awkward  for  ministers  to  pass  unopposed 
through  the  Commons,  and  leaving  them  to  be  rejected  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  All  these  things  helped  to  loosen  the  tie  between  them  ;  and, 
finally,  a  coarse  joke  of  Walpole's  roused  to  anger  the  irascible  Townshend, 
and  they  were  with  difficulty  prevented  from  coming  to  blows  in  a 
lady's  drawing-room.  After  this,  further  concord  was  out  of  the 
question ;  so  Townshend  with  dignity  resigned  his  office,  and  left 
Walpole  supreme.  Unlike  Carteret  and  Pulteney,  Townshend  refrained 
from  opposition  to  his  old  colleague,  and  retired  to  Norfolk,  where  he 
devoted  himself  to  agriculture,  and  did  a  great  service  to  the  whole 
country  by  encouraging  the  growth  of  turnips. 

The  first  success  of  the  opposition  was  gained  in  1733,  when  Walpole 
brought  forward  his  celebrated  excise  scheme.  At  this  date  the  chief 
The  Excise  sources  of  the  crown  revenue  were  the  land  tax,  the  customs 
Scheme.  duties,  and  the  excise.  Of  these,  the  land  tax  was  levied  at 
the  rate  of  four  shillings  in  war  time,  and  from  one  shilling  to  three 
shillings  in  time  of  peace,  according  to  a  valuation  made  in  the  year 
1692  ;  and  at  four  shillings  produced  about  J2,000,000  per  year.  The 
customs  duties — customary  payments — were  the  modern  substitutes  for 
the  old  taxes  of  tonnage  and  poundage,  but  were  levied  only  on  articles 
imported  into  the  country.  In  Walpole's  time  they  produced  J  1,500,000 
per  year.  The  excise  duties — excisum,  a  part  cut  off — were  levied  on 
articles  produced  or  manufactured  in  the  country  itself.  They  had  first 
been  imposed  by  the  Long  Parliament,  were  levied  chiefly  on  salt, 
malt,  and  distilleries,  and  in  1733  amounted  to  £3,200,000.  Of  these 
taxes  the  customs  duties  were  decidedly  the  most  expensive  in  collection, 
and  were  the  most  liable  to  be  evaded ;  indeed  the  gross  customs 
duty  on  tobacco  being  J75O,0O0,  the  nett  revenue  was  only  £160,000. 
Moreover,  customs  duties  raised  the  price  to  the  consumer  to  the 
highest  amount,  because,  the  tax  being  levied  on  the  raw  material, 
interest  on  the  sum  paid  was  charged  by  the  dealer  at  every  stage 
of  the  manufacture,  and  the  gross  sum  added  to  the  cost  of  the 
finished  article  ;  whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  excise,  the  duty  was  levied 
once  for  all  on  the  completed  article.  This  was  a  great  advantage  to  the 
consumer.  For  these  reasons  Walpole  proposed  to  transfer  tobacco  and 
wine  from  the  customs  list  to  the  excise,  pointing  out  that  the  effect  of 
doing  so  would  be  to  enable  him  to  repeal  the  land  tax  ;  and  he  also 
pr  oposed  to  levy  no  taxes  on  goods  merely  imported  for  re-exportation, 
which  would,  he  said,  tend  'to  make  London  a  free  port,  and  the  market 


1735  Walpole  759 

of  the  world.'  This  reasoning  was  perfectly  sound  ;  but,  unfortunately, 
the  excise,  which  had  been  levied  first  by  the  parliamentarians  during 
the  civil  war,  had  "always  been  unpopular  from  an  idea  that  it  was 
arbitrary  and  inquisitional — a  view  summed  up  by  Dr.  Johnson  in  his 
celebrated  definition  of  the  excise  as  'a  hateful  tax  levied  upon  com- 
modities, and  adjudged,  not  by  common  judges  of  property,  but  by 
wretches  hired  by  those  to  whom  excise  is  paid.'  Of  this  feeling  the 
opposition  took  full  advantage  ;  roused  popular  indignation  Agitation 
before  it  was  even  known  what  Walpole's  bill  was  to  be  ;  "gainst  it. 
declared  that,  if  passed,  an  Englishman's  house,  which  had  hitherto  been 
his  castle,  would  be  open  at  all  hours  to  the  inspection  of  the  ganger. 
They  declared,  too,  that  Walpole's  real  object  was  to  flood  the  country  with 
excisemen,  who  would  turn  the  scale  at  every  contested  election — and 
this  in  spite  of  Walpole's  statement  that  the  number  of  new  officers 
required  would  only  amount  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-six.  The 
Craftsman  professed  itself  at  a  loss  for  words  to  describe  the  infamy  of 
the  proposals ;  and  Walpole  ill-advisedly  made  matters  worse  by 
speaking  of  some  riotous  petitioners  against  it  as  *  sturdy  beggars.' 
Before  such  an  outburst  of  popular  clamour,  Walpole's  majority  sank  to 
sixteen  on  the  second  reading  ;  and  recognising  the  hopeless-  ^j^g  Scheme 
ness  of  continuing  the  struggle,  and  declaring  that  'he  withdrawn, 
would  never  be  the  minister  to  levy  taxes  at  the  price  of  blood,'  he  withdrew 
the  bill.  The  changes,  however,  were  afterwards  introduced  one  by  one 
without  connuent ;  and  the  fact  that,  fifty  years  later,  it  was  found  that 
no  less  than  seventy  elections  depended  on  the  votes  of  excisemen,  shows 
that,  in  those  days  of  rotten  boroughs  and  minute  constituencies,  the 
second  argument  of  the  opposition  had  not  been  without  weight.  After 
the  failure  of  the  excise  scheme,  Walpole's  wrath  fell  heavily  on  the 
colleagues  whom  he  considered  to  have  betrayed  him.  Two  days  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  bill.  Lord  Chesterfield  was  dismissed  from  his  post 
at  court ;  the  duke  of  Montrose  and  the  earls  of  Marchmont  and  Stair 
were  deprived  of  their  offices  in  Scotland  ;  and  the  duke  of  Bolton  and 
Lord  Cobham  were  ousted  from  their  colonelcies  in  the  anny.  These 
dismissals,  however — of  which  the  two  last  were  wholly  indefensible — 
served  further  to  augment  the  ranks  of  the  malcontents ;  and  in  the 
general  election  of  1735  the  majority  for  ministers  was  somewhat  reduced. 
With  the  exception  of  Jacobite  intrigues,  the  internal  affairs  of  Scot- 
land had  of  late  given  little  trouble  to  the  British  ministers.  Since  the 
legislative  union  the  progress  of  that  country  had  been  not 
only  steady  but  rapid.  In  1708  Edinburgh  had  possessed 
thirty  thousand  inhabitants ;  Glasgow — where  the  River  Clyde  had  not  yet 


760  Gem-ge  IT.  1735 

been  made  navigable  for  sea-going  ships— had  nearly  fifteen  thousand  ; 
while  Dundee  and  Perth  had  ten  thousand  and  seven  thousand  respec- 
tively. The  revenue  of  the  whole  country  was  only  £160,000,  as  against 
nearly  £6,000,000  in  England  ;  even  in  the  Lowlands  the  standard  of 
domestic  comfort  was  extraordinarily  low  ;  while,  even  in  good  seasons, 
a  horde  of  beggars  infested  the  country  :  while,  in  the  Highlands,  roads 
were  unknown,  horses  were  rare,  and  coaches  non-existent ;  the  plough 
was  still  fastened  to  the  horse's  tail,  spades  were  made  of  wood  ;  and 
the  law,  such  as  it  was,  was  administered  by  Highland  chiefs,  each  of 
whom  ruled  his  clansmen  like  a  petty  king,  waged  war  on  his  neigh- 
bours, and  lifted  a  Lowlander's  cattle  almost  within  sight  of  the  queen's 
garrisons.  Thirty  years,  however,  had  witnessed  an  enormous  improve- 
ment. The  establishment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  coupled  with  an 
Act  of  the  British  Parliament  in  1712,  by  which  toleration  was  secured 
to  Episcopalians,  had  removed  the  curse  of  religious  persecution. 
The  Parochial  Schools  Act  of  1696,  aided  by  the  efforts  of  the  Scottish 
'Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge,'  had  diffused 
among  the  people  a  higher  standard  of  elementary  education  than 
probably  existed  in  any  other  country  in  Europe,  and  was  being  followed 
by  a  further  development  of  secondary  and  higher  education.  The  grant 
of  the  right  of  free  trading  had  caused  the  industrial  enterprise  of  Scotland 
to  advance  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  raised  the  whole  standard  of  com- 
fort ;  while  even  in  the  Highlands,  the  exclusive  knowledge  of  Gaelic — a 
great  obstacle  to  migration  and  advancement — was  beginning  to  give  way 
before  the  systematic  use  of  English  in  the  schools  ;  and  Marshal  Wade's 
creation  of  a  system  of  Highland  roads,  carried  out  between  1726  and 
1737,  had  opened  the  way  for  the  trader,  the  soldier,  and  the  preacher, 
into  districts  hitherto  practically  inaccessible. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  incontestable  that  the  Union  was  regarded  with 
feelings  of  hatred  by  most  patriotic  Scotsmen,  and   that   nothing  but 
The  Beer     conciliatory  action  on   the  part  of  the   government  could 
Riots.  secure  a  fair  trial  for  the   new  system.     One  of  the  most 

unpopular  items  in  the  Union  was  the  extension  of  the  malt  tax  to  Scot- 
land. The  imposition  had  been  systematically  evaded,  and  in  1724  it 
was  exchanged  for  an  excise  duty  of  sixpence  on  each  barrel  of  ale — 
then  the  common  drink  of  the  Lowlanders.  This  change  led  to  riots ; 
but  the  firmness  of  Walpole,  aided  by  the  tact  of  his  agent,  the  earl  of 
Isla,  brother  of  the  duke  of  Argyll,  overcame  the  difficulty.  An  agree- 
ment by  the  brewers  not  to  brew  broke  down,  and  henceforward  the 
excise  was  paid  without  difficulty.  So  seriously,  however,  did  Walpole 
regard  the  matter,  that  he  abolished  the  office  of  secretary  of  state  for 


1736  Walpole  761 

Scotland,  and  took  the  general  management  of  Scottish  affairs  into  his 
own  hands. 

In  1735  an  even  more  serious .  disturbance  broke  out  at  Edinburgh. 
Two  smugglers,  Wilson  and  Robertson,  were  condenmed  to  death  for 
robbery.  With  the  aid  of  a  file  they  had  divested  them- 
selves  of  their  shackles,  and  removed  the  bar  of  the  window  Porteous 
of  the  cell,  when  Wilson,  the  stouter  of  the  two,  making  the 
attemjDt  first,  stuck  fast  and  so  prevented  his  comrade's  escape  as  well  as 
his  own.  However,  the  next  Sunday,  when  taken  to  church  under 
a  guard  of  soldiers,  he,  by  the  exercise  of  herculean  strength,  overcame 
the  guard  and  permitted  Robertson  to  escape.  This  heroic  deed  excited 
the  pity  of  all,  and  though  his  execution  passed  off  quietly,  some  stone- 
throwing  followed  it.  Exasperated  by  the  missiles.  Captain  Porteous, 
who  commanded  the  city  guard — a  body  in  the  pay  of  the  corporation, 
and  recruited  chiefly  from  the  Highlands — seized  a  musket  and  discharged 
it  at  the  crowd.  His  example  was  followed  by  his  men,  and  some  loss  of 
life  followed.  Accordingly,  Porteous  was  tried  for  murder,  and  con- 
demned to  death  ;  but  the  sentence  was  commuted  by  the  British 
government.  Exasperated  at  this,  a  well-organised  mob,  composed 
to  some  extent,  certainly,  of  the  better  classes  of  Edinburgh  citizens, 
stormed  the  Tolbooth,  took  Porteous  out  and  hanged  him  on  a  dyer's 
pole.  This  outbreak  of  violence  raised  the  utmost  indignation  in 
England,  and  as  no  evidence  against  individual  rioters  was  forthcoming, 
an  act  was  introduced  by  which  Edinburgh  was  to  lose  its  charter  ;  the 
city  gates  were  to  be  demolished,  and  the  guard  disbanded.  In  Scotland, 
however,  this  was  regarded  as  grossly  unfair.  The  Scottish  members, 
both  Lords  and  Commoners,  were  almost  to  a  man  against  it ;  and 
Walpole,  seeing  how  foolish  it  was  to  set  the  national  feeling  of  Scotland 
against  him,  reduced  the  act  to  a  fine  of  ^2000  to  Porteous'  widow,  and 
a  sentence  of  disability  from  holding  office  against  the  lord  provost  of  the 
city.  In  this  way  a  storm  which  might,  if  badly  dealt  with,  have  had 
far-reaching  consequences,  was  judiciously  allayed. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  earlier  years  of  George  ii.  was  the 
rise  of  the  Methodists,  which  not  only  completely  altered  the  position  of 
Dissent,  but  also  had  a  most  remarkable  influence  on  the  state  of 
condition  of  the  established  church.  Since  the  Revolution,  ^^^'g*°"- 
circumstances  had  been  tending  towards  the  obliteration  of  the  rigid  line 
of  demarcation  which  had  long  separated  the  Protestant  world.  The 
Toleration  Act  removed  the  most  obvious  hardship  under  which  the 
Dissenters  laboured,  and  though  their  political  disabilities  still  found  a 
place  in  the  statute  book,  the  tolerant  policy  of  Walpole  deprived  them 


762  George  II.  1735 

of  their  practical  hardship.  Moreover,  now  that  a  modus  vivendi  had 
been  discovered,  the  importance  of  the  speculative  differences  on  matters 
of  church  government  between  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  and  Inde- 
pendents, had  much  diminished ;  while  the  age,  wearied  with  the 
incessant  doctrinal  strife  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  was 
inclined  to  set  little  value  on  dogmatic  teaching.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  causes  were  acting  to  reduce  the  efficiency  of  the  church.  Since 
the  succession  of  Whig  ministers  had  confined  the  promotion  of  bishops 
to  the  small  band  of  Whig  clergy  who  were  to  be  found  in  London  and 
the  universities,  and  as  the  mass  of  the  country  clergymen  were  Tory 
or  even  Jacobite  in  views,  all  sympathy  between  them  and  the  osten- 
sible leaders  of  the  church  was  at  an  end.  In  1718  the  sittings  of 
convocation,  which,  since  the  days  of  Edward  i.,  had  met 

Convocation  ,  '     .  ,.  "^  _  , .  -,        m,  • 

discon-  at  the  same  time  as  parliament,  were  discontinued.      This 

was  due  to  two  causes.  First,  since  the  Restoration,  the 
clergy  had  paid  their  taxes  on  the  scale  voted  by  parliament,  so  that 
there  was  no  need  of  a  special  grant  from  the  clergy.  Secondly,  the 
difference  of  opinion  between  the  Whig  bishops  in  the  upper  House  of 
Convocation  and  the  Tory  representatives  of  the  rural  clergy  in  the 
lower  House,  had  given  much  trouble  to  politiciims,  and  in  1718  this 
culminated  in  an  attack  made  by  the  lower  House  upon  Hoadly,  bishop 
of  Bangor,  for  his  views  on  the  apostolic  succession.  After  that  year 
convocation  was  not  permitted  to  transact  business  again  till  the  year 
1853.  This  deprived  the  church  of  its  only  existing  assembly  for  dis- 
cussion, and  while  it  undoubtedly  promoted  the  peace  of  the  government, 
it  struck  a  serious  blow  at  the  vitality  of  the  church.  The  lethargy,  too, 
into  which  Oxford  and  Cambridge  had  fallen  reacted  upon  the  clergy 
trained  there.  The  identification  of  the  fortunes  of  the  church  with 
those  of  the  Tory  party— not  altogether  the  fault  of  the  clergy— had 
seriously  diminished  the  influence  of  the  clergy  as  ministers  of  religion. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  foundation,  in  1696,  of  the  'Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge,'  and  in  1701  of  that  for  the  'Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,'  coupled  with  the  steady  demand 
for  religious  books,  showed  that  there  existed  the  materials  for  a  revival 
of  enthusiasm  if  a  leader  appeared  to  show  the  way. 

A  leader  was  found  in  John  Wesley.     This  remarkable  man,  who  com- 
bined the  earnestness  of  a  religious  enthusiast  with  the  talents  for  organisa- 
john  tion  and  management  that  distinguish  a  statesman,  was  bom 

Wesley.  j^^  Epworth  in  Lincolnshire,  in  1703.  His  father  was  an 
earnest  and  hard-working  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  his 
mother,  a  lady  of  Nonconformist  extraction,  was  a  person  of  great  piety 


1735  Walpole  763 

and  force  of  character.  He  was  educated  at  Charterhouse  and  Oxford. 
At  twenty-three,  having  distinguished  himself  for  his  ability  in  logic,  he 
was  chosen  fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  short 
interval,  he  remained  at  Oxford  till  1735.  Meanwhile,  his  younger 
brother  Charles,  destined  to  be  the  poet  of  the  new  movement,  had 
formed  a  friendship  with  a  fellow-undergraduate,  George  Whitefield,  who 
afterwards  became  the  greatest  preacher  of  his  tune.  These  three,  with 
a  few  others,  fonned  among  themselves  a  little  society  bent  on  attaining 
a  deeper  religious  life,  and  the  members — perhaps  because  the  word 
'Method,'  a  favourite  of  their  mother's,  was  often  on  the  lips  of  the 
Wesleys — were  called  in  derision  Methodists.  In  1735  the  two  Wesleys 
went  out  to  Georgia,  and  the  society  was  for  a  time  broken  up.  In  1738 
John  returned,  and,  falling  under  the  influence  of  some  members  of  the 
Moravian  body,  adopted  their  views  as  to  *  Justification  by  Faith.'  The 
society  was  then  reconstituted,  on  the  basis  of  being  a  church  within  a 
church ;  a  strict  rule  of  life  was  adopted  by  the  leaders ;  weekly 
confession  of  sins  to  one  another,  and  weekly  communion  being  among 
their  practices.  The  leaders  of  the  society,  all  of  whom  were  ordained 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England,  adopted  the  profession  of  itinerant 
preachers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  preach  repentance  to  the  unconverted. 

By  degrees,  circumstances  compelled  them  to  adopt  the  character  of  an  in- 
dependent organisation.  Their  extemporary  preaching,  passionate  gestures 
and  stern  denunciation  of  the  idleness  of  the  clergy,  caused  the 
church  pulpits  to  be  generally  denied  them.  In  1739,  White-  separation 
field,  touched  with  the  condition  of  the  miners  of  Kingswood,  r  JJJ*r^h^ 
near  Bristol,  thousands  of  whom  were  living  without  any 
visible  form  of  religion,  began  the  practice  of  preaching  in  the  open  fields. 
The  same  year  John  Wesley  authorised  the  building  of  special  chapels  for 
Methodist  services.  The  want  of  ordained  preachers  being  felt,  the 
services  of  lay -preachers  were  enlisted,  while  the  rapid  accession  of  con- 
verts compelled  the  society  to  organise  itself  on  an  extended  basis.  Had 
the  church  of  that  day  possessed  any  elasticity  of  organisation,  she  might, 
without  difficulty,  have  found  a  place  for  the  ministration  of  men  so 
reluctant  to  quit  her  fold  as  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  ;  but  her 
authorities  failed  to  seize  the  opportunity,  and  the  Methodists,  even 
against  their  will,  steadily  drifted  out  of  her  pale.  Baffled  by  the  refusal 
of  the  bishops  to  ordain  his  lay-preachers,  Wesley  persuaded  himself  that 
he  was  justified  in  bestowing  orders  ;  and  in  1784  he  consecrated  Coke 
superintendent  or  bishop  of  the  American  Methodists.  Even  then, 
Wesley  never  acknowledged  himself  a  Nonconformist.  In  the  last  year 
of  his  life  he  wrote  :  '  I  live  and  die  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England, 


764  Geoi^ge  II.  1735 

and  no  one  who  regards  my  judgment  will  ever  separate  from  it.'  Facts, 
however,  were  too  strong  for  him.  A  body  which  numbered  71,000  souls 
in  England,  48,000  in  America,  had  500  travelling  preachers,  and  had 
an  organisation  planned  by  one  of  the  greatest  organisers  of  the  time, 
could  not  long  remain  neutral ;  and  four  years  after  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1791,  the  Methodist  preachers  began  to  administer  the 
Sacraments,  and  from  that  time  the  position  of  the  Methodists  as  a 
separate  religious  body  became  more  and  more  defined. 

The  separation,  however,  did  not  take  place  before  there  had  grown  up 

within  the  Church  of  England  a  considerable  body,  the  members  of  which, 

while  holding  aloof  from  Wesley's  organisation,  adopted  in 

gelical  general  outline  his  principles  and  practices.     They  formed 

^^^'  the  Evangelical  Party,  with  which  are  associated  the  names 

of  John  Newton,  the  poet  Cowper,  Hannah  More,  and  a  host  of  others, 
who  tobk  the  lead  in  reviving  the  religious  fervour  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  honourably  identified  themselves  with,  if  they  did  not 
originate,  almost  every  one  of  the  philanthropic  and  religious  movements 
which  distinguished  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  succeeded  in 
attaching  to  itself  most  of  those  members  of  the  upper  and  more  cultivated 
classes  which  had  originally  been  attracted  by  the  preaching  of  Whitefield 
and  Wesley,  but  who  had  held  back  from  dissent. 

The  beginnings  of  Wesley's  work,  however,  attracted  little  notice,  for 
all  eyes  were  turned  upon  the  great  contest  between  Walpole  and  his 
vv  1  1  '  opponents.  It  was  not  easy  to  shake  Walpole's  position, 
party  man-  The  great  number  of  decayed  boroughs,  many  of  which  had 
age  men  .  always  been  directly  under  the  influence  of  the  crown, 
especially  those  in  Cornwall  and  the  sea-ports,  opened  a  field  for  corrup- 
tion which,  if  cleverly  tilled,  would  return  a  rich  crop  of  ministerial 
representatives,  and  Walpole  was  admittedly  the  greatest  parliamentary 
and  electioneering  manager  that  had  yet  made  his  appearance  in  England. 
No  stone  was  left  unturned  to  secure  the  return  of  his  candidates,  and 
when  returned  Walpole  was  equally  careful  to  keep  them  true  to  their 
allegiance  by  every  call  of  self-interest.  In  1 725,  finding  that  t  he  institution 
of  the  Garter  did  not  supply  as  many  vacancies  as  he  required  for  the 
decoration  of  his  political  partisans,  he  had  astutely  revived  the  order  of 
the  Bath,  and  set  the  example  by  becoming  one  of  its  first  knights.  All 
the  sinecures  at  court,  all  posts  in  the  army  and  the  civil  service,  were 
given  away  with  a  single  eye  to  the  preservation  of  the  government 
majority,  even  the  ecclesiastical  patronage  of  the  crown  was  administered 
with  the  same  intent.  Corruption  had  long  been  known,  but  by  no 
one  had  it  been  reduced  to  such  a  system  ;    and  as  no  division  lists 


1737  Walpole  765 

were  published,  and  even  the  printing  of  Parliamentary  debates  had 
recently  been  declared  illegal,  a  cloak  of  convenient  secrecy  shrouded 
the  proceedings  of  the  members  from  the  critical  eyes  of  inquisitive 
constituents. 

Still  the  opposition  made  way,  and  derived  some  advantage  from  an 
alliance  with  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  following  the  example 
of  his  father  by  quarrelling  with  the  reigning  sovereign.  qj.q^^j^ 
Frederick  was  an  extremely  foolish  man,  so  entirely  given  up  of  the 
to  frivolity  that  when  the  rebels  of  1745  were  at  Derby,  he 
was  found  playing  blind  man's  buff  with  his  pages.  He  formed,  however, 
a  convenient  figurehead  for  the  opposition,  and  when  on  his  marriage  in 
1736  difficulties  arose  about  his  allowance,  Walpole's  enemies  took  up  his 
cause  as  a  ready  way  of  striking  at  the  minister.  The  numbers  of  the 
opposition  were  also  increased  by  the  adhesion  of  most  of  the  young  men 
of  talent  who  were  entering  upon  a  political  career — men  such  as  William 
Pitt  and  George  Grenville,  whom  Walpole  contemptuously  styled  '  the 
boys.'  Round  them,  too,  rallied  most  of  the  literary  men  of  the  time, 
repelled  by  Walpole's  indiflerence  to  their  support ;  so  that  whether 
considered  as  to  number  or  talent,  the  opposition  which  Walpole  had  to 
face,  both  in  p.irliament  and  out  of  it,  was  becoming  daily  more  fonnid- 
able.  About  equal  in  numbers  to  the  discontented  Whigs  were  the 
Tories  under  Sir  W.  Windham,  Sir  John  Biimard  —next  to  Walpole  the 
best  financier  of  his  time — and  Skippen  the  Jacobite.  The  whole  party 
acted,  as  a  rule,  under  the  lead  of  Pulteney,  who  was  reckoned  the  best 
man  for  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Walpole's  fall,  however,  still 
seemed  far  off  ;  and  after  the  election  of  1735,  Bolingbroke,  despairing  of 
the  cause,  left  England  for  some  years. 

The  first  serious  blow  to  Walpole's  power  was  the  death  of  Queen 
Caroline  in  1737.   On  her  deathbed  she  recommended  her  husband  to  the 
care  of  the  minister,  and  through  good  and  ill  report  George    p.     .    ^ 
never  lost  faith  in  Walpole  so  long  as  the  latter  lived.    Queen 
Walpole,  however,  soon  experienced  another  shock.     Under 
George  ii.  he  had  steadily  adhered  to  his  policy  of  keeping  clear  of  con- 
tinental intrigues,  and  in  1734  had  been  able  to  make  his  proud  boast 
to  Queen  Caroline,  '  Madam,  there  are  50,000  men  slain  in 
Europe  this  year,  and  not  one  Englishman.'     Events,  how-   JJ°spain^ 
ever,  were  becoming  too  strong  for  him.     For  many  years 
there  had  been  growing  up  a  hostile  feeling  between  Great  Britain  and 
Spain.  This  arose  out  of  the  existing  colonial  policy  of  all  European  nations, 
which  forbade  the  colonies  of  one  nation  to  trade  either  with  the  colonies  of 
another,  or  with  other  European  countries.     However,  at  the  Treaty  of 


766  George  11.  1737 

Utrecht,  Spain  had  made  a  concession  to  England  of  the  assiento  or  slave- 
trade,  and  had  also  given  permission  to  the  South  Sea  Company  to  send 
one  ship  a  year  to  trade  with  the  Spanish  colonies.  This  permission  was 
grossly  abused  by  the  British,  who,  besides  the  single  ship,  sent  out  a 
number  of  other  ships,  who,  keeping  themselves  out  of  sight  of  land,  re- 
plenished the  trading-vessel  with  fresh  goods.  Moreover,  our  colonists 
made  such  a  practice  of  smuggling  goods  into  the  Spanish  ports  that  a 
regular  contraband  trade  grew  up  and  flourished  exceedingly.  Naturally 
the  Spaniards  took  the  precaution  of  organising  a  system  of  coastguards 
whose  business  it  was  to  search  vessels  they  suspected  of  illicit  traffic, 
and  to  detain  such  as  were  detected.  Ever  since  the  days  of  Drake  and 
Hawkins  no  love  had  been  lost  between  British  and  Spanish  sailors,  and, 
consequently,  frequent  quarrels  ensued,  in  which  sometimes  the  one,  some- 
times the  other,  was  the  more  flagrantly  in  the  wrong.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  Spaniards  denied  the  right  which  the  British  claimed  of  cutting 
logwood  in  the  Bay  of  Campeachy,  and  demanded  compensation  from 
Great  Britain  for  the  losses  sustained  at  the  battle  of  Cape  Passaro 
which  the  British  regarded  as  a  glorious  victory.  Here  were  ample 
materials  for  a  quarrel ;  and  as  the  Spaniards  had  secretly  secured  the 
aid  of  France  in  case  war  broke  out,  they  were  not  prepared  to  give 
way,  and,  when  Walpole  tried  to  arrange  matters  by  negotiation,  fresh 
difficulties  were  raised. 

Of  this  state  of  afiairs  the  opposition  took  full  advantage,  and  the 
whole  country  soon  rang  with  stories  of  cruelties  suffered  by  inoffensive 
Jenkins'  traders  at  the  hands  of  savage  Guarda-costas,  and  of  mar- 
Ear,  tyred  sailors  lingering  out  a  life-long  agony  in  the  dungeons 
of  the  Inquisition.  Among  these,  that  of  Jenkins'  ear  was  pre-eminent 
and  typical.  According  to  his  own  account,  Jenkins  had  been  to  Jamaica 
in  1731  with  a  cargo  of  sugar,  when  he  was  boarded,  on  his  way  home, 
by  a  Spanish  coast-guardship,  and  accused  of  cutting  logwood  in  Cam- 
peachy  Bay.  None,  however,  was  found ;  the  Spaniards  in  their  rage  cut 
off  his  ear,  took  away  his  nautical  instruments,  and  left  him  to  get  home 
as  best  he  might.  As  a  proof  of  the  truth  of  his  story  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  show  something  wrapped  up  in  cotton  wool,  which  he  declared 
to  be  the  severed  ear.  According,  however,  to  others,  his  ear  had  been 
lost  in  the  pillory  ;  and  according  to  a  third  version,  Jenkins  had  never 
lost  his  ear  at  all.  Burke  subsequently  spoke  of  the  affair  as  the  '  fable 
of  Jenkins'  ear ' ;  and  Alderman  Beckford,  who  arranged  for  his  appear- 
ance before  the  House  of  Commons,  told  Shelburne,  '  if  any  members  had 
had  the  fancy  to  have  lifted  up  his  wig,  they  would  have  found  his  ears 
as  whole  as  theb  own,'  as  indeed  was  said  to  have  been  proved  after  his 


1739  IFalpole  767 

death.     Jenkins,  however,  was  brought  before  the  House  of  Commons, 

and  when  asked  what  his  feelings  were  when   in   the  hands  of  the 

Spaniards,  replied  :  *  I  commended  my  soul  to  God  and  my  cause  to  my 

country.'      '  This  phrase  itself,'  said  Pulteney,  *  will  raise  volunteers ' ; 

and  the  opposition  made  the  most  of  the  incident,  as  a  proof  of  their 

constant  assertion  that  Walpole  was  neglecting  the  best  interests  of  his 

country. 

Walpole,  however,  had  no  mind  to  go  to  war.     He  instinctively  felt 

that  war  with  Spain  would  inevitably  develop  into  war  with  France,  and 

that,  he  was  well  aware,  would  mean  the  renewal  of  Jacobite   ,„  ,     , 

;  '  W^alpole 

intrigue.     However,  the  war  policy  was  supported  by  the   forced  into 

king,  by  Newcastle  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state,  and  by 
the  general  voice  of  the  country  ;  and,  before  the  close  of  1739,  Walpole 
found  that  he  must  either  go  to  war  or  resign.  He  chose  the  former. 
Had  he  resigned,  it  is  easy  to  see  now  that  in  all  probability  he  would 
within  a  very  short  time,  have  been  recalled  to  office,  and  to  do  so  would, 
according  to  modem  ideas,  have  been  the  more  constitutional  course.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  may  easily  have  hoped  to  keep  the  war  within 
moderate  proportions,  as  he  had  done  in  1726,  and  have  considered  himself 
more  likely  than  the  opposition  leaders  to  seize  the  earliest  opportunity  of 
making  peace.  Though  he  changed  his  policy,  however,  he  did  not 
change  his  mind,  and  said,  when  he  heard  the  bells  ringing  to  celebrate 
the  declaration  of  war,  '  They  are  ringing  their  bells  now,  but  they  will 
soon  be  wringing  their  hands.' 

At  first  the  operations  of  war  were  confined  to  an  attack  upon  the 
Spanish  colonies,  conducted  by  Admiral  Vernon,  who  sailed  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  Commodore  Anson,  who  was  despatched  round 
Cape  Horn  to  attack  the  Spanish  territories  on  the  Pacific. 
Neither  expedition  was  a  large  one.  Admiral  Vernon,  a  member  of  the 
opposition,  and  a  violent  supporter  of  the  war,  succeeded  in  capturing  Porto 
Bello  with  the  loss  of  only  seven  men  ;  and  the  country,  encouraged  by 
this  success,  contrasted  his  exploits  with  those  of  Hozier  in  the  late  war, 
and  demanded  that  further  reinforcements  should  be  sent  out.  An  attack 
was  then  made  upon  the  important  town  of  Carthagena,  which  com- 
manded the  isthmus  of  Panama.  The  undertaking,  however,  proved  more 
difficult  than  was  expected,  and  a  want  of  co-operation  between  Vernon 
and  the  military  leaders  brought  it  to  an  ignominious  conclusion.  Mean- 
while, Anson  was  engaged  in  adventures  which  have  made  his  name 
memorable  ;  but  as  no  news  was  heard  of  him  for  nearly  four  years,  his 
expedition  also  seemed  a  complete  failure,  and  the  country  soon  became 
disenchanted  with  the  war. 


768  George  II.  1740 

The  whole  responsibility  for  every  mischance  was  of  course  thrown  on 
the  government,  and  Carteret  and  Chesterfield  in  the  Lords,  and  Pulteney, 
Samuel  Sandys,  and  '  the  boys '  in  the  Commons,  were  in- 
the  Opposi-  cessant  in  their  attacks  on  the  ministers,  against  whom 
they  attempted  to  rouse  the  country  in  view  of  the  general 
election  which  would  take  place  in  1741.  Against  this  array  of  talent 
Walpole  could  only  bring  forward  the  duke  of  Newcastle  in  the  Lords, 
and  in  the  Commons  had  to  rely  mainly  upon  himself,  with  such  assistance 
as  could  be  obtained  from  Henry  Pelham,  Newcastle's  younger  brother  ; 
but  in  February,  1741,  he  defeated  a  general  attack  on  his  administration 
by  290  to  106  in  the  Commons,  and  108  to  59  in  the  Lords.  However, 
in  1741  a  general  election  took  place,  and  no  stone  was  left  unturned  to 
defeat  Walpole's  candidates.  Money  flowed  like  water  ;  and  to  provide 
the  means  of  bribery  a  subscription  list  was  set  on  foot,  headed  by  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  the  old  duchess  of  Marlborough,  and  Pulteney.  These 
efforts  proved  so  far  successful  that  Walpole's  majority  in  the  Commons 
was  reduced  to  sixteen  ;  and  when  the  new  parliament  met  in  December, 
Walpole's  fall  was  reckoned  to  be  merely  a  question  of  time.  This 
proved  to  be  the  case.  A  motion  of  Pulteney's,  equivalent  to  a  vote  of 
want  of  confidence,  was  defeated  by  seven  votes  only  in  a  house  of  508. 
A  few  days  later,  on  a  motion  on  the  Chippenham  election  petition, 
Walpole  the  government  were  in  a  minority  of  one.  On  this, 
resigns.  Walpole  determined  to  resign,  and  before  the  arrangements 
were  complete,  he  was  again  beaten  on  the  same  question  by  a  majority 
of  sixteen.  This  last  blow  was  decisive,  the  great  minister  resigned 
all  his  offices,  and  retired  to  the  House  of  Lords  as  earl  of  Orford. 

The  fall  of  Walpole  was  not  followed  by  a  complete  change  of  ministry, 
and  it  soon  apijeared  that  the  man  and  not  his  measures  had  been  the 
The  New  ^^^  cause  of  the  hostility  of  the  opposition.  Pulteney — 
Ministry,  actuated  apparently  by  a  quixotic  theory  that  he  was  bound 
in  honour  not  to  accept  a  post  for  himself — declined  the  office  of  first  lord 
of  the  treasury,  so  by  Walpole's  advice  that  post,  and  with  it  the  nominal 
premiership,  were  given  to  Sir  Spencer  Compton,  who  now  held  the  title 
of  earl  of  Wihnington.  Carteret  became  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  and 
Sandys  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  Newcastle  continued  secretary  of 
state,  and  Hard wi  eke  lord-chancellor.  Two  friends  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  were  made  lords  of  the  admiralty  ;  but  Pitt  and  the  other  '  boys ' 
received  nothing.  For  himself,  Pulteney  asked  for  a  seat  in  the  cabinet, 
and  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Lord  Bath ;  an  elevation  w^hich  so 
obviously  destroyed  his  power,  that  Walpole,  on  meeting  him  in  the 
House   of  Lords,   remarked,    'Here   we   are,   my   lord,   the   two  most 


1743  Wilmington  769 

insignificant  fellows  in  England.'  For  about  a  year  a  possible  impeach- 
ment of  the  fallen  minister  was  the  chief  object  of  interest  in  domestic 
affairs  ;  but  in  spite  of  the  vohimes  of  abuse  and  accusation  to  which  he 
had  been  subjected,  the  attempt  to  support  specific  charges  by  evidence 
failed  completely. 

In  its  first  form,  the  new  government  did  not  last  long.  In  1743 
Wilmington  died,  and  his  place  was  taken,  at  Walpole's  suggestion,  by 
his  friend  and  supporter  Henry  Pelham,  who,  if  he  was  not  Henry 
a  man  of  first-rate  genius,  was  recommended  by  his  kindly  Pelham. 
temper,  ready  wit,  and  perfect  honesty.  This  arrangement  naturally  did 
not  suit  Carteret,  who  had  hoped  for  the  post  himself,  and  in  1744, 
shortly  after  succeeding  to  the  title  of  Earl  Granville,  he  retired  from 
office.  Pelham  then,  true  to  his  policy  of  conciliation,  endeavoured  to 
widen  the  basis  of  his  power,  and  formed  what  in  the  cant  phnise  of 
the  time  was  called  the  'Broad-Bottomed  Ministry.'  This  included 
Chesterfield,  the  duke  of  Bedford,  Lord  Sandwich,  George  Grenville, 
Bubb  Doddington,  and  Sir  John  Hynde  Cotton,  a  Tory  ;  and  the  friends 
of  Pulteney  and  Carteret  were  turned  out  to  make  room  for  them. 

At  home,  Walpole's  retirement  made  little  change ;  but,  abroad,  the 

attention  of  the  ministry  was  soon  absorbed  by  a  struggle  far  more 

important  than  that  with  Spain.     This  was  the  war  of  the    ,„ 
A-  ,.,  ..,.1.  1     War  of  the 

Austrian  succession,  which  arose  out  of  the  jealousies  caused    Austrian 

by  the  accession  of  Maria  Theresji  to  the  hereditary  do-  "^cession, 
minions  of  her  father  Charles  vi.  This  sovereign,  having  no  sons,  had 
executed  in  her  favour  a  formal  document  called  a  pragmatic  sanction, 
by  which  he  declared  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the  Austrian 
dominions,  and  the  right  of  Maria  Theresa  to  succeed  to  all  of  them. 
To  this  he  secured  the  guarantees  of  most  of  the  European  sovereigns. 
On  his  death,  however,  the  duchies  of  Silesia  were  claimed  by  Frederick  ii. 
of  Prussia,  afterwards  known  as  Frederick  the  Great.  This  prince, 
who  was  a  nephew  of  George  ii.,  had  succeeded  in  1740  to  a  well- 
drilled  army  and  full  treasury,  which  had  been  provided  by  his  father, 
Frederick  William  i.,  a  prince  who  had  spent  his  life  in  trying  to  make 
up  for  the  military  deficiencies  of  Prussia's  geographical  position  by 
the  excellence  of  her  military  equipments,  and  the  careful  organisation 
of  her  administration.  Frederick  was  eager  to  turn  his  advantages  to 
account,  and  almost  immediately  on  the  emperor's  death  he  marched  his 
armies  into  the  duchies,  and  defeated  the  Austrian  troops  at  the  battle  of 
Mollwitz.  This  invasion  encouraged  others ;  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  also  set 
up  claims,  and  pushed  his  pretensions  to  be  elected  emperor ;  and  the 
French,  seeing  in  these  events  a  favourable  opportunity  for  interfering  in 

3c 


770 


George  11. 


1743 


Germany,  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Prussia  and  Bavaria,  and  planned 
a  general  attack  upon  the  Austrian  dominions.  Fortunately,  however, 
for  Maria  Theresa,  she  was  able  to  buy  off  Frederick  by  surrendering  the 
duchies  ;  and  her  appeal  to  the  valour  and  attachment  of  the  Hungarian 
nobility  was  received  with  such  enthusiasm  that  she  was  able  to  make 
head  against  her  other  enemies.  In  this  state  of  affairs  Hanover  could 
hardly  be  neutral,  even  had  George  wished  it.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
regarded  Bavaria  with  jealousy  ;  and  Carteret,  who  practically  had  a  free 
hand  in  foreign  politics,  was  always  of  op  inion  that  it  was  a  matter  of 
paramount  importance  to  check  all  French  interference  in  German  affairs. 
Accordingly,  George  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Maria  Theresa  ;  took 
sixteen  thousand  Hanoverians  and  six  thousand  Hessians  into  British  pay, 
and  appeared  in  Germany  as  her  ally  while  yet  technically  at  peace  with 
France.  The  arrival  of  the  British  troops  was  very  opportune,  for,  in 
1743,  two  large  armies  of  French  and  Bavarians  were  advancing,  by  the 
valleys  of  the  Main  and  the  Danube,  against  Austria.  Their  appear- 
ance at  once  drew  off  one  of  these,  and  so  enabled  the  queen  to  bring  all 
her  force  to  bear  upon  the  other. 


Battle  of  DETTINGEN. 

June   27.  1743. 


A.A«  Grain7nont's  i>roper  fosition. 

B.  The  French  guns. 

C.  Grammottt's  actual  attack. 

D.  Noailles  movittf^  to  seise  Aschaffenberg. 


The  French  army  of  the  Main,  numbering  sixty  thousand  men,  was 

commanded  by  Marshal  Noailles,  who  had  under  him  his  nephew,  the 

duke  of  Grammont ;  while  the  allies,  numbering  thirty- seven 

of  thousand,  were  under  the  nominal  command  of  the  earl  of 

ingen.  g^jj.     ipj^g  armies  came  within  sight  of  one  another  on  the 

banks  of  the  Main  ;  and  so  badly  did  Stair  manage,  that  the  allies  were 

forced  by  want  of  provisions  to  make  a  flank  march  along  the  river  bank 

from  Aschaffenburg  towards  Hanau,  while  the  whole  French  army  was 

posted  on  the  south  of  the  river,  opposite  to  their  line  of  march.     At  this 

crisis  they  were  joined  by  George  himself,  his  son — the  duke  of  Cumber- 


1743  Pelham  771 

land — and  Lord  Carteret.  Between  Aschaffenburg  and  Hanau  lies  the 
defile  of  Dettingen,  where  the  road  passes  through  a  narrow  space, 
hemmed  in  between  the  river  and  the  hills.  On  June  27,  Noailles,  who 
had  plenty  of  time  to  make  his  dispositions,  sent  his  nephew  Grammont 
across  the  river  to  hold  this  pass,  with  twenty-tliree  thousand  men,  and 
planted  his  batteries  in  such  a  way  as  to  take  the  English  in  flank  if 
they  attempted  to  force  a  passage  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  allies  began  their 
march,  sent  twelve  thousand  men  to  occupy  Aschaffenburg,  so  that  the 
allies  were  completely  caught  in  a  trap.  When  their  danger  was 
perceived,  George  dismounted,  and,  telling  his  men  that  *the  French 
would  soon  run,'  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  right  wing,  while 
Cumberland  took  post  on  the  left,  and  prepared  for  a  desperate  attack 
on  Grannnont's  position.  At  this  moment  Grammont,  eager  to  secure 
the  glory  for  himself,  pushed  his  men  forward  to  attack  the  allied  line, 
and  by  so  doing  placed  his  troops  exactly  between  the  allies  and  the 
French  batteries  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  His  attack,  therefore, 
was  easily  repulsed  ;  the  allies  in  their  turn  became  the  assailants  ;  and, 
before  Noailles  could  repair  the  mistake,  Grammont  and  his  men  had 
been  driven  out  of  Dettingen  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  hundreds 
had  been  drowned  in  their  struggles  to  regain  the  bridges.  The  French, 
therefore,  lost  the  battle  by  impatience ;  but  the  chief  credit  for 
averting  panic  among  the  allies,  when  thus  taken  in  front  and  rear,  must 
be  given  to  George  himself ;  and  both  he  and  his  son  gained  a  reputation 
for  valour  which  did  them  much  good  in  England.  The  military  results 
of  Dettingen  were  very  considerable ;  Noailles'  anny  immediately 
withdrew  beyond  the  Rhine,  whither  it  wjis  followed  by  Broglie's 
division  ;  and  henceforward  the  fighting  was  carried  on  in  the  Austrian 
Netherlands.  Dettingen  was  the  last  battle  at  which  an  English  king 
was  present. 

The  victory  of  Dettingen  gave  considerable  credit  to  the  government, 
which  was  increased  next  year,  1744,  by  the  fortunate  return  of 
Commodore  Anson.  This  ofl&cer,  who  was  a  man  of  solid  Anson's 
capacity  and  devotion  to  his  profession,  rather  than  of  Voyage, 
brilliant  ability,  had  left  England  in  1740,  with  two  men-of-war — the 
Centurion  and  the  Gloucester — and  four  smaller  vessels.  After  en- 
countering fearful  storms  in  rounding  Cape  Horn,  the  Centurion  and  the 
Gloucester  and  the  Trial  sloop  reached  the  island  of  San  Juan  Fernandez, 
off  the  coast  of  Chili.  There  they  refitted  ;  captured  some  prizes  ;  and, 
landing  a  body  of  sailors  on  the  coast,  attacked  Paita,  where  the 
Spaniards  had  stored  their  treasures,  stormed  it  with  a  party  of  seventy 
men  under  Lieutenant  Brett,  and  seized  plate  worth  ^30,000.     From 


772  George  II.  1743 

Paita  they  sailed  along  the  coast  to  Mexico,  and  then  went  in  search  of 
the  Manilla  galleon.  After  terrible  privations,  the  Centurion  alone 
reached  Macao,  on  the  coast  of  China.  Having  refitted  there,  Anson 
returned  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  finally  captured  the  long-sought- 
for  plate  ship,  worth  ^300,000  ;  and  then,  sailing  home  by  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  returned  to  England,  bringing  with  him  treasure  worth 
^1,250,000,  which  was  conveyed  from  Portsmouth  to  the  Tower  in 
thirty- two  waggons,  escorted  by  the  sailors. 

The  year  1744,  however,  was  an  extremely  critical  one  for  the  country. 
The  French  minister.  Cardinal  Tencin,  planned  an  invasion  of  England 
in  favour  of  the  Stuarts  ;  collected  a  force  of  fifteen  thousand 
Invasion  of  men  at  Dunkirk,  and  secured  the  co-operation  of  Prince 
England.  Charles  Edward,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Old  Pretender.  Against 
this  force  England  had  not  more  than  eight  thousand  effective  men  at 
her  disposal,  and  the  Channel  was  badly  guarded.  A  landing  was  daily 
expected  in  Essex  or  Sussex,  which  Horace  Walpole,  among  others, 
thought  would  be  supported  by  a  general  rising.  Fortunately,  however, 
for  England,  the  winds — '  those  ancient  and  unsubsidised  allies  of  Eng- 
land,' as  Pitt  called  them — were  first  contrary  and  then  tempestuous  ; 
and  when  the  troops  were  on  board,  and  everything  in  readiness  for  the 
invasion,  a  terrible  storm  shattered  the  French  fleet.  Meanwhile  the 
spirit  of  the  nation  rose  ;  the  suggestion  of  a  French  invasion  was  as 
injurious  to  the  Jacobite  cause  as  it  had  been  after  the  battle  of  Beachy 
Head.  The  very  publicans  refused  payment  for  the  soldiers'  quarters, 
saying,  '  You  are  going  to  defend  us  against  the  French ' ;  and  so  rapidly 
was  resistance  organised  that  Tencin  gave  up  the  attempt,  much  to  the 
disappointment  of  the  young  prince  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  was 
occupied  by  marches  and  countermarches  in  Flanders,  under  Wade  and 
Saxe. 

The  next  year  (1745),  however,  was  not  so  fortunate.  The  French, 
under  Marshal  Saxe,  one  of  the  best  generals  of  the  time,  advanced  to 
•    Battle  of      attack  Tournay,  which,  in  accordance  with  Townshend's 

Fontenoy.  barrier  treaty,  was  garrisoned  with  Dutch  troops.  A 
mixed  army  of  British,  Hanoverians,  Hessians,  and  Dutch  advanced  to 
relieve  it.  The  allies  were  commanded  by  the  duke  of  Cumberland,  who, 
though  he  had  shown  plenty  of  personal  bravery  at  Dettingen,  and  was 
devoted  to  his  profession,  had  no  real  generalship.  He  was  advised,  how- 
ever, by  Marshal  Ligonier.  Louis  xv.  in  person  was  present  in  the  French 
army.  The  armies  met  at  Fontenoy ;  the  French  occupied  a  strong 
position  at  right  angles  to  the  river  Scheldt,  their  right  and  centre  being 
covered  by  the  villages  of  Antoin  and  Fontenoy,  and  their  left  by  the  wood 


1745  Pelham  773 

of  Barr^ — a  position  not  unlike  the  English  at  Waterloo.  A  simultaneous 
attack  was  ordered  along  the  whole  line.  The  Dutch  were  to  attack 
Antoin  and  Fontenoy  ;  the  British  and  Hanoverians  the  space  between 
Fontenoy  and  the  wood  itself.  Unfortunately  the  Dutch  made  no 
serious  attempt  to  carry  out  their  orders,  and  many  of  them  ran  away. 
On  the  right,  General  Ingoldsby  recoiled  from  his  attack  on  the  wood. 
The  whole  brunt  of  the  action,  therefore,  fell  upon  the  duke  of  Cumber- 
land, who,  with  a  column  of  British  and  Hanoverians — long  remembered 
as  '  the  terrible  English  column ' — made  their  way  between  the  village 
and  the  wood,  and  actually  cut  the  French  line  in  two.  Victory  seemed 
to  be  theirs  ;  when  the  French  marshal,  observing  the  inaction  of  the 
Dutch,  brought  up  reinforcements  from  the'right  and  centre,  including 
the  famous  Irish  Brigade.  Attacked  thus  by  overwhelming  numbers, 
and  cut  down  by  a  battery  of  guns  which  had  been  placed  in  their  very 
front,  the  British  and  Hanoverians  sullenly  withdrew,  and  ultimately 
yielded  the  field.  The  victory,  therefore,  lay  with  the  French  ;  but  the 
magnificent  advance  of  the  British  and  Hanoverians  was  long  remem- 
bered with  pride.     Tournay  soon  afterwards  surrendered. 

This  success  encouraged  the  French  to  make  the  Low  Countries  the 
chief  seat  of  their  military  operations,  and  all  thought  of  an  invasion  of 
England  was  abandoned.     To  Prince  Charles  Edward  this        . 
was  a  bitter  disappointment ;  and  he  determined,  with  or     Charles 
without   French   aid,  to  make   his   way  to   Scotland,  and         ^^^  ' 
attempt  something  against  the  Hanoverian  government.     For  such  an 
enterprise,  in  which  loyalty  to  an  individual  must  be  set  against  all 
considerations  of  prudence,  and  no  account  must  be  taken  of  the  resources 
of  the  government  in  power,  of  the  scanty  numbers  of  the  Highlanders, 
and  of  the  obstacles  to  be  surmounted  in  a  march  to  London,  the  young 
prince  was  admirably  fitted.     He  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  of  a  noble 
presence  and  well-knit  frame,  full  of  fire  and  enthusiasm.     Though  ill 
educated,  he  was  by  no  means  deficient  in  natural  ability,  and  with 
manners  so  graceful  and  winning  as  to  banish  criticism. 

With  great  secrecy  he  engaged  a  passage  to  Scotland  in  the  brig  of  one 
Walsh,  a  merchant-privateer  of  Nantes,  who  also  secured  the  convoy  for 
his  ship  of  a  French  man-of-war,  the  Elizabeth^  in  which  were  placed 
1500  muskets,  1800  broadswords,  twenty  small  cannon,  and  a  supply  of 
ammunition,  all  of  which  Charles  had  purchased  with  his  own  resources. 
In  disguise,  and  with  only  seven  friends,  Charles  then  entered  the  brig, 
and  the  two  vessels  left  the  mouth  of  the  Loire  on  July  2,  1745.  Four 
days  later  they  fell  in  with  the  Lion,  a  British  man-of-war,  commanded 
by  Anson's  old  officer,  Brett,  which  attacked  the  Elizabeth  with   such 


774  Oem-ge  II.  1745 

determination  that  both  vessels  were  ahnost  completely  disabled.  They 
separated  from  sheer  inability  to  continue  the  struggle,  and  each  returned 
home  with  difficulty.  Though  deprived  by  this  untoward  accident  of 
his  little  store  of  arms,  Charles  nevertheless  decided  to  continue  his 
voyage,  and  reached  the  outer  Hebrides  in  safety. 

There,  however,  he  found  among  the  chiefs  the  utmost  unwillingness  to 

risk  themselves  upon  so  hazardous  an  enterprise.     Indeed,  John  Murray 

of   Broughton,   who    had  been   in   France   with   Charles, 

Charies        ^^^  been  despatched  to  the  west  coast  to  adjure  him  to 

Hi^  hiands    ^^^^^^j  ^"^  ^^^  ^^^1 V^^^  gone  home  under  the  impression 

that  nothing  was  intended  for  that  year.     Still  Charles' 

winning  address,  and  his  frank  appeal  to  the  loyalty  of  the  clansmen, 

triumphed  over  all  other  considerations.     The  earliest  to  join  him  were 

the  Macdonalds  of  Kinloch  Moidart  ;  the  first  chief  of  influence  was 

Cameron  of  Lochiel.     Accordingly,  with  his  seven  followers,  of  whom 

the  most  notable  was  the  marquis  of  Tullibardine,  who  had  been  '  out ' 

in  1715,  Charles  landed  on  July  25  on  the  beach  at  Moidart,  and  on 

August  19  raised  the  royal  standard  at  Glenfinnan.     His  whole  force 

now  amounted  to  1600  men.     He  had  also  been  joined  by  Murray  of 

Broughton,  who  acted  henceforward  as  his  secretary  of  state. 

Nature   has   divided   Scotland   into  three  distinct  parts :    first,   the 

northern  Highlands  ;   second,  the  central  Highlands ;   and  third,  the 

Lowlands.     Of  these,  the  second  and  third  are  separated  by 

of  the  the  lines  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde,  defended  by  the  fortresses 

Highlands.  ^^  Edinburgh,   Stirling,  and  Dumbarton;    the   first  and 

second  by  a  line  of  lakes  and  rivers,  now  united  by  the  Caledonian 

Canal,  and  defended  by  the   three  fortified  posts  of  Inverness,  Fort 

Augustus,  and  Fort  William.     These  formed,  therefore,  the  first  line  of 

defence   against   Charles'   advance.     From   Glenfinnan,  Fort  William, 

which  lies  close  to  the  rugged  mass  of  Ben   Nevis,  is  distant  about 

fifteen  miles.     Even  before  the  standard  had  been  raised,  however,  the 

line  of  defence  had  been  broken,  and  a  small  reinforcement  sent  from 

Fort  Augustus  to  Fort  William  had  been  forced  to  lay  down  its  arms. 

On  the  very  day  that  the  standard  was  raised  at  Glenfinnan,  Sir  John 
Cope,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Hanoverian  troops,  marched  from 
General        Edinburgh  for  Fort  Augustus.      Contrary  to  the  tactics 
^°P^'  adopted  with  success  in  1715,  the  plan  of  the  government 

was  to  destroy  the  rebellion  by  attacking  the  movement  at  its  root. 
From  Perth  Cope  followed  one  of  Marshal  Wade's  military  roads  toward 
Fort  Augustus  ;  but  on  reaching  the  central  chain  of  the  Grampians  he 
found  that  the  Devil's  Staircase,  where  the  road  in  seventeen  zig-zags 


1745  Pelham  775 

winds  painfully  up  the  brow  of  the  Corrie  Vairack,  was  already  in  the 
possession  of  the  Highlanders,  to  whose  bitter  disappointment  he  turned 
aside  and  made  his  way  to  Inverness.  There  he  hoped  to  join  the  well- 
affected  clans — such  as  the  Mackays — whom  Duncan  Forbes  of  CuUoden 
House,  then  the  ablest  and  most  honourable  statesman  in  Scotland,  was 
endeavouring  to  rally  to  the  Hanoverian  cause.  Cope's  movement,  how- 
ever, had  the  effect  of  leaving  the  road  to  the  Lowlands  open ;  and  Charles, 
hurrying  along  it,  and  receiving  at  the  entrance  of  every  glen  reinforce- 
ments for  his  victorious  army,  entered  Perth  without  Charles 
opposition  on  September  3,  Here  he  was  joined  by  Lord  **  Perth. 
George  Murray,  a  younger  brother  of  Lord  Tullibardine,  a  man  of  great 
talent,  bravery,  and  military  experience,  whom  Charles  wisely  made  his 
commander-in-chief.  His  subsequent  conduct  of  the  expedition  elicited 
much  praise  from  all  military  authorities ;  but,  unluckily  for  Charles, 
his  overbearing  temper  and  impatience  of  contradiction  excited  much 
jealousy  among  the  other  leaders. 

On  hearing  of  Charles'  southward  march.  Cope  again  altered  his  plans 
and  made  for  Aberdeen,  to  which  vessels  were  sent  from  Leith  to 
convey  him  and  his  soldiers  to  Dunbar,  where  he  disem-  cope  sails 
barked  on  September  18,  and  was  welcomed  by  the  news  ^°  ^""ti*""- 
that  the  town  of  Edinburgh  had  been  occupied  by  the  rebels  the  very 
day  before  his  landing.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  by  the  intelligence, 
he  at  once  marched  to  the  aid  of  the  castle,  which  was  still  holding  out ; 
and  as  Charles  was  as  eager  as  Cope  to  fight  a  battle,  he  too  hurried  on 
towards  Dunbar,  and  the  two  armies,  neither  of  which  exceeded  3000 
men,  came  within  sight  of  one  another  at  Prestonpans.  At  that  moment 
Cope's  men  were  on  the  main  road  which  runs  along  the  low  ground 
by  the  shores  of  the  Firth  of  Forth  ;  the  prince's  followers  were  on  high 
ground  further  inland,  and  when  the  two  armies  drew  up  facing  one 
another  they  found  themselves  separated  by  a  marsh  which  was  prac- 
tically impassable.     In  this  situation  night  fell. 

During  the  night  Prince  Charles  learnt  the  existence  of  a  path  by  which 
he  could  skirt  the  marsh  and  come  out  on  the  level  ground  between  Cope 
and  Dunbar.  Accordingly,  before  daylight  the  Highlanders  Battle  of 
began  their  march,  and  when  day  broke  Cope  found  Prestonpans. 
his  enemies  drawn  up  in  two  lines,  and  ready  to  charge  him  from  a 
wholly  unexpected  direction.  In  haste  he  re-formed  his  men  at  right 
angles  to  the  road,  and  stretching  from  the  marsh  on  their  right  to  the 
park  wall  of  Colonel  Gardiner,  who  was  present  in  command  of  Cope's 
cavalry,  on  their  left.  His  artillery  was  on  the  right  ;  his  cavalry,  under 
Gardiner  and  Hamilton,  on  each  flank.     His  efforts,  however,  were  of  no 


776  George  11.  1745 

avail.  The  Highlanders,  charging  sword  in  hand,  proved  a  match  for 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  alike.  It  is  said  that  five  minutes 
sufficed  for  the  combat ;  and  the  Highlanders  gleefully  asserted  that  they 
had  a  prince  who  could  '  eat  a  dry  crust,  sleep  on  pease-straw,  eat  his 
dinner  in  four  minutes,  and  win  a  battle  in  five.'  Gardiner  perished  on 
the  field  ;  Cope  reached  Berwick  with  the  survivors  of  the  cavalry,  and 
was  scornfully  congratulated  by  the  governor  on  being  'the  first  general 
who  ever  brought  the  news  of  his  own  defeat.'  The  battle  of  Prestonpans, 
as  this  engagement  was  called  from  a  village  which  lay  in  the  rear  of 
Cope's  position,  made  an  immense  sensation  both  in  England  and  Scotland. 
With  the  exception  of  the  fortresses  and  the  districts  held  by  the  loyal 
clans,  all  Scotland  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  rebels,  and  they  were 
immediately  joined  by  Lords  Balmerino,  Pitsligo,  and  Kilmarnock. 

The  prince's  next  step,  however,  was  a  matter  of  grave  debate. 
Charles  himself  was  desirous  of  an  immediate  advance  into  England, 
Invasion  of  ^^^  many  of  his  followers  advised  him  to  declare  Scotland 
England.  independent,  and  to  rest  on  the  defensive  until  reinforce- 
ments had  arrived  from  France  and  the  whole  force  of  the  Highlands  had 
been  completely  organised.  In  the  end  the  prince's  views  carried  the 
day,  and  on  October  31  he  set  out  from  Edinburgh  with  a  force  of  about 
5000  good  infantry  and  600  cavalry.  His  first  object  was  to  elude 
Marshal  Wade,  who  was  at  Newcastle  with  a  considerable  force,  and  for 
this  purpose,  while  making  a  show  of  moving  on  Newcastle,  he  secretly 
made  for  Carlisle,  crossed  the  border  on  November  8,  and  so  put  the 
hilly  country  that  divides  Cumberland  and  Northumberland  where  the 
Highlanders  would  fight  with  advantage,  between  him  and  Wade.  On 
the  14th,  Carlisle  Castle  surrendered.  Hurrying  forward,  the  rebels 
reached  Preston  on  the  27th,  and  on  the  28th  they  entered  Manchester. 
By  this  time  their  force  was  reduced  by  desertion  between  Edinburgh 
and  Carlisle  to  about  4500  men.  No  news  had  been  received  of  a 
French  invasion  in  the  south,  and  the  English  Jacobites,  headed  by 
the  duke  of  Beaufort,  the  earl  of  Westmorland,  and  Sir  Watkin  Wynn, 
absolutely  refused  to  rise  without  one.  Even  Lancashire,  probably  the 
most  Jacobite  county  in  England,  had  only  produced  some  two  hundred 
recruits.  The  peace  and  plenty  which  under  Walpole's  long  rule  had 
come  to  be  associated  with  the  Hanoverian  government,  had  completely 
dissipated  the  sentiment  of  personal  grievance  under  the  existing  state 
of  affairs  on  which  successful  rebellion  in  a  civilised  country  so  much 
depends  for  success. 

From  a  military  point  of  view,  the  situation  was  almost  more  hopeless. 
Wade  was  advancing  through  Yorkshire  to   take   them  in  the  rear. 


1745  Pelham  111 

Cumberland,  with  an  army  of  8000  men,  was  in  Staffordshire.  George  him- 
self was  collecting  a  new  army  at  Finchley,  and  the  men  whom  Cumberland 
had  with  him  were  not  the  raw  recruits  who  had  fled  at     ^    .  . 

Position 

Prestonpans,  but  seasoned  soldiers  who  had  been  under  fire     of  the 
at  Dettingen  and  Fontenoy.     Still  the  rebels  decided  to       '^™»«s« 
push  forward,  and  Lord  George  Murray,  by  a  masterly  movement  on 
Congleton,  caused  Cumberland   to  rendezvous  at  Stone,  about  seven 
miles  north  of  Stafford,  while  Charles  and  the  main  body,  keeping  to 
the  east,  made  his  way  through  Stockport  and  Ashbourne.    The  Rebels 
On  December  4  the  rebels  entered  Derby,  and  found  them-   *^  Derby, 
selves  within  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  the  capital,  on  a  good 
road,  and  with  only  one  army  between  them  and  it. 

Meanwhile  the  approach  of  the  rebel  anny  was  exciting  great  appre- 
hension in  London.  When  first  heard  of,  the  rising  was  regarded  as  a 
mere  flash  in  the  pan  ;  but  when  the  prince,  so  far  from  Feeling  of 
being  checked  at  once,  was  reported  to  have  reached  Perth,  ^°"^°"- 
then  Edinburgh,  and  then  to  be  advancing  from  Carlisle  to  Manchester, 
people's  fears  grew  ;  and  when  it  was  known  that  he  was  at  Derby,  and 
the  Highlanders  were  reported  to  be  sharpening  their  broadswords  at 
the  blacksmiths'  shops,  apprehension  gave  way  to  panic,  and  the  day  was 
long  remembered  as  *  Black  Friday.'  So  great  was  the  run  on  the  bank 
that  the  directors  were  forced  to  pay  in  sixpences  in  order  to  gain  time. 
The  king  had  placed  most  of  his  valuables  on  a  yacht  in  case  it  became 
necessary  to  take  refuge  in  Hanover,  and  it  is  said  that  the  duke  of 
Newcastle  shut  himself  up  for  twenty-four  hours  to  consider  whether 
or  not  the  readiest  way  to  make  his  fortune  would  be  by  being  the 
first  English  minister  to  declare  for  the  Pretender.  The  situation, 
undoubtedly,  was  very  serious.  Had  Charles  advanced  to  Finchley  and 
defeated  George  ii.,  as  was  probable  enough,  in  a  pitched  battle  fought 
on  English  soil,  no  one  can  say  what  would  have  followed,  for  the 
indifference  of  the  mass  of  the  people  to  the  whole  affair  is  one  of  the 
most  curious  signs  of  the  time. 

In  general,  however,  the  best  chance  for  a  rebel  army  is  to  advance  ; 
and  Charles  was  eager  to  try  his  luck  in  another  battle,  and  so,  un- 
doubtedly, were  the  rank  and  file  of  his  men  ;  but  the  The  Rebels 
oflBcers  could  not  conceal  from  themselves  the  terrible  risk  Retreat, 
they  were  running,  for  Cumberland  was  already  in  pursuit  and  Wade  was 
closing  in.  Moreover,  the  news  that  Lord  John  Drummond  had  arrived 
in  Scotland  with  some  Scottish  and  Irish  troops  in  the  French  service, 
and  that  considerable  bodies  of  Highlanders  were  ready  on  the  other  side 
of  the  border,  seemed  to  promise  a  more  successful  campaign  next  year. 


778  George  11.  1745 

For  these  reasons,  therefore,  the  council  of  officers  was  clear  for  retreat, 
and  Charles,  much  against  his  will,  was  compelled  to  yield.  Once  on  the 
march  back,  in  spite  of  the  dejection  due  to  failure,  the  retreat  was 
admirably  conducted  by  Lord  George  Murray.  Two  days'  march  was 
gained  on  Cumberland  at  the  start,  and  before  Wade  could  be  over  the 
hills  into  Lancashire,  the  rebel  army  had  passed  him.  Thus  baffled, 
Cumberland  hurried  on  with  some  mounted  infantry  and  his  regular 
cavalry  ;  but  even  these  horsemen  did  not  overtake  th«  rebel  rearguard 
till  they  were  close  to  Penrith.  There,  at  the  village  of  Clifton,  on  the 
Skirmish  right  bank  of  the  river  Lowther,  Lord  George  Murray  turned 
at  Chfton,  ^^  ^^j  ^^^  ^^  ^  cleverly  managed  skirmish  beat  off  Cumber- 
land's attack,  and  so  proved  victor  in  the  last  serious  fighting  that  has 
taken  place  on  English  soil.  This  stand  at  Clifton  secured  the  prince  from 
further  molestation,  and  the  rebels,  leaving  a  weak  garrison  in  Carlisle, 
recrossed  the  border  on  December  20. 

Cumberland,  however,  was  in  no  hurry  to  follow  them.  The  fear  of  a 
French  invasion  was  too  serious  to  allow  of  England  being  denuded  of 
Battle  of  troops  ;  SO  the  best  regiments  were  re  marched  to  the  southern 
Falkirk.  coast,  and  Wade's  army  only  was  placed  under  the  command 
of  General  Hawley,  and  despatched  across  the  border.  Hawley  found  the 
rebels  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Stirling,  where,  with  extremely  inadequate 
artillery,  they  were  endeavouring  to  frighten  General  Blakeney,  the 
governor,  into  surrender.  Their  main  force  of  8000  men,  under  Lord 
George  Murray  and  Lord  John  Drummond,  was  drawn  up  near  Bannock- 
burn  to  cover  the  siege,  and  when,  on  January  17,  Hawley  advanced  with 
a  force  of  about  the  same  size  from  Falkirk,  they  advanced  against  him. 
The  two  armies  met  on  Falkirk  Muir,  a  ridge  of  upland  which  hid  them 
from  each  other.  The  Highlanders  gained  the  summit  first,  and  saw  the 
royalist  force  toiling  up  the  hill,  a  violent  wind  blowing  the  rain  and 
sleet  full  in  their  faces.  In  these  circumstances,  every  advantage  was 
with  the  Highlanders.  Hawley's  force,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  body 
on  the  right  who  were  protected  by  a  ravine,  were  utterly  routed,  and 
Falkirk  with  the  baggage  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  prince.  The  victory, 
however,  did  little  good  to  his  cause.  Quarrels  between  Lord  George 
Murray  and  Lord  John  Drummond  were  incessant.  Numbers  of 
Highlanders  hurried  off  to  their  homes  to  secure  their  share  of  the  booty, 
and  Hawley's  place  was  immediately  taken  by  the  duke  of  Cumberland, 
who  was  determined  that  in  the  next  battle  nothing  should  be  left  to 
chance. 

Prince  William,  duke  of  Cumberland,  was  almost  exactly  the  same  age 
as  Prince  Charles.     Hitherto  his  character  was  unsullied  by  the  stain 


1746  Pelham  779 

which  subsequently  blackened  it.  He  was  known  as  an  eager  soldier, 
who  had  fought  well  at  Dettingen  and  had  been  beaten  at  Fontenoy 
through  no  fault  of  his  own,  and  who  bore  in  civil  life  the  The  Duke  of 
reputation  of  trustworthiness  and  honesty.  He  reached  Cumberland. 
Edinburgh  on  January  30,  and  set  out  next  day  to  bring  the  rebels  to 
battle  ;  but  on  reaching  Falkirk  he  found  that  they  were  in  full  retreat, 
and  had  already  crossed  the  Forth.  In  this,  as  at  Derby,  Prince  Charles 
had  been  overruled  by  his  officers,  who  thought  it  madness  to  fight  when 
many  of  their  men  had  gone  home  to  secure  their  plunder,  and  who 
wished  to  fall  back  on  Inverness  where  considerable  reinforcements  were 
believed  to  await  them.  Inverness  itself  was  held  by  Lord  Loudon  with 
some  2000  men  ;  but  on  the  prince's  approach  he  withdrew  into  Suther- 
landshire.  Inverness  then  fell  into  the  prince's  hands,  and  soon  afterwards 
Fort  Augustus  surrendered  ;  but  Fort  William  still  held  out,  and  Lord 
George  Murray  failed  in  an  attempt  to  capture  Blair  Castle.  While 
these  operations  were  going  on,  Cumberland  was  organising  his  forces  at 
Perth.  The  opportune  arrival  of  6000  Hessians  in  English  pay,  who 
could  be  used  for  garrison  duty,  enabled  him  to  take  the  field  with  a  force 
exclusively  British,  and  with  it  he  advanced  to  Aberdeen.  There  it 
was  expected  that  he  would  await  the  arrival  of  summer ;  but  in  April 
he  was  ready  to  start,  and  on  the  8th  the  army  marched  for  Inverness. 
Cumberland's  force  consisted  of  8000  foot  and  900  horse.  Great  pains 
had  been  taken  in  drilling  the  men  to  meet  the  first  rush  of  the  Highlanders, 
even  to  the  detail  of  telling  each  man  not  to  use  his  bayonet  against  the 
Highlander  in  front  of  him  who  was  covered  by  his  target,  but  to  thrust 
at  the  man  on  his  own  right  whose  side  would  be  unprotected.  Pro- 
visions in  plenty  were  carried  in  a  fieet  which  accompanied  the  advance, 
and  the  men  wanted  for  nothing.  The  soldiers  had  the  greatest  con- 
fidence in  their  leader,  and  were  eager  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of 
Prestonpans  and  Falkirk. 

When  it  was  known  that  Cumberland  was  advancing,  Charles  concen- 
trated his  force  at  CuUoden,  a  few  miles  short  of  Inverness.  He  had 
5000  men  still  with  him  ;  but  these  were  more  than  he  could  a  Night 
well  feed.  His  money  was  exhausted  ;  provisions  were  so  March, 
scarce  that  when  a  day's  march  alone  separated  the  armies,  a  single 
biscuit  per  man  was  all  the  rations  served  out,  and  night  and  morning 
the  troops  were  dispersed  seeking  for  something  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together.  In  these  circumstances,  it  was  determined  to  try  a  night 
surprise  ;  but  the  plan  was  ruined  by  the  delay  in  starting  caused  by  the 
difficulty  of  collecting  the  stragglers,  who  were  searching  for  food  in 
Inverness  and  the  neighbouring  villages.     When  day  was  within  an 


780  George  11.  1746 

hour  of  breaking,  the  advanced  guard  with  Lord  George  Murray  were 
still  four  miles  from  Cumberland's  camp.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  retrace  their  steps.  Even  then  Murray  and  the  best  officers  wished 
to  make  for  some  more  inaccessible  ground  ;  but  his  opinion  was  over- 
ruled, and  Charles  decided  to  wait  Cumberland  on  the  open  space  of 
CuUoden  Moor.  He  himself  commanded  the  centre  ;  Murray  was  on 
the  right ;  Lord  John  Drummond  on  the  left ;  and  the  army,  as  usual, 
was  drawn  up  in  two  lines.    . 

Cumberland  also  drew  up  his  men  in  two  lines,  each  four  deep.  The 
front  ranks  were  instructed  to  kneel,  the  second  to  stoop,  and  the  third 

Battle  of      ^^d  fourth  to  fire  over  the  heads  of  their  fellows.     The 

Culioden.  artillery  was  placed  in  the  gaps  between  the  regiments 
of  the  front  line,  and  the  cavalry  on  each  wing  were  directed  to  work 
round  and  take  the  Highlanders  in  flank.  These  careful  precautions 
reduced  victory  almost  to  a  certainty  ;  but  the  bravery  of  the  High- 
landers, cold,  weary,  and  hungry  as  they  were,  with  a  storm  of  sleet  in 
their  faces,  never  showed  to  more  conspicuous  advantage  than  on  that 
fatal  day.  In  spite  of  the  deluge  of  shot  that  met  their  charge,  no  less 
than  two  regiments  of  Cumberland's  front  line  were  broken  ;  but  against 
his  second  line  all  valour  was  unavailing,  and  the  clansmen  of  the  right 
and  centre,  driven  into  hopeless  confusion  and  charged  by  cavalry  on  the 
flank,  retreated  sullenly  from  the  field.  On  the  left  the  charge  had  been 
less  vigorous,  for  the  Macdonalds,  furious  at  being  deprived  of  their 
usual  post  of  honour  on  the  right,  refused  for  the  most  part  to  follow 
their  leaders,  and  retreated  unbroken  out  of  the  fray.  An  attempt  was 
made  by  Lord  George  Murray  to  rally  the  rebel  force  at  Ruthven  in 
Badenoch  ;  but  the  want  of  money  and  supplies  was  fatal  to  any  success- 
ful attempt  to  carry  on  the  war,  and,  orders  being  given  by  Charles  that 
each  man  should  shift  for  himself,  the  army  broke  up. 

In  the  days  immediately  succeeding  the  battle.  Prince  Charles  made 

his  way  across  country  and  took  refuge  in  the  western  isles,  where  he 

hoped  to  wait  safely  for  the  arrival  of  a  French  ship.     His 

Prince  retreat,  however,  being  discovered,  and  a  body  of  two 
thousand  men  having  landed  to  search  the  island  of  South 
Uist,  where  he  then  was,  his  capture  seemed  inevitable,  when  he  was 
rescued  from  his  perilous  position  by  the  devotion  of  Flora  Macdonald, 
who  took  him  with  her  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman.  He  thus  passed  in 
safety  through  the  line  of  eager  sentinels,  whose  vigilance  had  been 
stimulated  by  the  offer  of  £30,000  as  a  reward  for  his  capture.  But  even 
then  his  dangers  were  by  no  means  over.  Again  and  again  he  had  to 
trust  himself  to  the  honour  of  poor  fellows,  to  whom  the  government 


1746  Pelham  781 

reward  must  have  seemed  untold  wealth,  but  whose  noble  generosity 
invariably  forbade  them  to  speak  the  word  which  would  have  won  it. 
At  length,  after  five  months'  wandering  about  western  Scotland,  he 
reached  a  French  vessel,  and  landed  safely  in  France. 

For  many  years  the  chance  of  renewing  his  attempt  seemed  by  no 
means  hopeless.  During  the  remainder  of  the  war  now  going  on,  and 
again  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  proposals  to  make  use  The  last  of 
of  his  services  were  frequently  made  ;  but  as  time  went  on  *^^  Stuarts, 
with  less  and  less  chance  of  success.  In  1747  a  great  blow  was  struck 
at  the  reputation  of  the  Stuarts,  when  Henry  Stuart,  Charles'  younger 
brother,  became  a  cardinal.  Charles'  own  marriage  in  1762  proved 
childless  ;  and  finally  Pitt's  decisive  victories  over  the  French  destroyed 
all  hopes  of  aid  from  them.  The  Old  Pretender  died  in  1766  ;  the 
Young  in  1788  ;  and  his  brother  Henry,  the  last  of  the  legitimate 
descendants  of  James  ii.,  in  1805. 

Many  leaders  of  the  rebellion  were  singularly  fortunate  in  escaping. 
Lord  George  Murray,  Lord  John  Drunmiond,  the  duke  of  Perth,  and 
Cameron  of  Lochiel  all  made  their  way  to  friendly  ships.  Punishment 
Old  Lord  Tullibardine  died  in  the  Tower.  Of  the  others,  °^^^^  Rebels. 
Lord  Kilmarnock,  Lord  Balmerino,  and  Charles  RatcliflF,  brother  of  the 
late  earl  of  Derwentwater,  who  had  been  captured  in  a  French  vessel  on 
his  way  to  Scotland,  were  beheaded  in  1746.  In  1747  they  were 
followed  by  Simon  Fraser,  Lord  Lovat,  a  wily  old  chief  of  abominable 
character,  who,  while  assuring  Duncan  Forbes  of  his  fidelity  to  the 
government,  had  despatched  his  son,  the  master  of  Lovat,  to  fight  for 
the  prince.  Very  nearly  indeed  did  he  save  his  head ;  but,  unluckily 
for  him,  Murray  of  Broughton,  the  prince's  secretary,  was  captured,  and 
having  turned  king's  evidence,  completed  the  chain  of  proof  necessary  for 
Lovat's  conviction.  The  last  who  suffered  in  England  was  Dr.  Cameron, 
brother  of  Cameron  of  Lochiel,  who  was  arrested  while  visiting  England 
in  1753.  He  was  convicted  and  hanged,  not  so  much  for  the  old 
rebellion,  as  because  the  government  thought  it  needful  to  check  by  a 
severe  example  the  revival  of  Jacobite  intrigue  ;  and  as  it  is  known  that 
the  Young  Pretender  himself  had  recently  visited  London  to  consult  with 
the  English  Jacobites,  the  severity  is  not  altogether  without  justification. 

These  executions  took  place  under  the  due  forms  of  English  law,  and 
so  did  some  eighty  others  at  Lancaster,  Carlisle,  and  other  places  where 
prisoners  were  reserved  for  trial ;  but  a  more  barbarous  and    Barbarous 
brutal  retribution  was  meted  out  to  the  wretched  men  and   o7Sie"H7ffh- 
women  whom  Cumberland  and  his  soldiers  chose  to  regard  landers, 
as  guilty  of  rebellion.     Many  poor  fellows  were  slaughtered  on  the  field 


782  George  II.  1746 

itself,  and  so  indiscriminate  was  the  massacre  perpetrated  in  the  Highland 
glens  during  the  three  months  that  followed  Culloden,  that  all  Cumber- 
land's excellent  qualities  and  his  real  services  have  been  forgotten  in 
the  hated  name  of  the  '  Butcher.' 

Fortunately  statesmen  were  not  wanting  who  realised  that,  as  Lord 

Carteret  ably  put  it  on  another  occasion,  '  in  the  body  politic  as  in  the 

body  natural,  while  the  cause  remains  it  is  impossible  to 

tionary  remove  the  distemper' ;  and  they  were  determined  to  make 
easures.  ^^^  suppression  of  the  rebellion  a  fresh  starting-point  in 
Highland  history.  It  was  obvious  that  the  real  cause  which  made 
rebellion  so  easy  was  the  clan  system,  by  which  the  chief  had  the  first 
claim  upon  the  loyalty  of  his  followers,  lived  on  their  contributions,  was 
the  fountain  of  justice  and  honour  in  his  own  district,  and  could 
command  the  obedience  of  his  men  for  any  service,  however  lawless,  for 
which  he  might  choose  to  require  them.  To  break  down  this  system,  an 
act  was  passed  by  which  the  chiefs  were  deprived  of  their  hereditary 
jurisdictions,  and  received  instead  a  financial  compensation.  The  clans 
were  rigorously  disarmed,  and  to  break  the  distinction  between  a  Low- 
lander  and  a  Highlander,  the  latter  were  forbidden  by  law  to  wear  the 
Highland  dress.  By  this  means  it  ceased  to  be  the  interest  of  the  chiefs 
to  surround  themselves  with  a  body  of  fighting  men.  For  the  first  time 
they  began  to  look  to  the  cultivation  of  their  lands  as  a  source  of  profit, 
and  this  change  in  the  life  of  the  chiefs  led  to  the  migration  and  dis- 
persion of  the  most  energetic  and  lawless  of  their  followers.  These 
coercive  measures,  however,  though  they  might  have  broken  the  power 
of  the  chiefs,  would  have  done  little  to  secure  their  loyalty  had  not  Pitt, 
a  few  years  later,  raised  the  Highland  regiments,  and  put 

land  Regi-  them  under  the  Command  of  leading  chieftains,  one  of  whom 

"^^"^^-  was  a  son  of  the  executed  Lord  Lovat.  By  this  means  he 
secured  for  the  country  the  services  of  the  magnificent  fighting  capacity 
of  the  Highlanders,  thus  changing  a  source  of  danger  into  a  means  of 
defence. 

While  the  rebels  were  still  unconquered,  the  country  had  been 
passing  through  a  ministerial  crisis.     Of  the  younger  members  of  parlia- 

'William       ment  none  had  distinguished  themselves  more  than  William 

P^**-  Pitt  and  Henry  Fox.      Pitt  was  the  grandson  of  a  governor 

of  Madras,  who  made  himself  a  name  by  bringing  home  from  India  the 
celebrated  Pitt  diamond,  and  nephew,  by  marriage,  of  the  first  earl  of 
Stanhope.  He  was  born  in  1708,  educated  at  Eton  and  Trinity  College, 
Oxford,  obtained  a  cornetcy  in  the  Blues,  entered  parliament  for  the 
pocket  borough  of  Old  Sarum  in  1735,  and  immediately  threw  himself 


1746  Pelham  783 

into  violent  opposition  to  Walpole.  From  his  schooldays  he  had  made  a 
study  of  oratory  ;  and  his  figure,  '  tall,  and  perfectly  erect,  with  the  eyes 
of  a  hawk,  little  head,  thin  face,  and  long  aquiline  nose,'  coupled  with  a 
voice  of  extraordinary  range  and  power,  undaunted  courage,  and  immense 
belief  in  himself,  combined  with  real  ability  and  a  capacity  for  dealing 
with  any  subject  he  touched  upon  in  a  broad  and  statesmanlike  manner, 
at  once  marked  him  out  for  a  distinguished  parliamentary  career.  His 
first  speeches  attracted  the  notice  of  Walpole,  gained  for  him  the  charac- 
teristic compliment,  '  we  must  muzzle  this  cornet  of  horse,'  and  the  loss 
of  his  commission  in  the  Blues.  Weak  in  prepared  speeches,  he  soon 
showed  himself  to  be  one  of  the  very  best  extempore  debaters  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  and  became  conspicuous  among  a  crowd  of  worthy 
rivals  by  his  mastery  over  the  arts  of  oratory  and  sarcasm.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  new  man,  almost  unconnected  with  any  of  the  great 
Whig  families  which  at  that  time  monopolised  office,  he  soon  attained 
a  commanding  position  in  the  eyes  of  the  country  ;  for  his  absolute 
freedom  from  mercenary  motives  gained  him  much  respect  in  parliament, 
while  his  enthusiastic  support  of  British  interests  gained  him  the  good- 
will of  the  people  at  large.  With  George  ii.,  however,  he  was  by  no  means 
a  favourite,  partly  because  he  had  been  made  groom  of  the  chamber  to 
the  Prince  of  Wales  to  make  up  for  the  loss  of  his  commission,  and 
partly  because  much  of  his  popularity  outside  the  House  had  been 
won  by  his  vehement  opposition  to  Carteret's  Hanoverian  policy.  In 
particular,  he  had  always  opposed  the  taking  of  Hanoverians  and 
Hessians  into  British  pay,  and  had  spoken  of  Carteret  in  parliament  as 
*  the  Hanover  troop  minister.' 

*  Nothing  could  be  more  dissimilar  than  the  characters,  talents,  habits, 
and  education'  of  his  rival  Henry  Fox  ;  who,  while  described  to  us  as 
'  infinitely  able  in  business,  clear,  penetrating,  confident,  and 
decisive  in  all  his  dealings  with  mankind,  and  of  extra-  ^ 

ordinary  activity,'  was  wanting  in  those  loftier  qualities  of  statesmanship 
which  distinguished  Pitt.  His  talents  were  always  strictly  subservient 
to  his  own  advancement,  and,  from  a  long  training  under  Walpole,  he  had 
acquired  the  official  tone  of  mind  which  tends  to  regard  all  political 
questions  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  influence  upon  votes.  Indeed, 
Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  of  him  *  that  he  had  not  the  least  notion  of  or 
regard  for  the  public  good  or  the  constitution,  but  despised  these  cares  as 
the  objects  of  little  minds.'  Fox  was  bom  in  1705,  and  his  long  ofl&cial 
training  had  given  him  a  mastery  of  detail,  and  a  facility  in  the  art  of 
defence  that  made  him  a  most  valuable  man,  and  the  post  of  a  junior 
lord  of  the  treasury,  which  he  held  under  Pelham,  appeared  to  him  quite 


784  George  II.  1756 

inadequate  to  his  deserts.     The  open  hostility  of  Pitt,  and  the  discon- 
tented support  of  Fox,  were  therefore  serious  matters  for  the  ministry. 

In  February  1746,  Pelham  determined  to  strengthen  himself  by  the 
admission  of  Pitt  to  office.     George  sternly  refused  his  consent,  upon 

Ministerial  which  the  Pelhams  and  most  of  their  followers  resigned. 

Crisis.  Their  resignations  were  accepted,  and  Granville  and  Bath 

(formerly  Pulteney)  were  commissioned  with  the  formation  of  a  ministry. 

The  attempt,  however,  completely  failed,  because  they  had  forgotten 

*  one  little  point,'  which  was,  says  Horace  Walpole,  '  to  secure  a  majority 

in  both  Houses.'    In  these  circumstances,  George,  sorely  against  his  will, 

was  compelled  to  reinstate  the  Pelhams,  and  to  give  Pitt  the  post  of 

vice-treasurer  for  Ireland,  which  he  soon  afterwards  vacated  for  that  of 

paymaster  of  the  forces.     This  post  was  then  reckoned  the  most  valuable 

in  the  administration,  from  the  immense   sums  that  could  be  made 

indirectly  out  of  percentages  on  the  money  which  passed  through  the 

hands  of  its  occupant,  and  even  by  investing  public  money  under  his 

charge.    Pitt,  however,  refused  to  make  a  penny  by  such  devices,  and 

so  made  good  in  office  the  character  for  disinterestedness  that  he  had 

acquired  in  opposition.      So  completely  were  his  qualities  recognised, 

that  Pelham  described  him  as  '  the  most  able  and  useful  man  we  have 

among  us,  truly  honourable  and  strictly  honest.'     At  the  same  time 

Fox  was  conciliated  by  promotion  to  the  distinguished  post  of  secretary- 

at-war  ;  and  a  little  later  Chesterfield  became  secretary  of  state,  and 

entered  the  cabinet. 

While  Great  Britain  had  been  occupied  in  suppressing  rebellion  at 

home,  France  had  been  advancing  with  rapid  strides.      Almost  every 

fortress  in  the  Austrian  Netherlands  had  fallen  into  her 
The  'NVar. 

hands ;   and  in  1746  Holland  had  been  invaded.      Ever 

since  the  death  of  William  iii.  the  Burgher  party  had  been  in  the 
ascendant,  and  the  house  of  Orange  had  been  out  of  power  ;  but,  as  in 
1672,  fear  of  France  impelled  the  Dutch  to  invite  the  services  of  their  old 
leaders  ;  and  Frederick  William  of  Orange,  generally  called  William  iv., 
son-in-law  of  George  ii.,  was  nominated  stadtholder,  and  intrusted  with 
the  command  of  the  troops.  On  the  defeat  of  the  Pretender,  however, 
Cumberland  was  able  to  return  to  the  continent ;  but,  though  an  ex- 
cellent officer,  he  was  no  match  in  generalship  for  the  French  leaders  ; 
and  matters  were  made  worse  by  a  want  of  harmonious  co-operation 
between  him  and  his  brother-in-law.  Accordingly,  in  July  1747,  at 
LaufFeld  near  Maestricht,  the  allied  army  was  defeated  by  Marsha 
Saxe,  after  a  hard-fought  engagement,  and  compelled  to  retire  behind 
the  Meuse.     The  French  then  advanced  to  the  siege  of  Bergen-op-Zoom, 


1749  Pel/mm  785 

an  excellent  fortress  constructed  by  Coehorn,  but  so  badly  defended  by 
its  Dutch  garrison  that  it  fell  in  September.  There  was  every  pro- 
bability that  Maestricht  would  share  its  fate  ;  and,  meanwhile,  the 
ministry  seem  to  have  had  no  better  idea  of  using  English  resources 
than  that  of  applying  to  every  little  court  in  Europe  to  supply  us 
with  mercenary  troops.  At  sea,  however,  our  position  was  not  quite 
so  contemptible  ;  for  Anson  and  Hawke  had  each  beaten  a  French 
fleet,  and  each  captured  six  ships  of  the  line  oflf  Finisterre  and  Belleisle 
respectively.  Our  American  colonists,  too,  had  shown  their  mettle  in 
an  expedition  against  Cape  Breton  Island  in  1745,  and  the  capture  of 
Louisbourg,  its  capital.  On  the  whole,  however,  both  we  and  the  French 
were  glad  to  bring  the  war  to  a  close.  A  congress  was  summoned,  at 
which  British,  French,  and  Dutch  representatives  met ;  and  on  April 
30,  1748,  preliminaries  of  peace  were  signed,  and  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  the  course  of  the  same  year. 

By  the  articles  of  peace,  all  conquests  were  to  be  restored  on  both 
sides ;    the  Pretender  was  to  be  expelled  from  France ;    Silesia  was 
guaranteed  to   Frederick  ;   and  Maria  Theresa's  husband 
Francis  was  recognised  as  emperor.     Though  Spain  also   Aix-la-Cha- 
was  included  in  the  general  pacification,  the  right  of  search   ^^ 
was  unmentioned.     On  the  conclusion  of  peace,  the  army  was  at  once 
reduced  to  eighteen  thousand  men  ;  but  land  in  Nova  Scotia  was  given 
to  the  disbanded  soldiers,  and,  after  the  secretary  of  state,  the  name  of 
Halifax  was  given  to  a  new  town. 

When  the  peace  was  concluded,  Pelham  gave  his  attention  to  domestic 
aff'airs.  As  a  follower  of  Walpole  he  took  great  interest  in  finance,  and 
devised  measures  to  reduce  the  national  debt.  Since  the  Rate  of 
initiation  by  Montagu  of  the  practice  of  perpetual  funding,  j[^ebt*?e-°" 
the  debt  had  been  steadily  increasing.  At  the  treaty  of  duced. 
Ryswick  it  amounted  to  ^£21,000,000  ;  at  that  of  Utrecht  to  £53,000,000 ; 
at  that  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  to  £78,000,000.  Generally  speaking,  it  could 
be  divided  into  four  heads :  loans  contracted  in  perpetuity  ;  loans 
raised  in  anticipation  of  special  taxes  ;  loans  advanced  in  return  for 
annuities  for  life  or  a  term  of  years  ;  and  exchequer  bills.  William  iii. 
had  been  obliged  to  guarantee  an  interest  on  the  funded  debt  of  eight 
per  cent.,  and  Anne  of  six  per  cent.  ;  but  in  1716  the  interest  was 
reduced  by  Walpole  to  five  per  cent.,  and  again,  in  1727,  to  four 
per  cent.  However,  in  spite  of  the  growth  of  the  debt,  the  defeat  of  the 
Pretender  had  still  further  improved  the  credit  of  the  government,  and 
the  widespread  financial  prosperity  of  the  country  made  money  cheap. 
Accordingly,  in  1749,  Pelham  was  able  to  effect  a  still  further  reduction 

3d 


786  George  11.  1749 

by  oflferiag  the  government  creditors  either  to  be  paid  off  in  full  or  to 
accept  three  per  cent,  interest.  The  majority  accepted  his  terms  ;  the 
rest  were  paid  off  in  full ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the  fourteen  different 
kinds  of  stock  were  consolidated  into  five.  By  these  transactions  Pelham 
effected  an  annual  saving  of  above  .£500,000. 

In  1751,  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  died  of  congestion  of  the  lungs, 
possibly  complicated  by  a  wound  caused  some  time  before  by  a  blow 
from  a  trap-ball.    At  one  time  he  had  been  most  unpopular  ; 
Prince  of        and  the  cry  of  the  London  mob — '  Oh,  that  it  had  been  the 
^^^  ^^'  Butcher  ! ' — showed  how  completely  Cumberland  had  for- 

feited the  esteem  of  the  nation.  He  left  a  widow,  Augusta  of  Saxe- 
Coburg,  and  nine  children,  the  eldest  of  whom,  born  in  1738,  was  after- 
wards created  Prince  of  Wales.  The  princess  was  a  clever  woman  of  good 
character,  who  saw  clearly  how  important  it  was  for  her  children  that 
Death  of  ^^®  should  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  old  king.  A  few 
Bolingbroke.  months  later,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three,  died  Henry 
St.  John,  Viscount  Bolingbroke,  a  man  who  had  hoped  to  be  the  evil 
genius  of  the  Hanoverians,  but  had  lived  to  see  them  fixed  on  the  throne 
more  firmly  than  ever. 

In  1752,  through  the  influence  of  Lord  Chesterfield,  the  calendar  was 
reformed.  Philip  Dormer  Stanhope,  earl  of  Chesterfield,  filled  a  large 
Lord  place  in  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries,  but  is  now  chiefly 

Chesterfield,  remembered  for  some  witty  sayings  and  his  celebrated 
letters  to  his  son.  He  was  born  in  1694,  and  had  early  shown  himself  a 
consummate  courtier,  a  good  negotiator  and  an  excellent  debater.  He 
never  took  a  first  place ;  but,  nevertheless,  ought  to  be  remembered 
as  one  of  the  very  best  lord-lieutenants  of  Ireland,  to  whose  mingled 
tact  and  firmness  it  was  probably  due  that  Ireland  was  undisturbed  by 
rebellion  during  the  rising  of  1745  ;  and  for  having  thrown  up  his  post 
of  secretary  of  state,  in  1747,  because  his  advocacy  of  peace  was  dis- 
regarded. He  was  now  giving  a  general  support  to  the  ministry  without 
holding  office.  At  that  date  England  followed  the  Julian  calendar, 
which  had  been  arranged  by  Julius  Csesar.  Its  reckoning  was  incorrect, 
owing  to  the  number  of  leap-years  introduced  being  too  many  ;  and, 
accordingly,  the  calendar  was  now  eleven  days  behind  the  correct  date. 
Attention  had  been  called  to  this  by  the  astronomers  of  the  sixteenth 
century  ;  and  in  1582,  Pope  Gregory  xiii.  had  published  the  Gregorian 
calendar,  in  which  the  error  was  corrected.  This  had  at  once  been 
Calendar  adopted  in  all  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  eventually  in 
reformed,  all  European  'states  except  Great  Britain,  Sweden,  and 
Russia.    By  Chesterfield's  act,  the  3rd  of  September  was  to  be  reckoned 


1754  Pelham  787 

as  the  14th,  and  the  year  1753  was  to  begin  on  January  1st,  instead  of 
on  Lady  Day,  March  25,  as  heretofore.  The  quarter  days,  however, 
reckoning  for  the  '  eleven  days,'  were  to  be  April  5,  July  5,  October  10, 
and  January  5.  This  change,  which  did  away  with  much  confusion  and 
difficulty,  was  strongly  resented  by  insular  prejudice.  An  election  cry 
of  '  Give  us  back  our  eleven  days,'  and 

'In  1753, 
The  year  was  changed  to  popery  * — 

the  refrain  of  a  popular  song — preserved  the  memory  of  the  mixture  of 
ignorance  and  prejudice  by  which  it  was  in  some  quarters  received. 

Another  piece  of  useful  legislation  was  the  Marriage  Act,  brought  in 
by  Lord-Chancellor  Hardwicke  in  1753,  by  which  it  was  arranged  that 
persons  about  to  be  married  must  either  have  their  banns 
published  on  three  successive  Sundays  in  the  church  of  the  Marriage 
parish  where  each  was  residing,  or  must  have  a  licence  ;  and 
that  in  any  case  the  marriage  must  be  celebrated  in  church  between 
6  A.M.  and  noon.  In  any  other  place  or  hour  a  costly  special  licence 
must  be  obtained  from  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  This  Act  was 
designed  to  check  clandestine  and  inconsiderate  marriages,  and  was 
stoutly  opposed  by  Henry  Fox,  who,  having  himself  run  away  with  the 
daughter  of  the  duke  of  Richmond,  regarded  the  bill  as  a  personal  insult. 
Charles  Townshend,  also,  who  was  recognised  as  one  of  the  wittiest 
speakers  in  the  House  of  Commons,  also  opposed  it  in  what  he  called  the 
interest  of  younger  sons,  who,  if  the  bill  passed,  would  be  deprived  of 
all  chance  of  securing  an  heiress  ;  and  society  laughed  immoderately  when, 
within  a  year  of  its  becoming  law,  he  consoled  himself  with  an  elderly  but 
well-endowed  dowager. 

Pelham  died  in  1754.     He  was  not  an  old  man,  but  had  allowed 

himself  to  indulge  too  freely  in  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  had  thus 

undermined    his   constitution   before    he  was    fifty-eight.    Death  of 

Though  in  no  sense  a  brilliant  minister,  he  had  plenty  of   P^^^^*"- 

common  sense,  and  inspired  confidence  by  his  probity,  industry,  and 

punctuality.     Though  no  orator,  he  was  able  to  make  a  clear  statement 

on  matters  of  business,  and  his  conciliatory  manner  helped  to  disarm 

opposition.     On  hearing  of  his  death  George  exclaimed — '  Now  I  shall 

have  no  more  peace ' ;  a  prophecy  which  proved  true.     Pelham's  place  as 

head  of  the  ministry  was  taken  by  his  elder  brother,  Thomas 

Newcastle. 
Pelham,  duke  of  Newcastle,  born  in  1694,  one  of  the  most 

singular  men  who  have  ever  taken  a  high  part  in  political  life.    He  had 

been  secretary  of  state  for  the  last  thirty  years,  and  in  experience  of 


788  George  11.  1754 

business  and  of  parliamentary  management  he  had  no  rival,  yet  on  the 
subject  of  his  eccentricities  the  testimony  of  contemporaries  is  unani- 
mous. He  was  invariably  in  a  hurry,  and  gave  the  impression  of  ^  having 
lost  an  hour  in  the  morning  and  being  all  the  day  looking  for  it.'  In 
walking  he  saved  time  by  adopting  a  half  run  half  shuffle,  and  in  talking 
by  asking  questions,  but  not  waiting  for  the  answers.  He  was  extra- 
ordinarily ignorant  of  geography  and  of  the  general  principles  of 
statesmanship,  but  took  his  ideas  from  others,  and  occupied  himself 
wholly  with  details.  Like  his  brother,  however,  he  was  personally 
honest  and  disinterested. 

As  the  prime  minister  was  now  in  the  House  of  Lords,  it  was  of  the 

first  importance  to  secure  an  efficient  leader  for  the  House  of  Commons. 

,     ,  .       This   presented  great  difficulties.      Eventually  the  choice 

Leadership  . 

of  the  seemed  to  lie  between  Pitt  and  Fox  ;  but  Newcastle  was 

afraid  of  both  of  them,  and  preferred  in  their  stead  Sir 
Thomas  Eobinson,  a  dull,  heavy  man,  who  had  been  so  long  ambassador 
at  Vienna  that  he  hardly  remembered  the  forms  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  '  The  duke,'  said  Pitt,  '  might  as  well  have  sent  his  jack- 
boot to  lead  us,'  and  he  and  Fox,  for  the  first  and  last  time  working  in 
concert,  joined  to  make  Robinson's  position  unbearable.  Their  plan  of 
campaign  was  for  one  to  attack  Robinson  for  his  mistakes,  and  for  the 
other  to  defend  him  on  the  ground  of  his  inexperience,  and  it  was  a 
matter  of  speculation  whether  Robinson  disliked  most  the  attack  or  the 
defence.  Before  long  this  state  of  things  became  intolerable,  and, 
choosing  the  lesser  of  two  evils,  Newcastle  gave  the  leadership  to  Fox. 
A  few  months  later,  Pitt  refused  to  give  his  consent  to  the  payment  of 
subsidies  to  Hesse  and  Russia,  and  was  dismissed  from  the  paymaster- 
ship,  and  then  Fox  obtained  the  coveted  post  of  secretary  of  state. 

Meanwhile,  causes  arising  out  of  the  alfairs  of  America  and  India,  and 
almost  wholly  unconnected  with  home  politics,  had  been  making  inevit- 
able a  renewal  of  the  war  between  England  and  France. 
Colonies       Since  the  foundation  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  in  the 
in  North      Hh^q  of  Charles  i.,  the  English  colonies  in  America  had  been 
making  steady  progress.      In  1663  Carolina  was  founded, 
probably  as  a  refuge  for  distressed   royalists.     Connecticut  had  been 
founded  in  1635.     In  1664  the  capture  of  New  Amsterdam  had  opened 
the  way  for  the  foundation  of  a  new  series  of  colonies  lying  between  the 
old  New  England  colonies  and  Maryland  and  Virginia.     That  of  New 
York  had  been  founded  in  1664,  New  Jersey  in  1665,  and  in  1681 
William  Penn  the  Quaker  founded  his  colony  of  Pennsylvania,   and 
colonised  it  chiefly  with  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.     In  1703 


1756 


Newcastle 


789 


Delaware  was  separated  from  Pennsylvania.  A  pause  ensued  till  1732, 
when  Georgia  was  occupied  by  a  colony  of  poor  men  under  General 
Oglethorpe.  By  1750,  therefore,  the  colonies  stretched  north  and  south 
in  an  unbroken  line  for  miles,  and  extended  inland  from  the  coast  a  dis- 


!  K\\\  St.it.-s. 
1 .    AMasiitchiiseCls. 
1 1     Connfcticut. 
III.  New  Hampshire, 
V.  Rhode  JiUuid. 
Middle  States. 
V.    New  York. 
V'l.  Nnu  yersey. 
y\\.  PninsjiTvattia^ 
Southern  States. 
\'l\l.  Delau'are^ 
I.\.  Maryland. 
X.   yirB'inia. 
Xr.  N.Caroluyx. 
XII.  S. Carolina. 
\lll.Cei'>r^ia. 


70 


tance  of,  on  the  average,  about  two  hundred  miles.  The  white  popula- 
tion, however,  was  only  about  two  and  a  half  millions,  or  about  the  same 
as  that  of  Wales  at  the  present  day,  and  between  the  different  colonies 
there  was  no  political  concert,  and  not  a  great  deal  of  intercourse. 


790  Gem-ge  II.  1756 

North,  south  and  west  of  the  long  line  of  English  colonies  lay  the 

settlements  of  the  French  and  Spaniards.    Florida  was  the  possession  of 

The  French    Spain  ;  and  the  French  not  only  held  Louisiana  and  the  basin 

Settlements.   q£  ^j^^  lower  Mississippi,  but  also  Canada,  with  its  chain  of 

lakes,  and  joining  hands  along  the  river  Ohio,  at  the  back  of  the  English 

settlements,  denied  access  to  the  west.     Nor  was  their  claim  to  this 

territory  merely  nominal.     The  French  absolutely  denied  the  right  of 

the  English  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  in  1749  began  a  system  of 

exploration  and  fort-building,  the  object  of  which  was  to  surround  the 

English  colonies  with  an  iron  barrier.     The  chief  of  these  forts  were  those 

of  Niagara,  on  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  Crown  Point  on  Lake  Champlain, 

and,  most  important  of  all.  Fort  Duquesne,  built  at  the  point  where  the 

Alleghany  river  from  the  north  and  the  Mononhangela  from  the  south 

unite  to  form  the  Ohio  river,  which  flows  thence  in  a  westerly  direction 

to  join  the  Mississippi.     These  proceedings  of  the  French  naturally 

excited  the  alarm  of  the  colonists,  particularly  of  the  Virginians,  and 

George  Washington,  a  young  Virginian  planter,  was  sent  out  to  examine 

Fort  Duquesne,  and  upon  his  report  a  force  of  Virginian  militia,  with 

Washington  as  major,  was  sent  to  annoy  the  new-comers.      It  was, 

however,  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force  at  Great  Meadow,  and 

forced  to   surrender.     After  this  outbreak  of  hostilities   between   the 

colonies,  both  France  and  England,  though  nominally  at  peace,  sent  out 

additional  forces  to  America  ;  and  though  the  main  fleets  passed  each 

other  in  a  fog,  two  French  men-of-war  were  attacked  and  captured  off 

the  American  coast  by  Captain  Howe.     The  general  sent  out  by  the 

British  was  Braddock,   a  veteran   of  forty-four  years'  standing,   and 

'intrepid  and  brave,'  but  who  knew  nothing  of  bush  fighting,  and 

despised  irregular  troops.      The    French  commander  was  a    German 

named  Dieskau.     In   1755   Braddock  organised  a  second    expedition 

against  Fort  Duquesne,  led  by  himself  and  Washington,  but  within  a 

few  miles  of  the  fort  it  was  attacked  in  the  forest  by  a  force  of  Canadians 

and  Indians,  against  whom  Braddock's  regular  troops  and  parade  tactics 

were  utterly  useless.     Braddock  fell,  and  only  the  skill  of  Washington 

and  his  provincials  prevented  a  complete  massacre.     This  disaster  threw 

open  a  road  to  the  southern  colonies,  of  which  the  Indians  were  not  slow 

to  avail  themselves,  and  Washington  had  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  keep 

their  raids  in  check,  and  to  prevent  them  from  penetrating  even  into  the 

settled  districts.     Meanwhile,  Dieskau,  making  a  similar  advance  with 

French  regular  troops  against  Fort  William  Henry,  at  the  head  of  Lake 

George,  which  discharges  its  waters  into  Lake  Champlain,  was  defeated 

and  killed  by  Johnson  with  a  body  of  colonial  militia  from  Massachusetts 


1767  Newcastle — Devonshire  "  791 

and  New  York,  assisted  by  some  friendly  Indians.  Such  obvious  viola- 
tions of  peace  made  open  war  inevitable.  The  resumption  of  hostilities 
against  France  was  loudly  advocated  by  Fox  and  his  patron  the  duke  of 
Cumberland,  and  in  May,  1756,  war  was  formally  declared  against  her. 

The  outbreak  of  a  colonial  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France 
coincided  with  a  resumption  of  hostilities  on  the  continent.  Maria 
Theresa  had  never  acquiesced  in  the  surrender  of  Silesia    ^    ^ 

,      .  ,  ,    P  ,      1    T  .  .  ^  Outbreak  of 

to  Frederick,  and  for  years  had  been  workmg  to  form  a  the  Seven 
coalition  against  him.  For  this  purpose  her  minister 
Kaunitz  flattered  Madame  de  Pompadour,  the  mistress  of  Louis  xv., 
and  Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony  and  king  of  Poland,  and  induced  them 
form  an  alliance  against  Prussia,  in  which  she  also  hoped  to  have  the 
assistance  of  Elizabeth  of  Russia.  Against  such  a  formidable  coalition 
Frederick  turned  for  assistance  to  his  uncle,  George  ii.,  whose  Hanoverian 
instincts  led  him  to  view  with  apprehension  the  weakening  of  a  Protest- 
ant German  power,  and  in  January,  1756,  a  defensive  alliance  between 
Great  Britain  and  Prussia  was  signed.  Having  thus  secured  himself 
from  an  attack  in  the  rear,  Frederick  determined  to  anticipate  the  pro- 
ceedings of  his  enemies  by  a  forward  movement,  and  in  August,  1756, 
declaring  *  that  he  meant  to  lay  the  cloth  as  far  from  home  as  possible,' 
he  invaded  Saxony,  and  having  seized  at  Dresden  the  proofs  of  the 
alliance  for  his  destruction,  published  them  to  the  world  as  a  justification 
for  his  conduct.  He  was  then  openly  attacked  not  only  by  the  French, 
Austrians,  and  Saxons,  but  also  by  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  whom  Maria 
Theresa  had  won  over  to  her  alliance.  Had  Louis  xv.  been  wise,  he 
would  probably  have  devoted  his  attention  to  the  colonial  war  ;  but,  as 
it  was,  he  treated  the  war  in  Germany  as  of  the  first  importance,  and 
that  in  the  colonies  as  a  secondary  matter. 

The  French  began  the  war  by  an  expedition  against  Minorca,  which 
was  defended  by  General  Blakeney,  who  had  been  governor  of  Stirling 
in  1745.   To  relieve  it  a  force  was  despatched  under  Admiral   Minorca 
John  Byng.    He  was  the  son  of  the  victor  of  Cape  Passaro,    ^°^*- 
and,  without  having  seen  much  service,  he  had  been  promoted  by  his 
father's  influence  over  the  heads  of  better  men.     On  arriving  at  Minorca 
he  found  that  the  French  fleet  outnumbered  his  own,  and,  after  a  partial 
engagement,  he  withdrew  his  squadron,  more  from  half-hearted ness  and 
fear  of  responsibility  than  from  cowardice.     In  consequence,  the  island, 
which  had  been  in  English  hands  close  upon  half  a  century,  was  com- 
pelled to  surrender.    The  country  was  furious  at  the  disaster, 
and  on  his  return  home,  Byng  was  at  once  tried  by  court 
martial  and  shot.    His  case  was  a  hard  one  ;  but  only  eight  years  before, 


792  George  11.  1757 

the  articles  of  war  had  been  deliberately  made  more  severe  against  faults 
of  this  kind,  and  even  if  they  had  not,  popular  feeling  ran  so  high  that  it 
is  doubtful  whether  the  strongest  government  would  have  ventured  to 
acquit  him.  Voltaire  remarked  of  his  execution,  *  in  England  they  kill 
one  admiral  to  encourage  the  rest.'  It  is  not  improbable  that  a  stern 
example  was  needed  ;  and  the  execution  of  the  unfortunate  Byng  marked, 
once  for  all,  the  sense  of  the  nation  that  odds  must  be  most  unusual  to 
justify  a  British  admiral  in  retreating  before  the  enemy. 

The  ministry  which  failed  to  save  Byng  was  not  that  which  had  sent 

him  out.     Newcastle  had  been  forced  into  the  war  by  Cumberland  and 

Fox,  and  was  well  aware  that  he  had  little  aptitude  or  in- 

shire's  clination  for  directing  its  operations.     He  wished  to  limit 

inistry.  ^^  ^^  much  as  possible,  and  nothing  but  old  Granville's 
advice,  '  If  you  hit,  hit  hard,'  prevented  him  from  giving  an  extra- 
ordinary order  to  attack  men-of-war  only  and  allow  merchantmen  to  go 
free.  The  loss  of  Minorca  completely  staggered  him,  and  before  Byng's 
trial  he  resigned.  His  place  was  taken  by  the  duke  of  Devonshire  as 
representative  of  one  of  the  great  Revolution  families,  while 

Secretary  Pitt  became  secretary  of  state  and  virtual  head  of  the 
^  ^'  government,  supported  by  his  brothers-in-law,  Lord  Temple 
and  George  Grenville.  In  pursuance  of  his  policy  of  relying  as  much  as 
possible  on  the  national  resources,  one  of  Pitt's  first  acts  was  to  bring 
forward  and  pass  a  bill  for  the  organisation  of  a  national  militia,  which 
Pitt  hoped  would  act  as  a  reserve  for  the  regular  army  in  time  of  war, 
and  also  as  a  nursery  of  efficient  soldiers  ;  and  he  took  this  opportunity 
of  raising  the  Highland  regiments,  who  have  ever  since  played  so  con- 
spicuous a  part  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  A  nearer  acquaintance 
with  Pitt,  however,  did  nothing  to  soften  George's  dislike  of  him.  He 
regarded  him  as  too  much  the  friend  of  the  Princess  of  Wales,  and  he 
conceived  a  violent  dislike  for  Temple,  who  irritated  him  by  his  rudeness 
and  want  of  tact — going  so  far,  on  one  occasion,  as  to  try  and  illustrate 
the  case  of  Byng  by  comparison  with  George's  own  experience  at 
Oudenarde.  His  feelings  were  shared  by  the  duke  of  Cumberland,  who 
positively  declined  to  take  command  of  the  Hanoverian  army  so  long 
as  Pitt  was  in  power.  Accordingly,  in  April  1757,  George  suddenly 
dismissed  Pitt  from  his  post,  and  the  resignation  of  Devonshire,  of 
course,  followed. 

George  wished  to  form  a  government  without  having  recourse  either 
to  Pitt  or  to  Newcastle  ;  but  found  it  impossible  to  do  so,  for  Newcastle 
was  supported  by  all  the  great  Whig  families  and  by  the  Princess  of 
Wales,  and  Pitt  by  the  citizens  of  London  and  the  general  voice  of  the 


1758  Neivcasile  793 

people.  For  eleven  weeks  he  held  out,  and  all  sorts  of  combinations 
were  attempted,  but  capitulation  was  inevitable,  and  ultimately  the 
famous  Newcastle-Pitt  ministry  was  formed  on  the  basis  of  ^, 

„       .  .    .  -Ill-      Newcastle  s 

Newcastle  holding  the  post  of  prime  minister,  with  the  busi-    Second 
ness  of  manipulating  the  parliamentary  majority  ;  Pitt  that       *"*^  ^^' 
of  secretary  of  state,  with  a  free  hand  in  politics  ;  and  Fox  that  of  pay- 
master of  the  forces,  with  the  opportunity  of  unlimited  money-making — a 
division  of  labour  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  parties  concerned. 

The  new  ministry  found  the  country  in  the  lowest  depths  of  despair. 
The  long  employment  of  foreign  mercenaries  had  had  its  usual  effect  of 
making  the  native  soldiery  distrustful  of  their  military  Pittin 
capacity,  while  the  failure  of  Byng  was  interpreted  as  a  Power, 
proof  of  the  loss  of  our  naval  supremacy.  Even  Lord  Chesterfield  wrote 
that,  '  whoever  is  in,  or  whoever  is  out,  I  am  sure  we  are  undone,  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  We  are  no  longer  a  nation.'  From  this  depression 
Pitt  set  himself  to  rouse  his  countrymen.  He  had  great  belief  in  him- 
self. '  I  can  save  the  country,'  he  said,  *  and  I  know  that  no  one  else 
can ' ;  and  he  lived  to  verify  his  boast.  His  own  energy  was  soon  diffused 
into  every  department  :  '  No  one,  it  was  said,  ever  entered  Pitt's  room 
who  did  not  come  out  of  it  a  braver  man.'  For  the  first  time  since  the 
days  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  soldiers  and  sailors  were  chosen,  not  for  rank 
or  court  influence,  but  for  professional  merit.  Pitt  himself  showed  his 
own  moral  courage  by  a  remarkable  change  in  policy.  Hitherto  he  had 
been  the  vigorous  opponent  of  any  interference  in  Germany,  but  he  now 
saw  that  success  in  India  and  America  could  best  be  secured  by  aiding 
Frederick  to  keep  the  French  employed  in  Europe,  so  he  boldly  threw 
over  his  own  professions,  saying:  'I  will  conquer  America  for  you  in 
Germany,'  and  advocated  the  assistance  of  Frederick  in  every  possible 
way. 

Pitt  was  only  just  in  time  ;  during  the  change  of  government  the 
duke  of  Cumberland  had  gone  out  to  Hanover  and  taken  command  of 
the  Hessian  and  Hanoverian  troops.     The  duke  had  never 

Cumber- 
been  a  great  general,  and  he  was  now  corpulent  and  short-    land's 

sighted.  Foolishly  attempting  to  defend  the  line  of  the  ^*  ^^^' 
Weser,  a  river  which  could  be  forded  at  many  points,  he  allowed  himself 
to  be  out-manceuvred  and  drawn  into  a  battle  at  Hastenbeck.  After  a 
confused  fight,  both  sides  thought  themselves  beaten,  but  tlie  French  are 
said  '  to  have  recovered  their  senses  first.'  In  some  negotiations  which 
followed,  Cumberland  was  completely  outwitted  by  the  French  com- 
mander, and  induced  to  sign  a  convention  at  Klosterseven,  by  which 
he  agreed  to  allow  the  French  to  occupy  Hanover  till  a  general  peace, 


794  George  II.  1758 

and  that  his  soldiers  should  not  fight  again  during  the  war.  George  felt 
bitterly  the  failure  of  the  duke  :  '  Here  is  my  son,'  said  he,  '  who  has 
ruined  me  and  disgraced  himself.'  Pitt's  energy,  however,  soon  put  a 
different  face  upon  affairs  ;  the  convention  of  Klosterseven,  like  that  of 
the  Caudine  forks  in  Koman  history,  was  repudiated  on  the  ground  that 
generals  in  the  field  have  no  business  to  conclude  agreements  dealing 
with  anything  but  the  conduct  of  war.  He  then  persuaded  parliament 
not  only  to  grant  Frederick  a  subsidy  of  ^£670,000  a  year,  but  also  to 
send  British  troops  to  Germany,  and  begged  from  Frederick  the  services 
of  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  one  of  his  best  generals,  to  lead  the  allied 
forces  in  Hanover.  For  Frederick  the  Great  the  capitulation  of  Kloster- 
seven was  a  very  serious  matter,  as  it  enabled  the  French  to  attack  him 
on  the  right,  while  the  Austrians  advancedagainst  his  left ;  but  fortunately 
he  defeated  the  French  at  Rossbach  in  November,  and  the  Austrians  at 
Leuthen  in  December ;  and,  henceforth,  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  took 
the  French  off  his  hands,  without  which  assistance,  it  is  difiicult  to  see 
how  the  Prussians  could  have  held  their  own.  Pitt  also  sent  a  number 
of  small  expeditions  against  Rochefort,  Havre,  Cherbourg,  and  other 
places  on  the  French  coast,  which,  though  not  important  in  themselves, 
were  not  without  value  in  keeping  on  the  coast  troops  that  might  other- 
wise have  been  sent  to  Germany  or  America.  Well  might  Frederick 
exclaim  :  *  England's  great  travail  has  at  length  brought  forth  a  man.' 

In  America,  the  year  1757  was  not  marked  by  any  important  events. 

Loudon,  who  was  sent  out  by  Newcastle  to  succeed  Braddock,  was  a 

War  in         mere  letter-writing  commander ;  while  Montcalm,  the  French 

America,      leader,  was  an  excellent  officer,  whose  energy  was  seen  in 

the  general  success  of  the  French  all  along  the  line.     Loudon's  chief 

effort  was  an  attempt  to  recapture  Louisbourg,  the  capital  of  Cape  Breton 

Island,  and  the  Gibraltar  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence.     It  failed,  however, 

for  the  French  had  twenty-two  ships  of  the  line  in  the  river,  and  were 

too  powerful  to  be  attacked  and  too  wary  to  fight.      In  1758,  Pitt 

organised  a  general  attack  on  Louisbourg,  Ticonderoga,  and  finally  on 

Fort  Duquesne.     The  expedition  against  Louisbourg  was  intrusted  to 

Jeffry  Amherst,  a  young  officer  of  no  great  rank,  but  of  solid  abilities 

and  great  power  of  self-restraint,  who  had  seen  service  at  Dettingen, 

Fontenoy,  and  Hastenbeck,  and  with  him  he  associated  the  impetuous 

Wolfe,  thinking  that  the  fiery  nature  of  the  one,  and  the  self-restraint  of 

the  other  would  balance  each  other.    They  landed  on  the  island  in  June, 

Capture  of     ^^^i  ^^  spite  of  the  great  strength  of  Louisbourg,  contrived 

Louisbourg.  ^^   capture  it  and  destroy  all  the  French  shipping  there. 

Wolfe  then  went  home.     In  the  Ticonderoga  expedition,  Pitt  had  associ- 


1759 


Newcastle 


795 


ated  the  veteran  Abercromby  and  young  Lord  Howe,  an  excellent  officer. 
Unluckily,  Howe  was  killed,  and  Abercromby  completely  failed  in  an 
attack  on  Montcalm.  That  officer  had  entrenched  himself  behind  a 
formidable  outwork  composed  of  felled  trees,  with  the  branches  sharp- 
ened and  turned  outwards,  and  before  this  formidable  obstacle  Aber- 
cromby was  compelled  to  retreat  to  the  head  of  Lake  George,  after  a 
terrible  loss  of  life.  The  third  expedition  was  more  successful  ;  for  the 
French,  discouraged  by  the  action  of  some  Indians  who  were  won  over 
to  the  English  side,  evacuated  Fort  Duquesne,  and  Forbes,  the  com- 
mander of  the  expedition,  changed  its  name  to  Pittsburg.  These 
successes,  however,  Pitt  designed  to  be  merely  a  prelude  to  the  utter 
expulsion  of  the  French  from  Canada.  Accordingly  it  was  arranged 
that,  in  1759,  Amherst  was  to  advance  against  Montreal  by  way  of  Liikes 
George  and  Champlain,  and  that  Wolfe  was  to  make  his  way  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  attack  Quebec. 


WOLFE  S  OPERATIONS  AT  QUEBEC 


I 


Wolfe  was  now  thirty-three  years  of  age.  He  had  entered  the  army 
at  fourteen,  and  by  the  time  he  was  twenty-two  had  fought  at  Dettingen, 
Fontenoy,  CuUoden,  and  Lauflfeld,  and  was  lieutenant-colonel  General 
of  his  regiment.  In  person  he  was  thin  and  singularly  ^^olfe. 
frail,  but  his  eyes  were  bright  and  piercing.  As  a  young  officer  he  had 
neglected  no  means  to  improve  himself  by  reading  and  study  ;  he  was 
actuated  by  lofty  principle  and  elevation  of  mind,  and  had  the  art  of 
calling  out  the  best  qualities  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

Quebec  stands  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,at  its  juncture 
with  the  Charles  river.  Behind  it  the  ground  rises  abruptly  to  a  plateau 
called  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  along  which  the  river  St.  Lawrence  flows 


796  George  IT.  1759 

at  the  foot  of  a  line  of  precipices.  Across  the  Charles  river  the  clifl's 
are  less  abrupt,  and  between  it  and  the  gorge  of  the  Montmorency,  about 
Position  of  fo^^  miles  lower  down,  Montcalm  had  placed  an  entrenched 
Quebec,  camp.  At  Quebec  the  river  is  nearly  a  mile  across, 
and  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Montmorency  it  is  divided  into  two 
channels  by  the  island  of  Orleans.  On  arriving  at  Quebec,  Wolfe  landed 
his  army  on  the  island  of  Orleans,  and  after  reconnoitring  Montcalm's 
camp,  attempted  to  storm  it.  The  plan  failed,  however  ;  so  the  troops 
were  transported  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  and  Quebec  was  bom- 
barded from  that  side.  Still  no  impression  was  made  ;  and  after  a  weary 
wait  of  nearly  three  months,  during  much  of  which  Wolfe  was  extremely 
ill,  he  determined  as  a  last  resource  to  land  above  Quebec  and  attempt 
to  scale  the  precipices  which  led  to  the  Heights  of  Abraham.  On  the 
night  of  the  12th  of  September  the  fleet  escorted  the  boats  up  the  river, 
French  and  a  series  of  lucky  accidents  combining  to  deceive  the 
defeated.  French  sentinels,  Wolfe  and  his  men  effected  their  landing 
unopposed,  and  made  their  way  up  the  steep  ascent  almost  without 
fighting,  and  drew  up  in  battle  array  on  the  plain  above.  '  This  is  a 
serious  business,'  said  Montcalm,  when  at  break  of  day  he  saw  from  his 
entrenchments  the  red  line  of  British  soldiers.  With  all  speed  he  broke 
up  his  camp,  and  marched  across  the  Charles  river  and  through  Quebec 
to  attack  the  intruders.  Each  army  contained  about  4000  men.  Wolfe 
had  no  cavalry  with  him,  and  only  one  piece  of  artillery,  but  his  men  bore 
the  assault  well,  and  when  the  steadiness  of  their  fire  had  thrown  the 
assailants  into  confusion,  a  charge  from  the  whole  line  completed  the 
victory.  Hitherto  Wolfe  had  been  everywhere,  encouraging  his  men, 
but  in  the  final  charge  he  was  struck  by  no  less  than  three  balls  ;  but  he 
had  still  strength  to  order  measures  for  cutting  off  the  French  retreat. 
Death  of  then,  turning  on  his  side,  he  said  :  'Now,  God  be  praised, 
"Wolfe.  J  ^jjj  ^-g  ^jj  peace,'  and  passed  quietly  away.     His  rival, 

Montcalm,  was  shot  through  the  body  in  the  retreat,  and  died  in  the 
evening  of  the  next  day.  On  the  18th  Quebec  surrendered  ;  but  the 
conquest  of  Canada  was  by  no  means  complete,  for  Amherst  had  got  no 
farther  than  Ticonderoga,  and  winter  compelled  Saunders,  with  the  fleet, 
to  leave  the  St.  Lawrence,  leaving  Murray  in  command  of  Quebec,  with 
the  anxious  task  of  holding  it  through  the  winter  against  Levis,  the 
worthy  successor  of  Montcalm.  Fortunately  the  British  ships  were  back 
again  in  the  spring  before  the  French  could  bring  their  vessels  down 
from  Montreal  to  support  Levis,  and  as  soon  as  the  weather  permitted 
Murray  advanced  against  Montreal,  while  Haviland  joined  him  from 
Ticonderoga,  and  Amherst  from  Lake  Ontario.     Thus  surrounded,  the 


1759  Newcastle  797 

French  had  no  course  but  capitulation  ;  and  on  September  8th  the 
governor  surrendered  Canada  and  all  its  dependencies  to  the  British 
crown,  stipulating  for  the  Canadians  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
the  possession  of  all  their  rights  and  privileges. 

Nor  was  America  the  only  place  where  French  and  English  settlers 
regarded  each  other  with  hostility.  In  India  they  had  long  been  com- 
mercial rivals,  and  had  recently  entered  into  a  political    ^ 

^         '  .  •^-  m      T  ,         European 

contest  of  the  most  important  character.  Tradmg  settle-  Settlements 
ments  upon  the  coast  of  India  had  originally  been  made  by 
the  Portuguese  ;  but  in  1600  an  English  East  India  Company  had  been 
formed,  which  had  founded  its  own  factories  or  trading  stations — Madras, 
founded  in  1629  ;  Bombay,  acquired  from  the  Portuguese  in  1662  ;  and 
Calcutta,  on  a  branch  of  the  Ganges,  founded  in  1690,  and  then  named 
Fort  William.  The  Dutch,  Danes,  and  French  had  also  their  factories  ; 
the  chief  French  factories  being  Pondicherry,  not  far  from  Madras, 
and  Chandernagore,  near  Calcutta.  The  ground  on  which  these  factories 
were  built  was  bought  or  hired  from  the  native  owners.  They  were 
fortified  as  all  Indian  houses  were,  and  beside  them  there  usually  grew 
up  a  considerable  town,  inhabited  by  natives  attracted  to  the  place 
either  for  trade  or  to  supply  the  various  wants  of  the  Europeans.  For 
two  centuries  after  European  settlements  were  made,  the  merchants 
confined  themselves  strictly  to  trade  and  made  no  effort  to  extend  their 
territories  by  conquest,  or  to  interfere  in  the  aifaii-s  of  the  native  states. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  much  jealousy  among  themselves;  and,  in  1746, 
during  the  war  of  the  Austrian  succession,  Labourdonnais,  governor  of 
Mauritius,  had  organised  an  expedition  against  Madras  and  captured  the 
British  settlement.     It  was,  however,  restored  at  the  peace  of  1 748. 

Nevertheless  there  was  a  constant  temptation  to  interfere  in  native 
politics,  and  many  observant  persons  had  remarked  with  what  ease  a 
strong  military  power  might  make  itself  master  of  India. 
This  was  due  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  Indian  govern-    Condition 
ment  and  society.     The  population  of  India  is  made  up  of  ° 
the  descendants  of  a  succession  of  conquerors,  who  have  crossed  the 
mountains  from  Central  Asia,  and  have,  one  after  the  other,  conquered 
the  descendants  of  the  earlier  invaders,  who  had  become  more  or  less 
enervated  by  life  in  the  hot  plains  below.     Such  a  succession  of  conquer- 
ing immigrations,  however,  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to  India.     England 
has  experienced  the  same  fortune  ;  but  whereas  with  us  the  various  races 
have  amalgamated  and  become  indistinguishable  by  blood,  language  or 
religion,  in  India  they  have  remained  apart,  and  though  living  side  by  side, 
exhibit  in  all  these  respects  the  characteristics  of  different  nationalities, 


798  Gem-ge  IL  1759 

with  at  least  the  ordinary  amount  of  distrust  and  prejudice  between  them. 
In  such  circumstances  patriotism,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word,  is  out 
of  the  question.  A  man's  allegiance  is  due  to  his  race,  his  religion,  his 
employer,  but  not  necessarily  to  his  country  ;  and  it  is  this  absence  of 
unity  which  for  ages  has  made  India  an  easy  one  to  conquer  and  to  hold. 
Th    M  Politically,  the  north-east  of  India  was  under  the  rule  of  the 

Great  Mogul,  often  called  the  Padishah,  the  representative 
of  the  Mohammedan  Moguls  or  Mongols  chiefs,  among  whom  Akbar  and 
Aurungzebe  are  famous,  who  crossed  into  India  during  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  during  that  and  the  seventeenth  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Indus  and  the  whole  of  the  Ganges  valley. 
By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  they  had  ceased  to  be 
conquerors,  and  regarded  with  apprehension  the  arrival  of  fresh  Afghan 
hordes.  The  system  of  government  which  circumstances  had  forced  on 
the  Mogul  sovereigns  was  analagous  to  feudalism.  Each  outlying  district 
was  in  the  hands  of  a  nabob  or  viceroy,  who  was  originally  nothing  more 
than  an  officer  of  the  Mogul,  but  had  rapidly  developed  into  an  hereditary 
ruler,  owing  little  but  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the  central  authority.  Poly- 
gamy being  universal,  there  were  endless  disputes  about  succession  in 
every  ruling  house,  which  offered  a  tempting  field  for  intrigue.  Under  the 
rule  of  the  Mogul  princes  and  their  representatives,  supported  by  their 
Mohammedan  adherents,  were  the  Hindus,  who  constituted  the  mass  of 
the  people.  Their  religion  was  Brahminism,  and  they  cordially  detested 
their  Mohammedan  rulers.  They  had  not,  however,  the  fighting  ability 
of  the  Mahommedans  ;  and,  moreover,  they  were  themselves  divided  by 
their  system  of  hereditary  castes  into  classes  which  had  little  more  in 
common  than  the  Mohammedans  and  Hindus  themselves.  In  southern 
and  western  India  the  chief  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Hindoo 
Mahrattas,  whose  chiefs  were  the  Peishwa  at  Poonah,  the  Gaikwar 
of  Baroda,  Scindhia  of  Gwalior,  Holkar  of  Indore,  and  Bhonsla  of 
Nagpore — all  of  which  are  hereditary  titles.  These  had  never  been 
conquered  by  the  Moguls.  Besides  these  great  divisions  there  were 
an  immense  number  of  smaller  ones,  and  many  isolated  chiefs,  who 
owed  allegiance  to  no  authority,  and  maintained  their  position  solely 
by  the  sword — such  as  the  Rajpoots  of  the  north-west.  Personally, 
many  of  the  natives  were  exceedingly  brave ;  but  they  had  never 
adopted  European  discipline — that  wonderful  power  which  makes  a 
mob  into  a  machine,  gives  skill  to  the  most  awkward,  and  endows  the 
whole  with  a  courage  far  superior  to  that  possessed  by  the  individuals 
who  compose  it. 

The  possibility   afforded    by  this    state  of  things  for  a  European 


1759  Newcastle  799 

conquest  of  India  had  already  been  perceived  by  many,  but  it  was  first 
acted  upon  by  Dupleix,  governor  of  Pondicherry,  at  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  Madras.  His  plan  was  to  hire  and  drill  an  army 
of  natives — or  Sepoys,  as  they  were  called — and  to  oflFer 
their  services  to  any  of  the  neighbouring  princes  or  pretenders  who  were 
willing  to  make  friends  with  the  French.  His  success  was  so  great  that 
he  acquired  a  preponderating  influence  in  southern  India,  while  the 
British  were  looked  upon  by  the  natives  as  mere  traders,  whose  town  of 
Madras  had  been  captured  by  the  French  warriors.  In  self-defence, 
therefore,  the  British  were  compelled  to  adopt  Dupleix's  plan  of  hiring 
Sepoys,  and  to  counteract  his  influence  by  taking  sides  against  him  in 
the  native  quarrels.  In  the  course  of  1751,  a  dispute  arose  between  two 
rival  Nabobs  of  Arcot,  a  town  about  equi-distant  from  Madras  and 
Pondicherry  ;  and  Chunda  Sahib,  the  French  candidate,  was  engaged  in 
besieging  Mohamed  Ali,  his  rival,  at  Trichinopoly.  To  effect  a  diver- 
sion, the  British  sent  an  expedition  to  seize  Arcot  itself,  and  intrusted 
it  to  the  command  of  Robert  Clive. 

This  remarkable  man  was  born  at  Market  Drayton,  in  Shropshire,  in 
1729  ;  and,  after  a  stormy  boyhood,  was  sent  out  to  act  as  a  clerk  in  the 
Company's  factory  at  Madras.  Utterly  unsuited  for  desk 
work,  Clive  had  welcomed  the  outbreak  of  war.  He  gladly 
exchanged  the  pen  for  the  sword,  and  soon  showed  that  he  possessed 
all  the  qualities  of  a  great  commander,  and  also  a  genius  for  diplomacy, 
which  made  him  more  than  a  match  for  the  natives.  With  five 
hundred  men— two  hundred  of  whom  were  Europeans —  siegeof 
he  advanced  upon  Arcot.  When  the  garrison  saw  him  Arcot. 
approaching,  undeterred  by  a  terrible  storm  of  thunder  and  rain,  they 
fled  with  precipitation  ;  and  Clive  occupied  the  fort  without  the  loss  of 
a  man.  There  he  was  shortly  besieged  by  an  overwhelming  force  which 
Dupleix  had  collected  ;  but  for  fifty  days  Clive  and  his  little  band  held 
out  against  all  the  eflforts  of  the  besiegers.  So  devoted  were  the  Sepoys, 
that  they  actually  ofl'ered  to  subsist  on  the  water  drained  off  from  the 
boiled  rice,  so  that  the  grains  might  be  kejDt  for  the  European  soldiers. 
At  length,  having  been  joined  by  a  French  force,  the  besiegers  delivered 
a  tremendous  assault,  but  Clive  again  beat  them  off ;  and,  discouraged 
by  their  repeated  failures,  the  besiegers  marched  away  of  their  own 
accord.  The  defence  of  Arcot  was  recognised  all  over  the  world  as  a 
military  achievement  fit  to  rank  with  the  great  exploits  of  the  world. 
Pitt  described  Clive  in  parliament  as  a  '  heaven-born  general ' ;  and  when 
shortly  after,  the  state  of  his  health  compelled  him  to  visit  England, 
he  was  received  with  distinction  both  by  statesmen  and  soldiers. 


800  George  11.  1759 

In  1756  fresh  trouble  broke  out  in  Bengal.  There  the  British  held 
their  factory  at  Calcutta  as  tenants  of  the  Nabob  of  Bengal,  who  lived 
Surajah  at  Moorshedabad,  farther  up  the  river  Ganges.  The  reign - 
Dowiah.  -jjg  Nabob  was  Surajah  Dowlah,  a  stupid  and  effeminate 
young  man,  who  was  incited  by  French  agents  to  think  he  could  make 
more  by  quarrelling  with  the  British  company  than  by  encouraging 
their  trade.  Accordingly  he  advanced  with  an  army  upon  Calcutta,  and 
seized  all  the  British  who  had  not  escaped.  The  prisoners,  apparently 
without  his  orders,  were  thrown  into  the  small  room  since  well  known  as 
the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta.  Only  fourteen  out  of  one  hundred  and  forty- 
six  came  out  alive.  About  this  time  Clive  returned  to  Madras,  and  was  at 
once  put  at  the  head  of  an  expeditionary  force,  including  the  39th  regi- 
ment of  the  British  army  (now  the  1st  Battalion  West  Dorset),  which  bears 
on  its  colours,  'Primus  in  Indis.'  The  force  sailed  for  Bengal  under  the 
convoy  of  Admiral  Watson,  and  on  reaching  Calcutta  Clive  entered 
into  a  series  of  intrigues  for  the  dethronement  of  the  Nabob,  and  the 
substitution  of  Mir  Jaffier.  When  all  was  ready  Clive  advanced  towards 
Battle  of  the  capital,  and  defeated  the  Nabob  in  the  pitched  battle  of 
Plassey.  piassey,  fought  on  the  27th  June,  1757,  in  which  2000  British 
and  5000  Sepoys  defeated  about  40,000  native  soldiers.  The  result  of 
the  battle  was  the  dethronement  of  Surajah  Dowlah  ;  Mir  Jaffier  was 
made  Nabob  in  his  stead,  and  the  Company  placed  on  its  old  footing  in 
Bengal.  Again  Clive  was  compelled  by  the  climate  to  return  home,  but 
his  place  was  taken  by  Colonel  Eyre  Coote,  who  had  fought  at  Plassey, 
and  had  a  wonderful  ascendancy  over  the  Sepoys.  Between  him  and  his 
French  antagonist.  Count  Lally,  a  descendant  of  an  Irish  exile,  a  long 
Battle  of  series  of  manoeuvring  culminated  in  December  1760,  in  the 
Wandewash.  \^^^^\q  of  Wandewash,  near  Madras,  fought  almost  exclu- 
sively between  Europeans.  The  result  was  a  decisive  victory  for  the 
British ;  and  after  the  action  Coote's  Sepoys  are  said  to  have  thanked 
him  for  showing  them  what  a  battle  between  Europeans  was  like. 
Henceforward  the  natives  regarded  the  British  as  better  soldiers  than 
the  French. 

At  sea  Pitt  had  been  equally  successful.  Though  no  great  naval 
action  was  fought,  in  the  course  of  1758  we  took  and  destroyed  in  small 
encounters  no  less  than  sixteen  French  men-of-war,  and  a 
War!^^^^^  great  number  of  merchantmen,  and  captured  Guadeloupe 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  island  of  Goree  on  the  coast  of 
West  Africa.  In  1759,  however,  a  series  of  great  victories  recalled  the 
memory  of  Blake  and  Russell.  It  was  the  scheme  to  carry  out  an 
invasion  of  England,   for  which  purpose   a  fleet   of  transports   were 


1759 


Newcastle 


801 


collected  at  Havre  at  the  mouth  of  the  Seine,  and  the  Toulon  fleet  was 
ordered  to  sail  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  join  with  that  at  Brest, 
and  cover  the  passage  of  the  invading  force.  Pitt  intrusted  the  Medi- 
terranean fleet  to  Boscawen,  and  the  Channel  fleet  to  Sir  Edward  Hawke, 
and  when  De  la  Clue  from  Toulon  was  stealing  along  the  Battle  off 
Portuguese  coast,  Boscawen  caught  him  off  Lagos,  took  four  L^&os. 
ships,  and  dispersed  the  rest ;  and  Sir  Edward  Hawke,  supported  by 


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80                                              go 

Commodore   Howe,  braving  the  storms   of  a   wild   November  night, 
dashed  in  among  the  Brest  fleet,  which  Conflans  had  drawn 
up  among  the  rocks  and  shallows  of  Quiberon  Bay.     '  Lay   Quiberon 
me  alongside  the  Soleil  Boyale^'  were  Howe's  orders  to  his      *^' 
terrified  pilot ;  and,  led  by  their  commander,  the  British  ships,  with  a  loss 
of  only  forty  men,  captured,  burnt,  or  drove  on  shore  the  greater  number 
of  the  French  vessels.     Kodney  was  chosen  to  bombard  Havre,  which  he 

3  E 


802  George  11.  1759 

did  most  effectually,  so  that  the  French  scheme  of  invasion  was  com- 
pletely ruined.  Hundreds  of  French  merchantmen  were  brought  in  as 
prizes,  and  so  completely  were  communications  between  France  and  her 
dependencies  interrupted  that  Montcalm  passed  eighteen  months  without 
receiving  a  single  letter. 

On  the  continent  the  years  1758,  1759  tried  Frederick's  powers  to  the 

uttermost.     In  the  summer  of  1758,  Ferdinand  gave  him  material  aid 

by  beating  the  French  at  Crefeld,  and  he  himself  defeated  a 

tinental        great  Russian  army  in  the  terrible  battle  of  Zorndorf.     But 

^^'  in  November  Frederick's  overweening  confidence  led  him  to 

suffer  a  disastrous  defeat  in  the  night  battle  of  Hochkirch,  where  his  best 

soldiers  perished,  and  nothing  but  his  great  skill  in  manoeuvring  saved 

him  from  overwhelming  ruin.     However,  by  the  aid  of  Pitt's  subsidy,  he 

reorganised  his  forces  during  the  spring  and  took  the  offensive  against 

the  Austrians  and  Eussians,  whilst  Ferdinand  and  the  allies  attacked 

the  French.     Foolishly  separating  himself  from  the  English  detachment, 

Ferdinand  was  defeated  by  De  Broglie  at  Bergen  ;  but  rejoining  them, 

Battle  of      ^^  drew  the  whole  French  army  into  an  ambuscade  near 

Minden.       Minden.     Here  the  French  fought  with  their  infantry  on 

the  flanks,  and  their  cavalry  in  the  centre,  and  the  battle,  as  at  Waterloo, 

consisted  largely  of  cavalry  charges  against  the  British  and  Hanoverian 

squares.     These  were  nobly  repulsed  ;  but  when  a  general  advance  was 

made,  and  the  cavalry  ordered  to  charge.  Lord  George  Sackville,  the 

British  commander — an  admirable  parliamentary  speaker,  but  already 

suspected  of  cowardice— pretended  not  to  understand.     Ferdinand,  in 

disgust,  sent  fresh  orders  to  the  marquess  of  Granby,  the  second  in 

command,  but  the  moment  for  decisive  success  had  been  lost.     For  this 

conduct    Lord   George   was   tried   by  court-martial,   and  his   disgrace 

published  to  every  regiment  in  the  army.     Unfortunately,  a  fortnight 

later,  Frederick  lost  the  battle  of  Kunersdorf,  and  for  a  time,  Berlin 

itself  was  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies ;  but  he  was  again  saved  by  the 

dissensions  of  his  antagonists,  each  of  whom  waited  for  the  other  to 

inflict  the  final  blow.     Nevertheless,  in  1760,  Frederick's  affairs  seemed 

Battle  of      desperate,  but  again  Ferdinand  helped  him  by  the  victory 

Warburg,     ^f  Warburg,  where  Granby,  charging  without  hat  or  wig, 

retrieved  the  honours  of  the  English  cavalry ;   and   Frederick's   own 

victories  of  Liegnitz  and  Torgau  just  averted  destruction.      This  was 

Frederick's  critical  year  ;  for,  the  next  spring,  Elizabeth  of  Russia  died, 

and  her  successor,  Peter  iii.,  was  his  friend.  Austria  and  France,  however, 

still  continued  the  war  ;  but  no  more  important  battles  were  fought,  and, 

on  the  whole,  Frederick's  position  improved. 


1760 


Neivcastle 


803 


It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  exciting  events  that  George  ii.  passed 
suddenly  away  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  Though  not  a  great  king, 
he  was  by  no  means  without  his  merits.  He  was  true  to  his  friends 
and  steady  in  his  policy,  and  in  the  troublous  times  of  his  successor, 
his  days  were  remembered  not  without  regret.  Several  good  sayings 
of  his  are  recorded.  When  some  one  told  him  that  Wolfe  was  mad,  he 
replied  :  '  I  wish  he  would  bite  some  of  the  other  generals.' 


CHIEF  DATES, 


A.D. 

Methodist  Society  founded 1730 

Excise  Bill, 

1733 

Porteous  Blots, 

1736 

Death  of  Queen  Caroline, 

1737 

Fall  of  Walpole, 

1742 

Battle  of  Dettlngen, 

1743 

Battle  of  Fontenoy,   . 

1745 

Jacobite  Rebellion,     . 

1746-46 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  . 

1748 

Siege  of  Arcot,  . 

1761 

Death  of  Felkam, 

1764 

Seven  Years'  War  begins, 

1766 

Battle  of  Plassey, 

1767 

Capture  of  Quebec,    . 

1769 

Battle  of  Wandewash, 

1760 

CHAPTER  III 

GEORGE  III.:  1760-1820 
Born  1738  ;  married  Charlotte  Sophia  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  1761. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY  PRINCES   TO    1789 

Fraicce.      ■  •  Frussia. 

Louis- XV.,  d.  1774.      •  Frederick  the  Great. 

Louis  XVI.  - 

Fall  of  Pitt — The  Wilkes  Case — Estrangement  of  the  American  Colonies — Tlie 
Middlesex  Election — Junius'  Letters — Loss  of  the  American  Colonies — 
Parliamentary  and  Economical  Reform — The  Coalition — India — Ministry  of 
the  younger  Pitt. 

At  his  accession  George  iii.  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  was 
strong  and  well  formed,  his  personal  character  was  excellent,  and  his 
Character  manners  pleasant,  but  his  retreating  forehead  gave  little 
of  George,  indication  of  ability.  His  speech,  too,  was  stammering, 
and  his  habit  of  repeating  his  questions,  and  of  constantly  saying,  '  Eh  % 
eh  ? '  and  '  What  %  what  ? '  gave  the  impression  that  his  capacity  was  less 
than  it  really  was.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  though  he  lacked  the  power  of 
taking  a  broad  view  of  affairs,  and  was  wholly  deficient  in  that  elasticity 
of  mind  which  enables  a  man  to  recognise  his  own  mistakes  and  to  take 
up  a  new  position,  he  was  an  excellent  man  of  business,  had  a  shrewd 
knowledge  of  character,  and  was  thoroughly  desirous  of  doing  his  duty 
to  the  best  of  his  ability.  He  spoke  English  as  his  mother-tongue, 
regarded  himself  as  an  Englishman,  declared  in  his  first  speech  that  he 
'  gloried  in  the  name  of  Britain,'  and,  as  he  was  fond  of  field  sports,  and  his 
likes  and  dislikes  were  those  of  the  mass  of  his  subjects,  he  bade  fair  to  be 
a  much  more  popular  sovereign  than  either  of  his  Hanoverian  predecessors. 
Unfortunately,  education  had  done  little  to  improve  George's  mind,  or 
remedy  his  natural  deficiencies.  By  a  singular  oversight  of  the  Whig 
His  Educa-  ministers  his  instruction  had  been  allowed  to  fall  into  the 
tion.  hands  of  men  of  high  Tory  or  even  Jacobite  views.  Books  had 

been  put  into  his  hands  which  gave  a  completely  wrong  view  of  English 
history  and  the  British  Constitution,  particularly  of  the  revolution  of 

80i 


1760  Newcastle  805 

1688 ;  and  the  result  was  that  the  new  Hanoverian  King  of  England  held 
views  which  would  have  been  much  more  appropriate  for  one  of  the 
Stuarts.  This  was  the  more  serious,  as  many  of  the  old  Jacobites,  despair- 
ing of  seeing  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  had  come  over  to  the  reigning 
family  ;  but  as  was  wittily  said — '  While  they  left  their  king,  they  brought 
their  principles  with  them ' ;  and  the  name  Tory,  which  under  Pitt's  rule 
had  almost  disappeared,  was  revived  to  designate  the  new  converts.  The 
rallying-place  of  this  party  was  the  court  of  the  Dowager  Princess  of  Wales. 
Educated  at  a  petty  German  court,  the  Princess  was  ill  acquainted  with 
the  British  constitution,  and  her  constant  advice  to  her  son  was,  '  George, 
be  king.'  Her  chief  adviser  and  friend  was  John  Stuart,  earl  of  Bute,  a 
pompous  and  opinionated  Scottish  nobleman,  who  spoke  so  slowly  that  bis 
words,  said  Charles  Townshend,  '  sounded  like  minute-guns,'  and  who  was 
quite  ignorant  of  the  business  of  state.  From  the  very  beginning  of  the 
new  reign,  the  effect  of  his  influence  was  dreaded.  A  paper  was  posted  on 
the  Royal  Exchange,  'No  Petticoat  Government — No  Scotch  Favourite — 
No  Lord  George  Sackville' ;  and  it  was  jestingly  asked  as  a  riddle, '  What 
coal  should  the  king  burn  in  his  bedchamber — Newcastle,  Scotch,  or  Pit  1 ' 
The  object  of  the  new  king's  dislike  was  the  ascendency  of  the  Whig 
revolution  families,  of  whom  Newcastle  was  the  leader,  and  who  had  so 
completely  engrossed  power  that  even  such  able  Whigs  a^  His  Political 
Fox  and  Pitt  had  been  only  grudgingly  admitted  to  office.  Views. 
George  had  read  a  book  by  Bolingbroke,  called  The  Patriot  King,  in 
which  it  was  advocated  that  a  king  should  choose  his  ministers  from  the 
ablest  men  of  all  parties,  and  direct  them  to  carry  out  a  policy  chosen  by 
himself.  Such  a  scheme  had  much  in  it  to  fascinate  the  imagination. 
George  determined  to  act  upon  it,  and  as  a  first  step  to  break  the 
political  power  of  the  Whigs.  To  do  this,  however,  was  by  no 
means  easy ;  their  power  rested  on  the  memory  of  their  past  services 
and  their  family  connections,  supplemented  for  close  on  half  a  century 
by  all  the  arts  of  political  patronage.  For  this,  the  rapid  increase 
in  the  number  of  government  places,  due  to  the  development  of  the 
civil  and  military  services,  had  been  most  valuable,  and  still  more 
important  were  the  facilities  for  parliamentary  corruption  afforded  by 
the  condition  of  the  constituencies.  Many  of  these  were  boroughs  which, 
since  they  had  received  their  right  to  send  members,  perhaps  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  had  utterly  decayed,  and  others  had 
been  created  by  the  Tudors  and  early  Stuarts,  with  the  distinct  intention 
of  keeping  them  subservient  to  the  crown.  The  members  The  Rotten 
for  such  rotten  boroughs — as  they  were  called — were  nom-  Boroughs, 
inated  by  the  crown  or  some  neighbouring  landowner ;  and  it  was  the 


806  George  III  1760 

business  of  such  a  party-manager  as  Newcastle  to  enlist  the  patrons  on 
the  side  of  the  Whigs.  In  1780  it  was  asserted  by  a  society  called  the 
'  Friends  of  the  People,'  that  no  less  than  200  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  were  returned  by  places  having  less  than  a  hundred  voters 
each,  and  also  that  357  members  were  practically  nominated  by  154 
patrons.  So  long  as  such  forces  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Whigs, 
their  position  was  impregnable  ;  and  they  had  recently  shown  evidence 
of  its  strength  by  forcing  Pitt  upon  George  ii.  George  iii.,  however, 
determined  to  attack  it,  and  he  hoped  to  have  the  sympathy  of  the 
discontented  Whigs,  of  the  Tories,  and  of  the  great  body  of  the  electors, 
who  had  little  more  influence  than  he  had  himself.  In  the  first  instance, 
George  had  recourse  to  the  services  of  Lord  Bute,  who  held  that  in  the 
present  condition  of  affairs,  'the  king  was  phantom,  and  the  country 
under  a  mere  oligarchy.'  Two  days  after  the  accession,  Bute  was 
admitted  into  the  privy  council,  and  in  March  1761  he  succeeded 
Lord  Holderness,  Pitt's  cipher-colleague,  as  secretary  of  state.  With 
Bute  in  the  cabinet,  George  was  fully  informed  of  the  views  and  inten- 
tions of  his  ministers,  and  proceeded  with  great  acuteness  to  use  this 
knowledge  for  his  own  advantage.  So  long  as  the  war  lasted,  however, 
it  was  impossible  to  dismiss  Pitt,  but  he  might  be  driven  to  resign  ;  and 
before  the  end  of  the  year  this  was  effected. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  the  war  Spain  had  held  aloof,  but  on  the 
death  of  Ferdinand  in  1759,  he  was  succeeded  by  the  king  of  Naples  as 

Foreign       Charles  III.  ;  and  the  new  king  entered  into  a  'family  com- 

Affairs.  p^ct '  with  the  court  of  France,  to  promote  the  interests  of 
the  Bourbon  family.  This  treaty,  however,  was  to  be  kept  secret  till 
the  annual  Plate  fleet  from  South  America  had  safely  arrived  at  Cadiz  ; 
but  its  effect  was  immediately  seen  when  the  French  broke  off  some  nego- 
tiations into  which  Pitt  had  entered.  Of  the  reason  of  this,  Pitt  had  ample 
information,  and  wished  to  forestall  events  by  an  instant  declaration  of 
war  and  the  seizure  of  the  Plate  fleet.  Bute,  however,  backed  by  the 
king,  disputed  Pitt's  facts  ;  Newcastle  shuffled  and  hesitated,  and  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet,  piqued  by  Pitt's  threat  of  resignation  if  he  did 
.  not  get  his  own  way,  supported  Bute.  Accordingly,  Pitt 
of  Pitt  and      threw  up  the  seals,  and  was  succeeded  by  George  Grenville. 

ewcas  e.  jjowever,  as  Pitt  foretold,  Spain,  so  soon  as  the  Plate  fleet 
was  safe,  declared  war.  Newcastle's  resignation  soon  followed  that  of 
Pitt.  Nominally,  he  retired  because  Bute  refused  to  renew  the  subsidy 
to  the  king  of  Prussia  ;  in  reality,  because  he  found  himself  without  a 
voice  in  the  distribution  of  court  patronage.  For  years  this  had  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  prime  minister,  and  had  been  used  to  consolidate  the 


1762  Newcastle— Bute  807 

power  of  the  Whigs  ;  but  George  insisted,  as  in  theory  was  his  right, 
to  distribute  places  and  pensions  himself.  Newcastle,  therefore,  almost 
piteously  complained  that — '  It  was  impossible  to  speak  to  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons  when  one  did  not  know  who  had  received  a  gratifica- 
tion,' and  retired  from  office.  Nothing  in  his  official  career,  it  was  said, 
'  became  him  so  well  as  the  leaving  of  it ' ;  he  asked  no  reward  for  him- 
self, and  thirty  years  of  place  left  him  a  poorer  man  by  many  thousand 
pounds.  The  road  was  now  clear  for  Bute.  In  1762,  he  Bute's 
became  first  Lord  of  the  Treasury  ;  George  Grenville  was  Ministry, 
one  secretary  of  state.  Lord  Egremont,  the  Tory  son  of  the  Jacobite 
Wyndham,  was  the  other,  and  Fox  retained  his  post  of  paymaster  of 
the  forces. 

At  sea,  the  war  against  France  and  Spain  was   meanwhile   carried 
on  with  considerable  vigour.     Martinique,  Grenada,  St.  Lucia,  and  St. 

Vincent  were  taken,  and  after  a  vigorously  conducted  siege,  ,„      ,   ^. 
TT  ,  ,     ,  •,,.  ,  ,       'West  Indian 

Havana  was  stormed,  and  three  million  pounds  worth  of  islands 

treasure  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Another  expedi-  ^^^  "^^ 
tion  took  Manila,  the  capital  of  the  Philippine  Islands  ;  and  several  rich 
Plate  ships  also  fell  into  our  hands,  one  of  which  alone  was  worth 
^800,000.  On  the  continent  Frederick  held  his  own  well  against  Austria, 
and  Ferdinand  and  the  marquess  of  Granby  had  again  distinguished 
themselves  on  the  Khine. 

Bute,  however,  with  an  eagerness  for  peace  that  left  hun  little  thought 
for  the  welfare  either  of  Great  Britain  or  of  her  allies,  resumed  negotia- 
tions during  the  year  ;  and  so  anxious  was  he  lest  they  should  Negotiations 
fail,  that  he  ofiered  concessions  right  and  left,  and  even  pro-  ^°^  Peace, 
jwsed  to  give  up  Havana  without  saying  a  syllable  about  an  exchange. 
George  Grenville  would  not  stand  this,  and  his  resignation  compelled 
Bute  to  ask  for  an  equivalent,  on  which  the  Spaniards  at  once  gave 
up  the  valuable  province  of  Florida.  As  for  Prussia,  no  word  of  the 
interests  of  our  good  ally  escaped  Bute  ;  and  he  would  have  allowed 
France  to  give  up  to  Austria  the  Prussian  towns  she  held  on  the  Khine, 
had  not  Frederick  secured  himself  by  negotiating  a  separate  treaty  at 
Hubertsburg  by  which  he  retained  his  dominions  intact.  This  conduct, 
and  the  mean  withdrawal  of  his  subsidy,  made  Frederick  ever  after  hate 
England.  Eventually,  by  the  Peace  of  Paris,  Bute  agreed  to  restore  to 
the  French  Martinique,  Guadeloupe,  and  St.  Lucia ;  to  exchange  Belle  Isle 
for  Minorca,  and  to  retain  Canada,  and  Cape  Breton  Island.  We  also 
kept  Tobago,  St.  Vincent,  Dominica,  Grenada,  and  Florida  ;  but  we  gave 
up  Havana,  as  the  equivalent  of  Minorca,  and  Manila  as  a  free  gift. 
Pondicherry  also  was  restored  to  the  French. 


808  George  HI.  1763 

The  peace  of  Paris,  which,  though  it  gave  us  great  advantages,  might 
have  been  much  more  favourable  had  Bute  shown  the  most  ordinary  firm- 
ness, was  very  unpopular  in  the  country,  and  was  fiercely  de- 
larity  of  the    nounced  by  Pitt,  who  had  long  ago  declared  that  '  no  peace 
of  Utrecht  should  again  stain  the  annals  of  England.'     In 
these  circumstances  Bute  found  it  needful  to  secure  the  help  of  an 
efficient  leader  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  for  this  purpose  bought 
the  services  of  Fox,  at  the  price  of  an  immediate  seat  in  the  cabinet  and 
the  promise  of  an  eventual  peerage.     Fox  did  his  work  well ;  the  whole 
influence  of  the  court  was  brought  into  play  to  neutralise  the  forces  of 
Pitt  and  Newcastle  ;    and,  to  show  his  opponents  what  they  had  to 
expect,  George  himself  struck  the  name  of  the  duke  of  Devonshire  off 
the  privy  council  list.      These  tactics  secured  success  ;    and  a  vote  of 
approbation  of  the  preliminaries  of  the  treaty  was  carried  in  the  House 
of  Commons  by  319  to  65.      The  victory  thus  won,  the 

Proscrip-  *'  "^  ' 

tion  of  the  court  proceeded  to  the  work  of  proscribing  its  opponents. 
Peers  who  had  voted  against  it  were  deprived  of  their  lord- 
lieutenancies,  officers  of  their  commissions  in  the  army,  and  civilians  of 
their  pensions  ;  even  humbler  victims  were  not  overlooked,  and  woe  to 
the  unhappy  exciseman  or  tide-waiter  who  had  received  his  place  from 
Newcastle  !  Happily,  this  wholesale  dismissal  of  placemen,  carried  out 
on  the  principle  of  '  the  spoils  to  the  victors,'  caUed  down  such  execra- 
tions that  it  was  never  again  imitated  ;  and  the  compromise  has  been 
accepted  that  all  posts  held  by  members  of  parliament  are  to  be  vacated 
at  a  change  of  government,  but  that  other  placemen  are  to  be  undistm'bed. 
For  his  services  Fox  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Lord  Holland.  The 
negotiations  between  Bute  and  Fox  had  been  carried  on  by  Lord  Shel- 
burne  ;  and  as  Fox  thought  he  had  been  taken  in  by  him,  by  what  was 
called  at  the  time  'the  pious  fraud,'  the  result  was  to  gain  for  Lord 
Shelburne  a  character  for  double-dealing  and  the  deadly  enmity  of  the 
Fox  family,  which  was  ultimately  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

For  the  moment  Fox's  effort  had  been  successful ;  but  the  dismissal  of 

placemen  was  most  unpopular,  and  before  this  storm  had  settled,  Bute 

„   ^„         had  raised  another.      The  expenses  of  the  war  had  been 
Fall  of  Bute.  ^ 

enormous.    The  national  debt  had  increased  to  ^  1 39, 500,000, 

and  new  taxes  were  imperative.     It  was  therefore  proposed  to  tax  linen  ; 

but  this  plan  is  said  to  have  been  rejected  because  Sir  Francis  Dashwood, 

the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  could  not  be  made  to  understand  it 
The  Cider  sufficiently  to  explain  it  to  the  House  ;  and  a  tax  on  cider 
'^^*-  took  its  place.     It  would  have  been  hard  to  select  an  impost 

more  unpopular  or  more  unfair — the  first,  because  it  opened  to  the  excise 


1763  Bute — Gh-enville  809 

officers  every  farmhouse  where  a  gallon  of  cider  was  brewed  ;  and  in  the 
second,  because  it  actually  charged  a  uniform  rate  of  five  shillings  a 
hogshead  on  every  quality  of  cider,  though  the  liquor  itself  varied  in 
price  from  five  to  fifty  shillings.  At  this  the  outcry  grew  worse  ;  and 
the  burning  of  scores  of  'jack-boots  and  petticoats'  showed  the  unpopu- 
larity of  the  prime  minister.  Even  a  guard  of  prize-fighters  failed  to 
restore  his  sense  of  security,  and  his  resignation  was  sent  in.  He  was, 
however,  strong  enough  with  the  king  to  name  his  successor ;  and,  as 
Lord  Chesterfield  put  it :  '  The  public  still  saw  Lord  Bute  thi'ough  the 
curtain,  which,  indeed,  was  very  transparent.' 

The  prime  minister  thus  named  was  George  Grenville,  younger  brother 
of  Earl  Temple,  and  brother-in-law  of  Pitt.      Few  other  changes  were 
made.     The  earl  of  Egremont  continued  to  hold  one  sec-   orenviile's 
retaryship  of  state,  and  George  Montagu,  earl  of  Halifax,    Ministry, 
took  the  other.      Lord  Holland   remained   paymaster,  and   Shelburne 
received  the  post  of  president  of  the  board  of  trade.     By  this  time 
George  had  organised  a  party  in  the  Commons,  who  were   ^he  Kings 
commonly  spoken  of  as  'the  king's  friends.'     These  men,    F"ends. 
though  rather  Tory  than  Whig  in  sentiment,  considered  themselves  as 
detached   from   any   politicid   party,   and   voted   solely   by   the  king's 
direction.     As  they  numbered  some  sixty  persons,  a  ministry  which  had 
not  a  very  large  majority  was  dependent  upon  their  assistance ;  and, 
consequently,  George  could  turn  out  his  ministers  or  maintain  them  just 
as  he  pleased.     Such  a  system  wt\s,  of  course,  utterly  subversive  of  the 
fundamental  notion  of  party  government,  but  it  was  exceedingly  difficult 
to  defeat.     George  might,  however,  have  been  baffled  if  the  Whig  party 
had  been  united  ;  but  its  long  period  of  success  had  led  to  its  division 
into  sections,  whose  difl'erences,  though  chiefly  personal,  were  far  too 
strongly  marked  to  permit  of  their  acting  together.      The 
first  of  these  was  that   of  the  Kockingham   Whigs,   the  Rockingham 
remains  of  Newcastle's  old  party.     It  consisted  chiefly  of         *^^' 
the  members  of  '  old  Revolution  ftimilies,'  and  contained  in  its  ranks  such 
men  as  the  dukes  of  Portland,  Devonshire,  and  Richmond  ;  and  in  the 
Commons,    General   Conway,   Lord  John   Cavendish,  and  Sir  George 
Saville.    The  next  section  was  that  led  by  the  duke  of  The  Bedford 
Bedford ;  their  severance  from  the  main  body  dated  from   'VVhigs. 
the  time  of  Walpole,  who  always  spoke  contemptuously  of  them  as  the 
'Bloomsbury  gang.'     Besides  Bedford,  it  included  among   The  Chat- 
the  peers  Gower,  Sandwich,  and  Weymouth  ;  in  the  Com-   Gr?!i?i"ne 
mons  its  best  man  was  Rigby.     The  remaining  two  sections   Whigs, 
were  the  followers  of  Pitt  and  Temple  and  those  of  George  Grenville, 


810  Gem-ge  III,  1763 

afterwards  known  respectively  as  the  Chatham  and  Grenville  Whigs  ; 
but  as  yet  they  were  not  very  strictly  defined.  These  parties  refused  to 
make  common  cause,  so  the  king  was  able  to  defeat  them  in  detail. 

Grenville  was  not  a  successful  minister.     Burke  once  defined  him  as  a 
man  of  routine  but  not  a  statesman  ;  and  Henry  Fox  said  he  was  '  more 
George         ^  hindrance  than  a  help.'     He  was  a    fair  parliamentary 
Grenville.     speaker,   but   wearisome   in   private   conversation   or   cor- 
respondence.    One  of  his  ordinary  letters  fills  seven  pages  of  print,  and 
contains  one  sentence  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  words.    George,  however,  had 
chosen  him,  not  to  initiate  a  policy,  but  to  carry  out  the  king's  ideas  ; 
and  so  the  sovereign  rather  than  the  minister  must  be  regarded  as 
responsible  for  mistakes.     Their  first  error  was  the  prosecu- 
tion of  John  Wilkes,  member  for  Aylesbury,  a  clever  but 
profligate  man,  who  had  started  a  magazine  called  the  North  Briton  in 
opposition  to  Bute's  paper  the  Briton^  and  was  aided  in  writing  it  by 
Lord  Temple  and  by  Churchill  the  poet.     From  the  commencement  the 
North  Briton  was  extremely  scurrilous  ;  and  in  No.  45  it  denied  a  claim 
made  in  the  king's  speech  to  credit  for  procuring  peace  for  the  king  of 
Prussia,  asserting  that  '  no  advantage  of  any  kind  has  accrued  to  that 
magnanimous  prince  from  our  negotiations,  but  he  was  basely  deserted 
by  the  Scottish  prime  minister  of  England.'     Everyone  knows  that  the 
king's  speech  is  written  by  the  king's  ministers  ;  but  George  chose  to 
consider  the  accusation  as  a  personal  affront,  and  insisted  that  Wilkes 
should  be  prosecuted.      Accordingly  Halifax,  with  the  concurrence  of 
Grenville  and  Egremont,  issued  a  warrant  the  very  next  day,  ordering 
the  arrest  of  '  the  authors,  printers,  and  publishers,'  but  mentioning  no 
names.     Such  an  order  is  called  a  general  warrant.     Wilkes  at  once  told 
the  officers  that  it  was  illegal,  but  was  arrested  ;  and  George  deprived 
him  of  his  colonelcy  of  militia,  and  his  friend.  Lord  Temple,  of  the  lord- 
lieutenancy  of  the  county  of  Buckingham.     The  arrest  was  also  illegal  on 
a  second  ground.     Wilkes  was  a  member  of  parliament,  and  as  such 
could   only  be   arrested   for  treason,  felony,  or  breach   of  the   peace. 
Wilkes'  first  action,  therefore,  was  to  claim  his  release  under  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act ;   and  Chief-Justice  Pratt,  afterwards  Lord  Camden,  at  once 
granted  it  on  the  ground  of  privilege.      Wilkes  and  the  printers  then 
sued  the  king's  messengers  for  illegal  imprisonment  under  a  'general 
Avarrant,'   and  were   successful  in   obtaining   damages.      These   events 
occurred  in  the  spring  of  1763.     During  the  summer  the  North  Briton 
was  as  violent  as  ever,  and  spoke   of  Grenville's   government  as   'a 
narrow-spirited  ministry,  intent  only   on  gorging  their  pockets  with 
the  plunder   of  the  public'  ;    accordingly,   when    parliament  met   in 


1766  Grenville  81 1 

November,  the  question  was  revived,  and  the  House  of  Commons 
resolved,  by  237  votes  to  111,  that  No.  45  was  a  'false,  scandalous, 
and  seditious  libel.'  Shortly  afterwards  it  declared  that  privilege  of 
parliament  did  not  confer  immunity  for  libel,  and  ordered  No.  45 
to  be  burnt  by  the  common  hangman.  At  the  same  time  Wilkes  was 
attacked  in  the  Lords  as  the  author  of  a  poem  called  An  Essay  on 
Woman,  an  indecent  parody  of  Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  which  the  Lords 
voted  to  be  a  breach  of  privilege  on  the  ground  that  the  notes  to  it  were 
pretended  to  have  been  written  by  Bishop  Warburton.  Before  anything 
further  was  done,  Wilkes  was  wounded  in  a  duel,  and  when  better 
escaped  to  France.  On  this  the  House  of  Commons  expelled  him,  on 
the  ground  that  No.  45  had  'a  manifest  tendency  to  alienate  the 
affections  of  the  people  from  the  king.'  In  the  Lords,  Cumberland, 
Newcastle,  Rockingham,  and  Shelburne  all  voted  for  Wilkes,  and  Pitt 
and  Barrel  defended  him  in  the  Commons.  For  this,  Shelburne  and 
Barr^  were  expelled  from  all  their  posts,  civil  and  military.  The 
burning  of  the  No.  45  caused  a  serious  riot  ;  and  the  whole  affair 
destroyed  the  little  popularity  which  George's  connection  with  Bute 
had  left  him. 

Grenville's  next  blunder  was  the  attempt  to  tax  the  American  colonies. 
It  must,  however,  be  understood  that  the  taxes  proposed  were  not 
designed  to  go  into  the  British  exchequer,  but  to  be  used 
in  the  colonies  for  the  payment  of  expenses  incurred  in  American 
the  colonies.  In  not  asking  for  a  regular  contribution  to  °  o"»es. 
home  expenses,  Great  Britain  stood  alone  among  the  colonising  nations 
of  the  world.  Rome,  Carthage,  Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  France 
all  exacted  tribute  ;  but  our  colonies  had  never  been  so  burdened  ;  and 
Walpole,  when  the  idea  had  been  suggested  to  him,  rejected  it  with  con- 
tempt. During  the  Seven  Years'  War,  however,  the  expenses  of  the  colonial 
troops  had  been  shared  between  the  home  government  and  the  colonists — 
the  king  providing  arms,  aimnunition,  tents,  and  provisions  ;  the  colonists, 
soldiers,  clothing,  and  pay.  For  the  future  it  would  obviously  be  neces- 
sary to  provide  for  a  number  of  permanent  troops  both  as  a  defence  against 
the  Indians  and  against  foreign  aggressions.  Of  our  other  dependencies 
the  Irish  parliament  and  the  East  India  Company  each  maintained  a  per- 
manent army  for  its  own  defence,  and  Grenville  and  Townshend  wished  that 
a  similar  force  should  be  supported  by  the  American  colonists.  Moreover, 
the  civil  government  of  our  newly  acquired  territories  had  raised  the  total 
cost  of  their  civil  service  from  £70,000  to  ;£350,000  ;  and  Grenville  stated 
his  desire  to  find  '  in  what  way,  least  burdensome  and  most  palatable  to 
the  colonists,  they  might  contribute  towards  the  additional  expense  of 


812  George  III.  1765 

their  civil  and  military  establishments.'  The  question  evidently  raised 
the  whole  subject  of  the  relations  between  parliament  and  the  colonies, 
and  it  was  complicated  by  the  fact  that  at  that  moment  the  colonies, 
who  had  spent,  in  proportion  to  their  resources,  immense  sums  on  the 
war,  were  finding  considerable  difficulty  in  meeting  their  liabilities,  and 
also  by  the  trouble  that  had  recently  arisen  about  smuggling.  According 
to  the  Navigation  Acts,  our  colonists  had  no  right  to  trade  with  any 
power  except  Great  Britain,  but  in  practice  a  large  trade  between  them 
and  the  Spanish  and  French  possessions  had  been  tolerated.  New 
England  products  had  been  largely  exchanged  for  sugar  from  the  French 
and  Spanish  islands  ;  and  the  traffic,  though  technically  smuggling,  was 
carried  on  by  respectable  firms  without  interference  from  the  Custom 
House  authorities.  After  the  peace,  Grenville  had  found  it  necessary  to 
conciliate  the  Spaniards  by  putting  a  stop  to  it,  and  the  attempt  to  do  so 
had  caused  much  irritation  in  America. 

For  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  Navigation  Laws,  customs  duties  of 
a  nominal  value  had  long  been  imposed  at  the  colonial  ports.     Grenville 
Customs      iiow  proposed  to  raise  the  value  of  these  customs,  and  so  to 
Duties.         combine  a  more  stringent  enforcement  of  the   Navigation 
Laws  with  the  placing  of  an  additional  sum  at  the  disposal  of  the  colonial 
governors.     Though  the  right  of  the  British  parliament  was  undisputed, 
this  act  caused  considerable  stir,  and  the  colonists  were  still  further  dis- 
quieted when  Grenville  gave  notice  that  next  year  he  proposed  to  levy  a 
The  Stamp  stauip-duty  in  America,  estimated  to  bring  in  not  more  than 
^^^'  .£100,000  a  year.    Against  this  six  out  of  the  thirteen  colonies 

formally  protested,  not  so  much  on  the  ground  afterwards  taken  up  that 
such  taxation  was  illegal,  as  on  the  ground  that  it  was  inexpedient ;  but 
in  spite  of  the  colonial  protest  and  the  eloquent  speeches  of  Conway  and 
Barre  in  the  Commons,  Grenville  carried  his  bill  by  a  majority  of  two 
hundred  votes.  The  new  duty  was  levied  on  the  stamped  paper  used  for 
legal  documents,  and  varied  in  amount  from  3d.  to  10s.  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  transaction  recorded,  and  also  on  the  paper  used  for  news- 
papers. The  proceeds  were  to  be  used  exclusively  for  the  protection  and 
defence  of  the  colonies.  This  was  the  first  attempt  to  levy  an  internal  tax. 
It  infringed  the  general  principle  of  the  British  Constitution  that  no  people 
may  be  legitimately  taxed  except  by  themselves  or  by  their  represen- 
tatives ;  and  was  made  more  alarming  by  a  remark  of  Grenville's  in  the 
House  of  Commons  that  'it  was  designed  as  an  experiment  towards 
further  aid.'  The  fears  of  the  colonists  were  now  fully  roused,  and 
Patrick  Henry,  a  member  of  the  Virginia  assembly,  was  said  to  have  '  rung 
the  alarm  beU  to  the  rest  of  America '  by  bringing  forward  and  passing 


1765  Grenville — Rockingham  813 

a  seriefj  of  five  resolutions  declaring  that  the  colonies  could  not  be  taxed 
without  their  own  consent ;  and  no  less  than  nine  of  the  colonies  ap- 
pointed representatives  to  meet  as  a  '  Congress '  at  New  York  and  con- 
sider the  whole  situation.  Meanwhile,  the  people  refused  to  make  use 
of  the  stamped  paper.  All  attempts  at  compulsion  failed,  and  numerous 
riots  gave  proof  of  the  violent  spirit  which  had  been  engendered.  At  the 
same  time,  great  efforts  were  made  to  promote  colonial  manufactures  so  as 
to  render  the  colonies  independent,  as  far  as  possible,  of  home  manufactures. 
This  resulted  in  widespread  distress  among  English  merchants  and 
manufacturers. 

Before  this  state  of  affairs,  however,  had  lasted  long,  a  change  of 
ministry  in  England  gave  a  fresh  turn  to  events.  Grenville  had  never 
been  popular  with  George,  whom  he  bored  by  his  intermin-  p^n  gf 
able  and  argumentative  speeches ;  and  quite  in  the  early  Grenville. 
days  of  his  ministry  the  king  had  vainly  attempted  to  replace  him  by 
Pitt.  However,  during  1763,  Grenville  strengthened  himself  by  an 
alliance  with  Bedford,  who  agreed  with  him  in  regard  to  Wilkes  and 
America,  and  this  coalition  had  produced  a  fairly  stable  government  in 
which  Bedford  was  so  much  the  more  powerful  that  it  is  often  spoken  of 
as  the  Bedford  Ministry.  However,  in  1765,  a  new  cause  of  offence 
arose.  During  an  attack  of  illness,  George  showed  symptoms  of  the 
mental  disorder  which  overclouded  his  later  years,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  provide  for  possible  contingencies  by  passing  a  Kegency 
Act.  This  delicate  matter  was  managed  by  the  ministers  in  the  most 
tactless  manner.  They  offended  the  duke  of  Cumberland  by  omitting  his 
name,  and  then  persuaded  George  to  omit  that  of  the  Dowager  Princess  of 
Wales,  on  the  ground  that  owing  to  the  unpopularity  of  her  connection 
with  Bute,  probably  the  House  of  Commons  would  not  accept  her  name. 
On  the  contrary,  the  House  of  Commons  inserted  it,  so  that  the  king 
was  made  to  appear  as  offering  a  gratuitous  insult  to  his  mother.  George 
was  deeply  chagrined,  and,  with  Cumberland's  aid,  set  about  finding 
another  minister. 

The  first  application  was  made  to  Pitt,  but  Pitt  declined  because  he 
thought  himself  unable  to  act  without  Temple  ;  and  that  fickle  nobleman 
refused  his  aid  'for  certain  delicate  and  tender  reasons,'   ^, 

1-1  11  •  1.  .1.        .  .11.  T^S   YlTSt 

which  proved  to  be  an  impendmg  reconciliation  with  his  Rockingham 
brother  Grenville.  Cumberland  then  made  overtures  to  the  *"*^  ^^' 
followers  of  Rockingham  and  Newcastle,  and  they  agreed  to  take  office 
with  Rockingham  as  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  Newcastle  as  privy 
seal.  One  secretaryship  of  state  was  held  by  the  duke  of  Grafton,  and 
the  other,  with  the  leadership  of  the  House  of  Commons,  by  Conway. 


814  George  III.  1765 

Rockingham  would  gladly  have  had  the  aid  of  Shelburne  ;  but  Shelburne 
had  now  given  up  all  connection  with  Bute  and  Fox,  and  through  a  com- 
munity of  ideas  on  the  Wilkes  affair  and  on  American  taxation,  was  rapidly 
drifting  into  an  alliance  with  Pitt.  He  was,  moreover,  also  deterred 
from  joining  by  the  circumstance  that  Rockingham  was  giving  the  post 
of  vice-treasurer  of  Ireland  to  the  notorious  Lord  George  Sackville. 
Rockingham's  private  secretary  was  a  young  Irishman,  Edmund  Burke, 
already  well  known  as  a  man  of  immense  knowledge,  but  as  yet  without 
a  seat  in  parliament,  who  was  destined  to  play  a  most  important  part  in 
the  history  of  his  country.  Opposed  as  they  were  by  the  Grenvilles 
and  Bedfords,  and  coldly  supported  by  Pitt,  the  Rockingham  govern- 
ment depended  from  the  outset  on  the  precarious  aid  of  '  the  king's 
friends,'  and  it  seems  to  have  been  understood  from  the  moment  they 
took  office  that  George  would  rid  himself  of  them  at  the  earliest 
opportunity. 

The  new  government  was  formed  in  July  1765,  and  when  parliament 
met  in  December,  two  great  measures  were  passed  :  one  repealing  the 

Stamp  Act,  the  second  declaring  the  right  of  parliament  to 
the  Stamp    legislate  for  America  '  in  all  cases  whatsoever.'     The  first 

was  that  on  which  the  ministers  relied  for  conciliation  ;  but 
public  opinion  compelled  them  to  pass  the  second  in  order  to  vindicate 
the  dignity  of  parliament.  They  were,  however,  assured  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  the  well-known  agent-general  for  Pennsylvania,  that  '  the 
resolutions  of  right  would  give  the  colonists  very  little  concern,  if  they 
are  never  attempted  to  be  carried  into  practice.'  In  passing  both  acts 
the  Rockingham  ministry  had  the  full  support  of  Pitt,  who  declared 
'  that  he  was  glad  the  colonists  had  resisted,'  and  pointed  out  that  our 
trade  with  the  American  colonies  was  worth  ;£2,000,000  a  year,  and  that 
we  were  risking  that  sum  for  a  miserable  pittance.  They  were  also  aided 
by  Shelburne,  but  were  openly  opposed  by  Grenville  and  the  Bedford 
Whigs,  and  covertly  by  'the  king's  friends.'  Franklin's  words  proved 
true.  The  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  received  with  enthusiasm  at 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  the  reduced  duties  were  readily  paid,  and  for 
a  time  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  Declaratory  Act. 

In  spite,  however,  of  his  support  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  Pitt 
held  to  a  distinction  between  supporting  measures  and  acting  with  men. 

He  repeatedly  refused  to  join  the  administration,  though  he 

Rocking-      gave  a  hearty  support  to  the  passing  of  a  resolution  by 

^^'  which   'general  warrants'  were   condemned  as  absolutely 

illegal.     This  resolution,  and  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  were  bitterly 

resented  at  court ;  '  the  king's  friends '  began  to  vote  against  the  king's 


1766  Piockingham — Grafton  815 

ministers  ;   and,  after  having  held  office  exactly  a  year,  Rockingham  was 
dismissed. 

Application  was  then  made  to  Pitt.  That  statesman,  who  had  forced 
himself  into  high  office  in  spite  of  the  party  of  which  Rockingham  was 
now  the  leader,  disliked  party  connections  almost  as  much  Grafton's 
as  the  king  did,  and  thinking  that  the  way  was  now  clear  for  Ministry, 
the  formation  of  a  ministry  composed  of  men  of  all  parties,  he  readily 
accepted  office.  The  nominal  head  of  the  new  ministry  was  the  duke  of 
Grafton,  one  of  Rockingham's  secretaries  of  state  ;  the  other,  Conway,  re- 
tained his  post,  and  the  leadershijD  of  the  Commons.  Charles  Townshend 
was  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  These  all  ranked  as  followers  of  Rocking- 
ham. Pitt  himself  was  privy  seal,  his  old  friend  Pratt  became  chancellor 
as  Lord  Camden,  and  his  new  ally,  Shelburne,  in  spite  of  the  hostility  of 
the  king,  was  made  the  second  secretary  of  state.  Lord  North  and  Barr^ 
also  had  places.  No  post  was  offered  to  Rockingham,  or  to  any  member 
of  the  Bedford  or  Grenville  party. 

This  administration,  which  was  afterwards  described  by  Burke  as  *  a 
piece  of  diversified  mosaic,'  very  curious  to  look  at  but  most  unsafe  to 
touch,  had  an  appearance  of  strength  much  greater  than  the 
reality  ;  but  it  was  unlucky  from  the  first,  and  turned  out  of  the  new 
a  complete  failure.  Pitt's  office  of  lord  privy  seal  necessi-  '"'^  ^^' 
tated  his  sitting  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  his  ivcceptance  of  the  title  of 
earl  of  Chatham  was  a  mistake  so  great  that  it  seemed  to  many  an  act 
of  political  suicide.  Not  only  did  he  leave  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  for  years  he  had  ruled  with  almost  unquestioned  authority,  for  the 
House  of  Lords,  where  his  fiery  rhetoric  was  completely  out  of  place,  but 
it  lost  him  his  popular  title  of  '  the  great  commoner,'  and  greatly  impaired 
his  reputation  for  disinterested  patriotism.  Moreover,  his  efforts  to  group 
together  such  a  heterogeneous  body  of  politicians  resulted  in  his  own 
views  having  no  adequate  support  in  his  own  administration,  while  his 
efforts  to  strengthen  himself  by  negotiations  with  aU  parties  made  him 
at  least  as  many  enemies  as  friends.  In  these  circumstances  it  was 
suddenly  announced  that  he  was  ilL  How  ill  he  was  will  never  be 
known,  but  he  first  refused  to  see  his  colleagues,  or  even  to  have  an 
audience  with  the  king ;  then  he  ceased  all  attendance  at  parliament, 
declined  even  to  answer  letters,  withdrew  to  his  country  seat,  or  to 
Bath  ;  and  finally  took  no  share  in  public  business. 

Left  thus  without  a  head — for  Grafton,  though  not  without  ability, 
had  little  real  influence— the  ministry  had  neither  coherence   Charles 
nor  policy.    Charles  Townshend,  the  witty  but  volatile  chan-   Townshend. 
cellor  of  the  exchequer,  driven  to  despair  by  an  adverse  vote  of  the 


816  George  III.  1766 

House,  which  reduced  the  land-tax  from  four  to  three  shillings  in  the 
pound,  again  bethought  himself  of  America  as  a  source  of  revenue,  and 
imposed  customs  duties,  to  the  estimated  value  of  £40,000  a  year,  on 
glass,  paper,  pasteboard,  white  and  red  lead,  painters'  colours  and  tea. 
Out  of  the  proceeds  were  to  be  paid  the  salaries  of  the  colonial  governors 
and  judges,  and  any  surplus  was  to  be  applied  to  colonial  defence. 
As  another  source  of  revenue  he  at  the  same  time  bargained  with  the 
East  India  Company  for  an  annual  payment  to  government  of  £400,000. 
These  acts  took  up  most  of  the  session  of  1767,  and  in  September 
Townshend  died  suddenly  of  fever.  This  unexpected  event  caused 
further  confusion.  Chatham  made  no  sign ;  so  Grafton  in  despair 
effected  a  coalition  with  the  Bedford  Whigs,  and  also  brought  into  the 
Cabinet  Lord  North,  the  eldest  son  of  the  old  Jacobite,  Earl  of  Guild- 
ford. 

In  March  1768,  there  was  a  general  election.  Wilkes  came  back  from 
Paris,  and,  after  obtaining  a  considerable  number  of  votes  for  the  city 
of  London,  was  triumphantly  returned  for  Middlesex  ;  the 
election  cry  of  his  supporters  being  *  Wilkes  and  Liberty.' 
Then,  before  parliament  met,  he  surrendered  to  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  and  was  committed  to  King's  Bench  prison  to  await  sentence  on 
his  former  conviction  for  libel.  Meanwhile  parliament  met  on  May  10, 
and  a  violent  mob,  angry  that  Wilkes  was  not  released,  assembled  at  the 
prison  and  made  such  a  disturbance  that  the  military  were  called  in,  the 
Riot  Act  read,  and  a  score  of  persons  were  killed  and  wounded  by  the 
fire  of  the  soldiers.  Whether  from  iU  luck  or  accident,  a  Scottish 
regiment  was  employed,  and  Wilkes,  becoming  possessed  of  a  letter  in 
which  the  secretary  of  state  had  ordered  the  magistrates  to  make  use  of 
the  military  in  case  of  emergency,  made  a  fresh  attack  on  the  Scots,  and 
fiercely  inveighed  against  Weymouth's  '  bloody  scroll.'  On  his  appear- 
ance in  court  Wilkes  was  then  sentenced  for  his  former  libels  to  pay 
£1000,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  twenty-two  months,  but  the  court  did 
not  dare  to  put  him  in  the  pillory.  This  sentence  was  regarded  as 
simply  malignant ;  and  Wilkes  and  his  *  45 '  became  so  popular  that  the 
number  was  scored  upon  every  wall  and  vehicle  within  fifteen  miles  of 
London,  and  even  the  Austrian  ambassador  was  dragged  out  of  his  coach 
and  had  the  mystic  number  chalked  on  the  soles  of  his  shoes. 

When  the  excitement  was  at  the  highest  Chatham  resigned,  and  there 
were  not  wanting  those  who  suggested  that  a  dramatic  opportunity  rather 
Resignation  than  improved  health  was  what  he  had  long  been  waiting 
of  Chatham,  f^j.  j^  ^^^  ^^^^  rumoured  that  he  would  be  well  enough 
to  appear  in  opposition. 


1769  Grafton  817 

Meanwhile,  the  Wilkes'  case  was  giving  infinite  trouble  to  the  ministers. 
Grafton  would  gladly  have  pardoned  him,  and  allowed  him  to  sink  to  his 
natural  level ;  but  George  regarded  the  affiiir  as  personal  to  wiikes  and 
himself,  and  insisted  that  he  should  be  expelled  from  parlia-  Middlesex, 
ment.  Accordingly  on  February  3,  1 769,  his  expulsion  was  voted  on  the 
ground  of  his  former  libels  and  his  recent  attack  upon  Weymouth.  On 
the  16th  he  was  re-elected  unopposed,  and  the  very  next  day  the  House 
voted,  by  235  to  89,  that  he  was  '  incapable  of  sitting  in  the  present  par- 
liament,' and  a  new  election  was  ordered.  Again  Wilkes,  who  was  still 
in  prison,  was  returned  unopposed,  and  the  election  again  declared  void. 
Finally,  at  the  fourth  election.  Colonel  Luttrell,  afterwards  Lord  Car- 
hampton,  stood  against  him,  and  though  Wilkes  received  1143  votes  to 
296  given  for  his  opponent,  the  Commons  declared,  by  197  votes  to  143, 
that  Luttrell  '  ought  to  have  been  elected,'  and  gave  him  the  seat.  The 
decision  was  grossly  unconstitutional ;  for  even  if  Wilkes  was  ineligible, 
it  did  not  follow  that  Luttrell  commanded  a  majority  of  the  voters,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  government  was  strongly  denounced  by  the  whole 
weight  of  the  Rockingham  and  Grenville  Whigs,  and  also  by  Lord 
Chatham's  friends.  Lords  Shelburne  and  Temple,  in  the  Lords,  and  by 
Conway,  Burke,  Grenville,  and  Barrel,  in  the  Commons.  Out  of  doora 
the  government  was  most  unpopular.  Grafton  commanded  no  respect, 
either  for  character  or  ability.  Repeated  riots  showed  the  violence  and 
discontent  of  the  masses,  while  the  press  teemed  with  letters  and 
pamphlets  which  equalled  the  Nmih  Briton  in  violence  and  excelled  it 
in  ability. 

Of  these,  special  attention  was  called  to  a  series  of  letters  which  were 
published  over  the  signature  of  '  Junius,'  and  were  printed  in  the  Public 
Advertiser.  The  first  letter  with  this  signature  appeared  in  The  Letters 
November,  1768;  and  in  January,  1769,  a  series  of  letters  of'J"ni"s.' 
began  which  cvdminated  in  December,  1769,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
king,  and  terminated  in  January,  1772.  Several  causes  gave  notoriety 
to  these  letters.  Their  style  was  excellent ;  the  virulence  of  their 
invective  surpassed  anything  yet  seen,  even  in  that  foul-mouthed  age  ; 
they  dealt  largely  in  private  scandal,  and,  above  all,  they  were  written  by 
some  one  who  was  evidently,  to  a  large  extent,  behind  the  scenes.  All 
these  things  ensured  plenty  of  readers,  and  the  letters  were  republished 
in  papers  and  magazines  all  over  the  kingdom.  Who  *  Junius '  was  has 
never  been  known  ;  and  though  many  believe  that  the  writer  was  Philij) 
Francis,  a  clerk  in  the  War  Office,  there  is  strong  evidence  to  the  contrary ; 
and  even  if  he  wrote  the  letters,  it  is  quite  possible  that  he  was  inspired 
and  aided  by  some  one  of  higher  position.     *  Junius '  was  in  favour  of 

3  F 


818  Gm-gelll.  1769 

Wilkes,  but  opposed  to  the  American  colonies — an  attitude  which  pro- 
bably reflects  very  fairly  that  of  the  average  Englishman  of  the  day, 
and  goes  far  to  account  for  the  influence  of  his  writings. 

Meanwhile,  in  parliament  a  strong  opposition  had  been  formed  in  both 
Houses.  Rockingham,  Richmond,  Chatham,  and  Shelburne  in  the 
Grafton  Lords,  and  Grenville,  Barre,  and  Burke  in  the  Commons, 
Resigns.  though  not  agreed  among  themselves,  united  in  attacking 
the  ministers.  Before  such  a  phalanx  of  ability  and  influence  Grafton 
quailed  ;  and  on  January  15,  1770,  the  very  date  fixed  for  a  debate  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  the  state  of  the  nation,  Grafton  resigned.  Had 
the  opposition  been  united  they  might  now  have  forced  their  own  terms 
on  the  king  ;  but  there  was  no  real  bond  of  union  between  Rockingham 
and  Chatham.  So  George,  cleverly  taking  advantage  of  their  difierences, 
contrived  to  reorganise  the  government  under  the  leadership  of  Lord 
North. 

The  new  prime  minister  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  parliamentary 

figures   of   the  time.      Though    clumsy   and  short-sighted,   he   was  a 

capital   debater  and  an  excellent  man  of  aflairs,  while  his 

Lord 

North's  imperturbable  good  temper  enabled  him  to  bear  with 
inistry.  equanimity  the  most  virulent  invective  of  the  opposition, 
and  his  wit  to  turn  the  laugh  against  his  opponents.  In  private  life 
he  was  a  universal  favourite.  North's  weakness,  however,  lay  in  an 
easiness  of  disposition  which  led  him  to  carry  out  plans  of  which  he  did 
not  approve  rather  than  take  the  trouble  to  oppose  them.  It  was, 
however,  this  quality  which  recommended  him  to  George,  who  found  in 
him  exactly  the  prime  minister  for  whom  he  had  been  seeking — one 
pliable  enough  to  adopt  the  king's  policy  as  his  own,  and  sufficiently 
clever  to  defend  it  in  the  House  of  Commons.  George's  policy  met  with 
even  greater  success  than  might  have  been  expected.  Within  a  short 
time  the  opposition  fell  completely  to  pieces.  Rockingham's  opposition 
was  lukewarm.  Wilkes  lost  ground  by  his  character.  Grenville  died  in 
1770,  Bedford  in  1771,  and  in  the  same  year  Shelburne  and  Barr^  went 
abroad.  The  result  was  that  North  was  all-powerful  in  parliament,  and 
as  the  country  thoroughly  approved  of  his  American  policy,  the  opposi- 
tion had  little  hope  of  improving  their  position. 

Several  important  domestic  events  marked  the  beginning  of  North's 
administration.  As  the  personality  of  '  Junius '  could  not  be  discovered, 
Prosecution  an  attempt  was  made  to  prove  his  publisher  Woodfall  guilty 
of  Woodfall.  Qf  publishing  and  printing  a  seditious  libel,  but  the  jury 
found  Woodfall  guilty,  not  of  libel,  but  of  publishing  only.  On  this  the 
judge,  Lord  Mansfield,  denied  the  right  of  the  jury  to  judge  of  the  law 


1771  Nmih  819 

as  well  as  the  fact,  and  a  legal  controversy  arose  which  was  not  finally 
settled  till  1792,  when  Fox's  Libel  Act,  passed  with  the  consent  of  all 
parties,  declared  the  right  of  the  jury  to  find  a  general  verdict. 

In  1771  the  vexed  question  of  parliamentary  reporting  was  finally 
settled.  Since  the  decisions  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in  1728  and 
1738,  that  the  publication  of  parliamentary  debates  was  a  p  ^  . 
breach  of  privilege,  the  public  had  had  to  be  content  with  mentary 
reports  of  a  most  inferior  kind.  Some  were  published 
under  the  title  of  Debates  in  the  Parliament  of  LillijnU^  and  others  gave 
the  names  of  the  speakers  in  blank ;  but  none  professed  to  be  really 
accurate.  Reporters  obtained  from  friends  the  order  of  the  speakers, 
with  the  heads  of  their  arguments,  and  trusted  to  imagination  for  the 
rest ;  while  Dr.  Johnson  once  declared  that  one  of  Pitt's  most  celebrated 
speeches  was  written  by  himself  *  in  a  garret  in  Grub  Street,'  and  con- 
fessed that  he  habitually  arranged  the  arguments  so  that  'the  Whig 
dogs  should  have  the  worst  of  it.'  However,  in  1770,  all  disguise  was 
thrown  off ;  and  next  year  the  Commons,  alarmed  for  their  privileges, 
arrested  one  Miller  for  a  breach  of  privilege  in  publishing  their  debates. 
Miller,  being  a  livery-man  of  London,  appealed  for  protection  to  the 
lord  mayor.  The  messenger  of  the  House  was  accordingly  arrested  and 
brought  before  the  lord  mayor  and  alderman  Wilkes,  and  held  to  bail. 
The  House  was  extremely  angry,  and  sent  the  lord  mayor,  who  was  a 
member  of  parliament,  to  the  Tower  ;  but  the  action  was  so  unpopular, 
and  the  attitude  of  the  city  so  threatening,  that  the  matter  was  allowed 
to  drop.  Since  then  reporting,  though  nominally  illegal,  has  practically 
been  undisturbed.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the 
change.  The  newspapers  took  full  advantage  of  their  liberty,  and  the 
result  was  the  rapid  growth  of  an  educated  opinion  on  public  affiiirs, 
which  soon  showed  its  influence  on  the  government  of  the  country.  This 
was  in  itself  a  great  check  on  the  action  of  members ;  and  in  1770  a 
change  had  been  introduced  which  did  something  to  check  corruption  in 
parliamentary  elections.  Until  this  date  election  petitions,  Election 
like  that  of  Chippenham  (see  p.  768),  had  been  tried  before  Petitions, 
a  committee  of  the  whole  House,  and  the  members  had  given  a  strict 
party  vote  without  regard  to  the  merits  of  the  question  ;  but  in  1770 
George  Grenville  succeeded  in  persuading  the  House  to  rid  itself  of  this 
scandal  by  appointing  a  select  committee  of  sworn  members  to  inquire 
into  any  alleged  malpractices.  This  plan  was  a  great  improvement ;  but 
even  the  select  committee  was  largely  influenced  by  party  feeling,  so 
that  in  1868  it  was  decided  to  put  the  trial  of  election  petitions  into 
the  hands  of  the  ordinary  judges. 


820  Georrie  III.  1771 

In  1770  Burke  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  Thoughts  on  the  Cause 
of  the  Present  Discontents^  the  object  of  which  was  to  explain  to  the 
country  the  working  of  the  system  by  which  George  really 
controlled  his  ministers  and  parliament  by  the  votes  of  '  the 
king's  friends/  and  to  show  how  fatal  this  was  to  the  proper  working  of 
the  constitution.  Edmund  Burke  was  an  Irishman,  born  in  1729.  His 
first  connection  with  politics  arose  from  his  writing  the  political  part  of 
the  Annual  Begister,  first  published  in  1759  ;  and  he  then  became 
private  secretary  to  the  marquess  of  Rockingham.  He  entered  parlia- 
ment in  1765,  and  soon  became  the  spokesman  of  the  Rockingham 
Whigs.  In  views,  Burke's  tone  of  mind  was  essentially  conservative. 
He  embodied  the  time-honoured  English  idea  that  the  constitution  was 
itself  perfect  and  required  only  to  be  freed  from  abuses,  and  he  had  a 
thoroughly  British  distrust  of  all  abstract  reasoning  on  political  matters. 
At  this  time  of  his  life  he  regarded  George's  action  as  a  danger  to 
the  constitution,  and  as  such  he  resisted  it.  In  parliament  Burke  was 
never  a  great  success.  His  Irish  brogue  was  against  him,  and  he 
wearied  the  House  with  set  phrases  and  elaborate  metaphors,  which 
were  ill  appreciated  after  North's  jokes  and  Fox's  gay  dashing  onslaughts. 
With  the  pen,  however,  he  was  more  powerful ;  and  many  of  his 
speeches,  which  only  emptied  the  House  of  Commons,  are  now  read  as 
mines  of  political  wisdom,  and  have  tended  to  give  an  exaggerated 
idea  of  his  importance  and  that  of  the  Rockingham  Whigs  with  whom 
he  acted. 

In  1774  George  compelled  Lord  North  to  pass  the  Royal  Marriage 
Act.     The  cause  of  this  was  to  be  found  in  the  unsatisfactory  marriages 
made  by  the  king's  brothers,  the  dukes  of  Cumberland  and 
Marriage      Gloucester;  and  George  wished  to  prevent  such  conduct  for 
^^'  the  future  by  putting  it  into  the  power  of  the  reigning  king 

to  veto  such  marriages.  According  to  the  terms  of  the  new  Act,  no 
descendant  of  George  ir.,  except  those  of  British  princesses  married 
into  foreign  courts,  might  marry  without  the  consent  of  the  reigning 
sovereign  unless  he  or  she  was  twenty-five  years  of  age,  had  given  a  year's 
notice  of  the  intended  marriage  to  the  privy  council,  and  no  petition 
against  it  had  been  presented  by  parliament.  Contrary  to  George's 
intentions,  this  Act  had  the  worst  eff'ects.  Almost  all  his  sons  con- 
tracted marriages  which  were  in  everything  but  law  binding,  and  then, 
by  the  terms  of  this  Act,  were  able  to  repudiate  them  afterwards,  ta 
the  manifest  injury  of  morality. 

This  Act  was  strongly  opposed  by  Charles  James  Fox,  second  son  of 
Lord  Holland,  who  now  began  to  play  a  great  part  on  the  parliamentary 


1774  N(yrth  821 

stage.  Fox  was  born  in  1749,  and  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford.  Though 
indulged  by  his  parents,  and  encouraged  by  his  father  to  plunge  into 
all  forms  of  dissipation,  he  contrived — being,  as  he  said,  '  a 

,  .  ,  .  ,11  11         Charles  Fox. 

very  painstakmg  man ' — to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  Italian,  and  to  become  an  adept  at  every 
sport  or  pastime  in  which  he  indulged.  In  parliament  Fox  soon  showed 
himself  to  be  a  debater  of  the  first  rank.  In  spite  of  his  short,  thickset 
figure,  and  the  fierce  expression  given  by  his  black  hair  and  swarthy 
complexion,  he  gained  an  influence  to  which  men  of  more  taking 
exterior  aspired  in  vain ;  and,  though  he  had  been  brought  up  by  his 
fiither  in  the  narrowest  school  of  place-hunting,  his  natural  good  sense 
and  honourable  character  eventually  taught  him  to  take  a  wider  view. 
At  present  he  still  ranked  as  a  follower  of  Lord  North. 

While  these  events  had  occurred  at  home,  the  unremitting  attention 
of  the  government  had  been  required  for  American  affairs.  Townshend's 
taxes  had  raised  a  storm  of  resistance.  English  goods  had 
been  boycotted  by  almost  unanimous  consent ;  and  Massa-  American 
chusetts  had  put  itself  at  the  head  of  an  agitation  which 
bade  fair  to  develop  into  a  repudiation  of  the  authority  of  the  British 
parliament  either  to  tax  or  to  legislate.  Grafton's  government  had  met 
this  by  a  display  of  additional  force.  In  1768  a  reinforcement  of  two 
thousand  soldiers  was  sent  to  Boston,  making  the  British  force  in  the 
colony  up  to  ten  thousand  men  ;  and,  by  the  advice  of  the  Bedford 
section  of  the  Cabinet,  it  was  seriously  contemphited  to  bring  the  chief 
agitators  over  to  England,  and  try  them  for  treason  under  a  law  of 
Henry  viii.  for  dealing  with  treason  committed  *  outside  his  majesty's 
dominions ' — a  singularly  inappropriate  law  to  quote.  The  presence  of 
the  soldiers  served  only  to  exasperate  the  men  of  Boston,  who  took 
every  opportunity  of  insulting  and  annoying  them  ;  and  when,  on 
March  2,  1770,  a  party  of  seven  soldiers  fired  in  self-defence  on  a 
threatening  mob,  and  five  men  were  killed,  the  affair  was  magnified  into 
a  *  massacre,'  and  made  a  pretext  for  demanding  the  withdrawal  of  the 
whole  of  the  British  forces. 

On  North's  accession  to  office  he  determined  to  try  the  efi'ect  of  concilia- 
tion, and  repealed  all  the  taxes  except  that  on  tea,  which  stood  at  the  trifling 
figure  of  threepence  per  pound.  This  he  maintained,  at  North  tries 
George's  request,  as  an  example  of  a  principle,  while  to  allay  Concihation. 
apprehension  a  circular  was  issued  pledging  the  government  to  raise  no 
further  revenue  in  America.  The  plan  of  making  America  contribute 
directly  to  the  expenses  of  her  defence  and  government,  which  had  been 
the  object  of  Grenville  and  Townshend,  was  thus  virtually  abandoned  : 


822  Ge(yrge  III.  1774 

at  the  same  time  the  soldiers  were  withdrawn  from  Boston.  This  change 
of  policy  was  fairly  successful,  and  for  a  time  there  seemed  to  be  some 
chance  that  the  agitation  would  die  out.  Two  events,  however,  proved 
fatal  to  this. 

Hutchinson,  the  governor  of  Massachusetts,  an  American  by  birth  but 
distinctly  opposed  to  the  agitation,  wrote  a  series  of  private  letters  to 
Hutchinson's  ^^^  friend  Whately,  under-secretary  of  state  in  England, 
Letters.  j^   which  he  spoke  his   views   strongly,    and   raised    the 

question  whether  a  colony  3000  miles  distant  should  have  the  same 
liberties  as  the  mother-country.  On  Whately's  death  these  letters 
came  into  the  hands  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  was  then  agent-general 
for  Massachusetts  in  London,  and  he,  in  a  wholly  indefensible  breach  of 
confidence,  sent  them  to  America.  There  they  were  published,  and  aroused 
the  wildest  indignation.  Hutchinson's  recall  was  demanded  in  a  petition  to 
the  king.  This  was  heard  before  the  privy  council,  and  Franklin,  as 
agent,  was  present.  In  the  debate  that  followed,  Wedderburn,  the 
attorney-general,  accused  Franklin  of  being  '  a  man  of  three  letters ' — in 
other  words  fui\  a  thief — and  the  petition  was  dismissed  as  '  groundless, 
vexatious,  and  scandalous.'  Franklin  was  much  annoyed  at  Wedder- 
burn's  attack.  He  set  aside  the  brown  coat  he  was  wearing  that  day, 
and  only  put  it  on  again  in  order  to  sign  the  treaty  which  gave  the 
colonies  independence. 

Meantime,  further  disturbance  had  arisen  from  a  cause  which  had 
certainly  not  been  designed  to  irritate.     In  1773  Lord  North's  govern- 

The  Tea       "lent  passed  an  act  by  which  the  powers  of  the  East  India 

Ships.  Company  were  limited,  and  as  some  compensation  to  the 

shareholders  they  were  permitted  to  bring  their  tea  to  England  and 
export  it  to  America  without  paying  any  duty  in  England.  They  could 
thus  sell  it  in  America  at  a  low  price  and  yet  make  a  profit,  while  the 
Americans  could  get  the  advantage  of  cheap  tea.  Contrary,  however, 
to  all  expectation,  the  Americans  regarded  the  transaction  as  a  mere 
trick  to  induce  them  to  submit  to  the  tea-duty ;  and  when  the  ships 
were  lying  in  Boston  Harbour,  they  were  boarded  by  a  number  of  young 
men  disguised  as  Mohawk  Indians,  and  the  whole  of  the  tea  thrown  into 
the  water. 

This  turbulent  action  was  regarded  by  the  British  government  as 

deserving  condign  punishment,  and  three  coercive  acts  were  presented 

to  parliament.     By  the  first,  the  custom-house  was  removed 

chusetts  from  Boston  to  New  Salem,  in  order  to  ruin  the  former 

Acts 

port.     By  the  second,  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts 

was  suspended,  and  the  colony  put  under  the  direct  authority  of  the 


1775  N(yrth  823 

crown.  By  the  third,  persons  accused  of  treason  in  America  were  to  be 
tried  in  England.  These  bills  were  opposed  by  Shelburne  and  Rocking- 
ham in  the  Lords,  and  by  Barre  and  Burke  in  the  Commons.  Fox  also 
threw  in  his  weight  with  the  opposition.  The  death  of  his  father  in 
1774  had  left  him  free  to  follow  his  own  inclinations.  Henceforth  he 
acted  with  the  Rockingham  Whigs.  The  passing  of  these  three  acts 
amounted  to  a  virtual  declaration  of  war,  for  no  one  who  knew  anything 
of  the  spirit  of  the  colonies  could  doubt  that  the  colonists  would  fight 
rather  than  yield. 

Unfortunately  in  England  the  densest  ignorance  of  the  colonies  pre- 
vailed. Even  now,  with  all  our  facilities  of  steam  and  electricity,  a  real 
knowledge  of  the  wants  and  conditions  of  the  colonies  is  British 
rare,  and  in  those  days  it  was  far  worse.  The  voyage  to  ignorance. 
America  took,  on  the  average,  six  weeks  ;  for  many  years  there  had  been 
very  little  emigration  ;  visits  to  America — so  common  now — were  then 
almost  unknown  ;  and  few  Americans,  except  merchants,  had  ever  made 
the  voyage  to  Europe.  Even  professed  statesmen  knew  very  little  of  the 
colonies  they  had  to  govern ;  and  Burke,  who  was  so  conversant  with 
the  interests  of  Massachusetts,  that  he  was  at  one  time  agent-general  for 
that  colony,  and  Shelburne,  who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Franklin,  were 
quite  exceptional  in  their  knowledge.  Moreover,  so  angry  wius  the 
nation  at  large  with  what  appeared  to  most  the  insolence  of  the 
Americans,  that  it  was  hard  for  any  one  to  state  the  colonial  side  of 
the  question  without  incurring  a  charge  of  want  of  patriotism,  while 
violent  denunciation  of  the  conduct  of  the  colonistij  Wiis  everywhere 
popular.  In  these  circumstances  it  is  absurd  to  charge  the  disastrous 
result  of  the  attempt  to  tax  America  upon  the  king  only,  or  even  upon 
the  king  and  his  ministers.  The  blame  for  losing  America  must  rest 
upon  the  whole  nation,  who  applauded  energetic  measures  and  scouted 
all  conciliation.  In  short,  prejudice,  ignorance,  and  spurious  patriotism 
were  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  series  of  mistakes. 

In  view  of  possible  fighting.  Governor  Hutchinson  had  been  replaced  at 
Boston  by  General  Gage,  a  well-intentioned  and  brave  man,  but  not 
energetic  enough  for  such  a  crisis.  Immediately  on  the  Hostilities 
arrival  of  the  news  of  the  suspension  of  the  Massachusetts  bee^"- 
Charter,  Gage  of  course  dissolved  the  legislative  assembly.  The  mem- 
bers, however,  set  the  government  at  defiance  by  reassembling  at  Concord, 
a  few  miles  inland.  There  they  organised  the  militia,  arranged  a  system 
of  minute  men,  who  could  be  called  out  for  active  service  at  a  moment's 
notice,  and  collected  military  stores.  As  it  was  impossible  for  Gage  to 
look  on  quietly  while  this  was  being  done,  he  sent  a  detachment  to  seize 


824  George  III.  1775 

the  stores.  On  their  way  the  troops  were  attacked  at  Lexington  village 
by  a  body  of  militiamen,  and  though  they  reached  Concord  and  captured 
or  destroyed  the  stores,  they  had  to  fight  the  whole  of  their  way  back, 
and  lost  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  seventy  men.  The  skirmish  at 
Lexington,  though  of  no  great  military  importance  in  itself,  showed  the 
colonists  that  though  they  might  not  be  able  to  stand  up  in  the  open 
against  trained  troops,  they  would  have  the  superiority  in  irregular 
skirmishing,  and  in  taking  advantage  of  cover.  It  also  made  a  peaceful 
settlement  more  difficult,  and  though  many  good  men  both  at  home  and 
in  the  colony  still  hoped  for  peace,  a  trial  of  strength  between  the  colonies 
and  the  mother-country  became  inevitable. 

As  Gage,  instead  of  vigorously  retaliating,  remained  quiet  at  Boston, 
the  colonial  troops  boldly  took  the  offensive,  and  established  themselves 
Bunker's      on  Breed's  Hill,  a  piece  of  rising  ground  which  overlooks 
^*^^'  Boston  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  harbour,  and  behind 

which  the  ground  still  rising  is  called  Bunker's  Hill,  a  name  used  by  the 
English  for  both  heights.  This  bold  step  roused  Gage  from  his  inaction, 
and  the  position  was  stormed,  but  so  badly  was  the  whole  affair  mis- 
managed that  the  British  lost  nearly  one-third  of  their  force,  whereas  a 
slight  exhibition  of  strategy  might  have  compelled  its  evacuation  without 
the  loss  of  a  man.  After  this  General  Gage  was  recalled,  and  General 
Howe  took  his  place. 

Hitherto  the  main  stress  of  the  struggle  had  fallen  upon  Massachusetts, 
but  in  the  spring  of  1775  a  Congress  was  called  at  Philadelphia,  which 
state  of  the  was  attended  by  members  from  all  the  states  except  Georgia, 
Colonies.  which  had  only  been  founded  in  1730,  and  these  deter- 
mined that  the  whole  of  the  colonies  should  act  together  under  the  title 
of  the  United  Colonies.  The  importance  of  this  was  very  great,  for  the 
colonies  were  so  different  in  history  and  character  that  it  was  quite  pos- 
sible for  them  to  have  taken  different  lines  in  a  contest  with  the  mother- 
country.  It  was  also  of  vital  importance  which  side  the  Canadians 
would  take.  Having  been  so  recently  taken  from  France,  they  might  be 
expected  to  be  disaffected  ;  but  Lord  North  had  wisely  j)assed  an  act 
called  the  Quebec  Act,  by  which  the  Canadians  were  secured  their  own 
laws  and  the  free  exercise  of  the  Koman  Catholic  religion.  This  measure 
completely  conciliated  the  Canadians,  who  dreaded  nothing  so  much  as 
to  come  under  the  rule  of  the  New  England  Puritans,  who  inveighed 
against  the  act  as  establishing  popery.  Canada  therefore  remained 
loyal. 

Having  determined  to  act  together,  the  members  of  Congress  appointed 
Washington  commander-in-chief.     George  Washington  was  a  Vii-ginia 


1776  North  825 

planter,  and  a  thorough  gentleman,  whose  simple  and  fearless  character 
and  transparent  honesty  of  purpose  gave  dignity  to  the  cause  which  he 
espoused,  and  inspired  respect  among  the  democratic  officers 
and  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.      His  acceptiince  of  \Vashing- 
the  post  was  a  proof  that  the  southern  colonies  meant  to 
take  their  share  in  the  war,  and  when  the  struggle  was  once  begun  the 
southerners  produced  more  than  their  fair  share  of  officers  and  statesmen. 
Washington,   who   in   1775   wtis   forty-two  years   of   age,  had  fought 
under  Braddock  in  the  Seven  Years'  War  ;   and  well  understood  both 
the  strong  and  weak  points  of  the  citizen  soldiers  whom  he  would  have 
to  command.     A  better  choice    could   not   have   been  made.     At  the 
same   time   Congress   organised    an   expedition  against  Canada,  under 
Arnold  and  Montgomery.     It  proved,  however,  a  complete  failure,  and 
Montgomery  was  killed  in  front  of  Quebec.     On  the  arrival  of  Washing- 
ton in  Massachusetts,  it  taxed  all  his  ingenuity  to  introduce  some  sort  of 
order  and  military  discipline  into  his  motley  army  ;  but  he  was  given  time 
to  do  so  by  the  supineness  of  Howe,  who  remained  through  the  winter  at 
Boston.     As  soon  as  his  army  could  move,  Washington  again  took  the 
offensive  and  seized  Dorchester  heights,  which  commanded  Boston  itself. 
For  some  inexplicable  reason,  Howe  made  no  attempt  to  recover  them 
by  a  battle,  but  withdrew  his  troops  altogetlier  and  conveyed  them  to 
Long  Island,  which  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  and  on   which 
Brooklyn,   now  a  populous  suburb  of  New  York,  stands.      There   he 
nuistered  about  30,000  men  of  different  nations,  for  the  British  govern- 
ment, as  if  they  wished  to  exasperate  the  Americans,  had  hired  Hessians 
to  fight  against  them,   and   had   even  incited   the  Indians   to   renew 
their  raids. 

Encouraged  by  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  Congress  boldly  declared 
the  colonies  independent,  speaking  of  them  as  the  '  free  and  independent 
States  of  America.'      Still   keeping   the  offensive,   Wash-    ,  ^ 

^     °  '  Indepen- 

ington  m  1776  endeavoured  to   drive  the  British  out  of  dence 
Long  Island ;  but  in   a  pitched   battle  at  Brooklyn   the 
colonial   troops   were  beaten  by  the  regulars ;  and  Washington,   with 
great  difficulty,  withdrew  his  men  to  New  York,  and  thence  to  Phila- 
delphia.    Next  year  the   British  formed   the   plan  of  a  great  attack. 
General  Howe  was  to  continue  the  operations  against  Phila-    Surrender 
delphia,   while    Sir  John  Burgoyne  was    to    march  from   ^*  Saratoga. 
Canada  along  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake  George  down  the  Hudson 
river,  and  was  to  be  met  half-way  by  General  Clinton  from  New  York. 
Had   these   operations   been   successful  Washington  woidd   have  been 
cUiven  into  the  south,  while  the  New  England  States  would  have  been 


1780  North  827 

completely  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  colonies.  The  plan,  however,  had 
been  formed  without  sufficient  regard  to  the  obstacles  caused  by  distance 
and  the  difficulties  of  the  country.  The  blame  for  it  is  said  to  rest  on 
Lord  George  Germaine,  notorious  under  his  former  title  of  Lord  George 
Sackville,  whom  Lord  North  had  most  unwisely  made  secretary  of  state 
for  the  colonies.  Howe's  part  of  the  plan  was  successful,  but  Sir  John 
Burgoyne,  on  reaching  Saratoga,  found  himself  with  less  than  5000  soldiers 
surrounded  by  Gates  with  15,000,  and  was  consequently  compelled  to 
surrender. 

The  military  effect  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  was  sufficiently  disastrous, 
but  the  political  results  made  it  the  turning-point  in  the  war.  Hitherto 
France,  though  sympathising  with  the  colonists,  had  thought  France, 
their  cause  so  hopeless  as  to  be  unwilling  to  give  them  HoHand  join 
open  assistance ;  but  now,  believing  that  they  would  be  sue-  the  Colonists 
cessful,  she  openly  acknowledged  their  independence,  concluded  a 
treaty,  sent  a  young  and  ardent  French  nobleman,  the  marquess  of 
Liifayette,  with  a  body  of  French  troops,  to  aid  Washington,  and 
despatched  a  fleet  to  the  West  Indies,  under  Admiral  d'Estaing,  to 
threaten  the  British  sugar  islands  and  to  intercept  our  communication 
with  America.  In  1779  Spain  also  joined  the  Americans.  France  and 
Spain  had  many  injuries  to  revenge  ;  the  former  was  still  smarting 
under  the  loss  of  Canada,  and  Spain  under  that  of  Gibraltar  and 
Minorca.  But  our  old  allies,  the  Dutch,  were  driven  to  join  the 
Americans  in  1781  by  a  different  cause.  This  wa^  the  very  important 
question  of  the  '  Law  of  Neutrals.'  The  Dutch  «held  that  if  Dutch  ships 
were  carrying  French  goods  during  a  war  between  England  and  France, 
the  goods  were  not  liable  to  be  seized  by  British  cruisers  ;  while  the 
British  held  that  '  neutral  ships  do  not  cover  hostile  goods.'  In  practice 
the  British  principle  has  brought  us  into  difficulties  with  neutrals  during 
every  great  war  in  which  we  have  been  engaged,  and  in  this  case  it 
actually  brought  about  war  with  Holland  ;  and,  had  the  war  been  pro- 
longed much  longer,  would  have  involved  us  in  war  also  with  Russia, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark,  who  had  formed  themselves  into  what  was 
called  an  armed  neutrality.  When  France  joined  the  colonists  there 
was  much  difference  of  opinion  in  England  as  to  the  best  course  to  take. 
The  duke  of  Richmond  would  have  been  willing  to  acknowledge  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  ;  George  was  in  favour  of  fighting  it 
out,  and  wrote  :  '  I  can  never  suppose  this  country  so  lost  to  all  ideas  of 
self-importance  as  to  be  willing  to  grant  American  independence ' ;  while 
Chatham  and  Shelburne,  who  stiU  clung  to  the  hope  that  disrup- 
tion might  be  avoided,  were  in  favour  of  granting  everything  that  the 


828  George  III.  1779 

Americans  asked,  except  independence,  and  then  trying  to  go  on  as  before 
the  war.  So  strong  was  Chatham's  feeling  on  the  subject  that  in  1778, 
when  the  duke  of  Richmond  brought  forward  his  motion  in  the  House  of 
Lords  for  granting  independence  to  America,  he  came  down  for  the  purpose 
of  '  lifting  up  his  voice  against  the  dismemberment  of  this  ancient  and 
most  noble  monarchy.'  He  spoke  under  great  excitement,  and,  falling 
down  in  a  fit  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  was  carried  home  only  to  die.  His 
protest,  however,  proved  successful,  and  the  war  was  continued. 

Meanwhile,  the  disasters  into  which  the  king's  government  was  plung- 
ing the  country  had  strengthened  the  spirit  of  opposition,  and  resulted 
Economical    in  a  better  understanding  between  the  Chatham  and  Rock- 
Reform,  ingham  Whigs.     Each  party,  however,  had  its  own  special 
scheme  for  reform.   The  Rockingham  Whigs,  urged  by  Burke,  thought  that 
the  remedy  lay  in  diminishing  the  king's  command  of  money,  and  the  ex- 
tensive patronage,  especially  in  sinecure  offices,  by  which  he  was  able  to 
secure  adherence  in  both  Houses.   Burke  also  wished  to  have  the  division 
lists  published,  and,  though  he  was  strongly  against  any  organic  change  in 
the  constitution,  wished  constituents  to  look  more  closely  into  the  votes 
of  their  representatives.     The  Chatham  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
.             were  now  led  by  Lord  Shelburne,  thought  the  true  remedy 
mentary       was  to  be  found  in  parliamentary  reform,  and  wished  to 
take  away  members  from  the  rotten  boroughs  and  give  them 
to  poi)ulous  towns  and  counties.     Those  views  were,  to  some  extent, 
based   on  the   interests   of   the    parties   concerned,    for  the   king  and 
Lord  North  had  most  influence  in  the  small  boroughs,  Rockingham  in 
the  counties,  and  the  Chatham  Whigs  in  the  large  towns,  particularly  in 
London.     Fox  seems  to  have  been  in  favour  of  both  schemes,  and  also  of 
shortening  the  duration  of  parliament.     In  1780  the  advocates  of  reform 
received  a  new  fonn  of  support  in  the  shape  of  general  petitions  in  favour 
of  their  policy  now  for  the  first  time  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons. 
Of  these  the  most  important  were  the  Westminster  petition, 
which  advocated  parliamentary  reform,  and  a  great  petition 
from  the  freeholders  of  Yorkshire,  which  demanded  a  reduction  in  the 
salaries  of  officials  and  the  abolition  of  sinecure  offices.  No  less  than  twenty- 
three  counties  supported  the  Yorkshiremen,  and  Burke  was  encouraged  to 
bring  in  a  bill  for  economical  reform.     This  passed  the  second  reading 
easily,  as  it  was  difficult  to  dispute  the  principle  ;  but  in  committee  all 
holders  or  expectant  holders  of  government  offices  naturally  opposed  the 
abolition  of  any  one  in  particular,  and  the  bill  was  lost.     The  same  fate 
befell  Burke's  contractors  bill,  intended  to  x^revent  the  government  giving 
contracts  to  members  of  parliament,  a  most  fruitful  source  of  bribery. 


1780  North  829 

It  was  asserted,  for  instance,  that  a  member  had  cleared  ;£70,000  by  a 
contract  to  supply  beads,  tomahawks,  and  scalping  knives  to  the  American 
Indians.  Thwarted  in  this  way.  Dunning,  on  behalf  of  the  Rockingham 
Whigs,  brought  forward  a  motion  that  *the  power  of  the  crown  has 
increased,  is  increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished.'  Being  brought 
forward  without  notice,  the  proposal  took  the  ministers  by  surprise,  and 
it  was  carried  by  233  to  215.  Next  year  Burke  brought  forward  another 
bill  for  economical  reform,  but  was  defeated  as  before. 

Meanwhile  the  party  who  favoured  parliamentary  reform  were  not 
idle.  The  first  motion  on  the  subject  had  been  made  by  Sir  Francis  Dash- 
wood,  a  Tory,  in  1745,  in  the  midst  of  the  Jacobite  rebellion.  History  of 
Of  course  nothing  came  of  it,  and  after  George  iii.  came  to  mentary 
the  throne  the  Tories  were  not  likely  to  propose  any  diminu-  Reform, 
tion  of  the  rotten  boroughs  on  which  George  relied  for  the  return  of  the 
king's  friends.  The  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand,  particularly  the  followers 
of  Lord  Chatham,  who  were  strongest  in  the  large  towns,  now  felt 
aggrieved,  and  in  1770  Lord  Chatham,  after  denouncing  the  existing 
system  of  returning  members  as  the  '  rotten  part  of  the  constitution,' 
suggested  giving  an  additional  third  member  to  every  county.  In  1776 
Wilkes,  who  had  been  allowed  to  take  his  seat  after  the  general  election 
of  1774,  proposed  to  disfranchise  the  rotten  boroughs  and  to  give  their 
members  to  counties  and  to  large  and  populous  towns.  His  proposal, 
however,  was  negatived  without  a  division.  Shelburne  and  Fox  both 
supported  parliamentary  reform  on  the  ground  that  the  county  constitu- 
encies and  the  large  towns  returned  the  most  independent  members  ;  but 
were  opposed  by  Rockingham  and  Burke,  who  viewed  with  distrust  any 
attenipt  to  tamper  with  the  constitution  on  abstract  principles.  Never- 
theless Fox's  uncle,  the  duke  of  Richmond,  though  a  follower  of  Rocking- 
ham, proposed  in  1780  to  establish  manhood  suffrage,  annual  elections, 
and  equal  electoral  districts.  His  proposal,  however,  met  with  nothing 
but  ridicule  ;  for  it  happened  to  be  made  the  very  night  when  the 
Lord  George  Gordon  riots  broke  out,  and  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  were  fighting  their  way  to  their  own  houses  almost  sword 
in  hand. 

These  celebrated  riots  arose  out  of  a  measure  carried  in  1778  by  Sir 
George  Savile,  a  Rockingham  Whig,  for  the  repeal  of  some  of  the  more 
onerous  of  the  disabilities  under  which  the  Roman  Catholics       .  . 
had  groaned  since  1689,  and  especially  for  the  repeal  of  the   the  Gordon 
statutes  by  which  their  priests  were  forbidden  to  say  mass  and 
their  laymen  to  acquire  land  by  purchase.     The  very  meagreness  of  these 
concessions  served  to  show  how  strong  was  the  anti-Catholic  feelins  both 


830  George  III.  1780 

in  England  and  Scotland.  The  trouble  began  in  Scotland  in  an  agitation 
against  the  extension  of  Savile's  act  to  that  country,  during  which  much 
damage  was  done  to  Roman  Catholic  chapels  and  property.  In  1780  it 
spread  to  England,  and  a  vast  league  was  formed  under  the  presidency  of 
Lord  George  Gordon,  the  half-insane  brother  of  the  duke  of  Gordon,  and 
under  the  name  of  the  Protestant  Association.  On  June  2  Lord  George, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  presented  a  petition  for 
the  repeal  of  Savile's  act.  This  he  brought  to  the  House  accompanied  by 
a  body  of  his  followers,  numbering  some  100,000  men,  who  marched  in 
procession  through  the  streets  and  besieged  the  doors  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  while  those  who  could  not  get  admittance  to  Westminster 
Hall  diverted  themselves  with  maltreating  unpopular  members  of  both 
Houses,  who  were  struggling  to  make  their  way  in. 

The  mob  remained  about  the  House  till  late  at  night,  and  on  its  way 
home  sacked  and  burnt  two  chapels  belonging  to  Roman  Catholic 
.  ambassadors.  As  no  serious  steps  were  taken  to  check  this 
licence,  the  mob  became  daily  bolder,  and  the  more  respect- 
able of  Lord  George's  followers  having  by  this  time  retired  from  the 
scene,  the  rabble  broke  open  and  burnt  Newgate  prison,  fired  distilleries, 
breweries,  and  private  houses,  amongst  others  that  of  the  unpopular 
Chief-Justice  Mansfield,  and  for  three  days  held  all  London  in  terror. 
In  those  days  there  was  no  regular  police  force,  and  the  ordinary  city 
and  parish  constables  were  quite  unequal  to  deal  with  the  mob,  and  yet, 
for  some  reason,  the  military  were  not  employed  at  first,  and  when  they 
were  ordered  out  were  directed  not  to  fire.  This  only  made  the  mob 
bolder,  and  at  last  George,  taking  upon  himself  a  responsibility  which 
his  ministers  shirked,  issued  a  proclamation,  ordering  the  troops  to  use 
their  weaj^ons.  This  firmness  which,  had  it  come  earlier,  might  have 
checked  the  riots  altogether,  was  at  length  successful,  though  at  least 
five  hundred  persons  were  killed  and  wounded  by  the  soldiers  before 
order  was  restored.  The  Gordon  riots  were  important  in  three  ways. 
In  the  first  place  they  distinctly  showed  that  members  of  parliament 
were  more  tolerant  than  the  nation  as  a  whole  ;  secondly,  the  circum- 
stance that  Fox  and  Shelburne  had  unadvisedly  continued  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  government  during  the  riots,  gained  them,  unjustly,  a 
reputation  for  sympathy  with  disorder  which  was  cleverly  used  against 
them  by  the  king  at  the  next  general  election  ;  and  thirdly,  the  riots 
formed  an  object  lesson  in  mob  violence,  which  distinctly  increased  the 
dislike  with  which  the  atrocities  of  the  Parisian  mob  were  viewed  in 
this  country.^ 

1  The  description  of  these  riots  should  be  read  in  Dickens'  BamaJtyy  Rudge. 


1781  North  831 

The  military  efifect  of  the  entrance  of  France  and  Spain  into  the  war 
was  to  make  the  command  of  the  sea  the  key  of  the  situation,  and  pro- 
bably the  best  course  for  the  British  would  have  been  to    ^^    „, 

•^  ...  The  War. 

hold  a  few  ports  in  America,  and  concentrate  their  attention 
upon  defeating  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets.  Instead  of  this  they  still 
continued  their  land  operations,  but  with  less  prospect  of  success  than 
ever ;  for,  as  Chatham  put  it,  we  have  spent  three  years  *  in  teaching  the 
Americans  how  to  fight,'  and  their  armies  were  stronger  than  ever,  while 
the  presence  of  the  French  fleet  on  the  coast  made  communications 
between  the  armies  difficult. 

In  1778  we  were  obliged  to  evacuate  Philadelphia,  and  made  New  York 
our  headquarters  ;  and  during  the  next  year  the  British  troops  remained 
almost  wholly  on  the  defensive.  In  1780  Benedict  Arnold,  Major 
the  commander  of  the  American  troops  on  the  Hudson  Andr6. 
river,  dissatisfied  with  his  position  under  Washington,  offered  to  desert 
and  hand  over  the  forts  on  the  Hudson  river  to  the  British  ;  the  negotia- 
tions between  him  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  at  New  York  were  carried  on 
by  Major  Andr(5,  a  young  officer  of  great  promise  and  considerable 
literary  ability.  Andr^  landed  in  the  American  lines  under  a  flag  of 
truce,  but  having  been  detained  longer  than  he  expected,  foolishly 
permitted  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  change  his  uniform  for  a  civilian's 
dress,  and  in  this  he  was  arrested  while  endeavouring  to  pass  the 
American  sentries.  On  being  searched  Arnold's  letters  were  found  in 
his  boots.  He  was,  of  course,  tried  as  a  spy,  convicted,  and,  in  spite  of 
all  petitions  to  the  contrary,  Washington  allowed  him  to  )3e  hanged. 
Arnold  escaped  to  the  British,  but  his  plan  of  betraying  the  forts  completely 
failed.  Andre's  sad  fate  created  a  melancholy  impression  both  in  England 
and  America,  but  it  is  hard  to  see  how  Washington  could  be  blamed. 

The  same  year  a  British  army  under  Lord  Cornwallis  was  sent  to 
Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  with  a  view  to  driving  the  American 
army  out  of  the  southern  states,  which  contained  the  largest  Surrender  at 
proportion  of  loyalists,  and  so  making  them  a  basis  of  Yorktown. 
operations  against  the  middle  and  northern  states.  At  first  the  plan 
seemed  successful,  and  the  Americans  were  defeated  at  Camden  in  1780, 
and  Guildford  Court-house  in  1781.  These  defeats  much  discouraged 
the  French  troops  in  America,  who  now  amounted  to  some  7000  men 
under  Lafayette,  and  a  truce  for  two  months  was  proposed  by  them, 
which  was  foolishly  rejected.  After  the  battle  of  Guildford,  Cornwallis 
marched  along  the  coast  towards  New  York,  much  as  Burgoyne  had 
tried  to  make  his  way  down  the  Hudson  river,  but  was  hemmed  in  at 
Yorktown  on  the  York  river  by  General  Green,  and  forced  to  fortify 


832  Ge(yrrje  III.  1781 

himself  on  a  small  peninsula  with  his  back  to  the  coast,  where  his  whole 
force  was  concentrated  on  the  22nd  August.  Had  the  English  possessed 
command  of  the  sea,  Cornwallis'  position  would  have  been  impregnable, 
but  eight  days  afterwards  the  Count  de  Grasse  arrived  off  the  coast  with 
twenty-eight  ships  of  the  line  ;  the  British  admiral.  Graves,  was  unable 
to  drive  him  away  with  an  inferior  force  of  nineteen  vessels.  The  result 
was  that  on  October  1 7  Cornwallis  found  his  position  untenable,  and  was 
forced  to  capitulate  to  Washington,  who  had  concentrated  the  whole  of 
the  American  forces  to  effect  his  destruction.  This  great  disaster  brought 
the  fighting  on  land  to  a  virtual  close,  but  the  British  still  continued  the 
naval  war  against  the  three  European  states.  The  disasters  of  the  year 
were  somewhat  redeemed  by  Rodney's  capture  of  St.  Eustacia,  a  rich 
West  Indian  island  belonging  to  the  Dutch  ;  but  the  French  soon 
captured  it,  and  having  complete  command  of  the  sea,  took  from  us  also 
Essequibo  and  Demerara,  St.  Kitts,  Nevis,  Montserrat,  and  Tobago,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  whole  of  our  West  Indian  islands  would  soon  be  lost. 
These  disasters  were  largely  due  to  the  half-hearted  manner  in  which  the 
British  commanders  worked  together ;  the  curse  of  party  had  for  the 
first  and  last  time  found  its  way  into  the  navy,  and  some  captains  failed 
to  support  Rodney  because  he  was  a  Tory,  and  others  Keppel  because  he 
was  a  Whig.  Even  in  Europe  we  lost  command  of  the  sea.  Keppel 
fought  an  indecisive  action  off  Ushant.  The  siege  of  Gibraltar  was 
Loss  of  carried  on  simply  because  we  had  no  fleet  to  relieve  it, 
Minorca.  ^^^  -^^  March,  1782,  Minorca  was  captured.  These  dis- 
asters depressed  the  spirit  of  the  nation  to  a  point  lower  than  it  had 
reached  since  Fontenoy. 

The  elections  of  1780,  coming  just  after  the  Gordon  riots,  proved  more 
favourable  to  the  government  than  was  expected.  For  some  time  the  oppo- 
North's  sition  leaders  were  disheartened,  but  in  the  autumn  of  1781 

Resignation,  ^j^^y  again  became  active,  and  Lords  Rockingham,  Richmond, 
and  Shelburne  in  the  Lords,  and  Fox,  Burke,  Conway,  and  Barre  in  the 
Commons,  renewed  their  attacks  on  the  administration.  By  this  time 
Lord  North  was  thoroughly  tired  of  carrying  on  a  war  of  whose  con- 
tinuance he  disapproved,  and  was  only  kept  in  office  by  the  entreaties 
of  the  king,  who  represented  resignation  as  equivalent  to  desertion,  and 
who  threatened  to  return  to  Hanover  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  opposition.  Facts,  however,  were  too  strong  for  Lord  North.  In 
February,  1782,  General  Conway  carried  a  motion  to  the  effect  that  it 
was  impossible  to  subdue  the  Americans  by  force,  and  when  in  March 
the  news  arrived  that  Minorca  had  been  taken.  North  insisted  on.  leaving 
office. 


1782  North — Rockinglmm  833 

His  retirement  brought  into  full  view  the  diflferences  which  existed  in 
the  opposition.     The  king  agi-eed  to  accept  a  mixed  ministry,  composed 
of  Rockingham's  followers  and  the  Chathamite  Whigs  ;  but 
so  great  was  his  prejudice  against  Lord  Rockingham  that   hams 
he  refused  to  see  him,  and  conducted  all  the  negotiations    Min°s^ry 
through  Lord  Shelburne.    Indeed,  as  Fox  plainly  told  Shel- 
burne,  the  cabinet  was  to  consist  of  two  parts, '  one  belonging  to  the  king, 
the  other  to  the  public'    Its  composition  is  very  instructive.     Of  the  ten 
members  of  the  cabinet,  Rockingham,  Lord  John  Cavendish,  Keppel, 
Richmond,  Fox,  and  Conway  were  of  one  party  ;  Shelburne  and  Dunning, 
now  created   Lord  Ashburton,  represented  the  followers  of  Chatham ; 
Grafton  was  neutral,  and   Thurlow,  the   lord-chancellor   under  North, 
continued  to  hold  his  post  apparently  because  he  was  too  dangerous  to 
be  driven  into  opposition.    Burke,  who,  great  as  is  his  present  reputation, 
was  never  trusted  by  his  contemporaries,  or  admitted  within  the  aristo- 
cratic circle  which  could  then  claim  a  place  in  the  cabinet,  was  paymaster 
of  the  forces. 

In  accordance  with  Whig  principles,  active  hostilities  against   the 
Americans  were  at  once  discontinued,  but  the  Wtir  with  the  European 
powers  was  carried  on  as  vigorously  as  ever.     In  this  the   The  War 
new  ministry  met  with  a  success  greater  than  it  deserved,    continued. 
For  more  than  a  year  Rodney  had  been  in  the  West  Indies  manoeuvring 
against  the  French  admiral  de  Grasse.     He  was,  however,  a  supporter  of 
Lord  North,  and  as  such  Rockingham's  ministry  recalled  him.     Fortun- 
ately, however,  the  recall  had  not  reached  Rodney  when  he  contrived  to 
force  the  French  admiral  into  a  general  action  off  the  island    Rodney's 
of  Guadeloupe.     Rodney  had  thirty-five  ships  of  the  line  to   Victory, 
his  opponent's  thirty-three  ;  and,  getting  the  weather  gi'iuge,  he  employed 
the  new  manoeuvre  of  breaking  his  enemy's  line.     Sailing  at  right  angles 
to  the  French  line  of  battle,  he  cut  off  some  of  their  ships  from  the  rest, 
and  then  brought  his  whole  force  to  bear  on  these  ;  while  the  rest  of  the 
French  fleet,  having  the  wind  against  it,  was  unable  to  come  to  theii- 
assistance.     In  this  way  the  French  fleet  was  thrown  into  hopeless  con- 
fusion ;  five  ships  were  taken  and  one  sunk,  and  the  naval  superiority  of 
the  British  in  the  West  Indies  was  at  once  re-established. 

Almost  as  memorable  as  this  great  victory  was  Governor  Eliott's 
defence  of  Gibraltar.  During  the  war  the  chief  attention  of  the 
Spaniards  had  been  devoted  to  the  siege  of  Gibraltar.  This  The  Siege  of 
was  formed  in  1779,  immediately  on  the  declaration  of  war,  Gibraltar, 
and  as  the  British  had  no  fleet  to  spare  for  the  permanent  assistance 
of  the  garrison,  General  Eliott,  a  veteran  who  had  been  George  ii.'s 

3g 


834  George  III.  1782 

aide-de-camp  at  Dettingen,  was  forced  to  rely  on  his  own  resources. 
To  this,  however,  he  showed  himself  fully  equal,  keeping  his  assailants 
at  a  distance  by  a  free  use  of  red-hot  shot.  His  stock  of  provisions, 
however,  was  running  low,  when,  in  1781,  Rodney  contrived  to  beat 
the  Spanish  fleet  in  a  terrible  night  battle  fought  off  Cape  St.  Vincent, 
and  to  throw  ample  supi^lies  into  the  place.  However,  in  1782,  a 
supreme  effort  was  made  to  take  the  fortress.  The  Spanish  army  was 
joined  by  a  strong  reinforcement  of  French  ;  a  large  fleet  covered  the 
operations  of  the  siege,  and,  by  the  ingenuity  of  a  French  engineer  named 
d' Arcon,  huge  floating  batteries  were  contrived,  which  it  was  hoped  would 
prove  impervious  to  Eliott's  red-hot  balls.  On  September  13  a  tremendous 
tire  was  opened  on  the  fortress  by  sea  and  land  ;  but  Eliott,  who  had  so 
strengthened  his  defences  that  he  was  stronger  at  the  close  of  the  siege 
than  at  the  beginning,  defied  all  their  efforts,  and  set  most  of  the  batteries 
on  fire.  A  terrible  scene  of  destruction  ensued.  Eliott's  guns  sent  their 
shot  all  over  the  bay  ;  in  every  direction  gunboats  and  batteries  were 
blowing  up,  while  the  water  was  crowded  with  wounded  and  half-burnt 
wretches.  Eliott,  however,  showed  that  he  was  as  humane  as  he  was 
brave.  The  Spaniards  being  completely  beaten,  the  British  guns  ceased 
firing,  and  Eliott  and  Curtis,  the  commander  of  the  British  gunboats,  did 
all  they  could  to  save  life.  A  few  days  later,  Lord  Howe  arrived  with  a 
large  convoy  of  provisions  and  two  fresh  regiments,  which  he  safely 
landed  in  spite  of  the  French  and  Spanish  fleet,  and  again  withdrew  after 
a  doubtful  battle,  in  which,  owing  to  the  wind,  the  British  could  not 
compel  their  antagonists  to  engage  at  close  quarters.  This  relief  of 
Gibraltar  was  final,  and  though  the  siege  was  not  raised  till  the  end  of 
the  war,  Eliott  was  not  again  in  serious  danger. 

On  coming  into  office  Rockingham  had  stipulated  with  the  king  that 
he  might  pass  acts  diminishing  or  abolishing  all  useless  offices,  excluding 
Economical  contractors  from  the  House  of  Commons,  and  depriving 
Reform.  revenue  officers  of  their  votes  ;  and  to  these  objects  they  at 

once  applied  themselves,  Fox  being  reputed  to  have  said  that,  provided 
he  was  able  '  to  strike  a  good  stout  blow  at  the  influence  of  the  crown, 
he  did  not  mind  how  soon  he  went  out.'  Accordingly,  Burke's  bills 
were  again  introduced,  and  this  time  were  passed.  The  civil  list  was 
divided  into  eight  classes,  and  reductions  were  made  to  the  extent  of 
;£72,000  by  abolishing  useless  offices.  Among  those  abolished  was  that^ 
of  '  king's  turnspit,'  the  holder  of  which  sat  in  the  House  of  Commons  ; 
by  another  act,  contractors  to  supply  government  with  any  articles  were 
forbidden  to  sit  in  the  House  ;  and  by  a  third,  revenue  officers  were 
forbidden  to  vote  in  elections.     As  it  was  shown  that  11,500  of  these 


1782  Rockingham  835 

officers  were  electors,  and  that  no  less  than  seventy  elections  turned 
upon  their  votes,  this  was  a  great  blow  to  the  influence  of  the  crown. 
Rockingham's  j)arty  had  no  love  for  parliamentary  reform,  and  it  made  no 
part  in  the  government  policy  ;  but  the  question  wiis  raised  by  young 
William  Pitt,  second  son  of  the  great  Lord  Chatham,  who  had  entered  the 
House  in  1780.  His  motion,  though  supported  by  Fox,  was  opposed  by 
Burke  and  the  other  Rockingham  Whigs,  and  was  lost  by  161  to  141. 
By  another  motion,  all  the  former  proceedings  of  the  House  in  connection 
with  Wilkes'  election  for  Middlesex  were  expunged  from  the  journals. 

Between  the  agitation  against  Wood's  halfpence  and  the  breaking  out 
of  the  American  war,  Ireland,  if  not  contented,  had  been  unusually 
peaceful.  Owing  to  the  wise  administration  of  Lord  irish 
Chesterfield,  she  had  passed  undisturbed  through  the  crisis  Grievances, 
of  1745  ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  European  powers  joined  the  Americans 
that  symptoms  of  disafiection  began  to  show  themselves.  The  grievances 
of  the  Irish  were  twofold — commercial  and  constitutional.  The  former 
arose  from  the  selfish  policy  by  which,  in  the  supposed  interests  of 
English  merchants  and  farmers,  Irish  trade  and  agriculture  hiul  been 
treated.  No  manufiicturing  industry  except  that  of  linen  had  received 
anything  but  discouragement.  Even  that  was  now  suffering  from  the 
general  depression  which  had  been  caused  by  the  war ;  while  the 
exportation  of  provisions  to  America  had  also  been  put  under  an 
embargo.  At  the  accession  of  George  in.  the  chief  constitutional 
grievances  lay  in  the  existence  of  Poynings'  Act  (see  p.  382),  by  which 
no  bill  could  be  introduced  into  the  Irish  parliament  till  it  had  received 
the  approval  of  the  English  council ;  of  the  act  of  1719  (George  i., 
ch.  vi.),  by  which  the  British  parliament  could  pass  laws  binding  on 
Ireland  ;  the  perpetual  Mutiny  Act,  by  which  the  Irish  parliament  was 
deprived  of  any  control  over  the  troops  in  the  island  ;  and  the  pnictice 
by  which  the  Irish  parliament  sat  every  two  years,  and  was  only 
dissolved,  except  with  the  king's  consent,  at  the  death  of  the  sovereign. 

Early  in  the  reign,  however,  an  opposition  was  organised  in  jmrliament 
under  Henry  Flood,  born  in  1732  ;  and  in  1767  he  was  successful  in 
getting  an  Octennial  Bill  passed,  by  which  the  duration  of 
the  Irish  parliament  was  limited  to  eight  years.      Flood 
then  devoted  his  attention  to  acquiring  greater  control  over  expenditure 
for  parliament ;   but  in  1774  he  destroyed  much  of  his  popularity  by 
taking  office  under  the  government.      Flood's  place  was 
taken  by  Henry  Grattan,  born  1746,  who  entered  parlia- 
ment in  1775.      The  moment  was  a  critical  one,  for  the  struggle  with 
America  was  just  beginning,  and  was  watched  with  intense  interest  by 


836  George  III.  1782 

the  Irish,  whose  grievances,  especially  the  commercial  ones,  were  by  no 
means  unlike  those  of  the  colonists.  When  France  declared  war, 
Ireland  was  almost  denuded  of  troops ;  and,  to  protect  themselves 
against  a  French  invasion,  the  Protestants  were  allowed  to  form 
volunteer  corps,  which  were  furnished  with  arms  by  the  government. 
These  corps  soon  amounted  to  50,000  effective  men  ;  and  their  leader, 
Lord  Charlemont,  joined  with  Grattan  to  use  them  as  a  menace  against 
the  government.  In  face  of  such  a  military  force  North  saw  that 
resistance  was  useless ;  and  an  act  was  passed  allowing  Ireland  to 
trade  with  foreign  countries  and  with  the  English  colonies.  The 
passing  of  this  measure  had  been  largely  iissisted  by  the  eloquence 
of  Burke  ;  but  the  Bristol  merchants,  jealous  of  their  trade,  punished 
him  at  the  general  election  of  1780  by  turning  him  out  of  his  seat  for 
Bristol.  These  concessions  caused  universal  rejoicing  in  Ireland ;  and 
Grattan  went  on  to  pass  through  the  Irish  j)arliament  a  Declaration  of 
Right,  which  demanded  the  repeal  of  Poynings'  Act  and  the  Sixth  of 
George  i. ;  that  appeals  in  Irish  lawsuits  should  go  to  the  Irish  and 
not  to  the  English  House  of  Lords  ;  and,  lastly,  the  repeal  of  the 
Legislative  perpetual  Mutiny  Act.  This  Declaration  was  passed  in 
dence^"  1782.    Rockinghaui's  ministry  at  once  granted  the  demands, 

granted.  and  passed  measures  by  which  the  Sixth  of  George  i.  wa"s 

repealed,  and  Poynings'  Act  was  so  far  modified  that  the  Irish  parlia- 
ment became  legislatively  independent. 

In  July  1782  the  marquess  of  Rockingham  died  quite  unexpectedly  ; 

and  this  brought  to  a  crisis  the  quarrel  that  had  long  been  imminent 

between  the  Chatham  and  Rockingham  Whigs.     Already 

Rocking-      Fox  and  Shelburne — the  two  secretaries  of  state — had  had 

^"^'  separate  agents  negotiating  at  Paris  about  the  conclusion  of 

peace  ;  and  an  ojDen  quarrel  must  have  broken  out  before  long.  George 
acted  at  once  ;  and,  the  instant  Rockingham's  death  was  known,  named 
Shelburne  prime  minister.  The  Rockingham  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand, 
wanted  to  have  the  duke  of  Portland,  a  young  and  amiable  nobleman, 
but  of  no  ability — '  a  fit  block  to  hang  Whigs  on,'  as  some  one  said.  On 
Shelburne's  Shelbume's  appointment.  Fox  and  Burke  immediately 
Ministry.  threw  up  their  places,  and  were  supported  by  Lord  John 
Cavendish  and  Ashburton  ;  but  Shelburne  replaced  Cavendish  by  giving 
the  chancellorship  of  the  exchequer  to  William  Pitt,  while  Camden, 
Grafton,  Keppel,  Richmond,  and  Thurlow  retained  their  places. 

The  resignation  of  Fox  was  due  quite  as  much  to  personal  dislike  of 
Lord  Shelburne  as  to  his  policy  and  connections.  The  character  of 
Shelburne  is  one  of  the  enigmas  of  the  period.      Having  entered  politics 


1782  Rockingham — Shelhirne  837 

with  every  advantage,  he  became  a  secretarj'  of  state  at  twenty-nine  ;  he 
was  the  trusted  lieutenant  of  Chatham,  and  was  remarkable  for  the 
breadth  and  liberality  of  his  views  on  all  subjects.  Yet  po^'s 
for  all  this  he  was  a  political  failure,  apparently  because  Action, 
he  could  convince  no  one  of  the  honesty  of  his  intentions.  In  speaking, 
his  habitual  reservations  made  it  almost  impossible  to  tell  what  he  really 
meant ;  and  in  ordinary  life,  his  habit  of  habitually  suspecting  and 
watching  his  friends  made  everyone  ill  at  ease.  With  Fox,  indeed, 
distrust  was  hereditary,  for  Lord  Holland  believed  that  he  had  been 
tricked  by  Shelburne  ;  but  it  was  just  the  same  with  those  who  might 
have  been  expected  to  be  his  hereditary  friends  ;  and  Fox  and  William 
Pitt,  if  they  agreed  in  nothing  else,  were  at  one  in  distrusting  Lord 
Shelburne.  Fox,  however,  whose  weak  point  was  want  of  judgment, 
made  a  distinct  mistake  by  throwing  up  his  post  on  personal  grounds. 
Pitt,  whose  strong  point  was  sound  judgment,  made  the  right  choice 
when  he  accepted  office. 

The  independence  of  the  United  States  had  been  practically  acknow- 
ledged by  Rockingham's  ministry  ;  but  a  formal  peace  was  concluded 
by  Lord  Shelburne.  This  was  signed  at  Versailles  in  «,.„.. 
January  1783  ;  and  the  same  day  a  treaty  was  also  signed  States  ac- 
between  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain.  Fortunately  for  "°^  ^  ^*  ' 
Britain,  Rodney's  victory  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  failure  of  the  siege 
of  Gibraltar,  had  placed  her  in  a  much  better  position  to  treat  than  she 
would  have  been  a  year  before.  Even  as  it  was,  she  was  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  loss  of  Minorca,  which  was  restored  to  Spain,  and  to  give 
up  to  Franco  Senegal  and  the  island  of  Goree.  The  necessity  for 
recognising  the  independence  of  the  American  colonies,  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  even  a  nominal  connection  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
States,  were  now  admitted  by  all  parties  ;  but  their  loss  was  regarded  as 
ruinous  to  the  mother-country.  A  very  considerable  number  of  the 
colonists  wholly  objected  to  breaking  the  British  connection,  and  under 
the  name  of  the  united  empire  loyalists  settled  in  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  Canada,  where  their  arrival  materially  strengthened  the 
British  section  of  the  community. 

When  parliament  met,  at  the  close  of  1782,  it  was  seen  that  neither 
the  followers  of  the  government,  nor  those  of  Fox,  nor  those  of  Lord 
North,  could  command  a  majority  by  themselves  ;  and  pall  of 
intrigues  of  all  sorts  were  at  once  set  on  foot  for  a  coalition  Shelburne. 
between  two  of  the  three  parties.  Shelburne  applied  both  to  Fox  and 
North,  but  the  distrust  that  he  inspired  in  both  was  fatal  to  an  alliance. 
On  the  other  hand,  negotiations  between  Fox  and  North  were  successful ; 


838  George  TIL  1782 

and  they  agreed  to  form  a  coalition  against  the  government.  Such  an 
alliance  was  received  by  the  public  of  the  day  with  disgust,  and  has 
since  received  more  abuse  than  perhaps  it  actually  deserved.  Unluckily 
for  Fox,  the  regular  reporting  of  speeches  enabled  his  critics  to  look  back 
to  his  previous  sayings.  Fox  had  never  spoken  in  measured  terms  of 
any  political  opponent ;  and  on  his  very  first  speech  after  Shelburne 
became  premier,  had  depicted  him  as  being  capable  of  an  alliance  with 
North — 'the  depth  of  political  infamy.'  Fox,  however,  had  always 
distinguished  between  the  policy  and  character  of  Lord  North,  with 
whom  he  was  personally  on  the  best  of  terms,  and  had  had  frequent 
abortive  negotiations  about  joining  him  ;  but  this  the  public  did  not 
know.  What  it  did  see  was  that  two  politicians,  each  of  whom  had  held 
up  the  other  as  guilty  of  infamous  conduct,  had  allied  together  against  a 
third,  whom  one  of  them  had  recently  deserted  on  personal  grounds  ; 
and  it  regarded  the  whole  affair  as  a  disgrace  to  the  politicians  con- 
cerned, especially  to  Fox.  The  king,  on  the  other  hand,  was  furious  at 
a  scheme  which  threatened  to  saddle  him  with  a  ministry  composed  of 
Fox,  whom  he  detested,  and  North,  who  he  thought  had  deserted  him. 
In  the  House  of  Commons,  however.  Fox  and  North  had  a  large 
majority,  who  carried  an  amendment  against  the  government  by  207  to 
190 ;  and  on  this  Lord  Shelburne  resigned,  and  soon  afterwards  w^ent 
abroad.  George,  however,  did  not,  as  he  said,  '  take  the  bitter  potion ' 
without  a  struggle.  After  offering  the  post  of  premier  to  Pitt — and, 
indeed,  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  would  offer  it  to  '  Mr.  Thomas 
Anybody  who  would  take  it ' — he  found  himself  fast  in  the  toils  ;  and, 
after  thirty-seven  days  without  a  ministry,  the  coalition 
Coalition  came  into  i)ower,  with  the  duke  of  Portland  as  prime 
inis  ry.  ^jji^ister,  and  Fox  and  North  as  secretaries  of  state,  sup- 
ported by  Lord  John  Cavendish,  Keppel,  and  Burke. 

The  affairs  of  India  demanded  the  immediate  attention  of  the  new 
ministry.  Since  the  battle  of  Wandewash  a  great  revolution  had  taken 
place  in  that  country.  Between  1760  and  1765  the  affairs 
both  of  the  Mogul  empire  and  of  Bengal  had  been  in  a 
state  of  great  confusion.  At  Delhi  a  fierce  struggle  had  been  going  on 
between  one  vizier,  supported  by  the  Mahrattas,  and  another  supported 
by  the  Afghans,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  Mahrattas  at  the 
great  battle  of  Paniput.  The  British,  however,  recognised  as  Padisha  or 
emperor,  a  son  of  the  reigning  sovereign  named  Shah  Alum,  who  was  an 
exile  in  Oude.  In  Bengal  Mir  Jaffier,  who  had  been  made  Nabob  after 
the  battle  of  Plassey,  was  deposed  as  inefficient  and  his  place  taken  by 
his  son-in-law,  Mir  Cassim.     He,  in  his  turn,  quarrelled  with  the  British, 


1783  Shelhurne— Portland  839 

and  put  to  deatli  a  number  of  British  prisoners  in  the  massacre  of  Patna. 
His  troops,  however,  were  defeated  in  1764  by  Major  Munro  at  the 
battle  of  Buxar,  which  made  the  British  masters  of  Bengal.  Next  year 
Clive  again  visited  India,  and  he  made  an  arrangement  with  Mir  Jaffier 
and  Shah  Alum,  by  which  the  East  India  Company  was  recognised 
as  the  collector  of  revenues  in  Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa  at  the  price 
of  paying  ^500,000  a  year  to  the  Nabob  of  Bengal,  and  ^250,000 
to  the  nominal  Padisha,  Shah  Alum.  This  arrangement  made  the 
company  the  virtual  rulers  of  these  three  provinces,  which  together  made 
up  a  territory  as  large  as  France.  Olive's  plan  for  the  future  was  that 
both  the  government  and  the  collection  of  revenue  should  be  carried  on 
by  the  native  officials,  while  the  company  should  pay  an  army  for 
purposes  of  defence,  retaining  in  its  own  hands  so  much  of  the  revenue  as 
remained  after  the  tribute  and  army  had  been  provided  for.  Clive  also 
attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  the  practice  of  private  trading  in  which,  to 
the  great  loss  of  the  company,  the  company's  officers  had  indulged.  This 
he  accompanied  by  a  general  rise  of  salaries ;  and  he  also,  in  spite  of 
much  opposition,  carried  out  salutary  reforms  in  the  condition  of  the 
army,  and  left  India  for  the  last  time  in  1767.  When  Clive's  stem  hand 
was  removed,  abuses  again  broke  out.  The  financial  demands  of  the 
company  were  too  heavy  for  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  matters 
were  made  worse  by  the  utter  corruption  of  the  native  officials.  The 
result  wjis  severe  distress,  culminating  in  a  famine  which  desolated 
Bengal  in  1770,  and  in  1772  a  new  system  had  to  be  adopted.  This 
was  introduced  by  Hastings,  who  was  sent  out  in  1772  as  governor  of 
Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  generally  six)ken  of  inexactly  as  Bengal. 

Warren  Hastings  was  born  in  1732,  and,  after  passing  some  time  at 
Westminster  School,  was  sent  to  India  in  1750.  There  he  exhibited  the 
versatility  which  has  distinguished  so  many  of  our  great  vvarren 
Indian  officials.  At  first  he  acted  as  a  merchant,  but  being  Hastings, 
seized  by  Surajah  Dowlah  in  1756,  he  became  deeply  involved  in  the 
conspiracy  in  favour  of  Mir  Jaffier.  Having  escaped  from  detention,  he 
joined  the  army  and  carried  a  musket  at  Plassey  ;  but  his  talents  having 
attracted  the  notice  of  Clive,  he  was  employed  in  diplomacy,  and  was 
soon  recognised  as  one  of  the  ablest  officials  of  the  company.  Hastings 
was  in  England  during  the  famine,  and  went  out  with  large  powers  to 
reform  the  abuses  which  had  led  to  that  terrible  event.  His  first  act  was 
to  place  the  administration  of  Bengal  in  the  hands  of  English  collectors 
and  magistrates  instead  of  those  of  the  native  officials  who  had  proved 
themselves  unfit  for  the  charge. 

Meanwhile,  the  affairs  of  the  East  India  Company  had  attracted  the 


840  George  III.  1788 

attention  of  parliament.  The  fact  that  a  mere  trading  company  should 
have  become  the  virtual  ruler  of  an  immense  territory  with  millions  of  in- 
Attitude  of  habitants  was  itself  an  anomaly,  and  parliament  was  inclined 
Parliament.  ^^^  ^^^y  to  be  jealous  of  the  company's  political  power,  but 
also  wished  to  relieve  taxation  by  making  the  company  pay  as  hand- 
somely as  possible  for  its  privileges.  The  matter  was  taken  up  by  Burke, 
who  drew  a  graphic  picture  of  the  insatiable  desire  for  wealth  of  the  com- 
pany and  its  servants,  describing  them  as,  '  animated  with  all  the  avarice 
of  age  and  all  the  impetuosity  of  youth,  they  roll  in  one  after  another, 
wave  after  wave  ;  and  there  is  nothing  before  the  eyes  of  the  natives  but 
an  endless,  hopeless  prospect  of  new  birds  of  prey  and  of  passage,  with 
appetites  continually  renewing  for  a  food  that  is  continually  wasting.' 

This  picture,  though,  like  all  Burke's  rhetoric,  it  was  highly  coloured, 
and,    since    Olive's     reforms,   largely    untrue,    represented    the    ideas 

The  of  the  day.      Numerous   persons   who   had   made    money 

'  Nabobs.'  jj^  j^dia  had  returned  to  England,  and  their  wealth 
being  greater  than  that  of  the  average  gentleman  of  the  day,  at- 
tracted attention.  Their  manners  were  often  not  equal  to  their  new 
position ;  and  their  ostentatious  attempt  to  make  up  by  their  wealth 
what  they  wanted  in  breeding  and  education  made  them  so  extremely 
unpopular  that,  under  the  name  of  'Nabobs,'  they  became  a  butt  for 
the  satire  of  the  day.  Accordingly,  in  a  parliamentary  committee  which 
investigated  the  case,  Olive,  as  the  representative  of  a  whole  class,  was 
bitterly  attacked  ;  and  though  he  defended  himself  with  success  he  never 
recovered  his  spirits,  and  in  1 774  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

On  the  whole,  however,  the  decision  of  parliament  was  moderate  and 
judicious.  A  '  Regulating  Act'  was  passed,  based  on  the  principle  that 
The  Regulat-  parliament  should  have  a  voice  in  the  political  as  distin- 
ing  Act.  tinguished  from  the  commercial  afiairs   of   the   company. 

Hastings  was  made  governor-general  of  India,  with  the  right  of  deciding 
the  policy  of  the  presidencies  of  Madras  and  Bombay  in  matters  of  peace 
and  war,  and  was  assisted  by  a  council  of  five,  made  up  of  two  officials 
of  the  East  India  Oompany  and  three  members  appointed  by  parliament. 

The  new  arrangement  did  not  make  Hastings'  task  an  easier  one.     By 

taking  from  them  the  administration  he  had  already  deeply  oflFended  the 

natives,  especially  a  certain  Brahmin  of  the  name  of  Nun- 

Hastines  '       r  j 

Governor-    comar.     He  found  it  almost  impossible  to  work  with  the 

council,  the  parliamentary  members  of  which,  headed  by 

Philip  Francis,  who  has  often  been  thought  to  be  the  author  of  the  letters 

of  '  Junius,'  set  themselves  to  thwart  him.     Besides  this  he  was  in  the 

greatest  straits  to  provide  money  for  the  administration,  and  to  satisfy 


1783  Portland  841 

the  demanrls  of  the  directors.  However,  in  ITTf),  Nimcomar  was  tried 
before  Chief- Justice  Impey,  convicted  of  forgery,  and  hanged.^  In  1781 
Francis  went  home,  and  matters  became  more  tolerable  at  the  council 
table.  The  demands  for  money,  however,  were  incessant.  Pushed  on 
by  these,  Hastings  actually  sold  to  the  Nabob  of  Oude  the  services  of  a 
regiment  of  English  troops  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  Rohillas  of 
Rohilcund,  whose  territory  was  coveted  by  the  Nabob.  Still  more  diffi- 
cult became  Hastings'  position  when  the  outbreak  of  war  with  France 
revived  all  the  old  difficulties  with  the  French  settlements  ;  and  matters 
were  also  complicated  by  a  war  with  Hyder  Ali,  a  Moham- 
medan,  and  Sultan  of  Mysore.  Hyder  Ali  was  a  typical 
man.  In  youth  he  had  seen  service  and  acquired  a  knowledge  of  drill 
as  a  French  Sepoy,  and  had  then  raised  himself  by  his  militiiry  skill  to 
be  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  troops  kept  by  the  Eajah  of  Mysore. 
He  then  deposed  the  legitimate  princes,  and  took  the  title  of  Sultan. 
Hyder  Ali  was  an  excellent  soldier,  and  with  French  aid  he  attacked 
Madras  so  vigorously  that  it  was  all  Hastings  could  do  to  provide  the 
means  of  repelling  him.  In  his  extremity  Hastings  had  recourse  to  the 
most  questionable  means  of  raising  money.  He  resorted  to  intimida- 
tion, and,  among  other  acts  of  injustice,  extracted  a  large  sum  from  the 
Begums,  or  Princesses,  of  Oude.  Eventually,  however,  his  determined 
courage  sunnounted  all  obstacles.  Hyder's  troops  were  defeated  by 
Eyre  Ooote  at  the  battle  of  Porto  Novo,  one  of  the  old  Portuguese  settle- 
ments ;  while  Admiral  Hughes,  with  only  nine  ships,  fought  Suffren's 
fleet  of  twelve  no  less  than  four  times  without  losing  a  ship,  and  so 
not  only  prevented  the  French  from  giving  any  efficient  assistance  to 
their  Indian  ally,  but  preserved  Great  Britain's  command  of  the  eastern 
seas  at  a  most  critical  period.  Nevertheless,  the  finances  of  the  company 
were  unable  to  support  the  expenses  thrown  upon  them  by  the  wars,  and 
in  1783  its  imminent  bankruptcy  compelled  the  government  to  interfere 
in  its  affairs. 

Accordingly  the  Coalition  Ministry  drew  up  an  India  Bill,  which  was 
designed,  as  Burke  said,  to  be  the  Magna  Carta  of  Hindostan.    The  bill, 
so  far  as  it  concerned  the  administration  of  affairs  in  India,   fox's  India 
was  admirable  ;  and  is  said  to  have  been  designed  by  Burke  ^*^'- 
himself ;  but  the  part  that  attracted  most  attention  was  that  which  dealt 

1  In  his  celebrated  essay  on  Warren  Hastings,  Lord  Macaulay  takes  it  for  granted 
that  Nuncomar's  execution  was  a  judicial  murder;  but  a  great  English  judge, 
Sir  James  Stephen,  in  his  Nunconiar  and  Impey,  says  :  '  I  think  that  Nuncomar's 
trial  was  perfectly  fair '  ;  and  shows  his  reasons  for  thinking  that  Macaulay's 
inferences  are  untrue.  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  83-86.  Indeed,  Macaulay's  brilliant  writing 
has  given  quite  a  false  impression  of  Hastings'  career. 


842  George  TIL  1783 

with  the  relations  between  the  company  and  the  crown.  By  this  the 
transference  to  the  crown  of  the  political  power  of  the  company,  begun 
in  1773,  was  completed.  A  body  of  fifteen  directors  was  formed,  seven 
of  whom  were  to  have  all  the  political  power  in  their  hands,  and  eight 
all  the  commercial.  The  appointment  of  the  eight  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  company  ;  the  seven  were  to  be  named  by  parliament  for  four  years, 
after  which  they  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown.  The  weak  point  of 
the  Act  lay  in  the  method  of  appointing  the  seven  political  directors  ;  for 
it  was  represented  that,  being  appointed  by  the  parliamentary  majority, 
they  would  in  the  first  instance  be  friends  of  Fox  and  North,  and  that 
for  four  years  they  would  have  the  whole  patronage  of  India  in  their 
hands  with  which  to  secure  for  ever  the  parliamentary  ascendency  of  the 
coalition.  When  the  bill  was  shown  to  North  he  remarked  that  '  it  was 
an  admirable  recipe  to  knock  up  an  administration,'  and  his  words  proved 
correct.  Every  effort  was  made  to  excite  feeling  against  the  bill.  Fox 
was  represented  in  one  caricature  as  Carlo  Khan  riding  into  Downing 
Street  on  the  top  of  an  elephant,  and  the  charter  of  every  corporation 
in  the  country  was  declared  to  be  endangered  by  the  attack  on  that  of 
the  East  India  Company.  Nothing,  however,  could  be  done  in  the 
Commons,  where  the  bill  passed  by  large  majorities  ;  but  when  it  reached 
the  Lords,  George  ventured  on  the  highly  unconstitutional  course  of 
sending  young  Lord  Temple,  son  of  Chatham's  friend,  to  each  peer  with 
a  plain  message  written  on  a  visiting  card,  that  '  whoever  voted  for  the 
India  Bill  was  not  only  not  his  friend,  but  would  be  considered  by  him  as 
an  enemy.'  The  result  was  that  the  bill  was  rejected  on  December  18,  and 
George  sent  for  the  seals  of  the  coalition  ministers  the  very  same  night. 

As  his  new  prime  minister  George  named,  not  Shelburne,  but  William 
Pitt.  Pitt  was  then  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  had  only  been  in 
Pitt's  first  parliament  three  years  ;  but  he  accepted  the  post  with- 
Ministry.  q^^  hesitation.  His  whole  life  had  been  a  careful  training 
for  a  parliamentary  career.  As  a  mere  child  his  father  had  taught  him 
to  declaim  Paradise  Lost  and  to  translate  the  classics  at  sight,  in  order  to 
give  him  command  of  the  voice  and  facility  in  the  choice  of  words.  His 
delicacy  prevented  him  from  entering  a  public  school ;  but  at  fourteen  he 
was  sent  under  a  tutor  to  Cambridge,  and  remained  there  for  the  most 
part  during  the  term  time  till  he  entered  parliament.  At  the  university 
he  devoted  himself  not  only  to  classics  and  mathematics,  but  also  to  the 
study  of  such  works  as  bore  on  the  politics  of  the  day,  especially  to 
Adam  Smith's  work,  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  published  in  1776,  in 
which  the  principle  of  Free  Trade  was  first  systematically  argued.  At  the 
election  of  1780  he  stood  for  the  university,  but  was  defeated,  and  was 


1784  Pm-tland—PiU  843 

returned  by  Sir  James  Lowther  for  his  pocket  borough  of  Appleby.  In 
parliament  he  showed  a  readiness  and  a  solidity  far  beyond  his  years, 
coupled  with  a  belief  in  his  own  powers  that  bordered  on  the  ridiculous. 
Bold  as  he  was,  however,  he  now  required  all  his  courage,  for  he  had 
against  him  all  the  old  parliamentary  hands  of  the  day,  and  those  who 
might  have  been  expected  to  support  him  were  reluctant  to  connect  their 
reputations  with  what  seemed  certain  failure. 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  Pitt  was  the  only  cabinet  minister  ;  for  his 
only  efficient  supporter  in  debate — Henry  Dundas,  lord-advocate  for 
Scotland,  and  treasurer  of  the  navy — was  not  in  the  cabinet.    „    ., 

Parlia- 

In  the  Lords  he  had  no  colleague  of  the  first  ability  except,  mentary 
perhaps,  Thurlow,  who  was  more  a  hindrance  than  a  help  in 
general  policy.  Camden,  Grafton,  and  Temple  all  held  aloof.  To  Shel- 
burne,  Pitt,  afraid  either  of  his  unpopularity  or  of  his  ability,  did  not 
offer  a  place  ;  and  that  statesman  soon  afterwards  went  abroad.  Against 
this  apparently  weak  administration  were  arrayed  Fox's  genius  for  debate, 
the  easy  banter  of  Lord  North,  and  the  solidity  of  Burke.  The  tactics  of 
both  parties  were  simple.  George  and  Pitt  were  determined  to  hold  on 
till  time  had  been  given  for  the  slow-growing  public  opinion  of  that  day 
to  form  itself.  Fox  and  North  wished  to  force  either  resignation  or  dis- 
solution at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  and  even  contemplated  a  refusal 
to  vote  supplies  in  order  to  make  government  impossible.  Short  of  this, 
however,  no  law  of  the  constitution  can  compel  a  minister  to  resign  ;  and 
though  Pitt  wtis  beaten  night  after  night  in  the  Commons,  he  hiid  no 
more  thought  of  resigning  than  George  had  of  demanding  his  resignation. 
Meanwhile,  proofs  were  not  wanting  that  the  flowing  tide  wjxs  with  Pitt. 
The  House  of  Lords  showed  a  division  in  his  favour  of  two  to  one.  The 
city  of  London,  the  most  liberal  constituency  in  the  kingdom,  voted  him 
its  freedom.  Encouraging  addresses  came  in  from  every  side.  In  vain 
the  opposition  wits  laughed  at  '  a  kingdom  trusted  to  a  schoolboy's  care,' 
and  passed  resolutions  in  favour  of  'an  efficient,  united,  and  extended 
administration.'  Their  majority  steadily  dropped,  and  at  length  a  resolu- 
tion against  the  government  was  carried  by  one  only.  Then  Fox  gave  in  : 
the  Mutiny  Bill  was  passed,  and  on  March  25  parliament  was  dissolved. 
The  struggle  was  then  transferred  to  the  constituencies.  In  those  days 
of  public  nominations,  open  voting,  and  polls  extending  over  days  and 
even  weeks,  an  election  presented  an  exciting  scene  of  riot,  T>i,g  General 
influence  and  bribery,  and  few  elections  had  been  harder  Election, 
fought  than  this.  On  the  one  hand  the  East  India  Company  sent  a  copy 
of  the  bill  to  every  borough,  with  the  advice,  '  our  charter  is  invaded,  look 
to  your  own.'     On  the  other,  the  great  Whig  families  put  forth  all  their 


844  George  III.  1784 

strength  in  defence  of  the  monopoly  of  power  which  they  had  enjoyed  for 
seventy  years.  In  the  end,  however,  victory  declared  for  Pitt  and  the 
king.  Wilberforce,  Pitt's  yonng  friend,  carried  Yorkshire  against  all  the 
efforts  of  the  great  Whig  county  families.  Pitt  himself  came  in  trium- 
phantly for  Cambridge  University  ;  while  Fox  with  difficulty  secured 
the  second  place  for  the  popular  constituency  of  Westminster  which  he 
had  already  represented.  No  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  Fox's 
followers  lost  their  seats,  and  were  called  by  the  wits  of  the  day  Fox's 
Martyrs.  The  main  cause  of  this  great  discomfiture  of  the  old  Whigs 
was  the  disgust  of  the  country  with  the  old  gang  of  politicians,  who  had 
treated  the  government  of  the  country  as  a  monopoly  of  their  own. 
Another  element  was  certainly  belief  in  Pitt.  Not  only  did  he  inherit 
his  father's  name,  but  he  had  won  the  esteem  of  the  country  by  his 
ability,  by  his  '  pluck ' — the  most  ^  widely  recognised  of  all  virtues — and 
above  all  by  his  disinterestedness.  Of  this  he  had  given  a  remarkable 
proof  by  handing  over  to  his  father's  old  friend,  the  blind  Colonel  Barr^, 
a  sinecure  office  of  £3000  a  year,  which  all  the  world  expected  that 
he  would  take  for  himself.  But,  however  its  cause  may  be  analysed, 
Pitt's  success  was  complete,  and  as  the  first  minister  of  the  reign  who  had 
enjoyed  at  once  the  confidence  of  the  king,  of  parliament,  and  of  the 
country,  he  occupied  a  position  of  power  and  security  to  which  no  one 
since  Walpole  had  been  able  to  pretend. 

Pitt's  first  consideration  was  the  affairs  of  India.  In  the  late  parlia- 
ment he  had  already  brought  in  a  bill,  which  had  been  rejected.  He  now 
Pitt's  India  brought  in  another  which  combined  the  method  of  Fox's 
^*^^-  bill  for  the  actual  government  of  India  with  a  new  method 

of  securing  the  control  of  the  government  over  the  political  affairs  of  the 
company.  For  this  purpose  it  created  a  Board  of  Control  consisting  of  six 
members,  which  was  to  be  a  department  of  the  government  of  the  day. 
This  was  to  control  all  political  affairs,  while  everything  connected  with 
commerce  was  left,  as  before,  in  the  hands  of  the  company.  The  appoint- 
ments to  the  posts  of  governor-general  and  commander-in-chief  were  left 
in  the  hands  of  the  company  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  government ;  all 
other  political  appointments  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Control. 
This  scheme  lasted  till  1858.  In  theory,  it  seemed  to  give  a  fair  share  of 
Indian  patronage  and  administration  to  both  political  parties  ;  in  practice, 
during  the  long  rule  of  Pitt,  it  was  used  by  his  friend  Dundas,  who 
became  the  first  president  of  the  Board  of  Control,  to  secure  Pitt's 
power  in  Scotland.  To  be  a  Scotsman  and  a  supporter  of  Pitt  were 
the  two  essential  conditions  for  a  successful  application  for  a  post  under 
the  Indian  government ;  and  so  cleverly  did  Dundas  use  his  power,  that 


1788  Pitt  845 

the  Scottish  constituencies  became,  abnost  without  exception,  supporters 
of  Pitt's  administration. 

In  1785  Warren  Hastings  came  home,  and  the  question  immediately 
arose  whether  his  Indian  rule,  which  had  been  the  subject  of  most 
violent  attack  during  the  recent  debates,  should  be  passed  Trial  of 
over  in  silence,  or  whether  he  should  be  subjected  to  a  Hastings, 
prosecution.  Hastings  played  his  cards  badly,  and  his  agents  succeeded 
in  drawing  attention  to  his  case  without  forming  a  party  for  his  defence  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  he  was  violently  attacked  by  his  old  enemy  Francis, 
and  in  parliament  Fox  and  Burke  loudly  demanded  his  prosecution.  The 
first  impulse  of  Pitt  and  Dundas  was  naturally  to  support  a  man  who  had 
brought  British  India  through  such  a  crisis  ;  but,  on  carefully  examining 
the  evidence,  they  found  it  impossible  for  government  to  undertake  his 
defence.  Accordingly  they  took  up  an  attitude  of  neutrality,  and  left 
the  lead  to  the  opposition,  who  carried  a  resolution  to  impeach  Hastings 
on  four  heads :  first,  the  extirpation  of  the  Kohillas,  for  which  he  had 
received  £400,000  from  the  Nabob  of  Oude  ;  second,  for  extracting 
£500,000  from  Cheyte  Singh,  Rajah  of  Benares,  for  delaying  to  pay  a 
sum  of  £50,000,  which  was  by  no  means  clearly  due  at  all ;  for  deposing 
Cheyte  Singh  and  appropriating  his  whole  revenue  of  £200,000  a  year  ; 
and  lastly,  for  extorting  large  sums  from  the  Begums  or  Princesses  of 
Oude.  The  trial  began  in  1788,  and  the  principal  speakers  against 
Hastings  were  Fox,  Burke,  R.  B.  Sheridan,  and  W.  W.  Windham. 
Public  opinion  on  the  subject  was  much  divided.  The  Court  was 
strongly  for  Hastings  ;  the  rising  humanitarian  feeling  of  the  day  was 
against  him.  Eventually,  the  trial  dragged  on  six  years,  for  the  Lords 
only  sat  to  hear  evidence  a  few  days  in  each  session.  In  the  end 
Hastings  was  acquitted  ;  but  the  effect  of  the  trial  was  altogether  out  of 
proportion  to  the  apparent  insignificance  of  this  result.  The  attention  of 
the  country  had  been  fully  concentrated  on  India,  and  public  opinion 
had  been  formed  more  rapidly  than  would  probably  have  been  the  case 
under  the  influence  of  any  less  dramatic  event.  Hitherto  the  British 
administration  of  India,  though  illuminated  by  many  deeds  of  bravery, 
and  by  much j  ability,  had  been  on  the  whole  a  disgrace  to  the  country. 
It  was  now  gradually  changed  ;  a  much  higher  standard  of  duty,  both 
to  the  natives  and  to  the  service  to  which  they  belonged,  was  set  before 
Indian  ofl&cials  ;  and  during  the  seventy  remaining  years  of  the  company's 
rule,  some  of  the  noblest  names  of  which  the  nation  can  boast  have  been 
associated  with  the  government  of  India. 

Meanwhile,  Pitt  had  been  vigorously  engaged  in  reforming,  or  attempt- 
ing to  reform,  most  branches  of  the  administration.     Pursuing  his  own 


846  .  George  III.  1784 

and  his  father's  policy,  he  brought  forward  in  1785  a  bill  for  parlia- 
mentary reform.  By  this  he  proposed  to  disfranchise  thirty-six  rotten 
Parliament-  boroughs,  with  less  than  six  voters  each,  and  to  compensate 
ary  Reform,  ^j^^-j.  Q^r^ers  with  a  money  grant.  The  seventy-two  seats 
thus  set  free  he  proposed  to  give  to  the  counties  and  to  London.  He 
also  proposed  to  give  votes  to  copyholders  in  counties  holding  land  worth 
forty  shillings  a  year.  This  plan  received  the  support  of  Fox,  but  was 
vigorously  opposed  by  Burke.  The  king  was  against  it,  and  many  of 
the  older  reformers,  satisfied  with  the  existing  government,  had  grown 
cold.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  Pitt's  genuine  wish  for  the  success  of  his 
measure,  it  was  thrown  out  on  the  second  reading  by  248  votes  to  174. 

Foiled  in  his  attempt  to  reform  parliament,  Pitt  succeeded  in  doing 
something  to  purify  the  administration  itself  by  passing  an  act  establish- 
ing a  systematic  audit  of  the  government  accounts.  Hitherto  the 
amount  of  jobbery  had  been  frightful,  and  it  was  found  that  no  less  than 
J300  a  year  had  been  credited  to  Lord  North  for  pack-thread  for  his  own 
use.  Pitt  also  did  a  great  deal  to  aid  the  public  in  forming  an  opinion 
on  the  administration  by  publishing  a  public  statement  of  accounts  after 
the  fashion  set  by  Necker  in  France.  Another  change  connected  with 
Pitt's  administration  is  an  alteration  in  the  time  of  the  parliamentary 
session.  Hitherto  parliament  had  usually  met  in  November.  After  the 
session  of  1783-84  it  was  not  called  till  January,  1785,  and  this  practice 
has  since  been  continued. 

It  was  in  finance,  however,  that  Pitt  achieved  his  most  striking 
success.     He  adopted  the  principles  of  Adam  Smith,  who  advocated  the 

Pitt's  encouragement  of  commerce  by  low  duties,  instead  of  the 

Fmance.  j^jg|^  rates  by  which  previous  financiers  had  endeavoured  to 
restrict  the  imports  of  the  country,  and  in  1785  he  reduced  the  tea-duty 
from  50  per  cent,  to  12  per  cent.,  making  up  the  difi'erence  by  means  of 
a  window-tax,  from  which  cottages  with  six  windows  or  less  were 
exempt.  He  also  carried  out  Walpole's  plan  of  putting  wine  and  tobacco 
under  the  excise.  Even  more  important  was  his  commercial  treaty  with 
France,  negotiated  in  1786.  In  spite  of  the  old  prejudice  which 
regarded  France  as  our  'natural  enemy,'  Pitt  declared  in  favour  of 
reducing  the  customs  duties  of  both  countries  to  the  smallest  possible 
amount  in  order  to  encourage  trade,  and  declared  his  conviction  that 
nothing  was  so  certain  to  secure  peace  as  the  development  of  commercial 
relations  between  the  two  countries.  The  immediate  result  was  most 
favourable  to  the  revenue.  Before  1786,  for  every  gallon  of  brandy  that 
passed  through  the  custom-house,  at  least  six  were  smuggled,  but  the 
reduction  of  the  duty  made  smuggling  unprofitable,  and  the  revenue 


1788  Pitt  847 

gained  accordingly.  Pitt  would  willingly  have  applied  the  same  system 
to  Ireland,  and  in  1785  introduced  a  bill  equalising  the  duties  of  the  two 
countries  ;  this  measure,  however,  was  received  with  the  utmost  hostility 
by  the  commercial  men  in  the  English  Parliament,  supported  by  Fox  and 
other  leaders  of  the  opposition.  Pitt,  therefore,  was  obliged  to  remodel 
his  scheme,  and  in  its  new  form  it  was  so  little  faA^ourable  to  Ireland 
that  it  was  rejected  by  the  Irish  Parliament. 

Pitt  next  brought  forward  a  scheme  for  paying  off  the  national  debt, 
which  at  this  time  amounted  to  £250,000,000.  It  consisted  in  setting 
aside  £1,000,000  every  year,  which  was  to  be  applied  to  The  Sinking 
buying  stock.  This  stock  was  to  be  held  by  certain  com-  ^""<^- 
missioners,  and  in  the  second  and  succeeding  yeiirs  they  were  to  apply 
the  interest  of  the  stock  they  held,  and  the  fresh  £1,000,000  voted  by 
parliament,  to  buying  up  more  stock.  In  this  way  a  larger  sum  would  be 
applied  each  year  to  buying  stock  ;  and  when  the  stock  in  the  hands  of  the 
commissioners  became  equal  in  amount  to  the  national  debt,  the  debt 
could  be  cancelled  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen.  The  scheme  was  an  honest 
attempt  to  make  the  nation  tax  itself  to  extinguish  the  debt,  but  was 
subject  to  the  drawback  that  if  money  had  to  be  raised  by  loan,  and  the 
price  of  the  loan  exceeded  the  rate  of  interest  of  the  national  debt,  the 
nation  would  be  borrowing  at  a  high  rate  of  interest  to  pay  off  debts 
at  a  low.  This  was  pointed  out  by  Fox  and  Sheridan — who,  on  the 
subject  of  debts,  could  certainly  speak  with  experience.  When  the 
great  French  war  broke  out  this  actually  happened.  Nevertheless,  so 
long  as  Pitt  lived,  the  £1,000,000  was  duly  paid  ;  but,  in  1807, 
the  scheme  was  virtually  dropped,  and  was  formally  abandoned  in 
1828. 

The  humanitarian  feeling,  which  had  shown  itself  in  the  impeachment 
of  Hastings,  was  also  manifested  in  a  growing  agitation  against  the  slave 
trade ;  and  the  leader  of  this,  outside  parliament,  was  Thomas  The  Slave 
Clarkson,  a  young  Cambridge  graduate,  who  had  won  a  '^^^'^e- 
Latin  prize  essay  on  the  subject.  In  parliament  the  spokesman  of  the 
movement  was  William  Wilberforce  ;  and  in  1787  an  association  was 
formed  for  the  total  abolition  of  the  trade.  This  could  not  be  effected 
at  once— so  large  were  the  interests  involved — but  a  parliamentary 
inquiry  into  the  conditions  of  the  trade  revealed  such  iniquities,  that 
in  1788  a  bill  was  passed  for  the  better  regulation  of  slave-ships,  and 
next  year,  through  the  efforts  of  Pitt,  Wilberforce,  Fox,  and  Burke, 
resolutions  condemning  the  slave  trade  itself  were  introduced. 

In  regard  to  foreign  affairs  Pitt  was  neither  able  nor  anxious  to  attempt 
a  great  deal.     The  loss  of  her  colonies  and  the  severe  struggle  with  the 


848  George  III.  1784 

continental  powers  had    left   Great    Britain  comparatively   powerless. 
Her  wealth  and  her  admirable  navy  still  made  her  respected,  but  she 
Foreign        was  not  regarded  as  capable  of  undertaking  military  opera- 
Affairs,        tions  on  a  large  scale.     Pitt,  however,  was  as  tenacious  as 
his  father  had  been  of  Great  Britain's  position  as  a  leading  European 
power,  and  in  dealing  with  other  nations  never  admitted  any  inferiority 
of  position.     The  first  question  that  attracted  his  attention  arose  out  of 
a  revolution  in  Holland.    This  was  effected  by  the  French,  or  Eepublican 
party,  which,  in  1787,  expelled  the  hereditary  stadtholder.  Prince  William 
of  Orange,  and  proposed  to  revert  to  the  old  Federal  constitution  of 
the  united  provinces.     To  this,  however,  objections  were 
raised   by   the   kings   of  Prussia   and   England,    both    of 
whom  were  connected  with  the  house  of  Orange.    Accordingly,  Pitt  made 
common  cause  with  Prussia  to  compel  the  Dutch  to  receive  back  their 
stadtholder.     The  pressure  of  the  Prussian  army  and  the  British  navy 
soon  compelled  the  Dutch  to  give  in,  and  the  stadtholder  was  restored 
under  a  sort  of  guarantee  from  England  and  Prussia  to  defend  him  and 
his  dominions. 

The  next  difficulty  arose  out  of  the  question  whether  the  British  had 
a  right  to  form  settlements  on  Nootka,  now  St.  George's  Sound,  between 
Nootka  Vancouver  Island  and  the  mainland.  This  involved  a 
Sound.  decision  of  the  question  whether  discovery  supported  by 
a  mere  declaration  of  ownership,  but  without  occupation,  was  a  bar  to 
settlement  by  other  nations.  The  English  had  always  declared  that 
actual  occupation  was  necessary ;  but  the  Spaniards,  who  claimed  the 
whole  western  coast  of  North  America  under  the  will  of  Alexander  vi., 
asserted  the  contrary.  Matters  came  to  a  crisis  in  1790,  and  Pitt's  firm 
attitude  forced  the  Spaniards  to  give  way. 

Against  the  Dutch  and  Spaniards  Pitt  had  been  successful,  but  he 
failed  in  an  attempt  to  coerce  Russia.  The  reigning  sovereign  of  Russia 
was  the  famous  Empress  Catherine  ii.,  who  was  bent  on 
giving  Russia  access  to  the  Black  Sea,  just  as  Peter  the 
Great  had  secured  it  a  footing  on  the  Baltic.  In  1788  her  General 
Potemkim  took  Oczakov  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper,  and  in  1790 
Ismail  was  stormed,  with  terrible  loss  of  life,  by  the  great  Suvarov.  These 
successes  roused  the  fear  of  Pitt,  who  regarded  with  apjDrehension  the 
prospect  of  seeing  Russia  established  at  Constantinople.  Accordingly 
he  determined  to  bring  both  diplomatic  and  military  pressure  to  bear  on 
Russia.  He  found,  however,  that  the  House  of  Commons  was  in  no 
mood  to  support  him  in  the  pursuit  of  what  seemed  so  remote  an  object ; 
and  Catherine  was  too   clever  not   to  perceive  that  Pitt's  threats,  if 


1788  Pitt  849 

unsupported  by  arms,  were  valueless.  Accordingly  she  maintained  her 
determination  to  secure  a  port  on  the  Baltic,  and  though  her  allies,  the 
Austrians,  withdrew  from  the  war,  she  obtained  by  the  treaty  of  Jassy 
the  fortress  of  Oczakov  and  the  district  between  the  Dnieper  and 
the  Bug. 

During  the  early  years  of  Pitt's  ministry  some  progress  was  made 
towards  replacing  the  colonies  we  had  lost  in  America  by  a  new  colonial 
empire  at  the  other  side  of  the  world.  The  voyages  of  Captain  Cooke 
between  1769  and  1779  had  given  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  islands  of 
the  Pacific  than  any  nation  had  before  possessed  ;  and  though  he  showed 
conclusively  that  no  habitable  continent  existed  in  the  southern  ocean,  he 
made  known  the  existence  of  an  excellent  region  for  colonisation.  At  that 
date,  however,  there  was  not  much  demand  for  emigration,  as  the  new 
manufacturing  industries  provided  ample  work  at  home.  Nevertheless 
the  government  determined  to  send  out  a  penal  settlement,  and  in 
January  1 788  a  batch  of  convicts  was  landed  in  Botany  Bay,  New  South 
Wjiles.  In  1788  the  town  of  Sydney  was  founded,  and  named  after  the 
colonial  secretary.  Henceforth  the  whole  of  the  shores  of  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  were  claimed  as  British  territory ;  and  though  the  lands  were 
almost  entirely  unoccupied,  our  unrivalled  command  of  the  sea  prevented 
other  nations  from  disputing  our  claun. 

In  1788  an  event  happened  which  threatened  not  only  to  deprive  Pitt 
of  power  but  also  to  put  Fox  and  North  in  oflBce.  As  early  as  17G5 
George  had  been  visited  by  a  slight  attack  of  insanity,  and  in  George's 
1788  he  became  unmistakably  mad.  Should  such  an  event  **a<iness. 
occur  now,  no  difference  would  be  made  in  the  condition  of  parties  :  a 
regent  would  be  appointed,  and  the  government  would  go  on  as  before. 
In  those  days,  however,  the  case  was  very  different.  In  the  existing 
House  of  Commons  it  was  calculated  that  185  members  '  would  probably 
support  his  majesty's  government  under  any  minister  not  peculiarly  un- 
popular.' The  independent  members  were  reckoned  at  108,  the  followers 
of  Fox  at  138,  those  of  Pitt  at  52.  From  this  it  was  calculated  that  if 
Fox  was  placed  in  office  he  would  have  the  support  of  at  least  323 
members,  which  would  give  him  a  majority  of  the  House,  and  conse- 
quently it  piade  all  the  difference  as  to  who  should  be  appointed  regent. 
The  natural  person  to  hold  the  office  was  George,  Prince  of  Wales,  now 
twenty-six  years  of  age.  His  character,  however,  was  extremely  bad. 
He  had  taken  advantage  of  the  Eoyal  Marriage  Act  to  contract  an  illegal 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Fitzherbert,  a  Roman  Catholic — a  legal  marriage 
with  whom  would  have  forfeited  his  right  to  the  crown  under  the  Act 
of  Settlement — and  had  disgraced  himself  in  the  eyes  of  all  honour- 

3h 


850  George  III,  17M 

able  men  by  authorising  Fox  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  marriage  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  He  was  also  a  notorious  profligate  and 
gambler,  and  overwhelmed  in  debt.  In  politics  he  professed  to  be  a 
Whig,  and  on  coming  into  power  would  certainly  have  dismissed  Pitt 
and  called  Fox  to  office.  Eager  for  place.  Fox  foolishly  asserted  that  the 
Prince  of  Wales  had  as  good  a  right  to  '  exercise  the  power  of  sovereignty 
during  the  continuance  of  the  king's  illness  and  incapacity '  as  if  the  king 
were  dead,  while  Pitt  maintained  the  constitutional  practice  of  parliament 
appointing  a  regent  and  guardian  of  the  king's  person,  as  had  been  done 
in  the  case  of  Henry  vi.  Eventually  Pitt  brought  in  a  bill,  giving  the 
prince  the  regency  with  full  political  power,  but  reserving  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  king  and  the  management  of  the  royal  household  to  the 
queen.  However,  before  the  bill  was  passed,  George  recovered,  and 
Pitt's  position  became  more  assured  than  ever.  The  king's  illness  forms 
a  turning-point  in  his  life.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  been  decidedly  un- 
popular, for  the  bad  management  of  ministers  had  been  put  down  to  his 
influence.  But  he  now  began  to  get  credit  for  Pitt's  success  ;  and  for  the 
remainder  of  his  reign  he  was  distinctly  popular,  and  the  more  so,  because 
the  vices  of  the  heir  to  the  throne  acted  as  a  foil  to  the  unostentatious 
virtues  of  the  old  king. 

Even  the  judicious  financial  measures  of  Pitt  would  not  have  sufficed  to 
restore  prosperity  to  the  country,  had  not  his  administration  coincided 
with  the  commencement  of  an  industrial  revolution  which 
dustrial  has  efi'ected  a  greater  change  in  the  condition  of  the  English 

population  than  anything  which  had  occurred  since  the 
enclosure  of  the  commons  under  the  Tudors.  Though  some  steps  had 
been  taken  towards  the  creation  of  a  manufacturing  industry,  England 
had  continued  to  be  in  the  main  an  agricultural  and  commercial  country, 
and  down  to  the  year  1769  had  even  exported  corn  to  foreign  countries. 

Since  that  date,  however,  an  immense  impetus  had  been  given  to 
manufactures  by  a  revolution  that  had  taken  place  in  the  cotton  trade, 
Textile  ^^^  ^^^  spread  thence  with  the  other  textile  industries — ■ 

Industries,  ij^en,  woollen,  and  silk.  Down  to  the  reign  of  Henry  viii. 
all  spinning  in  this  country  had  been  done  with  the  spindle  and  distafl", 
but  in  his  time  the  one-thread  spinning  wheel  was  introduced.  This 
was  a  great  improvement,  and  no  further  change  was  made  for  some 
time,  because  in  practice  the  head  of  the  family  was  able  to  weave  as 
much  as  his  wife  could  spin.  The  loom  used  was  that  depicted  in 
Hogarth's  Idle  and  Industrious  Apprentices.  However,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  several  improvements  were  made  in  the  art  of 
weaving.     The  '  fly  shuttle '  saved  the  weaver  from  having  to  throw  the 


1788  Pitt  851 

shuttle  backwards  and  forwards  by  hand.  The  invention  of  the  '  drop 
shuttle'  enabled  him  to  change  from  one  coloured  thread  to  another 
without  breaking  the  thread.  In  consequence  of  these  improvements, 
the  process  of  weaving  grew  more  rapid,  and  the  demand  for  thread 
increased.  Increased  attention,  therefore,  was  given  to  spinning  ;  and  in 
1764,  Hargreaves,  who  had  already  invented  a  'carding'  machine,  designed 
the  'spinning  jenny,'  which  enabled  one  wheel  to  spin  several  threads  at 
once.  In  1769  Arkwright  took  out  a  patent  for  a  machine  which  spun 
the  threads  by  passing  them  between  pairs  of  rollei*s  revolving  in  different 
directions  ;  and,  in  1776,  Crompton  combined  the  two  inventions  in  his 
mule,  which  was  made  self-acting  by  Roberts.  Hardly  had  this  been 
done,  when  Cartright,  a  clergyman,  and  Horrocks,  a  Lancashire  weaver, 
separately  designed  a  power  loom  that  would  act  by  machinery. 

In  the  mule  and  the  power  loom  the  motive  power  was  usually 
supplied  by  water  ;  but  Watt's  improvements  in  the  steam  engine  now 
brought  a  new  force  into  play.  The  first  working  steam  The  Steam 
engine  was  that  of  Newcomen,  patented  in  1705.  It  had,  Engine, 
however,  only  been  used  for  pumping  water  out  of  mines  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  1782,  when  Watt  took  out  a  patent  for  a  double-acting  steam 
engine,  that  it  became  possible  to  use  it  for  general  purposes.  The  gist 
of  Watt's  invention  was  a  contrivance  by  which  the  piston  was  driven 
both  up  and  down  the  cylinder  by  steam  ;  and  this  method,  which 
saved  fuel  and  increased  the  speed  at  which  an  engine  could  be  run, 
enabled  manufacturers  to  apply  it  as  a  motive  power  to  the  new 
machines.  Even  this  would  have  been  impossible,  owing  to  the  great 
cost  of  iron-work,  had  it  not  been  for  the  application  of  iron- 
the  discovery  that  pit  coal  could  be  used  as  well  as  charcoal  working, 
for  smelting  iron  ore.  This  discovery,  which  had  been  originally  made 
by  an  Oxford  man  named  Dudley,  in  the  reign  of  James  i.,  had  attracted 
little  attention  so  long  as  the  demand  for  iron  was  limited,  and  plenty  of 
wood  remained  ;  but  it  was  revived  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  first 
applied  on  a  large  scale  at  the  Carron  iron-works  near  Stirling.  These 
three  great  inventions — the  mule,  the  power  loom,  and  the  steam 
engine — revolutionised  British  industry.  Hitherto  the  work  of  spinning 
and  weaving  had  been  carried  on  in  the  houses  of  the  workmen  ;  now  it 
began  to  be  transferred  to  factories,  where  large  numbers  of  hands 
worked  for  the  wages  of  one  employer.  The  result  was  the  desertion  of 
the  country  by  manufacture,  and  the  concentration  of  all  such  industry 
in  great  manufacturing  towns,  wherever  the  neighbourhood  of  coal 
and  iron,  and  easy  access  to  the  sea,  gave  promise  of  remunerative 
employment. 


852  Gem-ge  III.  1788 

In  the  development  of  their  industrial  resources  the  inland  towns 

were  immensely  aided  by  the  new  system  of  canals.      Since  the  days  of 

the  Romans,  the  first  canal  dug  in  Enoland  was  the  Bridcr- 

Canals  o  o  o 

water  canal,   designed   to   bring   coal  from   the   duke  of 
Bridgwater's    collieries    to    Manchester,   and    completed   in    1761   by 
Brindley.      The  success  of  this  undertaking  caused  it  to  be  widely 
imitated  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  century  no  less  than  three  thousand 
miles  of  canals  had  been  constructed,  and  the  natural  waterways  of  the 
Thames,  Trent,  Severn,  Mersey,  and  Humber  connected  by  an  artificial 
system  of  navigation.      Scarcely  less  important  was  the 
great  improvement  of  the  roads,  chiefly  efi'ected  by  John 
Metcalfe — long  remembered  as  'blind  Jack  of  Knaresborough ' — jmd 
Improved     Telford,  a  Scottish  engineer.      Of  this  Pitt  took  advan- 
^°^*^-  tage,  in  1785,  to  increase  the  rate  of  postal  delivery  by 

the  adoption  of  Palmer's  scheme  of  fast  mail-coaches — an  enormous  boon 
to  the  whole  community.  These  improvements  were  of  more  value  to 
England  than  the  discovery  of  the  richest  gold  mine.  If  the  prosperity 
of  a  country  is  to  be  measured  by  the  density  of  its  population,  that  of 
England  advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds.  In  1700  the  population 
amounted  to  five  millions  ;  at  the  accession  of  George  iii.  it  was  six 
millions  ;  and  in  1801  nine  millions.  At  the  same  time  the  demand  for 
work  was  growing  at  least  as  rapidly  as  the  population  ;  and,  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  great  French  war,  the  country  enjoj^ed,  under  Pitt,  a 
period  of  almost  unexampled  prosperity. 

The  early  years  of  Pitt's  ministry  also  witnessed  the  close  of  one 
literary  period  and  the  dawn  of  another.  In  1784  died  Samuel  Johnson, 
the  successor  of  Dryden  and  Pope  in  the  literary  sovereignty  of  the  classical 
school  of  English  literature.  For  thirty  years  he  had  been  the  recognised 
authority  on  literary  taste,  just  as  Voltaire  had  been  in  France.  He  had 
no  successor  ;  for,  after  his  time,  men  of  letters  refused  to  submit  to  a 
dictator ;  and,  indeed,  in  the  new  age  a  dictatorship  was  impossible, 
because,  instead  of  all  writers  endeavouring  to  conform  to  a  received 
standard  of  excellence,  originality  again  resumed  her  sway,  and  variety 
not  uniformity  pointed  the  way  to  excellence.  Johnson's  death  was 
soon  followed  by  that  of  the  other  leaders  of  his  school.  Adam  Smith 
died  in  1790  ;  Robertson,  the  historian,  in  1793  ;  Gibbon  in  1794 ; 
Horace  Walpole  in  1797.  On  the  other  hand,  modern  poetry  begins 
with  the  publication  of  Cowper's  first  poems  in  1782,  and  Burns'  in 
1786.  In  1798  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  published  their  lyrical 
ballads.  Modern  philology  begins  with  Home  Tooke's  Diversions  of 
PwWeT/,  published  in  1786  ;  and  modern  classical  criticism  with  Person's 


1789 


Pitt 


853 


edition  of  the  Hecuba  in  1795.  In  1798  Malthus  published  his  book 
on  the  principles  of  the  increase  of  population.  Indeed,  there  is  hardly 
a  subject  in  which  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century 
cannot  show  the  upspringing  of  a  new  life. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

Peace  of  Paris, 

Wilkes  and  the  'North  Briton,' 

The  Stamp  Act  passed, 

The  Middlesex  Election,    . 

Junius'  Letters,  .... 

American  War  begins, 

Declaration  of  American  Independence, 

Surrender  at  Saratoga, 

Siege  of  Gibraltar,     .... 

Surrender  at  Yorktown,     . 

Rodney's  victory  over  de  Grasse, 

Burke's  Economical  Reform  Act  passed, 

Peace  of  Versailles,   .... 

Fox's  India  Bill  rejected,  . 

Pitt  becomes  Prime  Minister,    . 

Pitt's  India  Bill  passed,    . 

Impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings,   . 

Sydney  founded,        .... 


1768 


A.D. 
1763 
1763 
1765 
1769 
and  1772 
1776 
1776 
1777 

1779-1782 
1781 
1782 
1782 
1783 
1783 
1783 
1784 

1786-1792 
1788 


CHAPTEK  IV 

THE  WARS  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 


CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES   AND   GOVERNMENTS 


France. 

Einperors. 

Prussia. 

Russia. 

Louis  XVI.,  executed 

Leopold  II., 

Frederick  William  ii., 

Catherine  ii. 

in  1793. 

1790-1792. 

1786-1797. 

1762-1796. 

Republic,  1792-1794. 

Francis  ii. , 

Frederick  William  iii., 

Paul, 

Directorate,  1794-1799. 

Emperor  of 

1797-1840. 

1796-1801. 

Consulate,  1799-1804. 

Austria, 

Alexander  i. 

Napoleon,  Emperor, 

1805-1835. 

1801-1825. 

1804-1814. 

Louis  XVIII.,  1814-1824. 

Causes  and  Progress  of  the  French  Revolution— Its  effect  on  the  Relations  of 
Great  Britain  and  France — The  War  against  the  French  Republic— Irish 
Affairs— The  Union,  and  Fall  of  Pitt— The  War  against  Napoleon — The 
Peace — Its  effects  on  England. 

The  gradual  awakening  of  a  new  political  and  literary  life,  which  we 
have  seen  in  England  under  Pitt's  ministry,  was  only  one  side  of  a  far 
The  French  greater  movement  which  soon  absorbed  the  attention  of 
Revolution.  Europe.  This  is  the  French  Revolution,  an  event  which  is 
certain  to  be  always  reckoned  one  of  the  epoch-making  incidents  of  the 
world's  history.  It  effected  a  change  in  the  condition  of  Europe  as 
great  as  that  produced  by  the  Reformation,  and  of  which  the  influence 
is  by  no  means  exhausted.  Like  all  great  movements,  the  Revolution 
may  be  looked  at  from  various  points  of  view.  From  one,  its  chief  result 
was  the  abolition  of  the  relics  of  mediaeval  feudalism,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  modern  society  ;  from  another,  its  chief  work  was  the  abolition 
of  privilege,  and  the  '  opening  of  a  career  to  talent ' ;  from  a  third,  it 
resulted  in  the  substitution  of  constitutional  government  for  the  absolute 
monarchies  which  then  existed  in  every  country  on  the  continent ;  from 
the  point  of  view  of  thought,  it  represented  a  breaking  off  from  old 

854 


1789  Pitt  855 

ideas,  similar  to  that  which  accompanied  the  Renaissance ;  and, 
incidentally,  it  produced  the  feeling  of  nationality  on  which  our  present 
European  system  is  for  the  most  part  based.  In  short,  it  is  impossible 
to  look  at  any  side  of  European  society  which  has  not  undergone  some 
change  in  consequence  of  the  French  Revolution.  The  violence  of  this 
change  varied  in  difierent  countries.  In  England,  which  had  long 
enjoyed  representative  government,  and  where  no  privileged  class  was 
known  to  the  law,  much  of  the  transformation,  which  in  other  countries 
was  brought  about  by  revolution,  had  been  already  produced  by  a 
gradual  process  of  evolution  ;  and,  consequently,  the  force  of  the  storm 
was  hardly  felt  here.  Elsewhere,  however,  it  was  much  more  violent, 
and  especially  so  in  France.  This  was  not  due  to  there  being  more 
oppression  and  hardship  in  France  than  elsewhere — for  the  contrary  was 
the  case — but  to  the  circumstance  that  in  that  country  people  were 
more  alive  to  the  existence  of  abuses,  and  also  that  the  course  of  events 
in  France  gave  an  opportunity  for  a  political  revolution. 

In  France,  as  in  other  continental  countries,  the  framework  of 
feudalism,  which  had  been  the  basis  of  society  in  the  middle  ages, 
remained  almost  unchanged ;  but  its  usefulness  had  causes  of  the 
departed,  and  its  abuses  only  remained.  Society  was  Revolution, 
divided  into  the  privileged  classes  and  the  unprivileged,  who  were  to 
one  another  as  one  to  thirty.  The  privileged  classes  paid  little  in 
taxation,  by  far  the  largest  share  of  which  fell  on  the  unprivileged.  For 
example,  the  chief  taxes  paid  at  this  date  were  a  land  tax  called  the 
taille,  which  the  two  privileged  classes — the  nobility  and  the  clergy — did 
not  pay  ;  second,  a  poll  tax,  which  all  paid  ;  and,  third,  a  property  tax, 
chiefly  assessed  on  land.  The  indirect  taxes  were  still  more  oppressive. 
The  chief  was  the  hateful  gabelle,  or  salt  tax,  which  of  course  fell  most 
heavily  on  the  poor,  who  were  compelled  to  take  a  certain  quantity  of 
salt  whether  they  wished  or  no.  It  was,  moreover,  extremely  badly 
managed.  No  less  than  sixty  thousand  persons  were  engaged  in 
collecting  it,  and  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  sum  paid  ever  reached 
the  treasury.  In  addition  to  the  general  taxation  of  the  country,  many 
of  the  French  provinces  had  the  right  to  levy  duties  on  all  goods 
crossing  the  frontier ;  the  towns  claimed  the  octroi  on  goods  entering 
their  gates ;  and  tolls  were  exacted  on  every  possible  pretext.  Conse- 
quently, it  cost  so  much  to  transport  goods  from  one  part  of  France  to 
another  that  internal  trade  was  almost  prohibited  ;  and,  even  in  time  of 
famine,  corn  could  hardly  be  brought  to  the  starving  population  from 
districts  where  the  harvest  had  been  plenteous. 

In  the  country  districts,  the  special  grievances  arose  out  of  the  relics 


856  George  ITT.  i789 

of  the  seigniorial  system.     Generally  speaking,  this  was  analogous  to  the 
English  manorial  system  (see  page  258).     The  vast  majority  of  the  land 
^j^g  in  France  was  in  the  hands  of  peasant  landowners,   who 

Seigniorial  held  their  lands  in  perpetuity  on  condition  of  performing 
certain  services  to  the  lord  or  seigneur.  These  varied  from 
holding  to  holding,  and  had  often  been  commuted  for  money ;  and  the 
hardships  connected  with  them  arose  chiefly  from  their  being  often 
farmed  to  some  one  unconnected  with  the  estate,  who  treated  the  tenants 
with  great  severity.  Some  causes  of  opi^ression,  however,  were  general. 
The  first  was  the  corvee,  or  forced  labour  on  the  roads  or  holding  of  the 
lord.  Such  a  duty  had  been  known  in  England  from  the  earliest  times, 
but  had  long  been  commuted  for  a  highway  rate  ;  in  France,  however,  it 
was  still  performed  in  person,  and  was  often  made  an  engine  of  oppression 
through  the  peasant  being  often  called  off  from  his  own  work  just  when 
he  was  most  wanted  at  home.  The  game  laws,  too,  were  very  oppressive. 
In  England,  if  a  farm  has  much  game  on  it,  the  farmer  will  offer  less  rent 
for  it  than  if  there  is  little,  and  now  he  has  also  an  inalienable  right  to 
kill  hares  and  rabbits  ;  but  in  France  the  seigneur,  or  lord  of  the  manor, 
could  keep  up  as  much  game  as  he  liked  on  the  land  held  from  him,  and 
the  holder  suffered  in  proportion.  Moreover,  there  was  much  preserva- 
tion of  deer  and  wild  boars,  which  did  a  great  deal  of  harm  by  their 
depredations  on  the  croj)s.  The  seigneur  also  had  the  right  to  keep  a 
dovecot,  with  thousands  of  pigeons,  which  devoured  such  quantities  of 
grain  that  fields'had  frequently  to  be  sown  three  times  before  sufficient 
remained  to  make  a  crop.  Townsmen  too  had  their  special  grievances. 
In  the  towns  all  trades  were  in  the  hands  of  corporations  or  guilds 
— which,  in  England,  had  been  dying  out  since  the  reign  of  Edward  vi. 
^,     ^  — and  no  one  could  set  up  in  business  without  paying  a 

large  sum  to  be  admitted  as  a  member.  In  the  church,  all 
the  best  places  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  nobility  :  no  peasant's  son  could  hope 
to  be  more  than  a  village  cure.  In  the  army,  no  one  but  a  noble  could 
rise  above  the  rank  of  non-com.missioned  officer.  Everywhere  men  of 
ability  found  themselves  held  down  and  rebuffed  by  privilege. 

What,  however,  made  this  state  of  things  so  unbearable  in  France 
was  the  intellectual  awakening  which  had  been  in  progress  almost  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  by  which  all  classes  were 
more  or  less  affected.  Of  this  movement  the  leaders  were 
Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  the  group  of  men  known  as  the  Encyclopaadists. 
Voltaire — dramatist,  poet,  historian,  novelist,  pamphleteer — used  each 
and  all  of  these  weapons  to  attack  the  existing  order  of  things  both  in 
church  and  state,  and  particularly  the  infamous  intellectual   tyranny 


1789  Pitt  857 

exercised  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Voltaire's  satire,  however, 
appealed  mainly  to  the  educated  classes.  It  was  Rousseau  who  was  the 
apostle  of  freedom  to  all.  Seeing  that  society,  with  its  culture  and 
its  teachers,  was  sunk  in  sensuality  and  selfishness,  he  called  on  his  age 
to  return  to  that  imaginary  state  of  nature  where  each  man,  satisfied 
with  the  supply  of  his  own  immediate  wants,  would  not  interfere  with  his 
neighbour  supplying  himself  from  nature's  bountiful  store.  Almost  as 
important  was  the  work  of  d'Alembert,  Diderot,  and  others,  who  in  1771 
completed  a  new  encyclopjiedia,  which  they  used  to  express  the  most 
advanced  ideas  on  religion,  politics,  and  society,  and  which  had  an 
immense  influence  in  moulding  public  opinion.  A  few  years  later,  the 
part  taken  by  Lafayette  and  the  French  contingent  in  the  American  war 
familiarised  Frenchmen  with  rebellion  against  constituted  authority,  and 
spread  widely  a  liking  for  republican  institutions,  while  the  utter  rotten- 
ness of  court  society  under  Louis  xv.  did  much  to  bring  monarchy 
itself  into  disrepute.  Everything  pointed  to  some  tremendous  political 
catastrophe.  As  early  as  1753,  Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son  that 
'  all  the  symptoms  which  I  have  ever  met  with  in  history  previous  to 
great  changes  and  revolutions  in  government,  now  exist  and  daily 
increase  in  France' ;  and  Rousseau,  who  died  in  1778,  observes:  'Every- 
thing I  see  scatters  the  seeds  of  a  revolution  which  I  shall  not  have  the 
happiness  to  witness.' 

Nevertheless,  unless  opportunity  ofters,  a  state  may  continue  for  a  very 
long  time  in  a  condition  verging  on  revolution  without  any  catastrophe 
occurring.  However,  in  1789,  such  an  opportunity  came  The  Political 
through  the  condition  of  the  state  finances.  The  long  wars  Opportunity, 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  unsuccessful  but  expensive  part  taken  by  Louis  xv. 
in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  had  thrown  French  finances  into  confusion. 
The  reckless  way  in  which  taxation  was  imposed  impoverished  the 
country,  with  the  result  that  while  the  expenditure  increased  the 
revenue  steadily  diminished.  Louis  xvi.,  who  came  to  the  throne  in 
1774,  was  well-intentioned,  and  his  finance  minister,  Turgot,  was  per- 
mitted to  propose  some  reforms  ;  but  the  moment  it  was  suggested  that 
certain  useless  offices  should  be  abolished,  and  that  the  burden  of  taxa- 
tion ought  to  be  equalised,  such  a  clamour  was  raised  by  the  courtiers 
that  the  king  was  obliged  to  dismiss  his  minister,  and  things  went  on  as 
before.  Unluckily  for  herself,  the  queen,  Marie  Antoinette,  who,  though 
frivolous  and  extravagant  was  not  intentionally  wicked,  aided  the 
opposition  to  Turgot,  and  from  that  time  her  name  was  identified  in  the 
popular  mind  with  resistance  to  reform. 

But  though  Turgot  was  dismissed,  the  deficit  remained  ;  and  no  effort 


858  Creorge  III.  1789 

to  hide  it  availed.     After  a  time  recourse  was  had  to  Necker,  a  Genevese 

banker ;   but  his  skill  in  accounts  served  only  to  make  the  difficulties 

more  obvious,  and  it  was  certain  that  nothing  but  fresh 
The  Deficit.     ,        ,.  '  ,    ,,  ^       ,  .     ^ 

taxation   could  meet  the   case.     In  these  circumstances  a 

meeting  of  notables  was  called,  who  in  their  turn  advised  the  king 
to  summon  a  meeting  of  the  Estates-General.  This  body,  which  had  been 
constituted  by  Philip  the  Fair  in  the  time  of  Edward  i.,  but  had  not 
met  since  1614,  consisted  of  members  elected  to  represent  in  each  district 
the  clergy,  nobility,  and  third  estate.  The  elections  took  place  amidst 
great  excitement,  and  the  members  assembled  at  Versailles  on  May  5, 1789. 
The  condition  of  France  was  most  critical.  Crops  were  failing,  bread  was 
scarce,  and  riots  and  outrages  were  taking  place  all  over  the  country. 
Hitherto  it  had  been  the  practice  for  the  three  estates  to  sit  separately, 
so  that  the  votes  of  the  two  privileged  estates  always  outweighed  that 
of  the  third.  Now,  however,  the  third  estate,  after  a  long  dispute, 
insisted  that  the  three  should  sit  together,  and  as  the  members  for  the  third 
estate  numbered  six  hundred,  to  the  three  hundred  of  each  of  the  others, 
and  were  joined  by  some  of  the  inferior  clergy,  they  were  practically 
supreme  in  the  combined  body,  which  came  to  be  called  the  National, 
and  sometimes  the  Constituent,  Assembly.  The  assembly  thus  constituted 
was,  however,  deficient  in  the  characteristics  which  make  an  efficient 
legislative  body.  The  members  were  enthusiastic,  but  they  had  had  no 
experience  of  practical  affairs  ;  and,  consequently,  instead  of  dealing  with 
the  matter  in  hand  in  a  business-like  way,  they  were  continually  falling 
back  upon  general  principles — the  rights  of  man,  and  the  like.  They 
wasted  an  immense  amount  of  time  in  speech-making,  and  their  speeches 
were  prepared  and  read  like  essays  of  a  debating  society,  and  had  little 
about  them  of  the  discussions  of  practical  men.  Nevertheless,  the 
assembly  did  much  good  work.  It  swept  away  all  the  privileges  of  the 
nobles  and  clergy,  did  away  with  tithes  and  seigniorial  rights,  abolished 
titles  of  nobility,  and  declared  all  trades  and  professions  open  to  all  men. 
It  also  confiscated  the  property  of  the  church,  and  of  all  those  who  fled 
from  the  country  to  avoid  the  Ke volution.  So  far,  its  work  was  de- 
structive, and  therefore  easy.  It  was  now  confronted  with  the  business 
of  creating  a  new  constitution  for  France  ;  but  as  one  of  its  ablest 
members,  Mirabeau,  remarked  :  '  Pigmies  may  pull  down,  but  it  takes  a 
great  man  to  build  up,'  and  its  work  was  therefore  slow. 

Meanwhile,  the  mob  of  Paris — maddened  by  hunger,  and  excited  by 

Fall  of  the    ^^^  Oratory  of  agitators  like  Camille  Desmoulins — had  taken 

Bastille.       ^\^q  j^w  into  their  own  hands  and  stormed  the  Bastille,  a 

fortress  which  answered  to  the  Tower  of  London,  and  in  which  prisoners 


1792  Pitt  859 

confined  under  lettres  de  cachet — that  is,  by  order  of  the  king — were  placed. 
These  letters  had  been  one  of  the  great  grievances  of  the  time,  but  when 
the  doors  were  forced  it  was  found  that  there  were  only  seven  prisoners — 
four  accused  of  forgery,  one  an  idiot,  one  imprisoned  at  the  request  of  his 
family,  and  one  imprisoned  during  thirty  years  for  an  offence  of  which 
he  had  no  recollection.  Nevertheless,  the  taking  of  the  Bastille  created 
an  immense  sensation  ;  for  it  showed  that  there  was  no  authority  in 
France  that  could  control  the  mob  of  Paris.  The  army  had  looked  on  at 
the  riot ;  the  assembly  had  done  nothing ;  and  the  king  had  spent  the 
day  in  hunting.  When  told  of  what  had  occurred,  Louis  remarked  : 
'  Why,  this  is  a  revolt.'  '  No,  sire,'  said  his  attendant,  '  it  is  a  revolution. 
In  the  provinces,  as  in  the  capital,  law  and  order  were  set  at  defiance. 
Everywhere  the  peasants  assembled  in  mobs,  burnt  the  country-houses, 
destroyed  the  lords'  rolls,  and  killed  the  game.  In  Paris,  some 
order  was  restored  by  the  constitution  of  the  national  guards,  a  body  of 
middle-class  citizens,  commanded  by  Lafayette  ;  but  in  October  the 
mob  again  rose,  and,  marching  to  Versailles,  compelled  the  king,  the 
queen,  and  the  national  assembly  to  come  to  Paris.  From  that  moment 
the  mob  were  the  real  masters  of  the  situation. 

For  some  time  there  was  just  a  possibility  that,  if  the  king  would  give 
his  confidence  to  Mirabeau,  whose  influence  in  the  assembly  was  very 
great,  some  arrangement  might  be  made  by  which  order  would  have 
been  restored  and  the  monarchy  re-estiiblished  in  power ;  but  Mira- 
beau's  death  in  March  1791  destroyed  all  hopes  of  this,  and  the  king 
further  discredited  himself  by  an  abortive  attempt  to  escape  from  Paris 
and  take  refuge  with  the  French  army  on  the  frontier.  However,  in  the 
summer  of  1791,  the  Constituent  Assembly  had  completed  its  work,  and 
in  October  the  new  constitution  came  into  force.  The  scheme,  however, 
worked  badly.  The  ministry  was  weak  ;  the  king  was  distrusted,  and 
the  new  legislative  assembly  soon  fell  under  the  influence  of  the  com- 
mune, or  corporation,  of  Paris  and  of  the  Jacobin  Club,  which  contained 
Danton,  Marat,  Robespierre,  and  the  most  advanced  leaders  of  the 
revolutionary  party. 

Meanwhile,  the  greater  part  of  the  old  nobility  who  had  been  ruined 
by  the  abolition  of  their  privileges,  had  fled  the  country  headed  by  the 
king's  brothers,  who  afterwards  reigned  as  Louis  xviii.  and  Fall  of  the 
Charles  x.  They  appealed  for  protection  to  foreign  states,  Monarchy, 
and  particularly  to  Austria,  for  the  Emperor  Leopold  was  the  brother  of 
Queen  Marie  Antoinette .  In  consequence,  a  coalition  was  made  between 
Austria  and  Prussia  to  invade  France,  and  their  armies  collected  on  the 
frontier  in  the  summer  of  1792.     The  result  of  this  interference  was 


860  George  III  1790 

fatal  to  the  monarchy.  On  August  10  the  Tuileries,  where  the  court 
resided,  was  stormed  by  the  mob  ;  Louis,  with  the  queen  and  royal 
family,  was  transferred  to  the  Temple  ;  and  all  suspected  of  sympathy 
with  the  refugees  were  thrown  into  prison.  The  advance  of  the  allies 
only  made  matters  worse.  Exasperated  by  a  proclamation  of  the  duke 
of  Brunswick  that  *  if  the  king  and  queen  were  not  set  at  liberty,  Paris 
would  be  given  over  to  military  execution,'  the  whole  nation  flew  to 
arms.  The  legislative  assembly  gave  way  to  a  National  Convention  in 
September  ;  and  when  it  was  known  that  the  foreigners  were  across  the 
frontier,  the  prisoners  were  massacred  wholesale,  and  the  mob  became 
more  powerful  than  ever.  Had  the  invasion  been  successful,  it  could 
hardly  have  turned  back  the  tide  of  revolution.  As  it  was,  it  proved  a 
Cannonade  complete  failure ;  for  the  raw  French  troops  under  Keller- 
of  Va  my.  mann  held  a  position  at  Valmy  in  spite  of  a  severe  cannonade 
from  the  allies,  and  Brunswick,  easily  disheartened,  withdrew  from  a 
further  attempt.  His  invasion,  however,  exasperated  the  French  to 
Death  of  frenzy  ;  a  Republic  was  proclaimed  ;  in  February  1793  Louis 
the  King.  ^^j_  ^^^  tried  and  put  to  death,  and  for  some  months  there 
was  a  reign  of  terror,  during  which  thousands  of  persons  who,  on  some 
pretext  or  another,  were  suspected  of  complicity  either  with  royalty  or 
the  foreigners,  were  put  to  death. 

When  the  news  of  the  Revolution  first  reached  England,  most  people 
received  it  with  satisfaction  :  some,  because  they  believed  that  the 
English  French  were  merely  establishing  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
Feehng.  ^^^  ^^^^  ^.j^^  ^^^  Countries  would  be  more  friendly  under 
similar  institutions  than  heretofore  ;  some,  because  they  believed  that 
France  was  ruining  herself,  and  would  no  longer  be  a  source  of  danger  ; 
others,  because  they  had  a  genuine  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  freedom, 
and  believed  that  what  was  going  on  in  France  was  a  step  towards  the 
realisation  of  a  higher  ideal.  '  How  much  the  greatest  event  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  how  much  the  best ! '  was  Fox's  exclamation 
when  he  heard  of  the  fall  of  the  Bastille.  As  might  be  expected  from 
the  complexity  of  the  subject,  all  these  opinions  were  more  or  less 
wrong.  The  French  Revolution  differed  from  that  carried  out  in 
England  during  the  seventeenth  century  in  the  fact  that  it  was  pre-emin- 
ently a  social  uprising,  in  which  politics  held  only  a  secondary  place.  So 
far  from  France  being  weakened,  it  became  very  much  stronger,  for  the 
national  feeling  aroused  by  Brunswick's  invasion  filled  the  ranks  of  the 
army  with  enthusiastic  soldiers,  who  only  required  good  drilling  and  good 
leading  to  make  an  admirable  army.  Fox  and  his  friends,  though  right 
in  the  end,  overlooked  the  disastrous  circumstances  under  which  the 


1793  Pitt  861 

Revolution  was  being  effected,  and  the  terrible  crimes  of  which  its  advo- 
cates were  guilty. 

For  over  a  year,  however,  sympathy  decidedly  prevailed,  when  the 
current  of  public  opinion  began  to  be  turned  by  the  publication  of 
Burke's  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution.  In  this  The '  Reflec- 
book,  which  was  perfectly  consonant  with  Burke's  fre-  pJen^h"  *^^ 
quently  shown  attachment  to  the  forms  of  ancient  institu-  Revolution.' 
tions,  he  pointed  out  that  the  key  to  the  Revolution  was  to  be  found  in 
its  social  character,  and  utterly  condemned  the  abstract  principles  of 
liberty,  fraternity,  and  equality  on  which  the  new  system  was  said  to  be 
based.  He  also  pointed  out  the  injustice  with  which  the  seigneurs  and 
the  church  had  been  treated,  denounced  the  ill-treatment  to  which  the 
royal  family  had  been  subjected,  and  foretold  the  complete  ruin  of 
French  society  and  the  rise  in  its  place  of  a  military  despotism.  Finally, 
he  declared  for  an  armed  intervention.  This  book,  of  which  some 
30,000  copies  were  soon  sold,  had  an  enormous  effect.  Englishmen,  as 
a  rule,  dislike  and  despise  abstract  ideas  ;  they  detest  injustice ;  their 
chivalry  is  easily  roused  by  the  ill-treatment  of  a  sovereign,  and  especi- 
ally of  a  queen  ;  and  when,  as  the  Revolution  developed  itself,  and  they 
saw  Burke's  predictions  coming  true,  many  accepted  him  almost  as  a 
prophet,  and  a  war  party  was  rapidly  formed.  Against  this  feeling 
Fox  protested  in  vain.  It  was  useless  to  point  out  that  the  excesses 
complained  of  were  those  of  the  mob,  and  that  the  National  Assembly 
had  nothing  to  do  with  them  ;  and,  as  time  went  on,  that  the  intrigues  of 
the  court  with  foreigners,  and  the  invasion  of  the  country  by  Brunswick, 
were  responsible  for  the  massacres  of  September  and  the  proclamation  of 
a  Republic.  Burke  was  almost  too  furious  to  be  reasoned  with.  In 
1790  he  declared  his  friendship  with  Fox  to  be  at  an  end,  and  even 
people  who  were  more  reasonable  than  Burke  thought  the  time  inoppor- 
tune for  reform.  Burke's  book  received  many  answers,  the  most  notable 
of  which  were  the  Vindicim  Galliccc^  by  James  Mackintosh,  and  Thomas 
Paine's  Rights  of  Man.  The  former  of  these  combated  Burke's  position 
from  a  philosophical  point  of  view,  and  appealed  to  men  of  culture  and 
education,  Paine's  work,  on  the  other  hand,  appealed  to  the  passions  of 
the  masses,  and  covered  with  violent  abuse  both  Burke  himself  and 
those  whose  cause  he  advocated.  No  less  than  a  million  and  a  half 
copies  of  the  Rights  of  Man  were  quickly  sold,  and  the  government 
became  seriously  alarmed  by  the  spread  of  opinions  which  they  regarded 
as  hostile  to  all  government. 

The  temper,  however,  of  the   English   people  against  those  whose 
admiration  for  France   carried  them  too  far  was  clearly  shown.      In 


862  George  III.  1791 

Birmingham  the  mob  broke  into  and  destroyed  both  the  house  and  the 
chapel  of  Dr.  Priestley,  a  Unitarian  minister  and  man  of  science  who 
had  organised  a  public  dinner  on  July  14,  179 1,  to  cele- 
sive  brate  the   taking  of  the   Bastille  ;   and  other   friends    of 

France  were  publicly  insulted.  In  these  circumstances, 
the  government  might  well  have  afforded  to  look  with  disdain 
on  much  wild  talk  and  writing.  Nevertheless,  this  was  not  the 
opinion  of  those  in  power ;  and  both  in  and  out  of  parliament  govern- 
ment engaged  in  such  a  series  of  repressive  measures  and  prosecutions 
as  to  justify  the  remark  that  'because  Frenchmen  had  abused  their 
liberties.  Englishmen  had  been  deprived  of  theirs.'  In  1792  a  proclama- 
tion was  issued  against  seditious  writings,  aimed  obviously  at  the 
Rights  of  Man,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  the  militia  were  called  out 
in  consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  '  a  spirit  of  tumult  and  disorder.' 
In  1793  the  Traitorous  Correspondence  Act  was  passed.  The  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  was  also  suspended,  and  remained  so  till  1801.  In  1795, 
after  stones  had  been  thrown  at  the  king's  coach  on  his  way  to  open 
parliament,  further  restraints  were  placed  on  public  liberty  by  a  Trea- 
sonable Practices  Act,  which  enlarged  the  definition  of  treason,  though  it 
did  not  permit  the  punishment  of  death  ;  and  by  a  Seditious  Meetings 
Act,  which  practically  made  it  impossible  to  hold  a  meeting  of  more  than 
fifty  persons  to  advocate  any  measure  disapproved  of  by  government. 
The  result  of  these  repressive  measures  was  to  drive  open  critics  of  the 
constitution  into  secret  sedition.  The  members  of  the  London  Corre- 
sponding Society  entered  into  relations  with  societies  in  Ireland,  which 
were  aiming  at  the  overthrow  of  British  rule,  and  were  compromised  in 
attempts  to  foment  disafi'ection  in  the  army  and  navy.  The  result  of 
their  folly  was  to  bring  discredit  on  political  associations  of  all  kinds, 
and  in  1799  a  bill  was  passed,  almost  without  opposition,  by  which  the 
London  Corresponding  Society  was  suppressed  by  name,  and  it  was 
made  a  penal  offence  to  belong  to  any  society  which  had  secret  rules  or 
committees. 

Besides  making  these  alterations  in  the  law  itself,  government  made 
the  most  of  existing  laws  to  punish  political  offences.     In  1792  Thomas 
Political       Paine  was  indicted  for  seditious  writing,  and  convicted  in 
Trials.  gp-^g  Qf  g^jj  ,^y^Ye  defence  by  Erskine,  who  based  his  argument 

on  the  principle  that '  opinion  is  free,  and  that  conduct  only  is  amenable 
to  the  law.'  In  1793  Thomas  Muir,  a  young  Scottish  advocate,  was  in- 
dicted for  sedition  on  the  ground  that  he  had  advocated  parliamentary 
reform,  and  actually  sentenced  to  fourteen  years'  transportation  ;  while 
Palmer,  a  clergyman,  was  transported  for  seven  years  for  circulating  an 


1792  Pitt  863 

address  from  a  '  Society  of  the  Friends  of  Liberty  to  their  fellow-citizens.' 
In  England  things  were  not  quite  so  bad,  as  English  juries  refused  to  be 
carried  away  by  panic,  or  overawed  by  the  charges  of  prejudiced  judges. 
A  few  convictions  were  secured  for  sedition  ;  but  when,  in  1794,  the 
government  prosecuted  Home  Tooke,  Hardy,  and  Thelwall  for  treason 
on  the  ground  of  their  connection  with  the  '  Corresponding  Society '  and 
the  '  Society  for  Constitutional  Information,'  the  juries  returned  a  verdict 
of  not  guilty,  and  a  stop  was  put  to  such  frivolous  interference  with 
liberty. 

In  parliament,  however,  the  panic  caused  by  the  French  excesses  put 
a  stop  to  the  progress  with  liberal  measures  which  had  characterised  the 
earlier  years  of  Pitt's  ministry.  A  motion  in  favour  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts,  proposed  by  Fox  Liberal 
in  1790,  was  rejected  by  294  to  105,  and  the  subject  was  ^^eisiation. 
not  brought  forward  again  for  nearly  forty  years.  In  1793  a  motion  for 
parliamentary  reform,  proposed  by  Mr.  Grey  (afterwards  Earl  Grey  and 
prime  minister),  was  rejected  by  232  to  41 ;  and  suffered  a  similar  defeat 
in  1797,  after  which  it  too  was  dropped.  After  this,  despair  settled 
upon  the  Whig  party.  Its  members  rarely  attended  parliament,  and 
even  such  a  measure  as  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was 
only  opposed  by  thirty-nine  votes.  The  only  progressive  measure  of  the 
time  was  Fox's  Libel  Act,  passed  in  1792  with  the  support  of  Pitt,  by 
which  juries  were  allowed  to  return  a  verdict  upon  the  law  as  weU  as 
the  fact,  whereas  hitherto  judges  had  insisted  that  juries  must 
confine  themselves  to  the  question  of  publication,  the  judge  deciding 
whether  what  was  published  was  libellous. 

Meanwhile,  there  was  no  logical  necessity  why  disapproval  of  French 
opinions,  and  even  severe  repression  of  anything  approaching  them  in 
England,  should  lead  to  war  with  France.  Burke,  un-  England 
doubtedly,  was  for  armed  interference,  but  Fox  was  clear  ^^^  France, 
for  neutrality,  and  in  this  matter  Pitt  agreed  with  Fox.  He  wanted 
'  France  to  arrange  its  own  afiairs  as  it  can,'  and  it  is  a  cruel  injustice  to 
his  memory  to  credit  him  with  undertaking  a  war  against  French  republi- 
canism. This  attitude  of  absolute  neutrality  Pitt  maintained  till  the 
close  of  1792.  No  one  could  have  been  more  averse  than  he  to  war  of 
any  kind,  and  especially  to  a  war  with  France,  for  all  his  schemes  of 
financial  reform  depended  on  the  maintenance  of  peace  ;  his  commercial 
treaty  was  doing  good  work,  and  in  1792  he  had^  paid  off  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  debt.  So  hopeful,  indeed,  was  he  of  maintaining  peace  that 
in  1792  he  declared  his  firm  belief  that  Europe  was  never  more  secure 
of  fifteen  years'  peace  than  at  that  moment.     Circumstances,  however, 


864  George  III.  1792 

proved  too  strong  for  him.  A  proclamation,  issued  by  the  French  in 
November  1792,  offered  the  assistance  of  France  to  all  peoples  who  would 
rise  against  their  rulers.  The  victory  of  Jeniappes  in  the  same  month 
was  followed  by  the  occupation  of  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  evidently 
with  the  design  of  permanent  annexation  ;  and  Holland,  which  we  were 
bound  by  treaty  to  defend,  was  clearly  to  be  the  next  object  of  attack. 
These  acts  of  the  French  would  have  made  war  practically  inevitable, 
as  an  act  of  self-defence,  even  if  Pitt  had  been  dealing  with  an  old- 
established  monarchy.  To  these  causes  of  provocation,  however,  are 
added  the  execution  of  Louis  xvi.,  which,  in  the  words  of  Fox  himself, 
was  considered  by  everybody  out  of  France  as  '  a  most  revolting  act  of 
cruelty  and  injustice.'  In  England  the  news  was  received  with  the 
utmost  horror.  Every  member  of  parliament  but  one  wore  mourning, 
and  the  king's  coach  was  surrounded  by  a  crowd  shouting  *  War  with 
France.'  In  these  circumstances,  even  Pitt  admitted  that  war  was 
inevitable.  The  actual  declaration  of  war  was,  however,  made  by 
France  on  February  1,  when  hostilities  were  declared  against  England 
and  Holland  ;  so  that  if  Pitt  was  to  pay  any  regard  to  his  treaty  with 
Holland  of  only  four  years  before,  he  must  come  to  her  assistance  in- 
dependently of  the  need  of  defending  himself.  From  a  European  point 
of  view  the  entrance  of  Great  Britain  into  the  war  was  most  disastrous. 
The  war  between  Prussia  and  Austria  and  France  could  not  have  lasted 
long  ;  but  the  entrance  of  Great  Britain  into  the  strife  protracted  it  till 
the  French  army  became  the  most  powerful  body  in  France,  and  the 
creation  of  a  military  despotism  naturally  followed. 

Though  Pitt  entered  into  the  war  with  reluctance,  he  prosecuted  it 
with  vigour.     A  nation  which  has  no  large  standing  army  must,  if  it 
Pitt's  War   enters  into  a  war,  be  largely  dependent  on  its  allies  ;  and  it 
Policy.  ^g^g^  therefore,  Pitt's  policy  to  subsidise  Prussia  and  Austria^ 

so  as  to  enable  them  to  keep  armies  in  the  field.  Great  Britain  was 
only  to  take  a  small  part  in  military  operations  ;  but  he  designed  to  use 
its  excellent  fleet  to  destroy  the  French  navy  and  to  capture  the  French 
colonies.  He  also  planned  a  number  of  small  expeditions  to  the  coast  of 
France  in  the  hope  not  only  of  aiding  the  French  royalists,  but  also 
because  the  fear  of  such  descents  compelled  the  French  to  keep  troops 
at  home  who  would  otherwise  have  been  despatched  to  the  frontier. 

Pitt,  however,  was  singularly  unfortunate  both  in  his  allies  and  his 

generals.     The  Prussians  and  Austrians,  after  a  short  period  of  success^ 

111  success    ^^^®  beaten  by  the  admirable  armies  of  Frenchmen  which 

on  land.        had  been  called  into  existence  by  the  energy  and  ruthless- 

ness  of  the  Convention  ;  and  Frederick  duke  of  York,  the  second  son  of 


1794  Pitt  865 

the  king,  being  put  through  his  father's  influence  at  the  head  of  an 
English  contingent  sent  to  aid  the  Austrians  and  Prussians  in  the 
Netherlands,  proved  quite  incompetent.  The  Austrians  and  Prussians, 
indeed,  were  both  half-hearted  in  the  war,  for  both  were  bent  on 
aiding  Russia  to  carry  out  the  iniquitous  partition  of  Poland,  which 
had  been  begun  by  Frederick  of  Prussia  in  1772,  and  was  completed 
in  1793.  In  consequence,  the  French  soon  carried  all  before  them. 
Lazare  Hoche  defeated  the  Austrians,  and  the  British  contingent,  after 
being  beaten  at  Bois-le-Duc,  had  to  make  a  disastrous  retreat  into 
Holland.  There  they  were  followed  by  Pichegru,  and  driven  from 
point  to  point.  Eventually  the  French,  by  a  charge  of  cavalry,  took  the 
Dutch  fleet  when  icebound  ;  and  the  British  contingent  having  been 
completely  withdrawn,  Holland  was  recognised  as  an  ally  of  France, 
under  the  name  of  the  Batavian  Republic. 

Our  attempts  to  aid  the  French  royalists  met  with  no  more  success. 
In  1793  our  fleet  entered  Toulon  harbour  to  assist  the  citizens  of  France 
who  were  endeavouring  to  hold  that  town  against  the  troops  ^^^  in 
of  the  Convention.  The  plan  was  a  failure.  The  harbour  France, 
of  Toulon  is  situated  at  the  end  of  a  bottle-shaped  bay.  According  to 
tradition,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then  a  young  artillery  officer,  pointed  out 
that  a  battery  placed  so  as  to  command  its  narrow  entrance  must  compel 
the  British  to  retire.  His  advice  was  carried  out,  and  the  British  fleet 
immediately  withdrew,  after  destroying  all  the  French  men-of-war  in 
the  harbour,  leaving  the  royalists  to  their  fate.  In  1795  we  landed  a 
body  of  French  refugees  in  Quiberon  Bay  ;  but  the  step  was  most 
disastrous,  for  they  were  cut  to  pieces  by  an  army  under  Lazare  Hoche. 
Other  expeditions  were  sent  to  Corsica  to  support  the  patriots  in  revolt 
against  the  Jacobins,  and  there  was  some  hope  of  taking  it  from  the 
French,  but  it  was  evacuated  in  1796. 

In  naval  warfare  we  did  better.  There  the  French  laboured  under  the 
disadvantage  of  having  one  of  their  best  harbours,  Toulon,  on  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  their  other,  Brest,  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  while  ,.. 
their  harbours  on  the  British  Channel  were  not  at  that  date 
large  enough  to  hold  large  vessels,  and  had  again  and  again  been  bom- 
barded by  the  British.  Moreover,  the  Revolution  had  been  fatal  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  French  navy.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  officers 
came  from  BjitUn]^,  and  were  royalist  in  politics.  These  either  retired 
or  deserted  ;  and  as  it  was  impossible  to  fill  their  places  at  a  moment's 
notice,  or  to  train  sailors  as  rapidly  as  to  drill  soldiers,  the  navy  was  much 
weakened,  and  the  fleets  which  fought  during  the  revolutionary  war  were 
far  less  efficient  than  those  which  we  had  before  encountered.     The 

3  I 


866  George  III.  1794 

destruction  of  the  French  fleet  in  Toulon  was  a  decided,  blow  to  the 
French  power  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  on  June  1,  1794,  Lord  Howe 
The  First  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  on  the  Brest  fleet,  which  had 
of  June.  ventured  out  to  escort  some  corn  ships  which  were  being  sent 
to  France  by  the  United  States.  The  corn  ships  escaped  ;  but  of  the 
twenty-six  French  ships  of  the  line  seven  were  taken  and  two  were 
sunk.  These  two  blows  for  a  time  disabled  the  French  ;  but  in  1795 
they  were  joined  both  by  the  Spaniards  and  the  Dutch,  and  it  was 
exceedingly  doubtful  whether  we  could  hold  our  own.  In  1796  the 
French  designed  an  expedition  to  Ireland  under  the  command  of  Hoche — 
an  excellent  general — and  expected  to  be  aided  on  their  arrival  by  an 
insurrection  of  the  Irish.  The  fleet  avoided  the  English  cruisers,  but 
before  it  reached  Ireland  was  overtaken  by  a  gale  and  dispersed.  Only 
three  ships  reached  Ban  try  Bay,  and  their  commander,  Grouchy,  dared  not 
take  the  responsibility  of  landing  his  men.  The  attempt,  therefore,  came 
to  nothing.  The  Spanish  fleet  was  not  very  formidable  ;  and  Nelson,  who 
had  seen  them  when  our  allies,  said  they  would  '  soon  be  done  for ' ;  but 
there  was  great  risk  lest  a  combination  of  the  three  allied  fleets  might 
deprive  us  of  the  command  of  the  Channel,  and,  consequently,  the  great 
hope  of  the  British  was  to  defeat  them  in  detail.  This  they  were  lucky 
enough  to  do. 

On  February  14  Admiral  Jervis  and  Commodore  Nelson,  with  only 

fifteen  ships  of  the  line,  fell  in  with  twenty-seven  Spanish  men-of-war 

Cape  St.       ofi"  Cape  St.  Vincent.     A  clever  manoeuvre  separated  nine 

Vincent.       ^f  ^jjg  Spanish  vessels  from  the  rest.      An  attack  on  the 

main  body,  in  which  Nelson  did  the  lion's  share  of  the  action,  resulted  in 

the  capture  of  four  ships  of  the  line,  and  the  rest  took  refuge  in  the 

harbour  of  Cadiz,  where  they  were  strictly  blockaded  till  the  end  of 

the  war.     Thus  the  Spanish  fleet  was  disposed  of,  and  on  October  11 

Admiral   Duncan  gained   a  decisive  victory  over  the  Dutch  fleet  at 

Camper-      Camperdown.     The  Dutch,  with  eleven  sail  of  the  line,  had 

down.  escaped  from  the  Texel  during  a  storm,  and  were  on  their 

way  to  join  the  French  fleet  at  Brest,  when  they  were  encountered  by 

Duncan  with  sixteen  sail  of  the  line.     The  Dutch  fought  splendidly,  but 

against  such  disparity  of  numbers  their  efforts  were  unavailing,  and  they 

lost  eight  of  their  men-of-war. 

In  spite  of  these  great  successes,  the  year  1797  was  a  most  critical 
year  for  Great  Britain,  for  between  the  victories  of  Cape  St.  Vincent  and 
The  Mutiny  Camperdown  two  formidable  mutinies  had  broken  out  in 
at  Spithead.  ^^iQ  fleet.  The  trouble  began  at  Spithead,  the  chief  station 
of  the  Channel  fleet.     The  grievances  of  the  sailors  were  incontestable. 


I 


1797  Pitt  867 

Their  pay  had  not  been  raised  since  the  time  of  Charles  ii,  ;  their 
allowance  of  provisions,  reckoned  at  sixteen  ounces  the  pound,  was 
really  only  fourteen  ounces,  the  difference  being  retained  by  the  pursers  ; 
the  victuals  themselves  were  often  extremely  bad  ;  they  had  no  vegetables 
even  when  in  harbour  ;  their  pensions  were  extremely  small,  and  the  pay 
of  wounded  sailors  was  reduced.  Matters  came  to  a  head  in  April, 
1797,  when  the  whole  fleet  unanimously  refused  to  put  to  sea  till  these 
grievances  were  remedied.  Confronted  with  such  a  humiliating  danger, 
the  government  exhibited  great  vacillation  ;  while  the  conduct  of  the 
sailors  in  maintaining  discipline  on  board  ship,  and  the  tone  exhibited 
in  their  negotiations  with  the  authorities,  were  admirable.  Even  when 
it  granted  the  demands  of  the  sailors,  the  government  did  so  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  every  ground  for  suspicion  as  to  its  good  faith,  and 
only  the  popularity  of  Lord  Howe  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  satis- 
factory settlement.  A  number  of  the  most  unpopular  officers  were 
removed,  and  the  men  then  demanded  to  be  led  against  the  Brest  fleet, 
which,  luckily  for  Great  Britain,  had  remained  in  harbour  ignorant  of 
its  opportunity. 

Still  more  formidable  was  the  mutiny  at  the  Nore,  among  the  ships  of 
the  North  Sea  fleet.  The  sailors  of  this  had,  of  course,  sympathised  with 
their  fellows  at  Spithead  ;  but  after  the  Spithead  sailors  The  Mutiny 
were  satisfied,  the  mutineers  at  the  Nore  hoisted  the  red  **  ^^^  Nore. 
flag.  Their  leader  was  Kichard  Parker,  an  ordinary  sailor,  but  a  man  of 
some  education,  and  full  of  republican  ideas.  Under  his  guidance  they 
formulated  a  series  of  unreasonable  demands,  which  were  at  once  refused 
by  the  admiralty.  The  ships  then  formed  line  across  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames,  and  blocked  the  road  to  all  merchant  ships.  Fortunately,  how- 
ever, they  received  no  aid  from  shore,  and  when  the  sailors  found  that 
they  had  no  sympathy  from  the  Spithead  men,  the  greater  part  came  to 
their  senses  and  returned  to  their  duty.  Parker  and  two  or  three  more 
were  hanged  ;  but  the  general  loyalty  of  the  fleet  was  shown  in  the  battle 
of  Camperdown,  in  which  the  mutinous  crews  played  an  honourable 
part.  During  the  mutiny.  Admiral  Duncan,  who  was  watching  the 
Dutch  fleet  in  the  Texel,  and  who  was  deserted  by  all  but  his  own  ship 
and  two  frigates,  cleverly  deceived  the  Dutch  by  sending  the  frigates  to 
the  offing,  and  constantly  signalling  to  an  imaginary  fleet  out  of  sight  oflf 
the  coast. 

In  spite,  however,  of  these  successes,  Pitt  would  have  been  glad  to 
discontinue  the  war  had  there  been  a  chance  of  a  durable   Expenses 
peace.     The  expenses  had  been  very  heavy.     The  annual   of  the  War. 
expenditure  in    1792  was  ^18,000,000,  in  1795  i'50,000,000,  in  1797 


868  George  III.  1797 

£35,000,000,  and  besides  that,  loans  had  been  raised  to  the  value  of 
£90,000,000,  the  interest  on  which  amounted  to  nearly  £5,000,000  a  year. 
The  result  of  this  heavy  expenditure  was  to  throw  into  confusion  the 
finances  of  the  country;  and  in  order  to  save  the  Bank  of  England  from  being 
obliged  to  suspend  payment,  an  act  of  parliament  was  passed 

Suspension     .       ^^^,  ,  .   i      ,       -,.  ^    ■,      i       ,  ,       •      -, 

of  Cash  in  1/97  by  which  the  directors  of  the  bank  were  authorised 

aymen  s.  ^^  meet  all  calls  upon  them  in  bank-notes,  and  Bank  of 
England  notes  were  made  legal  tender  throughout  the  country,  except 
for  the  payment  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  This  act  was  passed  as  a 
temporary  measure,  but  was  renewed  from  time  to  time,  and  cash  pay- 
ments were  not  resumed  till  1819.  The  immediate  result  of  the 
suspension  of  cash  payments  was  to  cause  a  rise  in  prices  calculated  in 
paper  money  ;  and  eventually,  no  less  than  thirty  shillings  in  paper 
money  had  to  be  given  for  a  guinea  in  gold.  This  was  a  cause  of  great 
annoyance  to  all  classes,  but  to  the  poor  it  was  an  incalculable  hardship  ; 
for  it  has  been  found  that  wherever  a  sudden  rise  in  prices  occurs  from 
whatever  cause,  the  rate  of  wages  never  rises  so  fast  as  the  rate  of  prices. 
Moreover,  it  happened  that  the  war  years  were  also  years  of  bad  harvests, 
and  the  two  causes  working  together  were  disastrous  in  their  effects. 
Corn,  for  instance,  which  before  the  war  rarely  cost  more  than  50s.  a 
quarter,  cost,  in  1795,  80s.,  and  in  1801,  128s.  ;  and  in  general  the  prices 
of  provisions  nearly  doubled.  On  the  other  hand,  a  carpenter's  wages  in 
1795  were  2s.  6d.  a  day  ;  in  1800  they  had  only  risen  to  2s.  lOd.  The 
provisions  which,  in  1795,  would  have  cost  a  labourer  5s.,  would,  in 
1801,  have  cost  him  26s,  5d.,  while  his  wages  would  only  have  increased 
to  9s.  In  consequence,  there  was  a  great  increase  in  pauper- 
^"^^  *  ism  ;  and  in  1796  the  bad  practice  was  begun  of  allowing 
the  guardians  to  supplement  the  wages  of  able-bodied  paupers  out  of  the 
rates.  This  plan  was  initiated  by  the  Berkshire  magistrates  at  quarter 
sessions,  and  was  soon  adopted  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  It  was 
done  out  of  kind-heartedness  ;  but  the  results  were  disastrous,  as,  of 
course,  farmers  paid  no  more  wages  than  before,  and  the  necessities 
caused  by  the  rise  of  prices  were  met  by  raising  the  parish  rates. 
Moreover,  as  the  payments  were  made  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
labourer's  family,  the  married  man  was  far  better  off  than  the  single  man. 
The  result  was  a  great  increase  in  the  rural  population  living  upon  the 
rates.  Naturally  this  was  followed  by  a  rapid  rise  in  the  rates  them- 
selves, so  that  in  some  parishes  they  actually  came  to  exceed  the  rental 
of  the  land,  and  a  stop  was  not  put  to  this  disastrous  state  of  affairs  till 
the  ne^v  Poor  Law  was  passed  in  1834. 

In  spite,  however,  of  Pitt's  wishes  for  peace,  there  was  little  prospect 


1797  Pitt  869 

of  terminating  the  war.  When  hostilities  began,  Pitt,  in  common  with 
all  other  Englishmen,  expected  the  war  to  be  short.  It  was  the  universal 
opinion  that  the  Revolution  had  ruined  the  French  army,  strength  of 
and  that  the  country  was  bankrupt.  Both  these  expecta-  ^'■^"<^^- 
tions  proved  to  be  unfounded.  It  was  true  that  the  old  army  of  the 
monarchy  was  in  the  main  broken  up  ;  but  its  place  was  rapidly  taken 
by  a  far  superior  force,  the  credit  for  raising  which  must  be  given  to  the 
Jacobins,  the  most  advanced  of  the  French  republicans.  In  the  new 
force  promotion  went  entirely  by  merit,  and  it  was  speedily  officered  by 
excellent  soldiers,  such  as  Hoche  and  Massena,  both  of  whom  had  served 
in  the  ranks  of  the  old  army  ;  or  like  Moreau,  who,  trained  as  a  lawyer, 
had  discovered  that  he  had  talents  for  a  military  life.  Such  a  force  soon 
became  almost  invincible,  and  its  victories  enabled  it  to  provide  for  its 
necessities  at  the  expense  of  the  countries  conquered.  As  for  a  financial 
catastrophe,  that  was  soon  shown  to  be  a  delusion.  France  got  rid  of  her 
old  debts  by  simply  repudiating  them ;  and  the  abolition  of  privileges  and 
tithes,  and  the  removal  of  restrictions  of  all  kinds  on  agriculture  and 
commerce,  was  the  signal  for  the  commencement  of  an  era  of  prosperity 
which  enabled  her  to  bear  with  ease  the  comparatively  slight  burden  of 
a  successful  foreign  war.  Only  at  sea  was  her  strength  diminished  by 
the  Revolution,  and  her  attempts  to  supplement  her  weakness  by  the 
assistance  of  her  allies  were  defeated  by  the  British  admirals,  with  the 
result  of  the  loss  of  the  whole  of  her  colonial  possessions.  Her  allies  also 
suffered.  For  the  British  took  Trinidad  from  the  Spaniards,  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  and  Ceylon  from  the  Dutch,  and  from  the  French  the  whole 
of  their  possessions  both  in  the  East  and  West  Indies. 

Meanwhile,  the  government  of  France  itself  had  been  passing  through  a 
rapid  series  of  transformations.  Duringthe  spring  of  1793,  when  the  French 
were  reduced  to  despair  by  the  successes  of  the  allies,  and    „ 

Progress 

the  simultaneous  invasion  of  her  territory  by  the  Spaniards,  of  the 
Portuguese,  Piedmontese,  Austrians,  Prussians,  Dutch,  and 
British,  the  French  had  committed  their  affairs  to  a  Committee  of  Public 
Safety,  with  full  powers  to  save  France  by  repelling  invasion  from 
abroad,  and  putting  down  insurrection  at  home.  The  result  was  the 
terrible  Reign  of  Terror  ;  but  when  victory  had  returned  to  France,  and 
her  young  generals  had  not  only  cleared  her  own  territories  of  the 
invaders,  but  had  victoriously  carried  her  arms  into  those  of  her  enemies, 
a  reaction  took  place.  The  first  result  of  this  was  a  series  of  quarrels 
between  the  extreme  republicans,  in  which  Hebert,  Danton,  and  Robes- 
pierre were  successively  guillotined  ;  and  after  a  time  a  new  constitution 
was  set  up,  consisting  of  an  executive  of  five  directors,  and  an  assembly 


870  George  ITT.  1797 

consisting  of  two  bodies — the  Ancients  and  the  Five  Hundred,  Against 
the  adoption  of  this  new  constitution  an  insurrection  took  place,  known 
as  the  rising  of  the  sections.  It  was,  however,  defeated  by  the  Conven- 
tion, which  employed  the  services  of  Bonaparte,  who  happened  to  be  in 
Paris ;  and  the  new  government  came  into  existence  in  October  1795. 
The  rule  of  the  directory,  which  seemed  likely  to  be  of  greater  stability 
than  its  predecessors,  inspired  Pitt  with  the  hope  of  a  successful  negotia- 
tion. Hitherto  he  had  based  his  hopes  largely  on  the  promises  of  the 
Abortive  emigres^  but  he  was  now  quite  undeceived  as  to  their 
Negotiations,  influence.  Accordingly,  in  1796,  as  soon  as  the  directorate 
had  been  in  existence  a  year.  Lord  Malmesbury  was  sent  to  Paris  to 
open  negotiations  for  a  peace  ;  but  as  his  first  demand  was  for  the 
restoration  of  the  independence  of  Belgium,  which  the  directors  would 
never  have  dared  to  grant,  his  proposals  came  to  nothing.  Again  in 
July,  1797,  a  conference  was  held  at  Lille,  but  as  Lord  Malmesbury 
again  made  the  same  demand,  the  negotiations  were  again  broken  off.  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  had  the  French  been  really  willing  to  negotiate, 
Pitt  would  have  gone  a  long  way  in  the  direction  of  concession  ;  but  at 
the  moment  the  war  party  was  supreme  in  Paris,  and  the  negotiations 
were  never  seriously  entered  on.  Moreover,  Prussia  had  already  made 
peace  in  1795  ;  and  in  1796  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  had  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  army  of  Italy,  defeated  the  Austrians  in  his  cele- 
brated campaign  in  Lombardy  ;  and,  following  up  his  success,  in  1797 
compelled  the  Austrians  to  conclude  the  treaty  of  Campo-Formio.  This 
left  Great  Britain  single-handed,  and  inspired  the  French  with  fresh 
hopes  of  success,  while  the  victories  of  her  generals  began  to  create  a 
thirst  for  military  glory  in  France  which  was  itself  dangerous  to 
peace. 

Down  to  1797  the  French  generals  had  shown  singularly  little  dis- 
position to  interfere  in  civil  affairs  ;  but  Bonaparte  deviated  from  this 
Napoleon  ^^^^5  ^"^^i  ^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^  secured  his  position  in  Italy, 
Bonaparte,  gg^^  Augereau  to  Paris,  and  carried  out  a  change  in  the 
directorate  favourable  to  his  own  views.  Already  he  had  probably 
begun  to  aim  at  a  military  despotism  ;  but  perceiving  that  France  was 
not  yet  ripe  for  such  a  development,  he  accepted  the  command  of  an 
expeditionary  force  designed  to  occupy  Malta  and  Egypt,  and  possibly, 
in  the  imagination  of  its  commander,  to  be  the  nucleus  of  an  army  to  be 
created  in  the  East,  and  directed  either  against  India  or  Turkey  in 
Europe.  At  first,  singular  good  luck  attended  the  enterprise.  Nelson 
was  blockading  Toulon ;  but  a  storm  drove  him  to  refit  in  one  of  the 
harbours  of  Sardinia,  and  the  French  fleet,  taking  advantage  of  the  same 


1798 


Pitt 


871 


wind,  made  its  escape,  and  reached  Malta  on  May  9.     That  island  had 
been  held  by  the  knights  of  St.  John  since  1526.     It  had    ^ 

•'  "  French 

been  strongly  fortified,  and  might  have  held  out  for  months  ;   expedition 
but  its  gates  were  opened  by  treachery,  and  after  a  four   *°    ^^^^' 
days'  siege  Bonaparte  was  admitted.      From  Malta  the  French  arma- 
ment sailed  for  Egypt. 

The  escape  of  the  French  fleet  offered  a  great  opportunity  to  Nelson. 
This  great  man,  born  in  1758,  and  son  of  a  Norfolk  rector,  had  seen  much 
service,  and  had  long  been  recognised  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  British 


Battle  of  the  NILE. 

AUGUST  I9t  1798. 


French  shi^s  captured  or  sunk 1^ 

French  ships  escaped .■• 


^/'e    Egyptian     Coast    X«»« 

Scale  of  English  Miles 

° \ £ 2 1 


oflftcers,  but  hitherto  he  had  not  had  an  opportunity  of  showing  his 
qualities  in  a  great  field.  Now,  however,  his  chance  had  come  ;  and, 
divining  by  a  wonderful  instinct  that  the  French  were  making  for 
Egypt,  Nelson  made  all  sail  for  Alexandria.  He  was  there,  however, 
before  the  French,  and,  thinking  he  must  have  been  mistaken,  he  sailed 
for  Sicily,  and  on  his  way  he  passed  the  French  fleet  in  the  night  without 
knowing  it.  Having  refitted  his  ships  by  the  aid  of  the  Neapolitan 
court,  Nelson  again  sailed  for  Egypt,  where  he  found  the  shallow  harbour 
of  Alexandria  crowded  with  transports,  and  the  men-of-war  drawn  up  in 
the  deeper  water  of  Aboukir  Bay. 


872  George  III.  1798 

It  is  not  often  that  in  a  naval  battle  either  side  has  any  advantage  of 
position  except  those  arising  from  wind  and  tide  ;  but  in  this  case  the 

Battle  of      French  admiral,  Brueys,  had  drawn  up  his  vessels  across 

the  Nile.  i\^q  entrance  of  the  bay  in  such  a  manner,  that  each  wing 
was  close  to  the  shore,  and  was  not  only  defended  by  the  shore  batteries, 
but  also  was  so  placed  that  it  was  difficult  for  an  enemy's  ship  to 
approach  it  without  imminent  danger  of  running  aground.  Nelson, 
however,  observed  that  '  Where  there  was  room  for  a  French  vessel  to 
swing,  an  English  boat  might  sail ' ;  and  decided  to  take  the  risk.  He 
had  thirteen  ships  of  the  line,  and  the  French  had  the  same  number,  but 
their  ships  were,  as  a  rule,  larger,  and  they  had  also  four  frigates. 
Accordingly,  Nelson  at  once  gave  orders  to  attack,  and  his  fleet  sailed  in 
single  file  for  the  left  extremity  of  the  French  line.  Six  of  the  British 
ships  passed  between  the  shore  and  the  French,  and  attacked  them  from 
the  inside.  Nelson,  with  five  others,  kept  to  the  outside,  and  attacked 
the  French  from  there,  and  one  man-of-war  went  aground  on  a  shoal. 
Placed  thus  between  two  fires,  the  French  fought  with  great  bravery. 
Admiral  Brueys  was  killed,  and  Nelson  was  wounded.  The  result,  how- 
ever, was  decisive.  Nine  French  ships  and  one  frigate  were  taken  ; 
two  men-of-war  and  one  frigate  were  burnt ;  two  men-of-war  and  two 
frigates  escaped.  Had  Nelson  been  provided  with  frigates,  he  might 
have  destroyed  the  transports  at  Alexandria,  but  unluckily  they  had 
been  driven  away  in  a  storm,  and  had  not  rejoined  him.  Nelson  called 
his  success  not  so  much  a  victory  as  a  '  conquest,'  and  it  fully  estab- 
lished his  reputation  as  the  greatest  seaman  of  his  time.  The  result  of 
the  battle  was  not  only  to  destroy  the  French  naval  power  in  the 
Mediterranean,  but  also  to  isolate  in  Egypt  the  best  army  and  the  best 
general  the  French  possessed,  and  to  encourage  all  Europe  to  renew  the 
war  by  land. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  loss  of  his  fleet,  Bonaparte  was  not  diverted 
from  his  original  scheme.  In  July  he  had  defeated  the  Mame- 
Bonaparte  in  lukes  in  the  battle  of  the  Pyramids,  and  followed  up  his 
Egypt.  victory  by  depriving  both  the  Mamelukes  and  the  Turks  of 

all  power,  and  reinstating  the  rule  of  the  native  Egyptians.  The  Sultan, 
however,  was  not  prepared  to  see  the  French  settled  in  Egypt  without  a 
struggle,  and  despatched  two  armies — one,  escorted  by  the  British  fleet,  to 
Alexandria,  the  other  by  land  through  Syria.  Against  the  latter  force 
Bonaparte  determined  to  take  the  offensive,  and,  in  February  1799,  he 
crossed  the  desert  into  Syria  and  advanced  by  the  coast  road  by  way  of 
Jaffa  and  Acre.  Jaffa  fell  easily  ;  but  at  Acre  he  met  with  a  formid- 
able resistance.     Here  the  coast  road  is  completely  commanded  by  the 


1799  Pitt  873 

fortifications  of  the   town,  so  it  was  essential  that  they  should  be  in 
French  hands  ;  and  Bonaparte,  therefore,  undertook  a  formal  siege. 

The  town  is  situated  at  the  extremity  of  a  narrow  peninsula,  which 
forms  one  side  of  the  bay  of  Acre,  and  Mount  Carmel  the  other.  The 
Turks  have  always  distinguished  themselves  in  the  defence  siege  of 
of  fortified  places  ;  and  at  Acre  they  had  the  advantage  of  Acre, 
the  assistance  of  Sir  Sidney  Smith  with  two  British  ships.  The  ships  were 
so  disposed  as  to  command,  from  either  side,  the  zig-zag  line  of  entrench- 
ments which  the  French  pushed  forward  along  the  peninsula  ;  and  when 
a  breach  was  at  length  made,  British  sailors  were  landed  to  defend  it 
against  Bonaparte's  assault.  Again  and  again  the  French  storming 
parties  made  their  way  to  the  breach,  only  to  be  repulsed  ;  and  though 
Bonaparte  himself  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Turkish  relieving  army  at 
the  battle  of  Mount  Tabor,  he  was  forced  to  recognise  that  Acre,  with 
such  defenders,  was  impregnable.  Accordingly  he  raised  the  siege,  and 
hurriedly  made  his  way  back  to  Egypt,  just  in  time  to  defeat  the  second 
Turkish  army  at  the  battle  of  Aboukir.  Bonaparte  always  said  of 
Sidney  Smith,  '  That  man  made  me  miss  my  destiny/ 

Meanwhile,  Pitt  had  organised  a  second  coalition  between  Great 
Britain,  Austria,  and  Russia,  which  attacked  the  French  in  Italy, 
Switzerland,  and  Holland.  In  Italy,  after  a  series  of  sue-  campaign 
cessful  engagements,  the  Austrians  and  Russians,  under  the  °^  ^799- 
great  Suvarov,  forced  the  French  to  retire  into  Genoa,  which  was  then 
closely  besieged.  In  Holland,  the  British  and  Russians  at  first  met 
with  some  success,  but  eventually,  through  the  bad  management  of  the 
duke  of  York,  the  allies,  after  a  series  of  hotly  contested  but  indecisive 
engagements  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bergen-op-Zoom,  were  cajoled  into 
an  agreement  to  leave  Holland  at  the  price  of  giving  up  the  French 
prisoners  taken  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  This  failure,  however, 
had  no  little  influence  on  the  war,  for  the  really  decisive  struggle  was  in 
Switzerland,  where  Massena  beat  the  Russians  at  Ziirich  before  Suvarov 
could  cross  the  Alps  to  their  assistance.  This  defeat  checked  the  further 
advance  of  the  allies ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  year,  the  Czar  Paul 
had  decided  to  leave  the  coalition,  and  the  Russian  troops  were  with- 
drawn. Except,  therefore,  in  Italy,  the  campaign  of  1799  had  been 
favourable  to  the  French. 

Meanwhile  Bonaparte,  having  learnt  from  some  old  newspapers  the 
state  of  afi'airs  in  Europe,  sailed  from  Alexandria  with  some  of  his  best 
officers.     For  six  weeks  he  ran  successfully  the  gauntlet  of  Bonaparte's 
the  British  cruisers  ;  and  on  October  9,  1799,  a  fortnight   ^^^um. 
after  the  battle  of  Ziirich,  he  landed  in  France.     He  was  received  with 


874  George  III.  1799 

enthusiasm  ;  and,  taking  his  measures  with  the  aid  of  Talleyrand, 
Fouche,  and  Sieyes,  he  carried  out  another  revolution,  by  which  the 
executive  government  was  vested  in  three  consuls,  of  whom  he  himself 
was  first.  What  Burke  had  foretold  had  come  to  pass,  and  the  popular 
general  had  become  master  of  the  state.  The  new  constitution  was 
cleverly  contrived  to  place  all  real  power  in  the  hands  of  the  executive 
government.  The  business  of  legislation  was  divided  among  four  bodies  : 
a  council  of  state  to  prepare  laws  ;  a  tribunate  which  discussed  measures 
but  did  not  vote  ;  a  legislative  body  which  voted  but  did  not  discuss  ; 
and,  finally,  a  senate  of  eighty  members,  which  sat  in  secret,  and  inter- 
preted the  constitution.  In  short,  the  new  regime  was  as  autocratic  as 
the  old.  On  one  side — the  creation  of  a  free  constitution  for  France— 
the  revolutionists  had  failed  ;  but  on  the  other  they  had  succeeded,  for 
Bonaparte  was  determined  never  to  pennit  the  return  of  privilege  ;  and 
in  a  short  time  the  publication  of  the  Code  Napoleon,  completed  under 
his  direction,  made  equality  before  the  law  an  essential  part  of  the  life 
of  France. 

Bonaparte's  first   attention,  however,  had  to  be  given   to   military 
affairs.     By  the  foresight  of  the  directors,  who  had  already  passed  the 

Campaign    law  of  conscription,  he  was  provided  with  plenty  of  soldiers. 

of  1800.  Q£  ^YiQ  old  generals  of  the  republic,  Joubert  and  Custine 
had  been  killed,  Hoche  had  died,  Pichegru  was  distrusted,  and  Mass^na 
was  commanding  at  Genoa.  Bonaparte,  therefore,  gave  the  command 
to  Moreau,  and  directed  him  to  attack  the  Austrians  on  the  Rhine, 
while  he  himself  crossed  the  Great  St.  Bernard  pass  into  Italy,  and  fell 
on  the  rear  of  the  Austrians  who  were  besieging  Genoa.  Both  schemes 
were  successful.  Bonaparte,  by  an  extraordinary  piece  of  good  luck, 
had  the  battle  of  Marengo  won  for  him  on  June  14  by  Desaix,  who  fell  at 
the  moment  of  victory  ;  and  Moreau  carried  out  a  series  of  slow  but 
successful  manoeuvres,  ending  in  the  victory  of  Hohenlinden,  on  Decem- 
ber 3,  by  which  the  Austrians  were  driven  down  the  Danube.  Moreau 
advanced  within  sixty  miles  of  Vienna,  and  the  Austrians,  fearing  their 
capital  would  be  attacked  in  the  spring,  signed  the  treaty  of  Lun<^ville. 
The  British  now  remained  the  sole  antagonists  of  the  French  ;  and 
Bonaparte,  recognising  their  superiority  by  sea,  determined  to  attack 
The  Armed  them  by  indirect  means.  For  this  purpose  he  fell  back  on 
Neutrality.  ^^^  ^^Ylgj  of  the  armed  neutrality  of  1780.  Great  Britain, 
having  usually  command  of  the  sea,  had  always  argued  that,  if  a  ship 
belonging  to  a  neutral  nation  had  on  board  goods  coming  from  or 
consigned  to  an  enemy,  such  goods  might  be  seized.     On  the  other  hand, 

it  was  contended  that  'neutral  ships  made  neutral  goods,'  and  that  such 


1802  Pitt — Addington  875 

goods  ought  not  to  be  seized.  In  the  present  war,  the  neutral  nations 
most  aflFected  were  the  Russians,  Swedes,  and  Danes,  and,  later  on,  the 
Americans.  The  Czar  Paul,  who  succeeded  his  mother,  Catherine,  in 
1797,  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Napoleon,  and  under  his  influence  he 
negotiated  the  armed  neutrality  by  which  the  European  nations  above 
mentioned  were  to  unite  together  for  the  defence  of  the  rights  of 
neutrals — in  other  words,  against  Great  Britain. 

As  Russia,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  all  had  considerable  fleets,  the 
British  government  determined  to  strike  before  they  could  unite  ;  and, 
in  1801,  an  expedition  was  sent  to  the  Baltic  under  the  Attack  on 
orders  of  Sir  Hyde  Parker,  with  Nelson  second  in  command.  Copenhagen. 
The  Danish  fleet  was  lying  along  the  shore,  close  to  Copenhagen,  sup- 
ported by  the  land  batteries,  and  even  more  eff'ectually  defended  by  the 
intricacy  of  the  navigation,  for  the  coast  abounded  in  shoals,  the  buoys 
from  which  had  been  removed.  Nelson,  however,  volunteered  to  make 
an  attack.  Owing  to  a  series  of  unavoidable  accidents,  this  was  not 
made  with  the  full  force  intended  ;  and,  as  the  Danes  fought  with  great 
bravery,  a  terrible  slaughter  ensued  on  both  sides  before  the  Danish 
fleet  was  compelled  to  surrender,  on  April  2,  1801.  This  victory,  and 
the  murder  of  the  Czar  Paul,  which  happened  on  March  23,  broke  up  the 
league,  for  the  new  Czar,  Alexander,  adopted  a  diff'erent  policy. 

Within  a  day  or  two  of  the  bombardment  of  Copenhagen,  an  English 
force,  under  Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie,  landed  in  Egypt,  and  defeated  the 
French  at  the  battle  of  Alexandria.  Abercrombie  was  Battle  of 
himself  killed  ;  but  his  successor,  Hutchinson,  took  Alex-  Alexandria, 
andria  and  Cairo  ;  and  in  September  the  remains  of  the  French  army 
evacuated  Egypt,  and  were  conveyed  to  France  in  British  ships.  At 
the  same  time,  though  too  late  to  be  of  service,  Sir  David  Baird 
performed  the  striking  service  of  bringing  from  India  a  mixed  army  of 
British  and  Sepoys,  which  landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  and, 
marching  across  the  desert  to  the  Nile,  arrived  at  Cairo  in  boats.  In 
1800  Malta  surrendered  after  a  long  blockade. 

By  this  time  both  France  and  England  were  tired  of  war.  Without 
allies,  Great  Britain  was  powerless  to  injure  France  by  land  ;  without 
the  command  of  the  sea,  France  was  equally  unable  to  Treaty  of 
injure  Great  Britain.  Consequently,  both  sides  were  Amiens, 
willing  to  make  peace,  were  it  only  to  gain  time  to  prepare  for  more 
effective  hostilities  in  the  future.  Accordingly,  negotiations  were 
entered  upon  at  Amiens,  which,  in  March  1802,  resulted  in  the  signature 
of  a  peace.  The  most  important  articles  in  the  treaty  provided  that 
Great  Britain  should  recognise  the  French  republic,  and  that  George  iii. 


876  George  HI.  1782 

should  cease  to  style  himself  king  of  France,  as  the  English  kings  had 
done  since  the  time  of  Edward  in. ;  next,  that  Great  Britain  should 
restore  all  her  conquests  from  France,  but  should  keep  Trinidad,  which 
had  been  taken  from  the  Spaniards,  and  Ceylon  from  the  Dutch  ;  and, 
last,  that  the  island  of  Malta  should  be  restored  to  the  knights  of 
St.  John,  who  were  to  be  reconstituted  under  the  protection  of  the  Czar. 

Before  the  treaty  of  Amiens  was  made,  Pitt  had  ceased  to  be  prime 
minister.      The  cause  of  his  fall  arose  out  of  events  in  Ireland,  and  to 

Ir  1  d  *^®^®  ^®  must  now  go  back.  In  1782  Ireland  had  received 
legislative  independence  from  the  Eockingham  ministry ; 
but  as  Protestants  only  could  vote  or  sit  in  parliament,  Catholics, 
who  formed  at  least  seven-tenths  of  the  population,  had  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  government.  Moreover,  as  the  officials  were  still 
appointed  by  the  lord-lieutenant,  the  executive  power  was  still  in 
English  hands.  In  parliament  the  ministers  secured  their  majority  by 
bribery,  for  the  really  dominant  party  in  Ireland  were  the  borough- 
mongers,  who  returned  a  majority  of  the  Irish  members.  Nevertheless, 
some  progress  was  made  in  1792  and  1793.  Some  of  the  worst  disabili- 
ties of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  removed,  and,  under  the  influence  of 
Pitt,  acts  were  passed  permitting  Roman  Catholics  to  sit  on  juries  and 
to  vote  at  elections. 

The  French  Revolution  caused  much  excitement  in  Ireland.  Ever 
since  the  French  had  fought  in  Ireland  for  James  ii.,  and  the  Irish 
French  Brigade  had  won  laurels  under  the  banner  of  France,  the 

Revolution.  Irish  had  regarded  themselves  as  peculiarly  the  friends  of 
the  French  nation  ;  and  the  spectacle  of  the  French  rising  against  their 
rulers  and  securing  a  new  constitution  naturally  roused  much  enthusiasm 
among  a  people  who  had  so  much  to  complain  of  as  the  Irish.  In  Ireland 
there  were  at  least  three  distinct  parties — the  Roman  Catholics,  the 
Orangemen,  and  the  United  Irishmen.  The  Roman  Catholics,  again, 
were  divided  into  two  sections — the  upper  classes,  who  disliked  their 
exclusion  from  parliament  and  from  the  magistrate's  bench  ;  the  lower, 
whose  chief  grievances  lay  in  the  heavy  rents  exacted  by  their  Protestant 
landlords,  and  the  tithes  levied  for  the  Protestant  clergymen.  The 
Orangemen,  whose  name  was  taken  from  William  of  Orange,  came  into 
being  about  1795,  in  opposition  to  the  Defenders,  an  association  formed 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  peasantry.  Politically,  the  Orangemen,  though 
furious  at  the  suggestion  of  concessions  to  the  Catholics,  were  themselves 
in  favour  of  parliamentary  reform,  in  order  to  secure  a  further  represen- 
tation for  the  Protestants.  Lastly,  the  United  Irishmen,  or  Revolu- 
tionists, founded  by  Theodore  Wolfe  Tone  in  1791,  who  combined  both 


1798  Pitt  %11 

Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  who  wished  to  overthrow  the  English 
government  altogether,  and  to  establish  a  republic  under  the  protection 
of  France. 

The  difficulties  of  the  situation  were  much  increased  in  1795.  In  1792 
and  1793  Pitt  and  Dundas,  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  the  Irish  officials, 
had  agreed  to  the  passing  of  acts  by  which  Roman  Catholics  Lord 
were  permitted  to  sit  on  juries,  and  to  exercise  the  parlia-  f^it^wiiham. 
mentary  franchise.  Personally,  they  would  have  been  prepared  to  go 
much  further,  and  to  sweep  away  the  restrictions  which  prevented  Eoman 
Catholics  from  sitting  in  parliament,  and  also  to  remove  most  of  their 
other  disabilities  ;  but  they  were  well  aware  how  much  opposition  this 
would  rouse,  both  in  Ireland  and  England,  and  were  desirous  of  not 
moving  in  the  matter  at  present.  Unfortunately,  the  new  lord-lieu- 
tenant. Lord  Fitzwilliam,  a  Whig  who  had  joined  Pitt  along  with  the 
duke  of  Portland  in  1794,  wtxs  by  no  means  discreet.  Though  he  had 
agreed  to  act  in  Ireland  only  by  the  advice  of  the  British  cabinet,  and 
to  keep  Pitt's  friends  in  office,  he  talked  largely  of  his  sympathy  for  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  on  his  arrival  in  Ireland  he  not  only  encouraged 
Grattan  in  bringing  forward  a  motion  for  the  admission  of  Roman  Catholics 
to  parliament,  but  also  dismissed  some  of  the  ministers  in  whom  Pitt  had 
most  confidence.  Accordingly  he  was  recalled,  after  holding  office  only 
six  weeks.  The  incident,  however,  was  most  unfortunate,  for  it  gave  the 
Irish  the  wholly  false  impression  that  Pitt  was  against  all  reform,  and 
so  strengthened  the  ranks  of  the  Revolutionists. 

It  was  in  these  circumstances  that  the  Revolutionists,  through  their 
agent,  Wolfe  Tone,  encouraged  the  French  government  to  despatch 
Hoche's  unsuccessful  expedition  ;  and,  by  no  means  dis-  Hoche's 
heartened  by  its  failure,  they  continued  to  negotiate  for  Expedition, 
further  assistance.  The  leaders  of  the  Revolutionists  in  Ireland  at  this 
time  were  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  a  younger  brother  of  the  duke  of 
Leinster,  Arthur  O'Connor,  nephew  of  Lord  Longueville,  and  Oliver 
Bond.  These  men  organised  a  general  rising  to  take  place  on  May  23, 
1798.  The  government,  however,  were  well-informed  as  to  their 
designs.  In  February,  1798,  Arthur  O'Connor  and  a  priest  named 
O'Coigley,  or  Quigley,  were  arrested  at  Margate  on  their  way  to 
France.  On  the  priest  was  found  a  paper  addressed  to  the  French 
directorate,  asking  that  England  might  be  invaded  in  order  that  no 
soldiers  might  be  available  to  quell  the  Irish  insurrection.  Accord- 
ingly he  was  hanged,  but  O'Connor  was  acquitted  of  high  treason,  and 
eventually  was  allowed  to  go  into  exile.  Shortly  afterwards  the  whole 
of  the  plans  of  the  conspirators  were  revealed,  and  in  May  Oliver  Bond 


878  George  III.  1798 

and  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  were  arrested.   The  latter  fought  desperately, 

and  the  wounds  he  received  eventually  proved  mortal.    In  spite,  however, 

of  the  arrest  of  their  leaders,  an  insurrection  took  place,  as  arranged, 

on  May  23,  but  Roman  Catholics  alone  took  part  in  the  movement,  and 

Rising  in      in  Ulster,  where  the  United  Irishmen  were  strongest,  there 

Wex  ord.      ^^^  hardly  any  movement  at  all.     It  was  most  serious  in 

Wexford,  where  the  rebels,  headed  by  a  priest  named  John  Murphy, 

posted  themselves  on  Vinegar   Hill,  from  which  they  were  driven  by 

General  Lake  with  terrible  slaughter  on  June  21.     Two  months  later, 

when   the    insurrection   had    been    completely   put    down,   a    French 

general,  Humbert,  with  nine  hundred  troops,  landed  at  Killala.      At 

Castlebar  they  put  to  flight   a  number  of  militia;    but  Lord   Corn- 

wallis,  with  an  army  of  regulars,  surrounded  them  at  Ballinasloe  and 

compelled  them  to  surrender.     Still  later  on,  another  French  squadron 

arrived,  having  on  board  Wolfe  Tone  ;  but  before  a  landing  could  be 

effected,  the  French  vessels  were  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force  of 

British  ships,  and  all   but   one   were   taken,   Tone   being  among  the 

prisoners.     Of  the  rebels,  John  Murphy  was  killed  in  action,  three  or 

four  of  his  followers  were  hanged.  Tone  anticipated  his  execution  by 

suicide,  Oliver  Bond  was  pardoned  on  condition  of  telling  all  he  knew, 

and  Arthur  O'Connor  was  exiled.     The  putting  down  of  the  insurrection 

was  accompanied  by  many  atrocities,  for  the  most  part  perpetrated  by 

the  Protestant  militia  regiments,  who  regarded  the  Roman  Catholics  as 

their  hereditary  foes,  and  Lord  Cornwallis  had  much  ado  to  keep  the 

revenge  of  the  dominant  party  within  bounds. 

This  insurrection  convinced  Pitt  that  the  best  solution  of  the  Irish 

problem  consisted  in  a  legislative  union  of  the  two  countries,  coupled 

Pitt's  with  such  a  series  of  remedial  measures  as  should  compen- 

Scheme.       g^^^  ^j^^  j^^gj^  people  for  the  loss  of  their  national  legislature. 

These  were  the  admission  of  Roman  Catholics  to  parliament,  and  the 

removal  of  their  other  disabilities.      The  obnoxious  tithes  were  to  be 

commuted,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  endowed. 

As  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  pass  the  latter  part  of  Pitt's  scheme 

through  the  existing  Irish  parliament,  he  began  with  the  Union.     In 

^        .  .       this  he  had   to   encounter  the  opposition  of  the  borough- 
Opposition  ^^  ^ 
to  the           mongers,  whether  opposed  to  government  or  not,  who  saw 

in  the  scheme  a  loss  of  money  and  influence ;  and  that  of 

the  citizens  of  Dublin,  who  feared  the  loss  of  custom  which  would  follow 

the  removal  of  parliament  from  Dublin.     There  was  also  the  national 

feeling  which  must  resent  the  extinction  of  a  native  parliament,  and 

which  had  played  such  a  considerable  part  in  Scotland.     Of  this  Pitt 


1801  Pitt  879 

took  little  account.  His  business,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  was  to 
secure  a  majority  in  parliament,  and  as  he  believed  that  the  passing  of 
his  measures  would  be  for  the  good  of  both  countries,  he  shrank  from 
nothing  that  would  secure  his  end.  The  only  way  to  get  anything 
through  the  Irish  Parliament  was  to  bribe  or  threaten  those  who 
controlled  the  parliamentary  majority  to  support  the  measures  of  the 
government.  By  such  means  Pitt  had  secured  the  passage  of  his  relief 
measures  of  1792  and  1793,  and  it  was  no  secret  that  he  would  have  to 
have  recourse  to  similar  means  to  pass  the  Act  of  Union.  In  1790 
resolutions  in  favour  of  a  Union  were  placed  before  the  Irish  House 
of  Commons,  but  were  rejected.  Pitt,  therefore,  by  the  agency  of 
Castlereagh,  the  chief  secretary  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  approached  the 
borough-mongers,  and,  by  means  of  wholesale  corruption,  won  such  a 
number  of  them  to  change  their  nominees  as  should  secure  a  majority 
for  the  act  of  1800.  Besides  this  he  compensated  the  borough-mongers 
for  their  financial  loss  at  the  price  of  ;£  1,260,000,  or  ^7500  per  seat. 

The  Act  of  Union,  which  was  thus  passed  through  the  Irish  parlia- 
ment by  a  foul  though  necessary  use  of  corruption,  was  with  some  slight 
variations  analogous  to  the  Scottish  Act  of  Union.  The  The  Act 
parliaments  of  the  two  countries  were  united.  Four  bishops,  °^  Union, 
sitting  by  rotation,  and  twenty  representative  peers,  were  to  sit  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  one  hundred  Irish  members  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. The  first  united  parliament  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  met  in 
February  1801. 

Pitt's  next  business  was  to  deal  with  the  supplementary  measures,  to 
which,  as  healing  remedies,  he  attached  far  more  importance  than  to  the 
Union,  regarding  the  latter  measure,  indeed,  chiefly  as  a 
means  to  an  end.     If  he  could  bring  them  before  pai-liament,    mentary 
he   had  a  reasonable   hope  of  passing  them  ;   for,  in  all 
dealings  with   the   Roman  Catholic  question,  the   British   parliament 
had  shown  itself  of  late  years  decidedly  more  tolerant  than  the  average 
opinion  of  the  country.     His  first  difficulty,  however,  lay  with  the  king. 
In  making  his  arrangements  for  the  session  of  1801,  Pitt  seems  to  have 
shown  less   sagacity   than  usual,  for  he  did  not  officially  bring   the 
Catholic  Disabilities  Bill  before  George  till  January  29  ;  and  on  Feb- 
ruary 2   parliament   was   to  meet.      Meanwhile  Lord  Loughborough, 
hoping  to  displace  Pitt,  and  yet  retain  his  place  as  lord-chancellor,  had 
told   George   what  the  ministers   had   in   view.     Against 
'  Catholic  emancipation '  George  had  an  aversion  founded  on   and  Catholic 
a  conscientious  prejudice.     In  his  coronation  oath  he  had      ^  *^  ' 
sworn  '  to  maintain  the  Protestant  religion  as  established  by  law,'  and 


880  George  III.  1801 

'  to  maintain  to  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  realm  and  the  churches 
committed  to  their  charge  all  such  rights  and  privileges  as  by  law  do 
and  shall  appertain  to  them  or  any  of  them.'  This,  in  spite  of  the  opinions 
of  the  best  lawyers  of  the  time,  he  persisted  in  interpreting  as  a  bar  to 
his  agTeeing  to  any  act  of  Roman  Catholic  emancipation,  and  when 
Dundas  tried  to  explain  to  him  the  difference  between  his  legislative  and 
his  executive  capacities,  he  replied  :  '  None  of  your  Scotch  metaphysics, 
Mr.  Dundas ' ;  and  described  the  measure  as  '  the  most  Jacobinical  thing 
of  which  he  had  ever  heard.'  Worse  than  all,  the  excitement  of  the 
king  produced  symptoms  of  the  recurrence  of  the  madness  of  1788. 

In  these  circumstances  Pitt  was  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.     If  he 
persevered  with  the  measure,  in  spite  of  George's  opposition,  there  was 
Pitt's  every  chance  that  it  would  be  defeated  in   the  House  of 

Position.  Lords,  to  say  nothing  of  the  odium  which  he  was  certain 
to  encounter  if,  in  consequence  of  his  action,  the  king's  malady  was 
renewed.  If  he  gave  up  the  measure,  he  not  only  spoilt  a  great  scheme  of 
healing  legislation,  but  might  be  accused  of  playing  false  to  those  Roman 
Catholics  who  had  favoured,  or,  at  any  rate,  not  resisted,  the  Act  of 
Union,  on  the  understanding  that  it  would  be  accompanied  by  remedial 
_,.,,      .  measures.      In  these   circumstances  he  resigned,   and   his 

Pitt  resigns.  ®        ' 

j)lace  was  taken  by  Addington,  the  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  who  formed  an  anti-Catholic  administration,  of  which  Lord 
Eldon  was  chancellor.  Pitt's  resignation  was  fatal  to  his  scheme.  Roman 
Catholic  emancipation  was  not  granted  till  1829  ;  tithe  commutation  tiU 
1838  ;  and  though  the  Irish  Church  was  disestablished  and  disendowed 
in  1869,  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  endow  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Nonconforming  clergy.  Had  Pitt's  enlightened  and  far-reaching  scheme 
been  carried  out — above  all,  had  succeeding  British  ministries  imitated 
Walpole's  Scottish  policy,  and  appointed  viceroys  and  chief  secretaries 
who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  people  they  had  to  govern — the  Union 
might  have  been  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish  people  with  the 
dawn  of  a  new  and  better  era  in  Irish  history.  As  it  was,  the  natural 
consequence  of  the  mutilation  of  Pitt's  scheme  was  to  ruin  all  chance  of 
a  favourable  reception  being  given  to  the  Union  by  the  Irish  people, 
who,  unlike  the  Scots,  had  comparatively  little  to  gain  from  the  opening 
of  trade.     (See  p.  718.) 

In  1803  a  fresh  outbreak  occurred.      This  was  organised  by  Robert 

Emmett,   a    barrister,   and    Thomas    Russell,   a    half-pay   officer.      In 

Emmett's    Dublin,   though  a    large  mob   was   collected    and  armed 

Rebellion,    ^^^j^  pikes,  they  showed  themselves  quite  unable  even  to 

attempt  an  attack  on  the  castle,  to  which  they  were  urged  by  Emmett, 


1803  Addington  881 

but  disgraced  themselves  by  the  murder  of  Lord  Kilwarden,  the  chief- 
justice,  before  the  eyes  of  his  daughter,  and  fled  at  the  first  approach  of 
the  soldiers.  In  Ulster  Kussell  utterly  failed  to  raise  a  following,  and  the 
whole  attempt  proved  a  miserable  failure.  Emmett  and  Russell  were 
both  captured  and  hanged  ;  their  followers  were  treated  with  mercy,  and 
no  further  rebellious  outbreak  occurred  in  Ireland  for  nearly  half  a 
century. 

The  Treaty  of  Amiens  was  little  better  than  a  truce,  and  Napoleon 
had  no  intention  of  allowing  it  to  be  any  more.  He  hurried  on  the 
restoration  of  the   French   navy,  reorganised   Switzerland 

.   ,     .  „    ,  Violations 

under  French  influence,  and  in  violation  of  the  treaty  an-  of  the  Treaty 
nexed  Piedmont  and  Elba  to  France.  Moreover,  he  excited  °  "™*^ 
suspicion  by  the  use  he  made  of  the  consular  agents  who  were  despatched 
to  the  chief  towns  of  the  United  Kingdom.  These  agents  were  selected 
from  the  best  engineer  officers  of  France,  and  their  real,  though  secret, 
business  was  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  military  character 
of  the  neighbouring  country,  the  soundings  of  harbours,  and  anything 
else  that  could  be  useful  for  an  inviision.  Yet  while  he  was  engaged  in 
these  intrigues  he  loudly  complained  that  he  was  libelled  by  the  English 
press,  and  eventually,  to  remove  all  possible  cause  for  complaint,  one  of 
the  libellers  was  prosecuted.     This  was  a  French  refugee  . 

named  Jean  Joseph  Peltier,  who  conducted  an  insignificant 
print  named  L'Ambigu,  chiefly  read  by  refugees  like  himself,  in  which 
the  first  consul  and  his  court  were  bitterly  ridiculed  both  in  verse  and 
prose,  and  suggestions  made  which  distinctly  pointed  to  assassination. 
The  prosecutions  were  conducted  by  Perceval  as  attorney-general,  and 
Peltier  was  defended  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh.  The  libels  were  so 
obvious  that  Peltier  was  found  guilty,  but  the  expenses  of  his  trial  were 
paid  by  subscription,  and  Mackintosh's  defence,  being  translated  into 
French  by  Madame  de  Stael  and  published  on  the  continent,  did 
Bonaparte  a  great  deal  of  harm. 

The  real  question,  however,  on  which  war  broke  out  was  that  of 
Malta.  Great  Britain  positively  refused  to  give  it  up  to  the  knights  of  St. 
John,  under  the  protectorate  of  the  Czar  Alexander,  which  Renewal  of 
would  for  all  practical  purposes  make  it  a  dependency  of  ^^®  War. 
France.  As  Bonaparte  denounced  this  refusal  as  a  violation  of  the 
Treaty  of  Amiens,  the  British  ministers  retaliated  by  pointing  to  the 
annexation  of  Piedmont  and  Elba  ;  and  as  neither  side  expected  to  pro- 
long the  peace,  the  two  nations  steadily  drifted  into  war.  The  English 
cruisers  began  to  seize  French  merchant  vessels,  and  Bonaparte  retali- 
ated by  seizing  all  English  travellers  and  merchants  whom  he  could  find 

3  K 


882  George  III.  1803 

in  France.  The  war,  which  broke  out  in  1803  and  lasted  till  1814,  was 
distinctly  different  in  character  from  that  which  began  in  1792.  The 
former  was,  in  its  origin,  directed  against  the  French  republic  with  a 
view  to  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy.  The  latter  was  a  defensive 
war,  w^hich  aimed  at  checking  the  ambition  of  Bonaparte.  In  the  case 
of  Great  Britain  this  was  specially  the  case,  for  Bonaparte  regarded 
her  as  his  greatest  antagonist,  and  wished  to  destroy  not  only  her  power 
in  the  Mediterranean,  but  her  colonial  empire  as  well. 

AVhen  war  began  the  nation  naturally  looked  to  Pitt  as  its  leader,  the 
man  who,  in  the  words  of  Canning,  was  'the  pilot  who  weathered  the 
"Weakness  of  storm ' ;  but  Addington  had  no  thought  of  making  way  for 
Addington.  him.  When  he  left  office,  Pitt  did  so  with  the  distinct  idea 
that  so  far  as  he  took  part  in  public  business  at  all,  it  was  his  duty  to 
support  the  new  administration.  To  this  plan  he  adhered  till  the  close 
of  1 803,  rarely  attending  parliament,  but  when  he  did  so,  supporting  the 
ministers.  He  also  sent  a  private  message  to  George  that  he  would  not, 
during  the  king's  lifetime,  revive  the  Roman  Catholic  question.  Never- 
theless, Addington  grew  more  uncomfortable  in  his  place.  To  quote 
Canning  again  :  '  What  London  was  to  Paddington,  so  Pitt  was  to 
Addington,'  and  he  gradually  became  aware  that  this  was  the  opinion  of 
the  country.  He  first  endeavoured  to  win  over  Pitt  by  a  proposal  that  they 
should  act  as  joint  secretaries  of  state  under  the  premiership  of  Pitt's 
brother.  Lord  Chatham ;  but  the  proposal  was  scornfully  rejected  by 
Pitt,  who,  si)eaking  of  it  afterwards,  said  :  '  Really  I  had  not  the 
curiosity  to  inquire  what  I  was  to  be.'  After  this  rebuff,  Addington 
clung  more  closely  to  office  ;  but  in  1804  a  coalition  between  Pitt  and 
Fox  in  the  Commons  so  reduced  his  majority,  that  he  resigned. 

The  ordinary  course  was  for  Pitt  and  Fox  to  come  into  office,  and  Pitt 

drew  up  the  draft  of  a  government  in  which  he   himself  was  to  be 

.    ,  premier,  while  Fox  and  Fitzwilliam  were  to  be  the  two  chief 

Second         secretaries  of  state,  and  Grey  (afterwards  Lord  Howick  and 

inistry.      -g^^j  Grey)  was  to  be  secretary  at  war.     Lord  Grenville, 

Pitt's  former  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  was  to  be  lord-president.    Pitt, 

however,  felt  that  he  could  not  press  this  arrangement  against  the  wishes 

of  the  king,  who  had  just  been  troubled  with  a  third  return  of  his 

malady ;   and  on  George's  objecting  to   Fox,  Pitt  at  once   gave  way. 

Seeing  the  difficulty  of  the  situation.  Fox  nobly  advised  his  followers 

to  take  office  ;  but  Pitt's  old  colleague,  Grenville,  not  only  baulked  Pitt 

by  refusing  to  take  office  himself,  but  went  out  of  his  way  to  persuade 

Fox's  followers  to  do  the  same.     The  result  was  that  Pitt,  instead  of 

coming  back  to  power  at  the  head  of  an  administration  that  would  have 


1804  Addinqton — Pitt  883 


displayed  all  politicians  united  and  party  feeling  thrown  aside  in  face  of 
the  foreign  foe,  had  to  take  office  at  the  head  of  his  own  followers  merely, 
after  a  miserable  display  of  party  feeling.  Weak,  however,  as  Pitt's 
government  was,  it  contained  many  remarkable  men.  In  the  Commons 
his  chief  supporters  were  Castlereagh  and  Canning ;  in  the  Lords  the 
duke  of  Rutland,  Lord  Hawkesbury  (afterwards  earl  of  Liverpool),  Lord 
Melville  (formerly  Dundas),  and  Lord  Harrowby ;  but  as  a  ministry, 
Pitt's  second  administration  was  weak  ;  and  Pitt,  though  he  returned  to 
office,  cannot  be  said  to  have  come  back  to  power. 

Shortly  after  Pitt  took  ofiice,  Bonaparte,  who  had  already  been  de- 
clared consul  for  life,  took  a  further  step  towards  absolute  power.  A 
series  of  royalist  plots  had  come  to  light,  in  which  Georges  French 
Cadoudal,  a  Vendean  peasantj  was  the  chief  mover,  and  Affairs, 
had  received  some  assistance  from  Addington's  ministry.  Bonaparte 
detected  these,  and  arrested  Cadoudal,  along  with  Moreau,  the  old  repub- 
lican general,  and  Pichegru,  who,  so  early  as  the  time  of  the  directorate, 
had  been  suspected  of  monarchical  leanings.  Cadoudal  Wiis  executed  ; 
Pichegru  died  in  prison,  probably  strangled  by  his  jailers  ;  and  Moreau 
was  banished.  At  the  same  time  Bonaparte  sent  a  party  of  troops  into 
the  territory  of  the  duke  of  Wiirtemburg,  and  at  Ett^nheim  arrested  the 
Duke  d'Enghien,  a  son  of  the  prince  of  Conde,  on  a  charge  of  plotting 
against  his  life.  The  duke  was  hurried  to  Paris  and  there  tried  and  shot. 
The  whole  afiViir  is  very  obscure,  and  has  been  related  in  many  different 
ways  by  the  friends  and  enemies  of  Bonaparte  ;  but  it  is  certiiin  that  it 
created  a  profound  disgust  in  Europe,  and  went  far  to  ruin  the  character 
of  Bonaparte  with  many  who  had  hitherto  believed  in  him. 

In  France,  however,  Bonaparte's  policy  was  successful.      MachiaveUi 
remarks  that  the  best  way  to  institute  a  tyranny  is  to  create  a  belief  in 
plots,  and  in  December  1804    Bonaparte  abandoned    the 
republican   forms,  which  had  hitherto  been  preserved  in   becomes 
France,  by  taking  for  himself  the  title  of  emperor.     Such  an      "^P«'"o''- 
empire  as  he  set  up  is  generally  styled  an  '  Imperial  Democracy',  because 
the  emperor  professes  to  act  as  the  representative  of  the  democracy,  and 
to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  people  by  despotic  means.     Henceforward 
Bonaparte  dropped  his  surname  and  styled  himself  Napoleon. 

When  the  war  began,  the  first  plan  of  the  French  was  to  invade 
England.  For  this  purpose  a  large  army,  amounting  to  167,000  men,  was 
collected  at  Boulogne,  and  carefully  drilled  to  embark  in  the    ,     . 

•  T^         in  ^^  invasion 

shortest  possible  time,  m  case  the  French  fleet  could  secure   of  England 
the  command  of  the  sea  for  even  a  few  hours.     This,  how-   ^  ^""^ 
ever,  he  found  impossible,  for  the  ports  of  Toulon  and  Brest  were  closely 


884  George  til.  1804 

watched  by  the  British  fleet.  In  these  circumstances  he  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  Spain,  and  devised  an  elaborate  scheme  for  the  union  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  fleets.  While  Nelson,  who  was  blockading  Toulon, 
was  in  Corsica,  the  French  fleet  sailed  out  in  January  18,  1805  ;  and 
though  Nelson's  frigates  brought  him  intelligence  of  their  sailing,  he  was 
for  some  time  ignorant  of  their  destination,  and  thought  they  had  made 
for  the  east.  In  reality,  Villeneuve,  the  French  admiral,  had  slipped 
along  the  coast  of  Spain,  joined  a  Spanish  fleet  at  Cadiz,  and  made  for 
the  West  Indies.  As  soon  as  possible.  Nelson  followed  them,  and  in 
June  both  fleets  were  in  American  waters.  Villeneuve's  movements, 
however,  were  simply  designed  to  decoy  Nelson  from  Europe ;  and  as  soon 
as  Nelson  reached  the  West  Indies,  Villeneuve  sailed  home  again.  On 
Battle  off  July  22,  the  combined  fleet  was  off"  Cape  Finisterre,  where  it 
Ferroi.  ^^^^  ^^|.j^  g^^,  Robert  Calder,  who  was  watching  the  harbour 

of  Ferroi.  Calder  had  fifteen  sail  of  the  line,  the  allies  twenty-five ;  never- 
theless he  attacked  them,  and  captured  two  line-of-battle  ships.  After 
the  battle,  the  allied  fleet  brought  a  Spanish  fleet  out  of  Ferroi,  and  the 
combined  force  then  made  for  Cadiz.  This  step  completely  spoilt 
Napoleon's  plan.  Had  Villeneuve,  with  his  twenty-five  ships,  made 
immediately  for  the  Channel,  instead  of  the  coast  of  Spain,  it  is  possible 
that,  for  a  moment,  the  command  of  the  sea  might  have  passed  into  their 
hands.  As  it  was,  the  retreat  to  Cadiz  was  simply  giving  up  the  game, 
and  as  such  Napoleon  took  it. 

Meanwhile,  Pitt  had  endeavoured  to  balance  Napoleon's  alliance  with 
Spain  by  a  coalition  with  Austria  and  Russia.  In  April,  Russia  agreed 
The  Third  to  furnish  500,000  men  ;  in  August,  Austria  joined  the 
Coahtion.  jgague.  Nothing  but  the  selfishness  of  Prussia  prevented 
her  adherence.  The  result  of  these  preparations  to  invade  France, 
coupled  with  the  failure  of  Villeneuve,  was  that  Napoleon  broke  up  his 
camp  at  Boulogne  and  marched  against  Austria. 

The  danger  of  invasion  was,  therefore,  removed  ;  but  it  still  remained 
to  destroy  the  allied  fleet  at  Cadiz.  There  it  was  being  watched  by 
Battle  of  Admiral  CoUingwood  and  Sir  Robert  Calder,  but  Nelson 
Trafalgar.  ^^^  commissioned  to  do  the  work  of  destruction,  and  on 
September  14  he  sailed  for  Spain.  Nelson  reached  Cadiz  on  September 
29,  but  it  was  not  till  October  21  that  he  succeeded  in  bringing  the 
allied  fleet  to  an  engagement.  However,  by  judiciously  keeping  the 
greater  part  of  his  fleet  out  of  sight,  and  concealing  his  own  presence, 
Nelson  contrived  to  decoy  Villeneuve  out  of  Cadiz.  Nelson  had  twenty- 
seven  ships,  and  Villeneuve  thirty-three.  Villeneuve's  ships  were 
arranged  in  line  ;  Nelson — following  the  method  of  Rodney  against  de 


1805 


Pitt 


885 


Grasse,  and  Duncan  against  de  Winter— formed  his  ships  in  two  lines  of 
fourteen  and  thirteen  respectively,  about  one  mile  distant  from  each  other. 
These,  led  by  Nelson  and  Collingwood,  sailed  down  on  the  enemy's  line 
at  right  angles,  cutting  it  into  three  divisions.  Of  these,  one  being  to 
leeward  was  unable  to  get  into  action  ;  the  others  were  fully  engaged  by 
the  British  vessels,  and  no  less  than  twenty  were  sunk  or  captured.  Unfor- 
tunately Nelson,  whose  brilliant  uniform  made  him  a  conspicuous  object, 
was  mortally  wounded  by  a  bullet  fired  from  the  tops  of  the  Bedonbtahhj 
a  French  ship,  alongside  which  his  own  ship,  the  Victory^  was  lying. 


Nelson  was  a  typical  English  sailor  of  his  time.     The  son  of  a  clergy- 
man, as  Jervis  of  a  merchant,  and  Collingwood  of  a  country  lawyer,  he 
represented  the  popular  element  in  the  British  navy.    Enter-   character 
ing  the  service  at  twelve,  he  had  made  himself  a  thorough   o^  Nelson, 
master  of  every  branch  of  his  profession,  and  had  pushed  hisway  by  sheer 


886  George  III.  1805 

merit  from  one  post  to  another.  But  to  say  that  Nelson  was  an  admir- 
able seaman  is  very  inadequate  praise.  He  possessed  also  the  insight 
into  men's  motives,  and  the  conduct  of  affairs  on  a  large  scale,  which  con- 
stitute a  statesman.  No  one  understood  more  thoroughly  than  he  the 
conditions  of  the  contest  in  which  Great  Britain  was  then  engaged.  In 
his  profession,  strict  observance  of  duty  was  the  keynote,  not  only  of  his 
own  conduct,  but  of  what  he  required  from  others  ;  and  his  last  signal, 
'  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,'  has  become  proverbial  as  a 
rule  of  public  conduct.  Fortunately,  death  did  not  come  to  Nelson  till 
his  work  was  done.  Trafalgar  destroyed  the  last  fleet  which  Napoleon 
was  able  to  place  upon  the  ocean  ;  and  after  its  destruction,  not  only 
were  England  and  her  colonies  safe  from  invasion,  but  her  merchants 
were  able  to  traffic  with  fair  security  on  every  sea. 

War  with  France  had,  as  usual,  been  followed  by  difficulties  in  India. 
Since  the  retirement  of  Warren  Hastings,  the   most   notable  rulers  of 
India  had  been  Lord  Cornwallis  and  Lord  Mornington,  after- 
wards Marquess  Wellesley.     The  rule  of  Lord  Cornwallis 
(1786-1793)  is  chiefly  memorable  for  the  settlement  of  the  Bengal  land 
Lord  Corn-   question.     For  a  long  time  it  had  been  doubtful  who  were 
waihs.  ^i^g  j.gj^|   owners   of  land  in  Bengal — the  Zemindars,  who 

collected  the  revenue,  or  the  Ryots,  who  cultivated  the  soil.  The 
Cornwallis  settlement  was  a  compromise.  The  Zemindars  were  to  be 
regarded  as  owners  ;  the  Ryots  were  not  to  be  dispossessed  so  long  as 
they  paid  the  small  fixed  dues  assessed  upon  them.  This  arrangement 
is  known  as  the  '  Permanent  Settlement.' 

Lord  Mornington  arrived  in  India  in  1798,  a  year  after  his  more  cele- 
brated brother,  Arthur  Wellesley,  had  landed  there  in  command  of  the 
Lord  Morn-   Thirty-third  Foot,  now  1st  Battalion  West  Riding.  •   The 
ington.  ^^j^g  ^j^g   critical,  for  Napoleon  was   in   Egypt,  bent  on 

destroying  British  influence  in  India,  and  most  of  the  Indian  chiefs- 
such  as  Tippoo  Sahib  of  Mysore,  son  of  Hyder  Ali,  the  Nizam  of 
Hyderabad,  and  the  Mahratta  chiefs,  Scindia  and  Holkar — had  French 
soldiers  in  their  pay,  by  whom  their  armies  were  trained  in  European 
discipline.  Trouble  first  arose  with  Tippoo,  who  refused  to  receive  a 
Seringa-  British  mission.  War,  accordingly,  was  declared,  and  an 
patam.  army,  commanded  by  General  Harris,  was  sent  against 
him.  On  this,  Tippoo  retired  into  his  strong  capital,  Seringapatam. 
The  conduct  of  the  siege  was  entrusted  to  Sir  David  Baird,  and  the 
town  was  taken  by  assault.  Tippoo  was  slain,  and  the  greater  part 
of  his  territory  restored  to  the  rightful  Hindoo  heir,  whose  ancestor 
had   been    displaced    by  Hyder   Ali.      Lord   Wellesley   then    devised 


1805  Pitt  887 

a  system  of  subsidiary  alliances  by  which  the  native  powers  were  to 
agree  to  receive  a  Resident  named  by  the  company,  and  to  regulate  their 
alliances  in  accordance  with  his  advice  ;  while  domestic  aflfairs  were  left 
in  their  own  hands.  The  attempt  led  to  war  with  the  Mahratta  chiefs, 
who  ruled  over  an  immense  tract  of  territory  stretching  from  the  Deccan, 
in  Southern  India,  to  Delhi,  on  the  Ganges.  The  head  of  the  Mahrattas 
was  the  Rajah  of  Sattara  ;  nominally,  they  were  ruled  by  his  Peishwah, 
or  hereditary  vizier,  who  lived  at  Poona  ;  in  reality,  each  chief  was  inde- 
pendent. In  1802  Lord  Wellesley  concluded  a  subsidiary  treaty  with 
the  Peishwah.  This  roused  the  indignation  of  the  two  great  chiefs, 
Scindia  and  Holkar,  and  war  broke  out. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  was  entrusted  by  Wellesley  to  General  Lake, 
the  victor  of  Vinegar  Hill,  and  to  his  own  younger  brother,  Arthur 
Wellesley,  of  whose  abilities  he  had  a  very  high  opinion.  Arthur 
Arthur  Wellesley  was  born  in  1769,  and,  after  being  edu-  "Wellesley. 
cated  at  Eton,  and  at  a  French  military  school  at  Angers,  entered  the  army 
at  the  age  of  seventeen.  At  that  time  commissions  in  the  army  were 
obtained  by  purchase,  and  his  elder  brother.  Lord  Mornington,  helped 
him  to  secure  one  rank  after  another  till,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four, 
he  was  colonel  of  the  Thirty-third  Foot.  With  this  regiment  he  took  part 
in  the  duke  of  York's  retreat  through  Holland,  and  distinguished  him- 
self by  the  courage  and  presence  of  mind  with  which,  at  a  critical 
moment,  he  threw  his  regiment  across  a  road  by  which  the  enemy  was 
advancing,  and  covered  the  retreat.  He  was  then  aide-de-camp  to  the 
lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  sailed  for  India  in  1796.  There  he  had 
distinguished  himself  by  the  eflficiency  in  which  he  kept  his  regiment,  by 
his  conduct  at  the  siege  of  Seringapatam,  and  by  the  successful  pursuit  of 
a  robber  chief  who  was  the  terror  of  Southern  India.  He  also  organised 
the  expedition  which  General  Baird  led  to  Egypt. 

When  the  Mahratta  war  broke  out  in  1803,  Colonel  Wellesley  was 
put  in  command  of  an  army  which  advanced  against  Scindia  from  the 
south,  and  General  Lake  of  another  force,  which  was  to  Mahratta 
advance  along  the  Ganges.  Both  were  successful.  Wei-  ^^*"- 
lesley  increased  his  reputation  by  the  brilliant  victories  of  Assaye  and 
Argaum  ;  and  General  Lake,  marching  from  Cawnpore,  took  Delhi,  and 
placed  the  Mogul  under  British  influence.  Then  making  his  way  east, 
he  defeated  the  Mahrattas  in  the  great  battle  of  Laswaree.  For  these 
exploits  Lake  was  made  a  peer,  and  Wellesley  a  knight.  In  1805 
Wellesley  returned  home.  He  was  in  time  to  have  several  interviews 
with  Pitt,  who  said  of  him  that  '  he  had  never  met  with  any  military 
officer  with  whom  it  was  so  satisfactory  to  converse,'  and  to  heai*  Pitt 


888  George  III.  1805 

make  the  Guildhall  speech,  in  which  he  said  that  '  Britain  has  saved 
herself  by  her  courage,  and  will  save  Europe  by  her  example.' 

But  if  Great  Britain  could  carry  all  before  her  at  sea,  Napoleon  showed 

that  he  was  still  irresistible  on  land.     On  August  21,  1805,  Villeneuve 

had  put  into  Cadiz,  and  on  the  28th  the  camp  at  Boulogne 

paign  of  was  broken  up,  and  the  Grand  Army  marched  in  five 
divisions  for  the  Khine.  In  September  Napoleon  left  Paris 
and  took  the  command  in  person.  The  Austrians  had  foolishly  placed 
in  command  of  their  army  on  the  upper  Danube  the  incompetent 
Mack,  who  in  1799,  when  in  command  of  the  Neapolitan  troops,  had 
amused  Nelson  at  Naples  by  getting  his  own  army  surrounded  at  a  sham 
fight.  Now  he  did  the  same  thing  in  earnest ;  and  on  October  20,  the 
day  before  the  battle  of  Trafalgar,  was  compelled  to  surrender  at  Ulm 
with  30,000  excellent  troops.  This  disaster  opened  the  road  to  Vienna, 
which  the  French  occupied  without  a  battle  ;  and  then  pushing  forward 
into  Moravia,  they  defeated  the  combined  forces  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
Czar  at  the  great  battle  of  Austerlitz.  In  consequence  of  this  defeat,  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  was  compelled  to  make  peace,  and  left  Russia 
and  Great  Britain  to  continue  the  struggle  alone. 

The  news  of  this  series  of  disasters  reached  Pitt  when  he  was  in  the 
last  state  of  decline.     His  health  had  never  been  very  good,  and  since 

Death  of       1*^^^  there  had  been  a  rapid  diminution  in  his  strength. 

Pitt.  Moreover,  his  present  ministry  had  given  him  little  but  dis- 

appointment. He  was  compelled  to  act  with  men  who  had  opjDosed  him, 
and  some  of  his  old  colleagues,  such  as  Grenville,  were  in  opposition. 
Still  more  grievous  to  him  was  the  attack  made  upon  his  old  friend  and 
colleague,  Dundas,  now  Lord  Melville.  In  the  session  of  1805  he  was 
accused  of  allowing  the  money  which  passed  through  his  hands  as 
treasurer  of  the  navy  to  be  used  for  private  purposes  ;  and  although  no 
loss  had  been  sufi'ered  by  the  public,  still  even  such  a  good  friend  of  Pitt 
as  Wilberforce  felt  that  some  notice  must  be  taken  of  the  irregularity. 
At  the  end  of  October  came  the  news  of  Ulm,  and  though  that  of  the 
victory  of  Trafalgar  soon  followed,  the  death  of  Nelson  overshadowed 
the  national  rejoicing.  During  the  autumn  Pitt  sunk  rapidly.  His  last 
public  appearance  was  at  the  lord-mayor's  banquet  in  November.  When 
the  news  of  Austerlitz  reached  him  he  was  at  Bath,  but  struggled  up 
to  London  for  the  meeting  of  parliament.  He  was,  however,  fated  never 
to  appear  again  on  the  scene  of  his  great  oratorical  triumphs,  for  he  died 

Pitt's  on  the  day  of  meeting,  January  23,  1806.     In  judging  of 

Career.         Pitt's  character,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  his  career  was 
more  than  ordinarily  subject  to  the  caprice  of  fortune.     The  only  part 


1806  Pitt — Grenmlle  889 

which  he  himself  j^robably  regarded  with  satisfaction,  the  peaceful 
administration  from  1783  to  1792,  is  almost  forgotten  by  the  side  of  more 
stirring  events.  Of  the  other  parts,  the  war  with  the  French  Eepiiblic 
was  undertaken  sorely  against  his  will,  and  was  so  conducted  as  to 
give  grave  cause  for  criticism ;  while  his  scheme  for  the  settlement  of  the 
Irish  question  was  so  mutilated  as  to  deprive  it  of  everything  on  which 
he  based  his  hopes  of  success.  Nevertheless,  if  not  great  in  all  he 
undertook,  Pitt  was  really  a  great  man,  and  his  end  is  one  of  the  most 
pathetic  scenes  in  the  history  of  this  country. 

On  Pitt's  death,  George  would  have  been  glad  to  have  the  adminis- 
tration carried  on  by  one  of  his  colleagues,  but  none  was  willing  to 
undertake   the   work,  and   he   had   now  to  do  what  two 
years  before  he  had  said  was  more  distasteful  than  civil    '  All  the 
war — namely,  call  in  the  assistance  of  Fox.    Accordingly      ^  ^"*^' 
Grenville  became  prime  minister,  with  an  administration  described  as 
'  All  the  Talents.'     Fox  was  secretary  of  stjite  for  foreign  affiiirs ;  Grey 
(afterwards  Lord  Howick)  was  hi-st  lord  of  the  admiralty  ;  Addington 
(now  Lord   Sidmouth)  was  privy  seal.      The  most  remarkable  of  the 
appointments  was  that  of  Chief-Justice  Lord  EUenborough    Lord  Ellen- 
to  a  seat  in  the  cabinet.    Such  an  appointment,  which  might   borough, 
result  in  the  cabinet  ordering  some  one  to  be  tried  on  a  criminal  charge 
before  one  of  its  own  members,  was   sharply  criticised ;   and   though 
approved  by  a  majority  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  it  has  never  been 
drawn  into  a  precedent. 

The  first  attention  of  the  new  ministers  was  given  to  foreign  affairs. 
F'or  fourteen  years  Fox  had  been  asserting  that  war  with  France  was 
unnecessary,  and  he  endeavoured  to  demonstrate  the  truth  Negotiations 
of  his  assertion  by  opening  negotiations  with  Napoleon.  A  ^°^  Peace, 
little  experience,  however,  soon  showed  Fox  how  much  easier  it  is  to 
criticise  in  opposition  than  to  carry  out  one's  views  in  office.  Napoleon 
was  bent  on  attacking  Prussia,  and  made  use  of  Fox's  overtures  to  give 
the  impression  that  Russia  would  soon  be  left  to  fight  single-handed.  He 
refused  to  make  a  joint  peace  with  both  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  coolly 
offered  to  guarantee  England  in  the  possession  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
which  we  had  taken  from  the  Dutch  ;  Malta,  which  he  had  taken  from 
the  knights  of  St.  John,  and  of  which  we  were  then  in  full  posses- 
sion ;  and  Hanover,  which  was  an  hereditary  possession  of  the  British 
king.  Such  offers  were  obviously  designed  merely  to  waste  time,  for 
Napoleon  was  bent  on  putting  everything  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword, 
and  even  Fox  was  convinced  that  peace  could  not  be  obtained  with 
honour.     Unfortunately  this  discovery  came  to  Fox  when  it  was  too  late 


890  George  III.  1806 

to  act  upon  it.  His  health  had  long  been  failing,  and  was  further 
impaired  by  the  long  debates  to  which  the  policy  of  the  '  Talents '  gave 

Death  of      rise  in  parliament.     In  the  summer  he  ceased  to  attend  the 

^°^-  House,  and  in  September  1806  he  died.    The  political  capa- 

city of  Fox  is  not  easy  to  gauge.  With  the  exception  of  two  insignificant 
periods  he  spent  his  whole  life  in  opposition,  and  as  a  man  of  action  has  left 
no  record  at  all.  As  an  orator,  he  is  admitted  to  have  been  admirable  ; 
but  with  all  his  gifts,  he  left  little  mark  on  the  history  of  his  country. 

The  most  satisfactory  work  of  the  Grenville  ministry  down  to  the 
death  of  Fox  was  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  This  was  due  in 
Slave  Trade  reality  to  the  exertions  of  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson,  and 
prohibited,  ^j^^  policy  of  abolition  was  never  accepted  by  the  cabinet. 
Nevertheless  Fox  gave  his  support  to  the  proposal,  and  propositions 
abolishing  it  were  moved  in  either  House  by  Fox  and  Grenville  respec- 
tively, and  carried;  and  next  year,  1807,  an  act  founded  on  these  resolu- 
tions was  carried  through  both  Houses.  From  this  time  the  trade  in 
slaves  became  illegal,  but  the  actual  abolition  of  slavery  did  not  take 
place  for  nearly  thirty  years. 

During  the  same  session  Lord  Melville  was  impeached,  but  the  trial 

excited  comparatively  little  interest.      It  was  thought  that  he  was  a 

somewhat  hardly  used  public  servant,  and  he  was  accordingly 

ment  of        acciuitted.     His  is  the  last  impeachment  that  has  occurred 

Melville.        .     i,      .       ,  ^ 

in  JLngland. 

Fox  was  succeeded  as  foreign  secretary  by  Lord  Howick  (formerly 
Grey),  who  met  with  no  better  success  than  his  predecessor  in  his  attempt 
Napoleon's  to  come  to  terms  with  Napoleon.  On  the  contrary,  Napo- 
Successes.  leon's  great  successes  made  him  confident  that  in  the  end  he 
would  get  the  better  of  the  struggle.  On  October  14  the  two  battles  of 
Jena  and  Auerstadt  broke  the  power  of  Prussia;  and  in  1807,  in  spite  of 
the  doubtful  battle  of  Eylau,  the  great  victory  of  Friedland  compelled 
the  Czar  to  come  to  terms.  Not  only  did  Alexander  make  peace  with 
Napoleon  but  even  entered  into  an  intimate  alliance  with  him,  and  the 
Treaty  of  Tilsit  left  Great  Britain  to  carry  on  the  contest  single-handed. 

Meanwhile,  Napoleon  had  devised  a  scheme  which  he  hoped  to  find 
more  eflective  than  invasion  in  bringing  Great  Britain  to  her  knees. 
The  Berlin  Though  he  could  hardly  send  a  man-of-war  to  sea  for  fear  of 
Decrees.  ^^^  British  cruisers,  he  determined  to  declare  the  British 
Isles  in  a  state  of  blockade.  To  effect  this  he  issued  the  Berlin  Decrees. 
By  these  he  declared  (1)  that  the  British  Isles  were  in  a  state  of 
blockade  ;  (2)  that  France  and  all  her  allies  were  forbidden  to  trade  with 
them  ;  (3)  that  in  a  state  occupied  by  French  troops  all  British  property 


1807  Grenville  891 

was  forfeited,  and  all  British  subjects  prisoners  of  war.  These  Decrees 
were  issued  on  November  21,  1806.  As  Napoleon  had  no  fleet  by  which 
he  could  enforce  his  Decrees,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  would  have  had 
much  effect ;  but  without  waiting  to  see  this,  the  Grenville  orders  in 
ministry  issued  the  Orders  in  Council  on  January  7,  1807.  Council. 
By  these  orders  neutrals  were  forbidden  to  trade  between  one  port  in 
France  and  another,  or  one  in  possession  of  her  allies  ;  and  in  November 
this  was  supplemented  by  a  further  order  forbidding  trade  with  all  ports 
and  places  belonging  to  France  and  her  allies.  The  Decrees  and  Orders 
constituted  a  commercial  war.  The  object  of  the  Orders  was  partly 
retaliatory,  partly  designed  to  compel  all  commerce  between  the  con- 
tinental and  neutral  states  to  pass  through  British  ports.  As  it  has  been 
well  put :  '  The  French  soldiers  were  turned  into  coast-guard  men  to  shut 
out  Great  Britain  from  her  markets  ;  the  British  ships  became  revenue 
cutters  to  prohibit  the  trade  of  France.'  The  chief  sufferers  from  the 
system  were,  first,  the  consumers  of  British  and  colonial  goods  on  the  con- 
tinent, and  second,  the  neutral  countries  which  wanted  to  trade  with  one 
or  both  of  the  belligerent  countries.  The  sufferers  naturally  became 
bitterly  hostile  to  the  belligerent  from  whose  action  they  immediately 
suffered.  In  Europe  the  Berlin  Decrees  created  a  profound  dislike  for 
the  Napoleonic  system  among  all  who  wished  to  tmde  with  England ; 
among  the  neutrals,  the  bitterest  feeling  against  Great  Britain  was 
excited  in  the  United  States. 

In  1807,  besides  passing  the  act  which  gave  effect  to  the  resolutions 
against  the  slave  trade  passed  the  previous  session,  ministers  also  brought 
forward  a  bill  to  remove  some  of  the  disabilities  of  Roman 
Catholics  and  Nouconfonnists  who  served  in  the  army  and    Navy 
navy.     By  an  act  passed  in  1793  in  the  Irish  Parliament,    ^^^^^^^  ^'"• 
Roman  Catholics  were  permitted  to  hold  any  rank  in  the  Irish  army  up 
to   that   of  colonel ;   but  in   the   English  establishment  no  such  right 
existed.     This  was  such  an  obvious  injustice  that  the  ministers  induced 
George  iii.  to  agree  to  a  measure  extending  the  Irish  Act  to  England. 
In  the  end,  however,  they  extended  the  scope  of  the  bill  so  as  to  include 
both  the  army  and  navy,  and  to  throw  open  all  ranks,  not  only  to  Roman 
Catholics,  but  also  to  Nonconformists.     In  this  form  the  bill  passed  its 
second  reading  ;  but  the  king,  having  become  alarmed  at  its  provisions, 
declared  that  he  never  meant  to  go  further  than  to  assimilate  the  law  in 
England  and  Ireland,  and  that  the  present  bill  must  be  limited  to  that. 
Then,  going  a  step  further,  he  demanded  a  pledge  from  the   Grenville 
ministers  that  the  subject  should  not  be  brought  forward   dismissed, 
again,  and  on  ministers  refusing  this,  they  were  at  once  dismissed. 


892  Ge(yrge  III.  1807 

The  place  of  the  retiring  ministers  was  taken  by  an  anti-Catholic 
administration,  under  the  premiership  of  the  duke  of  Portland.  As  a 
The  Portland  joung  man  Portland  had  been  the  prime  minister  of  the 
Ministry.  OoaUtion  Ministry,  but  in  1794  he  had  led  over  into  Pitt's 
camp  a  body  of  moderate  Whigs  who  had  been  alarmed  by  the  excesses 
of  the  French  Bevolution.  He  was  now  both  a  Tory  and  an  opponent  of 
the  claims  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  leading  members  of  his  ministry 
were  Eldon,  the  chancellor,  Perceval,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer, 
Canning,  the  foreign  secretary,  Lord  Hawkesbury  —  afterwards  Lord 
Liverpool — home  secretary.  Lord  Castlereagh,  war  and  colonial  secretary ; 
and  among  the  others  were  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  chief  secretary  to  the 
lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  Huskisson,  secretary  to  the  treasury.  As 
it  was  thought  that  the  new  ministers  must  have  given  a  pledge  to  the 
king  not  to  revive  the  Roman  Catholic  claims,  motions  were  introduced 
by  the  opposition  that  '  ministers  ought  not  to  bind  themselves  by  any 
pledge  as  to  what  advice  they  should  give  the  king ' ;  and  also  '  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  king  to  act  without  advice ' ;  but  the  motions  were 
lost.  A  dissolution  of  parliament  followed,  and  the  electors  showed 
clearly  that  the  king  had  their  approval  in  resisting  the  Roman  Catholic 
claims,  by  returning  a  large  anti-Catholic  majority.  In  fact,  the  '  whole 
spirit  of  the  country  was  with  the  king,'  and  the  Roman  Catholics  had 
far  fewer  friends  in  proportion  outside  the  House  of  Commons  than 
they  had  inside. 

In  spite  of  the  abortive  negotiations  of  Fox  and  Howick,  the  war  was 
still  carried  on.     In  1806  an   expedition,  ordered  by  Pitt,  landed  in 

Th  w  Calabria,  under  Sir  John  Stuart,  to  aid  the  peasants  in  an 

insurrection  against  the  French.     It  was  met  by  General 

Regnier  with  a  French  force  at   Maida.     There  a  battle  was  fought, 

Battle  of      which,  though  insignificant  compared  to  the  mighty  contests 

Maida.  ^f  Austerlitz  and  Jena,  was  decisive  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
troops  engaged.  The  fighting  was  almost  entirely  with  the  bayonet,  and 
the  result  was  a  complete  victory  for  the  British  troops.  In  1807  it  was 
learned  that  the  French  were  about  to  seize  the  Danish  fleet,  consisting  of 
eighteen  sail  of  the  line  ;  and  though  we  had  no  pretext  for  war  with 
Denmark,  the  Portland  administration  sent  twenty-five  ships  of  the  line, 
^  .  ^       under  Admiral   Gambler,  and  27,000  troops   under  Lord 

Seizure  of  •>  ■>  l 

the  Danish  Cathcart,  to  compel  the  Danes  to  hand  over  their  fleet  to 
Great  Britain,  on  condition  that  it  was  restored  at  the 
close  of  the  war.  To  this  demand  they  returned  a  refusal ;  upon  which 
Copenhagen  was  bombarded  from  both  land  and  sea,  and  after  four  days 
the  ships  and  stores  were  given  up.    We  also  took  Heligoland,  which  was 


1808  .  Portland  893 

then  considered  a  valuable  naval  station  for  watching  the  mouth  of  the 
Elbe,  and  useful  as  a  centre  for  smuggling  goods  into  North  Germany. 
In  1806,  pursuing  our  usual  policy,  we  took  Cape  Colony  from  the  Dutch. 

The  ministry  were  then  led  by  Sir  Home  Popham,  the  commander  of 
the  naval  forces  at  the  Cape,  into  an  attack  on  Buenos  Ayres,  a  colony  of 
Spain,  with  which  we  were  still  at  war.     This  proved   a 
failure,  for  General  Whitelock,  who  was  chosen  to  command    to  South 
the  military  forces,  knew  nothing  of  war,  and  though  he 
took  Monte  Video,  contrived  to  entangle  his  forces  in  the   streets  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  was  compelled  to  enter  into  a  disgraceful  arrange- 
ment for  evacuating  the  whole  country.     Three  years  later,  in  1810,  we 
took  from  the  French  the  island  of  Mauritius,  which  had  hitherto  been  a 
centre  of  privateering  attacks  on  our  Indian  commerce. 

Far  more  important,  however,  than  these  small  expeditions  was  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  in  the  Spanish  peninsula,  which  arose  directly  from 
Napoleon's  conunercial  system.  Portugal  still  opened  her  The  French 
ports  to.  British  ships ;  and  so  long  as  this  was  the  case,  *"  Portugal. 
Napoleon  found  it  impossible  to  keep  British  goods  out  of  south-western 
Europe,  for  they  were  smuggled  by  the  Portuguese  across  the  Spanish 
frontier,  and  by  the  Spaniards  into  France.  Accordingly,  in  1807,  he 
formed  a  scheme  in  conjunction  with  Spain  for  conquering  Portugal, 
and  Junot,  one  of  his  favourite  generals,  was  sent  through  the  north  of 
Spain  to  occupy  that  country.  When  Junot  reached  Lisbon  he  found 
that  the  Portuguese  royal  family  had  taken  refuge  on  board  their  fleet, 
and  sailed  for  their  colony  of  Brazil.  By  this  flight  Napoleon's  plan  of 
seizing  the  Portuguese  fleet  Wiis  frustrated  ;  but  the  French  treated 
Portugal  as  a  conquered  country,  and  disgraced  themselves  by  plunder- 
ing monasteries  and  appropriating  works  of  nrt. 

However,  it  soon  became  apparent  that  Napoleon's  intentions  with 
regard  to  the  peninsula  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  conquest  of 
Portugal.  Under  the  pretence  of  reinforcing  Junot,  he  The  French 
contrived  that  French  troops  should  be  in  practical  posses-  *"  Spam, 
sion  of  the  fortresses  of  San  Sebastian,  Burgos,  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  and 
other  fortresses  in  the  north  of  Spain.  His  next  stej)  was  to  set  on  foot 
a  course  of  intrigues  with  a  view  to  displacing  the  reigning  family  of 
Spain.  Charles  iv.,  the  king,  was  under  the  influence  of  his  wife,  who, 
in  her  turn,  was  ruled  by  her  favourite  Godoy,  who  had  acquired  the 
title  of  Prince  of  the  Peace  from  having  negotiated  the  treaty  of  1795 
between  France  and  Spain.  To  Godoy  was  bitterly  opposed  Charles' 
eldest  son  Ferdinand,  prince  of  the  Asturias,  and  their  quarrels  gave 
Napoleon  an  opportunity  for  interference.    Riots  broke  out  in  Madrid 


894  George  III,  1806 

and  other  Spanish  towns,  which  resulted  in  the  abdication  of  Charles  and 
the  accession  of  Ferdinand.  On  this  the  French  troops  occupied  Madrid, 
and  Napoleon  induced  both  Charles  and  Ferdinand  to  come  to  Bayonne 
for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  him.  Both  were  persuaded  to  abdicate, 
and  then  Napoleon  named  his  brother  Joseph  Bonaparte  king  of  Spain, 
and  had  him  recognised  by  what  purported  to  be  a  body  of  Spanish 
notables  in  June  1808. 

Joseph  had  been  king  of  Naples  since  1806,  and  had  shown  himself  an 
excellent  sovereign.  By  his  accession  the  Spaniards  were  offered  the 
Spanish  advantages  of  the  French  Ee volution,  and  were  invited  to 

Resistance,  throw  over  the  systems  of  feudalism,  priestcraft,  and  corrup- 
tion which  had  long  been  dominant  in  Spain.  Nevertheless,  the  majority 
of  the  people  refused  to  accept  Joseph,  even  under  these  conditions, 
partly  because  the  intelligence  of  the  people  was  not  sufficiently  aroused 
to  the  evils  of  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  and  also  because  the  Spaniards, 
being  intensely  patriotic,  resented  interference  by  the  French.  Hitherto 
Napoleon,  in  all  his  campaigns,  had  had  to  deal  with  monarchs  and 
armies  of  regular  soldiers,  and  had  been  accustomed  to  see  whole  peoples 
submit  without  a  blow  when  their  j)rofessional  defenders  had  been 
vanquished.  He  was  now  for  the  first  time  confronted  by  a  national 
resistance.  In  the  open  field,  and  against  equal  numbers,  the  Spaniards 
had  no  chance  with  the  French,  and  their  troops  were  disgracefully 
beaten  by  Bessieres  at  the  battle  of  Eio  Seco  ;  but  the  town  of  Saragossa 
defied  all  efforts  of  the  French  to  capture  it,  and  Dupont,  one  of  the 
French  generals,  having  advanced  too  far  from  his  suj)ports,  was  sur- 
rounded by  an  overwhelming  force  and  compelled  to  surrender  at 
Baylen.  The  whole  Spanish  population  rose,  and  commenced  a  guerilla 
warfare  against  the  invaders.  Confronted  with  this,  Joseph,  who  was  no 
soldier,  evacuated  Madrid,  and  withdrew  his  armies  to  the  entrance  of 
the  road  from  Bayonne  into  Spain. 

Meanwhile,   the   British  government  had    determined  to  assist  the 

Portuguese,  and  for  this  purpose  a  body  of  troops  under  Sir  Arthur 

Wellesley,  which  had  been  designed   for  South  America, 

Weiiesiey       were   ordered   to   proceed   to   Portugal.     They  landed  in 

ortuga  .     ]y[Qj^(^ggQ  g^y^  ^^^  ^^  August  17  defeated  a  division  of  the 

French  army  under  Laborde  at  Koriga.     He  then  marched  south  and  took 

up  a  position  at  Vimiero,  a  little  north  of  Lisbon,  to  await  reinforcements. 

While  these  were  landing,  he  was  attacked  on   the  21st  by  the  whole 

Battle  of      French  army  under  Junot  himself.     After  hard  fighting  the 

Vimiero.       French  were  beaten;  and  as  it  was  still  noon, Wellesley  wished 

to  drive  Junot  into  the  valley  of  the  Tagus,  and,  by  cutting  him  off  from 


4 

AI 

TRAT 
E  PE 
3-I8I 

^3' 

SP 

ILLUS 

INTH 

180 

wo 

o  oc 

-J 

N       I/O     ^        ey       (/ 

a_^ - 'i'    — 


J:      /        iJ^A/        i;        7" TS"~'~V~~~~j~;-; 


896  George  III.  I8O8 

Lisbon,  to  comjDel  him  to  surrender.  Wellesley,  however,  was  superseded 
in  turn  by  two  senior  officers,  Sir  Harry  Burrard  and  Sir  Hew  Dal- 
rymple.  They  gave  up  his  plan,  and  accepted  the  overtures  for  an  armis- 
tice which  were  made  by  the  French.  Accordingly  a  convention  was 
signed  at  Cintra,  by  which  the  French  agreed  to  evacuate  Portugal, 
taking  with  them  their  arms  and  private  property — which  turned  out  to 
include  their  plunder — on  condition  that  they  were  conveyed  in  British 
ships  to  France.  From  a  military  point  of  view  the  convention  was 
ridiculous,  as  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  little  energy  would  have  compelled 
Junot  to  surrender  at  discretion  ;  but  politically,  by  giving  Portugal  to 
the  British  as  a  safe  base  of  operations,  it  secured  a  great  advantage.  In 
England,  however,  it  was  received  with  the  greatest  indignation,  and  of 
the  three  generals  responsible  for  it,  only  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  was 
employed  again. 

The  French   troops  had  now  been   expelled  from  the  whole  of  the 
peninsula,  except   where   the   road  to  France  entered   Spain  ;    but  in 
Napoleon     November    Napoleon    himself    took    the    command,    de- 
in  Spain.      feated    the    Sj)aniards    at  the    battles   of    Espinosa    and 
Tudela,  and  entered  Madrid  on  the  4th  of  December.     Meanwhile  the 
British  army  in  Portugal,  which  was  now  under  the  command  of  Sir 
John  Moore,  had  crossed  the  Spanish  frontier  to  Salamanca,  and  there 
Moore  heard  of  the  defeat  of  the  Spaniards.     Eecognising  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  fight  Napoleon  with  any  chance  of  success,  Moore 
Moore's        determined  to  march  on  Burgos  in  such  a  way  as  to  threaten 
Advance.      Napoleon's  communications  with  France  ;    this  he  hoped 
would  compel  Napoleon  to  concentrate  his  forces,  and  so  give  time  to 
the  Spanish  fugitives  to  recover  from  their  defeat.     As  Moore  expected, 
the  news  of  his  advance  caused   the   concentration  of  the   French  on 
Burgos  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  knew  this  was  in  progress,  his  object  being 
now  accomplished,  Moore  retreated  towards  Corunna,  where  the  trans- 
ports from  Lisbon  were  ordered  to  meet  him.     For  some  time  the  British 
were  pursued  by  Napoleon  in  person,  and  suffered  terrible  hardships  in 
their  forced  winter  march  through  the  mountains  of  the  Asturias  ;  but 
before  they  reached  the   coast   Napoleon   returned  to   France,  leaving 
Soult  and  Ney  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  British.     On  reaching 
Corunna  the  transports  were  not  in  sight,  but  Moore  turned  at  bay  on 
Battle  of      the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  inflicted,  on  January  16,  such 
Corunna.      ^  decisive  defeat  on  the  French  that  the  embarkation  of  the 
British  was  conducted  without  interference.    Moore  himself  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  died  before  the  troops  embarked. 

Although  during  the  war  the  British  had  never  fought  the  French  on 


1809  Portland  897 

a  large  scale,  they  had  now  won  a  series   of  pitched  battles,  usually 
against  odds,  and  this  encouraged  the  government  to  undertake  the  war 
on  a  larger  scale.     Accordingly,  in  April,  1809,  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley  was  again  sent  to  Lisbon  to  take  the  command  of  returns  to 
the  British  and  Portuguese  forces.    On  his  arrival  he  found      °'"^"e*  • 
the  country  threatened  with  invasion,  both  from  the  north  and   east. 
Soult  was  at  Oporto,  and  Victor  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Tagus  threaten- 
ing to  assault  the  capital.     Seeing  that  if  he  advanced  upon  Victor  a 
southern  march  by  Soult  might  cut  him  off  from  the  sea,  the  natural 
basis  of  a  British  force,  Wellesley  determined  to  attack  Soult  first,  and, 
marching  north,  he  sent  a  force  up  the  river  Douro  to  threaten  Soult's 
communications  with   Spain,   while  he   himself,   with  the   main  body, 
contrived  unperceived  to  cross  the  river  at  Oporto  itself.    The  result  was 
that  on  May  12,  Soult,  taken  by  surprise,  was  compelled  to 
evacuate  the   town  with  considerable  loss,  and  was   only   of  the 
able  to  make  his  way  into  Spain  at  the  price  of  abandoning      °^^°' 
all  his  guns  and  ammunition.    Soult  being  thus  disposed  of,  Wellesley 
advanced  up  the  valley  of  the  Tagus  and  entered  Spain,  where  he  had 
received   lavish   promises  of  support  from  the  Spaniards.     Little  real 
assistance,  however,  was  forthcoming ;  but  in  conjunction  with  Cuesta,  the 
Spanish  general,  he  occupied  a  position  at  Talavera,  and  there,  on  the 
27th  and  28th  of  July,  he  was  attacked  by  the  French  under   Battle  of 
Victor  and  Joseph.     As  the  Spaniards  were  placed  in  an   Talavera. 
almost  impregnable  position,  the  brunt  of  the  fighting  fell  on  the  British, 
who  maintained   their  post  with   much  loss.     Three   days  afterwards 
Wellesley  heard  that  Soult  had  reorganised  his  army  with  unexpected 
c-elerity,  and  had  forced  the  Pass  of  Baiios,  between  the  valleys  of  the 
Douro  and  the  Tagus,  and  was  now  in  his  rear.     Upon  this,  Wellesley 
crossed  the  Tagus,  and   made  his  way  back   to  Portugal  by  way  of 
Badajos.    The  result  of  the  campaign  was  to  again  clear  the  French  out  of 
Portugal,  and  for  this  Wellesley  received  the  title  of  Viscount  Wellington. 
Though  successful  on  the  whole  in  Portugal,  the  British  experienced 
in  1809  a  disaster  which,  being  near  home,  created  a  great  impression  on 
the    public  mind.       This   was   the    notorious   Walcheren 
Expedition.     Taking  advantage  of  Napoleon's  troubles  in   Walcheren 
the  Spanish  peninsula,  Austria,  for  the  fifth  time,  declared      ^^^  *  "'"' 
war  against  France,  and  it  was  thought  that  if  a  British  expedition  were 
to  proceed  to  the  Scheldt  Antwerp  might  be  taken,  and  troops  detained 
in  Belgium  which  would  otherwise  be  despatched  against  Austria.     The 
expedition  was  put  under  the  command  of  Lord  Chatham,  Pitt's  elder 
brother,   who,   though   a  valuable   counsellor  in  the   cabinet,  had   no 

3  L 


898  George  III.  1809 

qualification  for  the  field ;  and  the  naval  force  was  commanded  by  Sir 
Richard  Strachan.  The  whole  affair  was  grossly  mismanaged.  The 
naval  and  military  authorities  failed  to  work  harmoniously  together. 
No  proper  preparations  had  been  made  to  counteract  the  malarious 
climate  of  the  low-lying  flats  in  which  the  operations  had  to  be  conducted. 
The  troops  never  reached  Antwerp,  but  wasted  their  time  in  operations 
on  the  isle  of  Walcheren.  Flushing,  indeed,  was  taken,  but  the  troops 
died  by  thousands  of  fever ;  and  when  it  was  known  that  the  French 
had  made  Antwerp  impregnable,  the  expedition  returned  home. 

The  minister  chiefly  responsible  for  this  disaster  was  Castlereagh,  war 
and  colonial  secretary.  Canning,  the  foreign  secretary,  had  long  been  of 
Castlereagh  opinion  that  Castlereagh  was  unfitted  for  his  present  post, 
and  Canning.  ^^^  their  mutual  recriminations  led  to  a  duel  in  December 
1809.  This  was  followed  by  the  resignation  of  both.  Other  causes  had 
combined  to  injure  the  Portland  administration  ;  the  duke  of  York,  who 
was  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  had  justified  his  appointment 
by  showing  great  ability  for  organisation,  was  accused  of  granting 
commissions  through  the  corrupt  influence  of  his  mistress,  Anne  Clark. 
Though  the  charge  of  corruption  against  the  duke  was  not  made  out,  the 
scandalous  nature  of  the  charge  compelled  him  to  resign.  In  the  same 
session,  Lord  Castlereagh  and  Perceval  were  accused  of  using  improper 
influence  in  a  parliamentary  election,  and  though  they  were  acquitted, 
the  affair  threw  much  light  upon  the  system  of  parliamentary  election, 
and  helped  to  revive  the  movement  in  favour  of  parliamentary  reform. 
Portland's  health  was  not  equal  to  coping  with  such  an  accumulation  of 
difficulties,  and  he  accordingly  resigned.  There  was  then  some  negotia- 
tion for  a  Whig  administration,  but  Grenville's  awkwardness  and  asperity 
were  a  bar  to  any  satisfactory  arrangement.  Indeed,  he  and  Grey 
(formerly  Lord  Howick)  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  come  up  to  town  for 
Percival's  the  negotiations.  Accordingly,  Perceval  became  prime 
Ministry,  minister  and  Lord  Wellesley  became  minister  for  foreign 
affairs  in  order  to  support  his  brother.  Lord  Liverpool,  formerly  Lord 
Hawkesbury,  took  the  war  and  colonial  office,  with  Robert  Peel  as 
his  under  secretary,  and  Lord  Palmerston  as  secretary  at  war. 

The  year  1810  promised  to  be  a  critical  year  in  the  history  of  the 
Peninsula.     Napoleon  had  crushed  the  Austrians  in  the  great  battle  of 
Campaign    Wagram,  and  was  able  to  send  an  excellent  army  under 
of  i8io.  Massena,  one  of  his  best  generals,  to  drive  Wellington  out 

of  Portugal.  To  meet  this,  Wellington  had  devised  an  elaborate  scheme 
of  defence.  Lisbon  lies  at  the  extremity  of  a  peninsula,  formed  by  the 
estuary  of  the  Tagus  and  the  sea.     Across  this  he  prepared  three  lines 


1811  Portland — Perceval  899 

of  defences,  which  he  hoped,  with  the  assistance  of  the  British  gunboats, 
to  hold  against  any  attack,  and  having  secretly  made  these  preparations, 
he  stationed  his  troops  to  guard  the  northern  road  by  Ciudad  Rodrigo 
and  Almeida.  His  hope  was  to  retard  the  French  advance  till  harvest 
was  over,  and  then,  by  compelling  the  Portuguese  to  bring  all  their  stores 
within  his  lines,  to  make  the  country  untenable  for  an  army  like  the 
French,  which  trusted  to  supplying  itself  from  the  country  through  which 
it  marched.  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Abueida  fell  on  July  1,  and,  in  spite  of 
Crauford's  brave  attempt  to  check  the  French  advance  at  the  combat  of 
the  Coa,  they  advanced  down  the  valley  of  the  Mondego.  The  Portu- 
guese government  had  been  somewhat  slack  in  carrying  out  Wellington's 
directions  for  the  removal  or  destruction  of  provisions  ;  so  to  gain  a  little 
more  time,  and  to  encourage  the  Portuguese  troops,  he  drew  up  the  allied 
anny  on  the  steep  ridge  of  Busaco,  which  compelled  Mass^^na  Battle  of 
either  to  fight  or  to  make  a  considerable  detour.  The  ^"saco. 
attack  was  made  on  the  27th  of  September,  and  was  repulsed  at  all 
points ;  and  then  Wellington,  withdrawing  his  men  down  the  valley, 
took  up  his  position  behind  the  famous  lines  of  Torres 
Vedras.  So  well  had  their  secret  been  kept,  that  Massena  of  Torres 
was  within  two  days'  march  of  them  before  he  heard  of  their  ^  ^^^' 
existence.  From  October  to  March  Massena  remained  before  the  lines 
looking  in  vain  for  a  place  to  break  through,  and  at  length,  weary  of 
waiting,  and  utterly  unable  to  find  provisions  for  his  large  force,  Massena 
retreated.  The  movement  was  admirably  managed,  chiefly  by  Marshal 
Ney  ;  but  at  the  end  of  March  Massena  was  compelled  to  cross  the 
Spanish  frontier,  having  lost  thirty  thousand  men  in  the  campaign,  and 
every  action  in  which  he  had  been  engaged.  The  lines  of  Torres  Vedras 
formed  a  turning-point,  not  only  in  the  history  of  the  war,  but  in  that  of 
Wellington  himself.  Up  to  that  date  his  genius  for  war  had  hardly  been 
appreciated  in  England,  or  even  in  the  anny  ;  but  no  one  could  mistake 
the  ability  with  which,  during  twelve  months,  he  and  his  chief  engineer, 
Colonel  Fletcher,  had  prepared  an  obstacle  which  not  only  secured  the 
British  troops  from  disaster,  but  had  baffled  the  genius  of  some  of  the 
greatest  marshals  of  France.     His  reputation  rose  accordingly. 

Wellington's  next  business  was  to  carry  the  war  into  Spain,  and  for 
this  it  was  necessary  to  have  command  of  the  frontier  fortresses  Ciudad 
Rodrigo  and  Almeida  in  the  north,  and  Badajos  and  Elvas  Campaign 
in  the  south,  and  also  to  have  a  free  passage  over  the  river  o^  ^^u. 
Tagus.  Of  these  fortresses  all  except  Elvas  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
French.  Had  Wellington  been  opposed  to  a  single  chief,  success  would 
have  been  almost  impossible  ;  but  his  advantage  lay  in  the  fact  that  the 


900  George  III  Mil 

French  troops  were  under  the  command  of  a  number  of  marshals,  able 
men  but  jealous  of  one  another,  who  never  co-operated  heartily.  He 
had  also  a  great  advantage  over  the  French  in  the  commissariat  depart- 
ment, for  the  French  troops,  accustomed  to  live  on  the  country,  could 
never  be  kept  together  in  large  masses  for  more  than  a  few  weeks,  while 
the  British  troops,  having  the  command  of  the  sea  and  of  the  great  navi- 
gable rivers,  were  fed  from  England,  and  what  supplies  they  got  from 
the  natives  were  regularly  paid  for. 

The  first  fortress  to  be  attacked  was  Almeida.  It  was  known  to  be 
slenderly  provisioned,  and  a  blockade  was  therefore  formed.     To  raise 

-        this  Massena  and  Bessieres  advanced  with  their  whole  force 
Siege  of 
Almeida.      and  attacked  Wellington  at  Fuentes  De  Oiioro  on  May  3. 

Battle  of      ^^^  ^^^*  ^^^  *^^  least  decisive  battle  fought  during  the 
Fuentes        Peninsular  war.      Wellington's  position  was  not  good,  and 
had  Bessieres  backed  up  Massena  he  would  have  been  very 
near  defeat.   As  it  was,  he  succeeded  in  holding  his  own  ;  and,  during  the 
battle,  the  garrison  of  Almeida  evacuated  the  fortress  after  making  it 
for  a  time  untenable.     The  remainder  of  the  year  was  chiefly  occupied 
in  the  siege  of  Badajos.     The  siege  of  this  fortress  had  been  formed  by 
the  allies  under  Beresford,  and  the  covering  army  was  posted  at  Albuera, 
Battle  of      where  it  was  attacked  by  Soult.     The  key  of  the  position 
Albuera.       ^^s  a  hill  on  the  right  flank  of  the  allies,  from  which  their 
whole  line  could  be  commanded  by  artillery.     This  was  lost  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  allies  were  on  the  point  of  retreat,  when  the  hill  was 
retaken  by  the  British  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Hardinge,  after- 
wards governor-general  of  India.    This  action  was  the  most  fiercely  con- 
tested of  the  war  ;  out  of  six  thousand  British  infantry  who  attacked  the 
hill  only  eighteen  hundred  remained  unwounded  ;  but  their  valour  made 
an  enormous  impression  on  the  French,  and,  perhaps,  the  saying  that 
'  the  British  never  understood  when  they  were  beaten '  was  never  more 
applicable  than  to  this  terrible  battle. 

Two  great  successes  marked  the  opening  of  the  year  1812.  On 
January  24  Ciudad  Rodrigo  was  stormed  with  terrible  loss,  including  that 
Campaign  of  Robert  Crauford,  the  leader  of  the  light  division.  On 
of  i8i2.  April  6  Badajos  was  stormed.     These  successes  opened  the 

storming  road  into  Spain,  and  were  completed  when  Hill  destroyed 
Rodrigo  and  the  bridge  of  Alcantara  over  the  Tagus,  and  repaired  that 
Badajos.  ^f  Almarez  near  the  frontier,  by  which  the  southern  and 
northern  divisions  of  Wellington's  army  were  able  to  communicate  with 
one  another.  Accordingly,  in  June,  Wellington  advanced  along  the 
Salamanca  and  Burgos  road  with  a  general  view  to  compelling  the 


1812 


Perceval 


901 


French  to  evacuate  Southern  Spain.  His  task,  however,  was  a  hard  one, 
for  Marmont,  the  commander  of  the  forces  opposed  to  him,  was  an  ex- 
cellent general  with  whom  no  liberties  could  be  taken.  The  two  armies 
mana3uvred  against  one  another  till  July  21, — Marmont,  perhaps,  having 
the  advantage.  On  that  day,  however,  the  French  and  the  Battle  of 
allies  were  moving,  roughly  speaking,  along  parallel  lines  in  Salamanca, 
a  westerly  direction,  when  the  French  left,  having  pressed  on  too  rapidly, 
Wellington  sent  Picton's  division  to  attack  it  in  front  while  he  threw  the 


Scale  of  Miles 
?               4               6 

Battl 
SALAM 

JULY    22 

p   of            \              ^ 

ANCA.       I 

??*  1812.            A^alamanca 

^^^^^^^^^^,,=====77^^^ 

<r 

/                 '"^'/' 

f 

''                           Ford  of 
Acba 
British  attack  on  the  French  left. 

•when  the  French  centre.not  haz'ipts" 

marched  into  /osition,  is  unable  to 

aid  it.                               f 

French ■■ 

( 

English CZD 

\ 

main  body  of  his  army  under  Pakenham  upon  its  flank.  The  result  was  the 
complete  rout  of  the  French  army  ;  Marmont  himself  was  wounded,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  an  error  of  the  Spaniards,  who  failed  to  hold  a  ford  as 
Wellington  had  expected,  the  whole  French  anny  would  have  been  annihi- 
lated. From  Salamanca  Wellington  pushed  forward  to  Madrid,  and  then 
formed  the  siege  of  Burgos.  For  this,  however,  his  means  were  inadequate, 
and  the  French  troops  concentrating  from  the  south  forced  him  to  retreat. 
This  movement  was  only  effected  with  great  loss  ;  but  though  Wellington 
himself,  at  the  end  of  the  campaign,  stood  where  he  had  been  at  the 
beginning,  the  French  were  never  able  to  reoccupy  the  south  of  Spain. 


902  George  III.  I812 

The  same  year,  events  at  home  also  tended  to  strengthen  his  position. 
Perceval  was  shot  in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons  by  a  merchant 
Death  of      named  Bellingham,  who  regarded  his  private  ruin  as  in  some 
Perceval.      ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  government.      In  1810  the  old  king  had 
become  hopelessly  insane,  and  his  place  had  been  taken  by  the  Prince 
of  Wales  under  an  act  modelled  on  Pitt's  Kegency  Bill  of  1788.     For  the 
The  greater  part  of  his  life  the  Prince  Regent  had  professed  to 

Regency.      ^^  ^  friend  of  Fox  and  the  Whigs,  but  he  now  made  no 
Liverpool's  attempt  to  form  a  Whig  administration,  but  called  on  Lord 
Liverpool  to  form  a  government.     This  he  accordingly  did, 
with  Castlereagh  as  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  and  Sidmouth  home 
secretary.      Both  Liverpool  and  Castlereagh   believed  in  Wellington's 
genius,  and  gave  him  a  hearty  support.    Neither  of  them  was  a  gi*eat  man  ; 
but  Liverpool's  tact  contrived  to  hold  the  government  together  for  twelve 
years,  and  to  Castlereagh's  dogged  determination  must  certainly  be  attri- 
buted a  large  share  of  the  credit  for  bringing  the  war  against  Napoleon 
to  a  successful  conclusion.    Equally  favourable  to  Wellington  were  events 
in  Europe.     In  1812  Napoleon  made  his  great  expedition  to  Russia,  the 
Napoleon      disastrous  result  of  which  ruined  the  Grand  Army,  and 
in  Russia,     compelled  Napoleon  to  enter  upon  an  unequal  contest  in 
Germany  with  Russia,  Prussia,  and  eventually  Austria.     For  the  impend- 
ing struggle  Napoleon  withdrew  some  of  his  best  troops  from  Spain,  and 
replaced  them  by  raw  levies,  so  that  the  advantage  both  in  numbers  and 
in  efficiency  passed  to  the  side  of  the  allies. 

Accordingly,  in  1813,  Wellington  began  a  concerted  movement  against 
the  French.     Graham  in  the  north  pressed  forward  along  the  line  of  the 
Campaign    I^ouro  ;  Wellington,  with  the  centre  a  little   in  his  rear, 
of  1813.  followed  the  great  road  by  Salamanca  and  Burgos,  while 

Hill,  again,  a  little  in  the  rear,  marched  along  the  valley  of  the  Tagus.  In 
this  way  the  French  were  being  constantly  outflanked,  and  were  compelled 
in  turn  to  evacuate  Valladolid,  Madrid,  and  Burgos.  In  June  Welling- 
ton's three  armies  caught  up  the  retreating  French  at  Vittoria.  Keej)ing 
Battle  of  *he  same  direction  as  that  in  which  they  had  marched.  Hill 
Vittoria.  attacked  the  French  left  and  Wellington  the  centre,  while 
Graham  worked  round  on  their  extreme  right  to  seize  the  road  in  rear  of 
their  position.  The  plan  was  completely  successful.  The  French  were 
utterly  routed,  and  of  the  hundred  and  fifty-two  guns  which  they  took  into 
action  only  tAvo  escaped.  Treasure  worth  J1,000,000  was  captured,  and 
most  of  the  plunder  which  the  French  were  trying  to  carry  with  them. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  Wellington  pushed  forward,  and  formed 
the  sieges  of  San  Sebastian  and  Pampeluna,  the  two  fortresses  which 


1814  Liverpool  903 

barred  the  road  into  France  through  the  western  Pyrenees.  In  these  de- 
sperate circumstances  Napoleon  called  on  Soult  to  reorganise  his  beaten 
armies  ;  and  so  well  did  he  fulfil  his  task  that  he  was  able  to 

Battles 

take  the  ofi"ensive,  and  almost  defeated  Wellington  in  an    of  the 
attempt  made  to  pierce  through  the  mountains  to  the  aid  of     y^"^*s. 
Pampeluna,  known  as  the  battles  of  the  Pyrenees.     His  plan,  however, 
was  unsuccessful,  and  both  fortresses  fell  into  Wellington's  hands.     In 
September  San  Sebastian  was  stormed  with  terrible  carnage,    Fall  of  San 
and  Pampeluna  capitulated  in  October.  Meanwhile  Napoleon   f  nd^pam" 
himself,  after  making  a  splendid  stand  in  Germany  at  the    peiuna. 
battles  of  Liitzen,  Bautzen,  and  Dresden,  had  been  utterly  defeated  in 
the  great  battle  of  Leipzig,  and  compelled  to  fall  back  across  the  Rhine. 
Wellington,  therefore,  prepared  to  join  in  a  general  invasion     invasion 
of  France,  and,  in  January  1814,  forced  the  passage  of  the     of  France. 
Bidasoa  and  established  himself  on  French  soil.      The  south-west  of 
France  is  defended  by  a  series  of  rivers,  the  chief  of  which  are  the  Adour 
and  the  Garonne,  which  run  in  a  north-westerly  direction  into  the  Bay  of 
Biscay.     Soult  attempted  to  hold  these.     Wellington's  general  plan  was 
to  throw  forward  his  right  wing,  thus  threatening  to  block  Soult  in 
between  the   river  and  the  sea,  as  at  the  battle  of  Oporto.    In   this 
way  he  drove  him  across  the  Nive,  the  Nivelle,  and  the  Adour ;  and, 
eventually,  Soult  making  more  and  more  to  the  eastward,  was  defeated 
by  Wellington  at  the  battle  of  Toulouse  on  April  10.     Meanwhile,  the 
allied  forces  in  the  north,  in  spite  of  a  most  brilliant  campaign  on  the 
part  of  Napoleon,  had  driven  him  back  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers.    On 
March  31  Paris  was  captured,  and  Napoleon  compelled  to  abdicate. 
This  event  brought  the  war  to  a  conclusion,  but,  unfortunately,  the  news 
of  it  did  not  reach  Toulouse  in  time  to  prevent  a  battle. 

During  Wellington's  operations  in  the  peninsula,  we  had  been  engaged 
in  a  miserable  war  with  the  United  States.    This  quarrel  arose  out  of  the 
annoyance  caused  to  the  Americans  by  the  Orders  in  Council ; 
and   though   these   had  been   repealed    before   the   actual   the  United 
declaration  of  war,  hostilities  were  still  permitted  to  go  on. 
During  1812  and  1813  the  chief  of  the  fighting  was  done  at  sea,  and  took 
the  form  of  contests  between  single  ships.     In  these  the  Americans  were, 
as  a  rule,  successful,  for  their  ships  were  better  found  than  British  vessels 
of  the  same  class.     They  carried  more  and  heavier  guns,  and  they  had 
better-trained  seamen,  owing  to  the  relatively  small  number  of  their  ships, 
compared  to  the  vast  fleets  which  the  British  had  to  man.     In  some  fights, 
however,  where  the  vessels  were  practically  on  an  equality,  the  British 
won — notably  in  that  between  the  Shannon  and  the  Ghesapeake,  fought 


904  Gem-ge  III.  1813 

in  Boston  harbour  on  June  1,  1813,  when  the  British  boarded  and  took 
their  antagonist  after  a  fight  of  fifteen  minutes.     There  was  also  a  good 
deal  of  fighting  on  a  small  scale  along  the  Canadian  frontier,  and  on  the 
great  lakes.     In  this   the  Americans,  partly  because  of  their  superior 
flotilla  on  the  lakes,  and  partly  because  they  had  to  meet  in  Sir  George 
Prevost  a  very  inferior  commander,  got  the  advantage.     No  great  results 
came  of  fighting  on  this  scale  ;  and  when  the  war  in  France  ended,  the 
British  government  sent  some  of  the  best  regiments  of  Wellington's  army 
to  America,  under  the  command  of  General  Ross  and  Sir  John  Pakenham. 
The  former  directed  his  efforts  against   Washington,   the   site   of  the 
American  government,  and  making  his  way  up  the  Chesa- 
Biadens-      peake,  defeated  the  Americans  at  Bladensburg.     Washing- 
^^^'  ton  was  then  occupied ;  and  by  an  act  of  vandalism,  for 

which  the  home  government  was  responsible,  the  Capitol,  where  congress 
met,  the  White  House,  or  president's  official  residence,  and  other  govern- 
ment offices  were  burnt  to  the  ground.      After  this  the  troops  retreated 
to  their  ships.     New  Orleans  was  the  object  of  Sir  John 

Failure  *-  '' 

at  New  Pakenham's  operations.  This  city,  which  was  the  emporium 
r  eans.  ^^  ^^^  American  cotton  and  sugar  trade,  is  situated  on  the 
Mississippi,  110  miles  from  the  coast.  The  approaches  were  extremely 
difficult,  and  the  Americans,  under  General  Jackson,  afterwards  president, 
had  blocked  Pakenham's  road  with  ramparts  of  cotton-bales  and  sugar- 
casks.  Behind  these  they  fired  in  safety,  and  after  a  terrible  loss  of 
life,  including  that  of  Pakenham  himself,  the  British  were  compelled 
to  retreat.  Had  modern  facilities  for  communication  existed,  the  attack 
on  New  Orleans  would  never  have  been  made  ;  for  a  week  before  the 
assault,  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  had  been 
signed  at  Ghent.  This  miserable  war  decided  nothing.  The  Orders  in 
Council  had  been  withdrawn  before  it  began,  and  the  question  of  the 
right  of  search  was  left  unsettled  by  the  peace. 

So  soon  as  Napoleon  had  abdicated,  the  allied  sovereigns  recognised 

Louis  xvi.'s  brother  as  king  of  France,  by  the  title  of  Louis  xviii.     Until 

the  abdication  of  Napoleon,  the  idea  of  a  Restoration  had 

Restoration  ^  ,  .        n         •,    ,  -i.  ,. 

of  Louis  not  been  openly  mooted  ;  and  m  all  probability  was  first  put 
forward  by  Talleyrand,  the  clever  and  versatile  minister  for 
foreign  affairs.  On  the  whole,  a  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons  seemed  the 
simplest  solution,  for  there  was  no  one  to  take  Napoleon's  position  as 
emperor ;  and  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe  were  hardly  prepared  to  super- 
intend a  reconstitution  of  the  Republic.  Louis  xviii.,  therefore,  returned 
to  Paris,  and  France  again  took  her  place  among  the  great  monarchies  of 
Europe.     This  was  to  her  immediate  advantage,  as  in  the  Congress  of 


1815  Liverpool  905 

Vienna,  which  met  to  reconstitute  the  European  system,  after  the  disorder 
into  which  it  had  been  thrown  by  the  wars,  she  was  able  to  appear  among 
the  other  powers  as  an  equal,  and  to  exercise  great  influence  on  its 
deliberations. 

The  Congress  of  Vienna  sat  for  about  a  year,  and  dealt  in  the  most 
careful  and  deliberate  manner  with  the  very  difficult  problems  which 
came  before  it.  In  general,  it  acted  on  these  principles, — (1) 
that  some  sort  of  equality  should  be  preserved  in  the  real  gress  of 
power  of  the  great  European  states  ;  (2)  that  the  country  most 
dangerous  to  the  peace  of  Europe  was  France  ;  (3)  that  in  making  the 
regulations  and  changes  needful  to  carry  out  the  above  principles, 
nationality  might  be  ignored.  Accordingly,  Russia  received  a  larger 
share  of  Poland.  Austria  gave  up  the  Netherlands,  but  received  in 
exchange  the  dominions  of  Venice.  Prussia  was  strengthened  at  the 
expense  of  Saxony,  and  of  lands  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  that  had 
been  French  since  1793  or  1794.  This  made  her  a  stronger  opponent  of 
France  on  the  Rhine  ;  and  for  the  same  end,  Belgium  and  Holland  were 
joined  together  under  the  rule  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  made 
King  of  the  Netherlands.  The  kingdom  of  Sardinia  was  strengthened 
by  the  annexation  of  the  republic  of  Genoa.  To  punish  Denmark  for  her 
adhesion  to  Fnmce,  Norway  was  taken  from  her  and  made  independent, 
but  with  the  same  king  as  Sweden.  Great  Britiiin  was  strengthened  in 
the  Mediterranean  by  the  possession  of  Maltii  and  the  Ionian  Islands, 
and  in  the  North  Sea  by  that  of  Heligoland.  In  the  West  Indies  she 
kept  Trinidad  and  Tobago  ;  and  in  the  East,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
Mauritius,  and  Ceylon.  On  the  other  hand  she  restored  Minorca  to  Spain, 
and  the  other  West  Indian  islands  which  had  been  taken  during  the  war 
to  their  former  owners.  She  was  represented  at  the  Congress,  first  by 
Lord  Castlereagh,  and  then  by  the  duke  of  Wellington,  who  maintained 
her  character  for  disinterestedness,  especially  by  their  considerate  treat- 
ment of  France.  On  one  subject,  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  they 
strove  hard  to  secure  a  general  agreement,  and  were  so  successful  that 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  Netherlands,  the  only  countries  really 
concerned,  agreed  virtually  to  abolish  the  odious  traffic.  The  labours  of 
the  Congress  were  not  concluded  when  news  arrived  that,  in  Return  of 
March,  1815,  Napoleon  had  escaped  from  Elba,  landed  in  Napoleon. 
France,  and  been  received  with  enthusiasm  by  the  army,  and  by  the  bulk 
of  his  former  subjects. 

This  disastrous  intelligence  caused  the  revival  of  the  coalition,  for  the 
possibility  of  giving  Napoleon  time  to  show  whether  he  would  assume  his 
old  ambitious  policy,  or  would  begin  a  reign  of  peace,  was  not  entertained 


906  Creorge  til.  I8I6 

for  a  moment.     It  was  determined  to  invade  France  on  all  sides,  and 
Napoleon  was  therefore  compelled,  whether  he  like  it  or  no,  to  resort  to 
Th   c  arms.      He  determined  to  begin  the  campaign  by  an  attack 

paign  in  upon  Belgium.  This  country  was  defended  by  a  mixed 
'""^*  army  of  British,  Hanoverians,  Dutch  and  Belgians,  under 
Wellington,  whose  cantonments  extended  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Charleroi  to  the  sea,  with  a  reserve  at  Brussels  ;  and  another  army  of 
Prussians  under  Bliicher,  whose  cantonments  extended  from  Charleroi  to 
the  German  frontier.  Wellington's  forces  numbered  about  106,000  men, 
but  with  the  exception  of  his  old  peninsular  troops,  were  of  very  inferior 
material.  The  Prussians  numbered  114,000  ;  while  Napoleon  had  under 
his  command  124,000.  Napoleon's  plan  was  to  strike  at  Charleroi,  and 
then  to  bring  his  main  force  to  bear  upon  the  Prussians  while  he  held 
the  British  in  check,  and  then,  having  separated  the  two  armies,  to  bring 
his  whole  force  to  bear  upon  Wellington.  In  this  scheme  he  was  at  first 
successful ;  his  arrangements  were  made  with  such  secrecy,  that  on  June 
15  he  quite  unexpectedly  crossed  the  frontier,  and  drove  the  Prussians 
and  Belgians  before  him.  In  event  of  Napoleon's  advance  by  the 
Charleroi  road,  Bliicher  and  Wellington  had  arranged  to  concentrate  at 
Ligny  and  at  Quatre  Bras  respectively,  about  eight  miles  from  each 
other  ;  but  Napoleon's  movements  were  so  quick  that  Wellington's  army 
was  not  concentrated  in  time,  and  the  Prussians  had  to  bear  the  shock  of 
Napoleon's  onset  without  any  assistance  from  their  allies. 

Accordingly,  on  June  16,  Napoleon,  with  two-thirds  of  his  army, 
attacked  the  Prussians  at  Ligny,  while  Ney,  with  the  other  one-third, 
tried  to  force  the  position  at  Quatre  Bras.  Unluckily  for 
Ligny  and  Napoleon,  through  a  series  of  contradictory  orders,  D'Erlon's 
re  ras.  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  effective  assistance  to  either  side.  The  result 
was  that  though  Napoleon  drove  back  the  Prussians,  he  did  not  destroy 
their  army  as  he  had  calculated  ;  while  Ney,  weakened  at  the  critical 
moment,  was  unable  to  force  Wellington's  position,  which  was  better 
defended  hour  by  hour,  as  fresh  troops  came  up.  During  the  night  of 
the  16th,  Bliicher  fell  back  towards  Wavre,  leaving  Wellington  for  the 
moment  isolated  at  Quatre  Bras  ;  and  had  Napoleon  attacked  him  with 
vigour  in  the  early  hours  of  the  17th,  the  result  must  have  been  most 
disastrous.  As  soon,  however,  as  Wellington  knew  that  Bliicher  was 
making  for  Wavre,  he  gave  orders  for  a  retreat  on  Waterloo,  which  lay 
towards  Wavre  much  as  Quatre  Bras  did  to  Ligny,  but  was  fifteen  miles  off. 
The  retreat  was  admirably  carried  out,  and  in  the  evening  Wellington's 
army  was  in  position  at  Waterloo  ;  while  Bliicher,  whose  honourable 
fidelity  to  his  engagement  with  Wellington  can  never  be  spoken  of  too 
highly,  was  ready  to  march  to  the  assistance  of  his  allies  first  thing  in  the 


1815 


Liverpool 


907 


morning.  These  facts,  however,  were  not  known  to  Napoleon.  He  was 
under  the  impression  that  the  main  part  of  the  Prussian  army  had 
retreated  to  Namur,  and  that  only  a  division  was  at  Wavre,  and  he 
considered  that  he  had  amply  provided  for  that  by  detiiching  Grouchy 
with  35,000  men  to  prevent  its  conjunction  with  Wellington. 


Campaign  of 
WATERLOO. 

English  M 


The  battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought  on  an  undulation  which  crosses  the 
two  roads  from  Charleroi  and  Mons  to  Brussels,  just  before  their  junction 
at  the  village  of  Mont  St.  Jean.  Along  the  northern  ridge  The  Field  of 
ran  the  road  to  Wavre.  On  the  slope  of  the  hollow  lay,  on  Waterloo, 
the  west,  the  chateau  of  Hougomont,  which,  with  its  orchard  and  gardens, 
occupied  a  space  of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  and  a 
hundred  broad  ;  the  little  farm  of  La  Haye  Sainte  on  the  Charleroi  road, 
and  some  more  farm  buildings  at  La  Haye  and  Papelotte,  further  to  the 
east.  The  strength  of  the  position  lay  in  the  fact  that  Wellington  was 
able  to  strongly  garrison  these  three  outposts,  while  he  kept  the  main  body 
of  his  men  out  of  sight  behind  the  ridge.  The  cross-road  also  enabled 
him  to  move  troops  very  easily  from  one  point  to  another.  The  slope  on 
his  side  was  longer  than  that  on  the  French,  and  enabled  his  artillery  to 
be  used  with  great  effect  on  troops  attacking  the  position.      Wellington 


908  Ge(yrge  III  1815 

had  61,000  men,  of  whom  24,000  were  British;  Napoleon  had  71,000,  and 
the  main  lines  of  each  army  extended  for  about  a  mile  east  and  west  of 
the  Charleroi  road. 

The  battle  began  about  noon.  An  attack  was  made  on  Hougomont ; 
but  though  the  buildings  were  set  on  fire,  the  courtyard  and  walled  orchard 
The  Battle  were  SO  well  capable  of  being  defended,  that  the  position  was 
of  Waterloo,  niaintained  the  whole  day,  and  Wellington's  right  wing 
made  perfectly  secure.  At  2  p.m.  an  attack  was  made  on  the  left  centre, 
but  was  repulsed  with  loss,  though  General  Picton  fell,  and  General  William 
Ponsonby  was  killed.  By  this  time  Napoleon  was  aware  that  a  body  of 
troops  was  coming  upon  his  right  flank.  At  first  these  were  believed  to 
be  Grouchy's  men,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  they  were  Prussians  ;  and 
by  four  o'clock  Napoleon  had  had  to  hand  over  the  attack  upon  Wellington 
to  Ney,  while  he  gave  his  main  attention  to  defend  his  own  right  against 
the  Prussians.  To  do  this  he  had  to  form  a  new  line  of  battle  at  right 
angles  to  his  old  position.  After  Napoleon  had  left  for  Planchenoit,  Ney 
managed  badly  ;  for  between  4  and  6  p.m.  he  foolishly  wasted  the  French 
cavalry  in  a  series  of  attacks  upon  the  unbroken  allied  squares,  which 
practically  destroyed  it.  About  six  o'clock  La  Haye  Sainte,  which  had 
been  inadequately  prepared  for  defence,  and  which  was  short  of  ammuni- 
tion, was  abandoned.  This  enabled  the  French  to  advance  in  the  form  of 
a  wedge  against  the  very  centre  of  Wellington's  army,  and  about  the  same 
time  Napoleon,  having  driven  back  the  Prussians  by  a  most  brilliant 
defence  of  Planchenoit,  returned  to  the  scene.  Complete  victory  was  now 
out  of  the  question  ;  but  if  Napoleon  could  drive  in  Wellington's  centre, 
he  would  secure  his  retreat,  and  thus  the  means  of  continuing  the  war. 
Instead,  however,  of  pushing  his  advantage  at  La  Haye  Sainte,  he  sent 
forward  two  columns  of  the  guard  to  strike  at  Wellington's  line  between 
that  place  and  Hougomont.  Wellington,  however,  was  well  prepared,  for 
the  arrival  of  the  Prussians  enabled  him  to  bring  up  troops  from  his  flanks 
to  the  centre.  Accordingly  the  French  attack  was  completely  defeated, 
the  right  column  by  a  charge  of  the  guards  under  General  Maitland,  the 
left  by  the  52nd  regiment  (now  the  2nd  battalion  Oxfordshire)  under 
Colborne,  who  drew  up  his  regiment  on  the  flank  of  the  French  advance, 
and,  after  a  sustained  fire  of  musketry,  pushed  on  with  the  bayonet.  Just 
as  the  repulse  of  the  guard  destroyed  Napoleon's  hopes  of  breaking 
Wellington's  line,  the  Prussians  dashed  forward  and  seized  Planchenoit 
and  the  Charleroi  road.  Napoleon's  troops  were  thus  placed  between 
two  fires,  his  line  of  retreat  was  cut  ofi*,  his  guns  and  ammunition  were 
all  captured,  and  few  of  his  troops  ever  appeared  in  arms  again. 

On  reaching  Paris,  Napoleon  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son  ;  but  it  was 


'  '  Wellington's  men 

■■IH  Napoleon's 

I  ■  -'  ~->>^^  I  Rlucher's 


910  George  III.  I815 

felt  that  a  return  of  the  Bourbons  was  inevitable,  and  Louis  xviii.  again 
entered  Paris  under  the  protection  of  the  allied  bayonets.  Napoleon 
The  second  himself  then  fled  to  Rochefort,  where  he  came  aboard  a 
of^Louff*°"  British  man-of-war,  the  Bellerophon,  casting  himself  upon 
XVIII.  the  generosity  of  the  Prince  Regent.      However,  after  his 

escape  from  Elba,  generosity  would  have  been  misplaced,  and  the  de- 
throned emperor  was  exiled  to  the  beautiful  and  healthy  island  of  St. 
Helena,  where  he  was  carefully  guarded,  and  died  therein  1821.  After 
Waterloo,  it  was  generally  recognised  that  some  punishment  was 
deserved  by  France  for  having  willingly  restored  Napoleon.  Accord- 
ingly it  was  decided  that  for  five  years  the  northern  departments  of 
France  should  be  occupied  by  an  allied  army  of  150,000  men  under  the 
command  of  the  duke  of  Wellington,  but  paid  and  provisioned  at  the 
expense  of  France.  A  war  indemnity  was  to  be  paid,  amounting  to 
^28,000,000.  Various  rectifications  of  frontier  were  made,  especially  on 
the  north,  designed  to  decrease  her  power  of  offensive  warfare.  Above 
all,  the  French  were  compelled  to  return  to  their  proper  owners  the 
works  of  art  which  had  been  stolen  during  the  Napoleonic  wars  from 
almost  every  capital  of  Europe,  and  of  which  the  restoration  was  probably 
more  galling  to  the  French  than  all  the  other  conditions  put  together. 

It  was  while  the  allies  were  encamped  at  Paris  that  the  Emperor 
Alexander  hit  upon  the  idea  of  a  Holy  Alliance.  This  was  formed 
The  Holy  between  the  sovereigns  of  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria.  The  con- 
AUiance.  tracting  parties  declared  their  intention  of  conducting  their 
domestic  administration  and  foreign  relations  according  to  the  precepts  of 
Christianity,  and  bound  themselves  to  observe  three  points  :  (1)  to  give 
mutual  assistance  for  the  protection  of  religion,  peace,  and  jur;tice  ;  (2)  to 
regard  themselves  as  delegated  by  Providence  to  govern  three  branches  of 
one  Christian  nation  ;  (3)  to  admit  any  other  powers  which  should  declare 
their  adherence  to  the  same  principles.  Under  these  specious  terms  was 
really  concealed  a  league  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  ideas  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  to  guarantee  despotic  sovereigns  against  insurrectionary 
movements  on  the  part  of  their  subjects.  France  subsequently  joined 
the  alliance  ;  but  the  duke  of  Wellington  said  he  believed  that  the 
British  parliament  would  like  'something  more  precise,'  and  Lord 
Castlereagh  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it. 

Before  entering  on  the  years  of  peace,  it  is  well  to  note  a  naval  action 
„     ,     ^      fought  in  1816.     This  was  the  celebrated  bombardment  of 

Bombard-  " 

ment  of        Algiers  by  a  combined  British  and  Dutch  squadron  under 

giers.        ^^^  command  of  Lord  Exmouth.     Algiers  had  long  been  a 

nest  of  piracy,  and  the  Algerines  were  known  to  be  in  possession  of  a 


1816  Liverpool  911 

number  of  Christian  slaves.  It  was  determined  to  compel  their  release,  and 
in  August  181 6  Lord  Exmouth  made  the  demand.  As  it  was  refused, 
the  town  was  bombarded.  Before  night  fell,  much  damage  was  done  on 
both  sides,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  ships  could  have  maintained 
the  contest  much  longer.  The  Algerines,  however,  ignorant  of  the 
damage  they  had  inflicted,  and  terrified  by  the  intensity  of  the  fire  from 
the  fleet,  agreed  to  come  to  terms.  In  all  1211  prisoners  were  released. 
This  lesson  served  to  keep  the  Algerine  pirates  in  awe,  until  that 
country  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  French  in  1830  and  the  following 
years. 

The  conclusion  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  offers  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity for  reviewing  the  state  of  the  British  Empire  in  1815.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  wars  of  the  French  Kevolution  the  British 
held  only  Gibraltiir,  Sierra  Leone,  a  few  small  settlements  on  the  coast 
of  Africa,  Canada,  Jamaica,  and  other  West  Indian  islands,  some  dis- 
tricts in  India,  and  a  small  settlement  in  New  South  Wales.  More- 
over, our  command  of  the  sea,  which  w;is  essential  in  time  of  war  both 
for  our  commerce  and  our  communication  with  our  outlying  „ 

•'      ®  Sea  Power 

states,  was  jeopardised  by  the  fact  that  the  other  colonising  and 
states— France,  Holland,  and  Spain — possessed  powerful 
navies.  During  the  war  all  these  were  destroyed,  and  those  of  Holland 
and  Spain  have  practically  never  been  restored.  The  immediate  result 
of  their  destruction  was  that  Great  Britain  was  able  to  annex  such  of 
their  colonies  as  she  desired,  and  to  establish  herself  at  such  strategical 
points  as  seemed  valuable.  In  the  Mediterranean  she  took  Malta  ;  and, 
if  her  statesmen  had  seen  its  value,  might  have  had  Minorca  with  its 
splendid  harbour  of  Port  Mahon.  In  Africa  she  took  the  Cape  Colony 
and  Mauritius.  In  Asia  she  made  large  annexations  of  territory,  and 
fought  several  successful  wars,  unhampered,  as  in  1778-82,  by  the 
presence  on  the  coast  of  a  French  fleet. 

The  war  being  concluded,  the  ministry  had  now  to  give  its  attention 
to  peace  ;  and  the  strife  of  parties  in  parliament,  which  had  to  some 
extent  been  hushed  by  the  war,  was  again  resumed.    In  the    Party 
House  of  Lords  the  leading  figures  were  Lords  Liverpool,    ^^^rfare. 
Eldon,  Grenville,  and  Grey.     The  earl  of  Liverpool,  the  prime  minister, 
was   a  discreet  and  careful  person,  with  more  tact  than 
eloquence,  and  more  knowledge  than  statesmanship  ;  but 
owed  his  success  to  his  honesty  and  his  skill  in  the  art  of  getting  other 
men  to  work  together.    Lord  Eldon,  the  favourite  chancellor 
of  George  iii.,  is  generally  regarded  as  typical  of  the  Tory 
feeling  of  his  day,  which  regarded  all  reforms  as  in  some  way  dangerous 


912  George  III.  1815 

to  the  constitution,  and  therefore  to  be  opposed.  It  was  said  of  him 
that  'he  never  proposed  anything  himself,  and  opposed  everything  that  any- 
body else  proposed.'  He  was  an  excellent  lawyer,  but  held  the  narrowest 
views  of  politics.  Lord  Grenville,  who  had  been  Pitt's  right-hand 
man  in  foreign  affairs,  but  who  was  now  almost  estranged  from  any 
party,  was  a  proud,  cold  man,  quite  wanting  in  tact,  and  exercising 
little  influence.  Lord  Grey  was  the  successor  of  Fox,  and  without 
much  originality  was  recognised  as  the  official  leader  of  the  Whig  party. 

^  ,  ^  In  the  House  of  Commons  the  most  notable  figures  were 
Castlereagh.  ° 

Castlereagh,    Canning,    Brougham,    Horner,    Sir    Samuel 

Romilly,  and  among  the  younger  men,  Lord  John  Russell  and  Lord  Palmer- 
ston.  Robert  Stewart,  Lord  Castlereagh,  bom  in  1769,  was  decidedly  the 
most  powerful  man  in  the  House.  His  recent  achievements  in  foreign 
politics,  when  he  had  sat  in  deliberation  with  the  greatest  crowned  heads 
in  Europe,  and  by  mere  force  of  character  had  done  more  than  any  other 
civilian  to  secure  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  gave  him  an  immense 
prestige,  and  he  enjoyed  the  respect  of  the  House  for  personal  in- 
tegrity and  patriotism.  Though  no  orator,  his  speeches  were  always 
listened  to,  because  he  meant  what  he  said.  In  private  life  he 
was  the  most  genial  and  kindly  of  men ;  but  he  had  little  sympathy 
with  popular  ideas,  and,  though  compared  with  those  with  whom 
he  had  acted  on  the  continent,  he  was  a  decided  Liberal,  in  England 
.  he   was    regarded    as   typical    of  the    proud   and   aristo- 

cratic Tory.  In  contrast  to  Castlereagh  was  Canning. 
Born  in  1770,  after  a  distinguished  career  at  Eton  and  Oxford  he  was 
introduced  into  political  life,  and  did  his  patron  much  service,  not  only 
in  the  House  and  in  office,  but  by  his  satirical  attacks  on  the  opposi- 
tion in  the  Anti- Jacobin.  Clever,  eloquent,  witty,  his  strong  points  were 
those  where  Castlereagh  was  weak  ;  but  in  the  House  he  never  succeeded 
in  shaking  off  the  idea  that  he  was  an  adventurer,  and  that  his  clever 
speeches  were  wanting  in  reality.  In  the  country,  however,  he  was 
stronger,  for  he  was  regarded  as  more  in  sympathy  than  his  rival  with 

Liberal  ideas.   The  work  of  opposition  was  mainly  carried  on 
Brougham.  ^  *^ 

by  Henry  Brougham.     This  remarkable  politician,  who  had 

the  reputation  of  being  the  most  learned  and  versatile  statesman  of  his 

time,  had  made  his  parliamentary  reputation  by  his  resistance  to  the 

Orders  in  Council,  against  which,  as  an  advocate,  he  had  spoken  at  the  bar 

of  the  House  in  1807,  and  he  now  took  a  prominent  part  in  opposition  to 

government  measures.  With  Brougham  was  Francis  Horner, 

who,  though  never  in  office,  made  a  reputation  as  the  most 

skilful  financier  of  his  time,  and  whose  death  in  1817  at  the  age  of  thirty- 


1816  Liverpool  913 

seven,  was  a  serious  loss  to  his  country.  Sir  Samuel  Romiily  had  been 
solicitor-general  to  the  Grenville  ministry.  He  had  entered  parliament  as 
an  independent  member,  and  soon  commanded  the  respect  of     „ 

11  •  Tx.       1  .    ,.  .  .  1  1     «      Romillyi 

all  parties.     His  chief  attention  was  given  to  the  repeal  of 

the  most  severe  punishments  of  the  penal  code,  but  in  other  matters 

he  spoke  with  great  weight   on    the  side  of  the   Whigs. 

The  official  leader  of  the  Whigs  was  George  Ponsonby,  who 

had  at  one  time  been  chancellor  of  Ireland  ;  but  Brougham  and  Horner 

and  Romiily  were  the  leading  spirits  of  the  party. 

The  problems  which  the  Liverpool  ministry  found  before  it  on  the 
conclusion  of  the  war  were  sufficient  to  try  the  abilities  of  any  adminis- 
tration. Peace,  far  from  being  associated — as  in  the  Questions  of 
hackneyed  phrase — with  plenty,  proved  to  be  a  time  of  *"*  ^^y- 
increased  distress,  and  there  was  no  industry  in  the  country  which  was 
not  complaining  of  bad  times.  This  depression  of  trade  was  due  mainly 
to  six  causes.  First,  the  cessation  of  the  demand  for  military  and  naval 
stores,  especially  the  former ;  second,  the  reduction  of  the  demand  for 
British  goods  on  the  continent,  due  p.^rtly  to  the  resumption  of  manu- 
factures on  the  continent,  partly  to  the  impoverishment  caused  by  war, 
which  diminished  the  purchasing  power  of  the  continental  nations ; 
third,  the  confusion  in  the  money  market  caused  by  the  stoppage  of 
cash  payments  by  the  Bank  of  England,  and  the  uncertainty  when  they 
would  be  resumed  ;  fourth,  the  transition  from  hand  labour  to  machinery, 
which,  though  it  increased  the  demand  for  new  workmen,  was  for  the 
time  disastrous  to  those  who  had  been  brought  up  to  earn  their  living  in 
the  old  way  ;  fifth,  the  unhealthy  condition  into  which  the  corn  trade  had 
come  since  the  war ;  and  sixth,  heavy  taxation.  Of  these  causes  the  first  and 
second  were  obviously  beyond  the  power  of  legislation  ;  the  third  might 
be  expected  to  right  itself  in  time,  whenever  it  appeared  desirable  to  go 
back  to  cash  payments ;  the  fourth  was  the  effect  of  ignorance,  and 
could  only  be  combated  by  the  diffusion  of  greater  knowledge  ;  the 
fifth,  in  the  minds  of  politicians,  seemed  capable  of  legislative  treatment 

The  mania  for  breaking  machinery  had  broken  out  as  far  back  as 
1811.  It  was  difficult  for  those  whose  livelihood  was  obtained  by 
knitting  stockings  by  hand  to  understand  that  in  the  long  The 
run  it  was  for  the  good  of  the  nation  that  machinery  should  Luddites, 
be  substituted  for  hand  labour.  In  the  first  instance  it  was  obviously 
bad  for  themselves ;  and,  acting  on  what  appeared  to  them  adequate 
grounds,  the  hand-knitters  of  Nottinghamshire  began  an  organised 
attempt  to  destroy  all  the  stocking-frames  that  had  been  introduced. 
After  a  half-witted  lad  named  Ludd,  who  had  once  broken  a  frame  in  a 

3  M 


914  George  III.  I8I6 

fifc  of  passion,  they  called  themselves  Luddites.  The  frames  could  be 
rendered  useless  with  so  little  noise,  and  in  so  little  time,  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  Luddites  were  most  difficult  to  check.  Frames  were 
destroyed  within  a  few  yards  of  the  military  who  were  guarding  them  ; 
and  a  few  minutes'  undisturbed  possession  enabled  the  Luddites  to 
destroy  every  frame  in  a  village.  The  same  arguments  obviously  applied 
to  the  thrashing  machines,  which  were  the  subject  of  detestation  of  the 
agricultural  labourers,  who  saw  the  threshing,  which  had  lasted  the 
winter  through,  performed  in  a  few  days  by  the  new  machines.  Soon 
the  introduction  of  new  machinery  of  all  kinds  came  under  the  ban,  and, 
in  1815,  machine-breaking  was  general  both  in  town  and  country. 

Against  such  a  general  movement  little  could  be  effected  by  force ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  first  eflfective  check  on  machine-breaking  was 

William      supplied  by  the  homely  arguments  of  William   Cobbett. 

Cobbett.  "Phis  remarkable  man,  born  in  1762,  who  began  life  as  a 
bird-scarer,  and  ended  it  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  had 
seen  much  of  life  both  in  England  and  America.  He  was  gifted  with 
a  terse  and  vigorous  command  of  pure  English,  which  he  had  improved 
by  constant  practice  ;  and  in  1815  he  was  certainly  the  first  journalist 
of  his  age.  In  1802  he  had  set  on  foot  the  Weekly  Political  Register, 
in  which  he  vigorously  attacked  the  Tory  government.  Finding,  however, 
that  a  shilling  publication  had  only  a  small  sale,  and  no  circulation  at  all 
among  the  masses,  he  reduced  its  price  to  twopence.  The  paper 
appeared  in  its  new  form  in  November  1816,  and  the  event  was  of  much 
political  importance.  Cobbett's  great  points  were  that  machine 
breaking  was  no  use,  but  that  parliamentary  reform  was  ;  and  he  did  all 
he  could  to  wean  the  labouring  classes  from  violence,  to  encourage  them 
to  educate  themselves,  and  to  look  to  parliamentary  reform  as  the  first 
step  towards  an  improved  order  of  things. 

Quite  apart,  however,  from  the  question  of  machine-breaking,  the 
condition  of  agriculture  was  such  as  to  cause  the  gravest  anxiety.  Since 
1670  a  law  had  always  been  in  operation  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  foreign  corn  unless  English  corn  had  reached 
a  very  high  price.  It  was  worked  on  the  principle  of  a  sliding  scale, 
and  allowed  no  importation  at  all  till  the  price  of  wheat  was  fifty-three 
shillings  and  fourpence  per  quarter.  The  duty  was  then  sixteen  shillings, 
and  was  gradually  reduced  till  the  price  reached  eighty-two  shillings, 
when  it  disappeared  altogether.  In  1804  the  lower  limit  had  been 
raised  to  sixty-six  shillings  per  quarter.  During  the  war  the  fluctuations 
in  the  price  of  wheat  had  been  very  great.  Before  1793  the  price 
of  wheat  had  rarely  exceeded  fifty  shillings,  so  that  in  practice  the 


1815  Liverpool  915 

country  had  lived  on  its  own  produce.  During  the  war  time,  however, 
the  price  had  risen  to  as  much  as  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  shillings, 
and  the  average  price  had  been  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  shillings. 
This  was  due  partly  to  bad  harvests,  partly  to  the  fact  that  in  war  time 
bad  harvests  were  not  compensated  for  by  importation  from  abroad  ; 
partly  to  the  introduction  of  jmper  money  ;  and  much  more  to  the  rapid 
increase  in  the  manufacturing  population,  which  caused  an  increased 
demand  for  bread.  The  result  of  the  high  prices  was  to  bring  into 
cultivation  lands  which  were  too  poor  to  yield  a  profit  at  the  old  prices, 
and  particularly  to  stimulate  the  enclosure  of  commons.  Another  was 
to  increase  the  demand  for  agricultural  labourers  to  till  the  new  lands 
brought  under  the  plough.  When  the  war  closed,  it  was  clear  that, 
owing  to  the  renewal  of  foreign  competition,  there  would  naturally  be  a 
fall  in  the  average  price  of  corn.  If  this  happened,  there  would  be  a 
general  fall  in  rent,  the  newly  tilled  lands  would  fiiU  out  of  cultivation, 
and  labourers  would  be  thrown  out  of  work. 

To  check  this,  a  change  was  made  in  the  corn  law,  by  which  it  was 
enacted  that  no  colonial  corn  could  be  imported  till  the  price  of  British 
wheat  reached  sixty-seven  shillings,  and  no  foreign  corn  till  The  New 
the  price  had  further  risen  to  eighty  shillings  a  quarter.  ^°'""  ^*^®- 
From  this  legislation  it  was  expected  that  the  price  of  corn  Avould  tend 
to  be  about  eighty  shillings  a  quarter,  a  price  midway  between  the 
prices  before  and  during  the  war,  which  was  considered  reasonable  both 
for  sellers  and  consumers  ;  and  also  that  there  would  be  very  little  fluc- 
tuation in  the  price.  The  new  law  wjis  vigorously  opposed  by  Brougham 
and  Horner,  who  declared  that  both  these  expectations  would  be 
unfulfilled.  Unluckily  they  proved  to  be  right.  The  expectation  of  a 
steady  high  price  encouraged  the  investment  of  much  capital  in  agri- 
culture ;  and  though  the  price  of  corn  at  first  rose,  it  afterwards  steadily 
fell.  In  1815  the  season  was  good,  and  the  average  price  of  wheat  was 
sixty-three  shillings  a  quarter  ;  in  1817  the  season  was  bad,  and  the 
average  price  was  ninety-six  shillings  a  quarter,  and  would  have  been 
much  more  had  it  not  been  for  foreign  competition,  which  began  when 
the  price  reached  eighty  shillings.  The  price  then  steadily  fell,  till,  in 
1822,  it  reached  forty-five  shillings.  This  state  of  things  was  bad 
for  both  farmers  and  buyers.  Farmers  suflered,  because,  while  theii 
rent  was  fixed,  the  price  of  their  produce  was  subject  to  great  variations. 
On  the  other  hand,  buyers  had  to  pay  very  much  more  in  bad  years  than 
they  would  under  free  competition.  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
smaller  the  area  from  which  supplies  are  drawn  the  greater  the  variation 
in  price  from  one  year  to  another  ;  while  foreign  competition,  though  it 


916  •         George  III.  1815 

keeps  the  price  at  a  low  level,  results  in  its  remaining  fairly  steady. 
Consequently,  the  new  corn  law  satisfied  no  one.  Landlords  could  not 
secure  impossible  rents  ;  farmers,  unable  to  pay,  became  banki'upt ;  agri- 
cultural labourers  were  thrown  out  of  work ;  and,  in  bad  years,  towns- 
people saw  the  price  of  food  artificially  increased. 

Considering  how  much  hardship  existed,  it  would  have  been  wonderful 
had  there  been  no  outbreaks  of  violence  directed  against  the  government. 
Popular  That  these  were  few  and  insignificant  is  strong  proof  of  the 

Outbreaks,  orderly  habits  of  the  people,  and  of  their  reliance  on  consti- 
tutional methods  to  attain  their  ends.  It  is  difficult  to  mention  these 
outbreaks  without  exaggerating  their  importance.  The  most  serious 
riot  occurred  at  Littleport,  near  Ely,  where  the  labourers,  driven  to 
frenzy  by  want  of  work  and  food,  rose  in  1816  and  destroyed  much 
property  before  they  were  disj)ersed.  Of  more  direct  political  significance 
was  the  Spa  Field  riot,  where  half-a-dozen  men  of  no  note — among 
whom  was  Thistlewood,  afterwards  notorious  for  the  Cato  Street 
Conspiracy — led  a  handful  of  men  to  attack  the  Tower.  On  their  way 
they  armed  themselves  by  plundering  the  gunsmiths'  shops  ;  but  being 
met  by  the  lord  mayor,  Matthew  Wood,  the  sherifi",  and  half-a-dozen 
constables,  they  dispersed  in  flight.  In  June  1817,  a  hundred  ignorant 
fellows — misled,  there  is  no  doubt,  by  one  Oliver,  a  government  spy, 
with  stories  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  who  were  to  seize 
London,  and  of  the  '  Northern  Cloud,'  which  was  to  sweep  all  before  it — 
set  out  from  Pentridge,  near  Ambergate,  to  seize  Nottingham,  expecting 
to  receive  one  hundred  guineas  apiece  for  the  business,  and  to  have 
merely  a  pleasure  march.  A  few  miles  out  of  Nottingham  they  were 
met  by  Mr.  KoUeston,  a  magistrate,  with  twenty  cavalry  soldiers,  and  at 
once  took  to  flight.  Side  by  side  with  these  movements  was  a  perfectly 
innocent  proceeding  on  the  part  of  some  unemployed  Lancashire  artisans, 
The  who  proposed  to  march  to  London  and  lay  their  case  before 

Bianketeers.  ^j^^  Prince  Regent.  They  set  out  from  Manchester,  carrying 
blankets  to  cover  themselves  at  night,  from  which  they  derived  the  name 
of  the  '  Bianketeers ' ;  but  none  got  farther  than  Derbyshire.  Similarly, 
a  body  of  Loughborough  workmen  marched  to  Barnet  with  a  waggon  of 
coal.  There  they  were  met ;  and,  their  coal  being  bought,  the  poor 
fellows  made  their  way  home. 

The  scale  on  which  all  these  movements  were  conducted  ought  to  have 
shown  an  indiff'erent  observer  that  though  there  might  be  much  discon- 
tent there  was  no  danger  of  revolution.  But  so  short  a  time  after  the 
French  Revolution  the  Tory  government  was  not  capable  of  seeing  facts 
exactly  as  they  were,  and  was  open  to  all  sorts  of  suspicions  of  plots  and 


1819  Liverpool  917 

conspiracies.  Accordingly,  in  1817,  when  the  Prince  Regent's  carriage 
was  surrounded  by  a  howling  mob  on  the  occasion  of  his  opening  par- 
liament, Sidmouth,  under  the  lead  of  the  home  secretary, 

',  .  ,,.,.  .  1  ,.1.  Action  of 

who  was  hrmly  convmced  oi  the  immment  danger  of  the  time,  the  Govem- 
decided  to  suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act.  This  was  "^^"*- 
followed  by  the  issue  of  a  circular  authorising  magistrates  to  apprehend 
persons  whom  they  considered  guilty  of  disseminating  libellous  publica- 
tions, by  which  were  meant  all  writings  against  the  government.  The 
suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus  was,  of  course,  opposed  by  the  Whigs,  but 
unsuccessfully.  They  had,  however,  no  difficulty  in  showing  that  Lord 
Sidmouth's  circular  was  illegal,  and  it  had  to  be  withdrawn.  The 
government  was  also  defeated  in  a  prosecution  instituted  against  William 
Hone,  a  bookseller,  who  had  written  and  printed  several  attacks  on  the 
government,  in  the  form  of  parodies  on  well-known  religious  writings, 
such  as  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Litany.  He  was  prosecuted  for 
bringing  the  Christian  religion  into  disrepute,  but  as  he  had  no  difficulty 
in  showing  that  exactly  the  same  thing  had  been  done  by  Canning  and 
other  persons  of  repute  without  blame  being  attached,  he  was  acquitted. 
Had  it  not  been  for  Fox's  Libel  Act  (see  page  863),  the  jury  must  have 
convicted  him  of  publication,  and  the  judges  would  have  declared  his 
publication  libellous.  Among  the  persons  arrested  under  the  suspension 
of  Habeas  Corpus  was  Samuel  Bamford,  well  known  in  after  years  for  his 
Autobiography  of  a  Radical.  Nothing,  however,  was  proved  against  him, 
and  his  examination  before  the  privy  council,  where  he  saw  and  spoke  to 
Lords  Castlereagh  and  Sidmouth,  seems  to  have  convinced  him  that 
the  ministers  were  not  such  terrible  tyrants  as  they  were  believed  in 
Lancashire  to  be. 

Meanwhile,  the  question  of  parliamentary  reform  was  coming  to  be 
recognised  as  the  question  of  the  day.     It  was  heartily  advocated  by  Sir 
Francis  Burdett  in  parliament,  and  by  Cobbett  outside.   The 
large  unrepresented  towns,  such  as  Manchester,  Birmingham,    mentary 
and  Leeds,  began  to  seriously  interest  themselves  in  the      ^  °^"^' 
question.    Their  antipathy  to  the  corn  laws,  especially,  made  them  loudly 
demand  a  voice  in  the  government  of  the  country ;  anddarge  meetings  often 
attended  with  riots  were  held  from  time  to  time,  sometimes  with  a  view 
to  the  election  of  delegates  to  take  part  in  smaller  meetings.    The  election 
of  these  delegates  suggested  the  idea  of  a   convention — a  name   ren- 
dered formidable  to  the  timid  by  its  French  associations   „, 

1     1        .  1  ,  .  .  The 

—  and  when  it  was  known  that  a  meeting  for  this  purpose    Peterloo 

was  to  be  held  in  St.  Peter's  Fields  on  the  outskurts  of  Man-  '  ^^^^^cre.' 
Chester,  there  was  much  question  among  the  local  magistrates  as  to  what 


918  George  III.  I819 

course  to  take.  On  the  appointed  day,  August  26,  the  '  Kadicals '  marched 
in  procession  to  Manchester  from  all  the  neighbouring  villages,  carrying 
flags,  and  accompanied  by  their  wives  and  children.  They  met  in  St. 
Peter's  Fields,  an  open  space  of  two  or  three  acres.  They  numbered  some 
forty  thousand  persons,  and  were  to  be  addressed  by  Henry  Hunt,  an 
Essex  squire  and  notable  orator,  whose  emptiness  had  not  yet  been 
discovered  by  his  followers.  Meanwhile  the  magistrates,  who  had  plenty 
of  troops  at  their  disposal,  adopted  the  foolish  resolution  of  arresting 
Hunt  after  the  meeting  had  begun.  For  this  purpose  the  chief  constable 
was  escorted  towards  the  platform  by  forty  men  of  the  Manchester 
Yeomanry.  These  advancing,  without  much  order,  were  soon  lost  in  the 
crowd,  and  the  magistrates,  who  were  watching  from  a  distant  house, 
thinking  they  were  being  attacked,  ordered  the  crowd  to  be  dispersed  by 
the  charge  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry.  The  result  was  a  scene  of  indescrib- 
able confusion.  As  the  hussars,  for  the  most  part,  used  the  flats  of  their 
swords,  only  three  '  Radicals '  were  killed,  with  one  constable  and  one 
yeoman,  but,  perhaps,  one  hundred  persons  all  told  were  injured  more  or 
less  by  sword-cuts,  stones,  and  crushing.  The  blame  of  this  unfortunate 
occurrence — long-remembered  as  the  '  battle  of  Peterloo ' — was  clearly  to 
be  laid  to  the  incapacity  of  the  local  magistrates  ;  but  the  government 
was  unwise  enough,  without  further  inquiry,  to  praise  their  conduct  and 
sanction  what  had  been  done.  This  mistake  roused  much  indignation  in 
the  country,  and  confirmed  the  bad  opinion  held  of  the  government. 
Hunt  and  other  prominent  '  Radicals '  were  arrested,  and  sentenced  to 
various  terms  of  imprisonment  for  conspiring  to  alter  the  law  by  force 
and  threats. 

The  events  at  Manchester  appeared  to  the  minister  to  give  a  suitable 
pretext  for  strengthening  the  law.     Accordingly  parliament  met  in  Nov- 
The  Six        ember,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  passed  a  series  of  acts 
Acts.  known  collectively  as  the  '  Six  Acts.'     These  were  of  varied 

importance.  The  first  made  it  easier  to  prevent  out-of-door  meetings  for 
political  purposes,  and  was  to  be  in  force  for  five  years.  The  second 
enabled  trials  for  misdemeanour,  which  was  the  usual  charge  under  which 
political  agitators  were  prosecuted,  to  be  held  with  less  delay.  The  third, 
very  properly,  forbade  private  persons  to  engage  in  military  drill,  a  pro- 
ceeding tolerated  in  no  civilised  state.  The  fourth  was  for  the  more 
efl'ectual  prevention  and  punishment  of  blasphemous  and  seditious  libels. 
The  fifth  authorised  magistrates  to  seize  arms  in  sixteen  counties  said  to 
be  disturbed,  and  was  to  be  in  force  for  three  years.  The  sixth  was  a 
distinct  check  on  the  liberty  of  the  press,  for  it  required  all  publishers  of 
newspapers  to  give  security  in  advance  for  any  fines  they  might  incur  by 


1820  Liverpool  919 

littering  blasphemy  or  sedition.  Such  an  enactment  made  it  harder  for 
a  poor  man  to  start  a  newspaper,  and,  as  it  stood,  was  an  insult  to  the 
press  at  large.  All  these  Acts  were  stoutly  opposed  by  the  Whigs,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  the  third,  were  sooner  or  later  repealed. 

Though  unsuccessful  in  effecting  much,  the  labours  of  Sir  Samuel 
Romilly  towards  making  the  criminal  code  more  lenient  require  notice  as 
the  first  step  to  an  immense  refonn.  In  the  early  growth  The  Crim- 
of  civilisation,  as  in  England  before  the  Conquest,  reparation  *"^^  Code, 
rather  than  punishment  was  the  object  of  the  criminal  code.  As  property 
increases  in  value,  the  tendency  is  to  defend  it  by  more  stringent 
enactments,  and  as  the  prolonged  imprisonment  of  numerous  convicts  is 
a  serious  difficulty,  the  tendency  is  to  allot  the  punishment  of  death  to 
all  offences  as  the  simplest  way  of  dealing  with  the  criminal.  Under 
such  a  system  an  immense  number  of  persons  were  hanged,  and 
as  time  went  on,  though  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  revolted 
against  such  wholesale  massacre,  a  mistaken  view  of  the  best  way 
to  secure  respect  for  the  law  led  to  one  offence  after  another 
being  made  capital.  Accordingly,  between  1660  and  1820,  no  less 
than  160  new  offences  were  made  punishable  by  death.  This  severity, 
however,  defeated  itself.  Sufferers  refused  to  prosecute,  juries  to  convict, 
and  judges  to  hang ;  so  that  not  one  sentence  in  twenty  was  actually 
carried  into  effect.  Such  uncertainty  was  fatal  to  the  deterrent  effect  of  the 
law,  to  say  nothing  of  its  brutalising  results  on  the  community  at  large. 
No  serious  attempt,  however,  was  made  to  remove  the  evil  till  1808,  when 
Sir  Samuel  Romilly  carried  a  law  to  exempt  the  crime  of  picking  pockets 
from  capital  punishment.  This  was  carried ;  but  the  upper  House,  led  by 
Eldon,  threw  out  a  bill  for  remitting  the  death  sentence  on  shop-lifting 
to  the  value  of  five  shillings  ;  and  though,  till  his  death  in  1819,  Eomilly 
was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions,  he  only  succeeded  in  removing  stealing 
from  bleach-yards  from  the  death  category.  Though  in  practice  he 
effected  so  little,  Romilly  was  successful  in  awakening  public  opinion,  and 
within  a  generation  a  complete  change  was  effected  in  our  criminal  code. 

Within  a  month  of  the  passing  of  the  Six  Acts,  in  January  1820, 
George  iii.  passed  away,  and  his  eldest  son,  George,  became  in  name,  as 
well  as  in  fact,  the  ruler  of  the  country. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

War  against  the  French  Republic,   . 

1793-1802 

Battle  of  the  Nile,     .... 

1798 

War  against  Napoleon,     . 

1803-1814 

Battle  of  Trafalgar,  .... 

1805 

Battle  of  Waterloo,   .        .        .        . 

1815 

CHAPTEE  V 

GEOEGE  IV.  :   1820-1830 

Bom,  1762 ;  married  1795,  Caroline  of  Brunswick. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France. 
Louis  XVIII.,  d.  1824. 
Charles  x. ,  expelled  1830. 

The  Queen's  Trial— Signs  of  Progress— Death  of  Castlereagh — Policy  of  Canning 
and  Huskisson— Affairs  of  Greece — Roman  Catholic  Emancipation. 

George  iv.'s  short  reign  of  ten  years  forms  one  of  the  turning-points 
in  English  history,  for  it  is  a  transition  period  between  the  Toryism 

The  which  prevailed  under  the  regency  and  the  Whig  policy 

Accession,    ^iiic^  prevailed  under  William  iv. 

The  first  event  of  the  new  reign  was  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy 
more  real  and  more  sanguinary  than  anything  the  last  reign  had  pro- 
Cato  street  duced.  This  was  the  Cato  Street  Plot,  devised  by  Thistle- 
Conspiracy.  ^ood,  who  had  formerly  held  a  commission  in  the  army,  and 
had  already  been  tried  but  acquitted  for  his  share  in  the  Spa  Field  Riots. 
He  associated  with  himself  some  dozen  desperate  characters  of  no  social 
position  or  influence,  and  proposed  to  get  admission  to  the  earl  of  Har- 
rowby's  house  while  the  cabinet  ministers  were  dining,  and  to  murder 
them  all.  The  heads  of  Sidmouth  and  Castlereagh  were  to  be  exhibited 
to  the  mob  ;  the  Tower  was  to  be  seized,  the  soldiers  overpowered,  and 
a  provisional  government  set  up.  The  plan  was  as  absurd  as  it  was  cruel ; 
but  fortunately  the  government  were  warned  by  a  man  named  Edwards, 
who  is  suspected  of  having  urged  on  the  unhappy  men  whom  he 
intended  to  betray.  The  conspirators  were  left  immolested  till  the  very 
day,  February  22,  which  had  been  fixed  for  their  attempt,  and  were 
attacked  by  the  police  as  tbey  were  arming  themselves  in  a  hayloft 
connected  with  some   stables  in  Cato   Street,  off  the  Edgware  Road. 


1820  Liverpool  921 

The  arrest  was  not  well  managed  ;  one  of  the  police-officers  was  killed, 
and  Thistlewood  himself  escaped.  He  was,  however,  captured  next  day, 
and,  beincr  tried  and  convicted  of  treason,  suffered  the  extreme  penalty  of 
the  law  with  four  of  his  accomplices.  The  cruelty  and  absurdity  of  such 
a  plot  were  sufficient  to  disgust  the  strongest  opponents  of  the  existing 
government.  Fortunately  the  policy  of  parliamentary  refonn  began  to 
form  a  rallying-point  for  both  Whigs  and  Radicals.  The  alliance  stimu- 
lated the  one,  while  it  moderated  the  other  ;  while  the  rapid  revival  of 
trade — now  that  the  special  causes  of  depression  produced  by  the  war  had 
disappeared— removed  some,  at  any  rate,  of  the  hardships  of  the  labourers 
and  artisans. 

One  effect  of  his  change  of  title  from  regent  to  king  was  to  bring  into  most 
unpleasant  notoriety  the  family  life  of  the  new  sovereign.  In  1787  George 
had  contracted  a  marriage  with  a  Roman  Catholic  lady  named  George's 
Mrs.  Fitzherbert.  The  sole  ground  of  the  illegality  of  the  "tarried  life, 
marriage  was  that  the  prince  had  not  the  consent  of  his  fiither,  as  required 
by  the  Royal  Marriage  Act  of  1772.  Had  the  marriage  been  fully  legal 
the  prince  would  have  been  excluded  from  the  succession  by  the  Bill  of 
Rights  of  1689.  At  the  time  of  the  marriage  the  prince  was  hopelessly 
burdened  with  debts — most  of  them  contracted  at  the  card -table — and  in 
asking  parliament  to  pay  them  he  actually  authorised  Fox  to  deny  the 
marriage,  at  the  same  time  expressing  to  Mrs.  Fitzherbert  his  surprise 
that  Fox  had  done  so.  Such  conduct  forfeited  the  prince's  reputation  as 
a  man  of  honour  ;  but  in  spite  of  it.  Fox  and  some  of  the  Whig  leaders 
allowed  themselves  to  be  still  called  his  friends.  His  debts  were  paid, 
but  others  were  soon  contracted,  and  in  1795  his  position  was  as  embar- 
rassed as  before.  In  these  circumstances,  he  was  approached  by  his 
father  with  a  proposition  that  if  he  would  contract  a  legal  marriage  his 
debts  should  again  be  paid.  To  this  proposal  he  reluctantly  agreed,  and 
allowed  his  father  to  name  his  future  wife.  The  young  lady  chosen  was 
Caroline  of  Brunswick,  daughter  of  the  duke  and  of  the  sister  of  George 
III.  The  prince  had  never  seen  her  till  three  days  before  the  marriage, 
which  took  place  in  1795.  One  daughter,  the  Princess  Charlotte,  was 
bom  ;  and  three  months  afterwards,  George  left  his  young  wife  and 
returned  to  Mrs.  Fitzherbert.  Such  abominable  conduct  on  the  part  of 
her  husband  would  have  been  hard  for  any  woman  to  bear  ;  and,  unfor- 
tunately, Caroline's  character  was  not  such  as  to  dignify  her  anger.  She 
had  been  badly  trained  and  ill  educated,  and  appears  to  have  been 
extremely  frivolous.  Her  home  at  Blackheath  soon  began  to  be  the 
subject  of  gossip  ;  and,  in  1806,  urged  on  by  the  prince  and  his  brothers, 
the  ministry  conducted  a  secret  inquiry,  known  as  the  '  Delicate  Investi- 


922  Gecrrge  IV.  1820 

gation,'  into  the  conduct  of  the  princess.  The  result  was  her  complete 
exoneration  from  any  serious  charge.  For  years  no  more  was  heard  of 
the  matter  ;  but  in  1814  the  princess  went  abroad,  and  rumours  soon 
reached  England  that,  taking  advantage  of  the  freedom  of  her  new  life, 
she  had  allowed  herself  to  be  led  into  frivolity  and  dissipation. 

Meanwhile,  the  Princess  Charlotte  was  growing  up.     Since  the  age  of 

eight  she  had  been  for  the  most  part  removed  from  the  charge  of  her 

^^  mother,  and  since  1814  had  never  seen  her  at  all.     The 

The 

Princess  greatest  pains  had  been  taken  with  her  education.  The 
result  was  eminently  satisfactory ;  and  the  nation  learned 
with  thankfulness  how  good,  fearless,  and  witty  the  future  sovereign  was 
likely  to  be.  In  1816  she  was  married  to  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe- 
Coburg,  who  was  exceedingly  well  fitted  to  make  a  suitable  husband. 
All  seemed  to  be  going  well,  when,  in  November,  1817,  the  princess 
died  after  giving  birth  to  a  still-born  child.  This  disaster  filled  the 
country  with  consternation.  Of  the  king's  children,  the  duke  of  York, 
his  second  son,  was  married  but  had  no  children  ;  the  dukes  of  Clarence, 
Kent,  and  Cambridge  were  unmarried  ;  while  the  duke  of  Cumberland, 
who  was  married  and  had  children,  was  intensely  unpopular.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  dukes  of  Clarence,  Kent,  and  Cambridge  hastened  to 

„.   ^    ,       marry.    However,  the  only  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Clarence 

Birth  of  ''  7  J  o 

Princess  died  directly  after  birth,  so  the  hope  of  eventually  succeed- 
ing to  the  crown  fell  to  the  Princess  Victoria,  daughter  of 
the  duke  of  Kent,  born  May  24,  1819,  who  stood  next  in'  the  line  of 
succession  after  her  uncles  George  and  William. 

When  George  iv.  became  king,  in  spite  of  the  notoriously  evil  nature 
of  his  own  life,  he  immediately  applied  to  his  ministers  to  procure 
The  Divorce  him  a  divorce.  On  this,  ministers  entered  into  negotia- 
Question.  tions  with  the  queen  with  a  view  to  her  staying  abroad,  and 
promised  the  king  that  if  she  returned  to  England  they  would  accede 
to  his  request.  Probably  the  negotiations  would  have  been  successful 
had  not  the  name  of  the  queen  been  omitted  from  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Established  Church.  This  insult,  which  seemed  to  proclaim  her  guilty  in 
every  parish  in  England,  was  more  than  she  could  bear.  In  June  she 
broke  off  all  negotiations,  and  landed  in  England,  where  she  was  well 
received  by  the  middle  and  lower  classes  ;  the  aristocracy  held  aloof. 
Her  arrival  compelled  the  ministers  to  proceed  with  their  bargain. 
Canning  alone  resigned  his  place  at  the  Board  of  Control ;  and  a  Bill  of 
Pains  and  Penalties,  amounting  to  an  Act  of  Divorce,  was  brought  forward 
in  the  Upper  House.  To  the  great  scandal  of  the  whole  nation  a  series 
of  Italian  witnesses  were  publicly  examined  as  to  the  minutest  details  of 


1820  Liverpool  923 

the  queen's  life.  This  evidence  was  printed  in  the  newspapers,  and 
became  the  daily  talk  of  all  classes.  As  evidence,  however,  on  which 
to  found  a  divorce,  it  was  quite  inconclusive,  and  was  unmercifully 
discredited  under  the  cross-examination  of  Brougham  and  Denman,  who 
conducted  the  case  for  the  queen.  The  second  reading  of  the  bill  was 
only  passed  by  28  ;  the  third  reading  by  only  9.  In  these  circumstances 
ministers  saw  that  there  was  not  the  remotest  chance  of  the  bill  passing 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  it  was  accordingly  abandoned.  While  it 
was  possible  that  the  bill  might  pass,  the  feeling  of  the  nation  had  been 
strongly  in  the  queen's  favour ;  but  a  reaction  now  took  place.  The 
evidence,  though  inconclusive,  was  most  discreditable  to  her  fair  fame, 
and  the  number  of  her  supporters  rapidly  diminished.  Foolishly  enough, 
she  claimed  in  November  to  be  crowned  with  her  husband.  She  was, 
of  course,  rejected  ;  and,  after  a  painful  scene  at  the  door  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  she  was  refused  admittance,  she  returned  home  only  to  die 
of  a  fever  brought  on  by  excitement  and  vexation.  Her  death  removed 
a  most  serious  danger  to  the  country,  for  it  is  doubtful  whether  anything 
had  ever  placed  the  monarchy  in  greater  danger  than  the  Bill  of  Pains 
and  Penalties. 

When  the  excitement  caused  by  the  Cato  Street  Plot  and  the  queen's 
trial  was   over,  it  became  evident  that  the  terror  of  reform   caused 
by  the  French  Revolution  had  died  away,  and  that  a  new    indications 
period  of  progress  had  commenced.     In   1820  Brougham,    of  progress, 
who  since  Horner's  death  had  been  the  most  conspicuous  figure  among 
the  opposition,  brought  forward  a  scheme  for  national  education.     Few 
could  speak  with  greater  authority  than  he  on  this  subject.     Though  a 
Westmorland  man  by  descent,  Henry   Brougham   had  been  bom   in 
Edinburgh,  where  his  fiither  had  married  the  niece  of  Robertson,  the 
historian.     He  had  been  educated  at  the  High  School  and  University  of 
Edinburgh,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  the  admirable  Scottish  system 
of  education.     Horner  had  been  trained  in  the  same  school,  and  he, 
Jeffrey,  Brougham,  and  Sydney  Smith  had,  in  1802,  set  on  foot  the 
famous  Edinburgh  Review^  which  did  so  much  for  the  dissemination  of 
Whig  principles  that  Canning  started  the  Quarterly  to  counteract  it. 
Brougham  advocated  the  introduction  of  the  Scottish  system   National 
of  village  schools ;  but  as  he  proposed  that  all  the  school-    Education, 
masters  should  be  members  of  the  Established  Church,  his  scheme  found 
no  favour  with  dissenters,  and  their  opposition  was  fatal  to 
the  measure.  Some  years  later  Brougham  performed  a  work    University 
of  permanent  value  in  starting  the  movement  which  resulted 
in  the  foundation  of  the  University  of  London,  which  has  since  exer- 


924  George  IV.  1820 

cised  an  important  influence  on  the  higher  education  of  this  country. 
With  this  movement  must  be  coupled  the  idea  of  mechanics'  institutes, 
designed  to  be  clubs  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of 
Mechanics'  the  artisan  class — first  carried  out  by  Dr.  Birkbeck,  but  in 
Institutes.  which  a  keen  interest  was  taken  by  Brougham— and  the 
formation  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,  with  a 
view  of  supplying  poor  readers  with  cheap  and  good  works  on  science  and 
literature.  At  the  same  time  that  practical  men  were  engaged  in  such 
Byron  and  work  as  this,  poets  like  Byron  and  Shelley  were  stirring 
Shelley.  ^j^^  intellectual  world  with  the  new  ideas  of  liberty  and  life, 

and,  following  up  the  work  of  Bums,  Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge,  were 
breathing  into  poetry  a  vigour,  reality,  and  earnestness  of  purpose  which 
had  been  wanting  during  the  classical  eighteenth  century. 

In  1821  Sir  James  Mackintosh  effected  a  change  in  the  criminal  law, 
which  Romilly  had  never  been  able  to  do,  by  removing  shop-lifting  to 
The  Criminal  ^^^  value  of  five  shillings  from  the  list  of  capital  offences. 
^°'^^-  From  this  time  forward,  though  progress  was   slow,   the 

policy  advocated  by  Romilly  and  Mackintosh  steadily  gained  supporters, 
and  in  1837,  on  the  report  of  a  Commission  on  Criminal  Law,  a  large 
number  of  remissions  were  made.  This  was  carried  still  further  in  1845, 
when  it  was  enacted  that  the  penalty  of  death  should  be  restricted  to 
treason,  murder,  and  attempted  murder ;  and  since  that  date,  the  last 
has  been  also  omitted.  The  effect  of  these  changes  is  seen  by  tlie  com- 
putation that,  between  1810  and  1845,  no  less  than  fourteen  hundred 
persons  were  put  to  death  for  crimes  which  have  since  ceased  to  be 
capital. 

Some  progress  was  also  made  in  the  direction  of  parliamentary  reform. 

On  this  subject,  Brougham,  who  had  always  sat  for  nomination  boroughs, 

was  tongue-tied  ;  but  it  was  taken  up  by  Lord  John  Russell, 

mentary      a  younger  son  of  the  duke  of  Bedford,  a  man  of  indomitable 

Re  orm.  energy.  In  1821  the  borough  of  Grampound,  in  Cornwall, 
was  disfranchised  for  corruption,  and  the  question  arose  to  whom  the 
members  should  be  allotted.  By  the  House  of  Commons  it  was  voted 
that  they  should  be  given  to  Leeds,  a  proposal  which  embodied  the 
principle  of  gradually  disfranchising  the  nomination  boroughs,  and  trans- 
ferring their  members  to  large  towns.  However,  the  House  of  Lords 
amended  the  bill  by  allotting  the  members  to  the  whole  county  of  York, 
and  in  this  stage  the  Commons  acquiesced. 

The  movement  for  the  emancipation  of  the  Roman  Catholics  made  a 
further  step.  Of  late  years  this  measure  had  been  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  Grattan,  who,  in  1813,  1816,  and  1819  had  brought  forward  motions 


1822  Liverpool  925 

on  the  subject,  but  had  been  defeated  by  small  majorities.  The  govern- 
ment itself  was  divided  ;  for  Castlereagh  had  always  been  true  to  the 
Koman  Catholic  claims,  and  they  had  also  received  a  con-     ^    ^  ,. 

.      p  -     1  Catholic 

stant  support  from  Canning.     The  feeling  in  favour  of  the     Emanci- 
Konian   Catholics  was,   however,    steadily  rising,   and  in     "^^  ^°"' 
1821  Plunket  introduced  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  Koman  Catholic 
disabilities,  and  carried  it  through  the  Commons  by  a  good  majority.     It 
was,  however,  thrown  out  by  the  Lords. 

These  above-mentioned  measures  were  all  brought  forward  by  the 
opposition  ;  but  so  obvious  was  the  change  going  forward  in  the  feeling 
of  parliament  and  the  country,  that  the  ministry  attempted  Ministerial 
to  strengthen  itself  by  the  introduction  of  more  popular  Changes, 
members.  In  1822  it  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the  Grenville  party,  and 
though  Grenville  considered  himself  to  be  past  ministerial  work,  several 
of  his  followers,  headed  by  his  nephew,  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  entered 
the  government.  At  the  same  time,  the  marquess  Wellesley,  a  friend  to 
the  "Roman  Catholic  claims,  became  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland.  More 
important  still  was  the  retirement  of  Lord  Sidmouth,  who  considered  his 
work  in  detecting  conspiracies  to  be  done,  and  his  replacement  by  Robert 
Peel.  This  statesman  was  the  son  of  a  Lancashire  manu-  Robert 
facturer,  and  had  been  educated  at  Eton  and  Christ  Church.  P^^^- 
He  took  a  double  first  at  Oxford,  and  on  his  entering  parliament,  his 
father  is  reputed  to  have  said  to  him  :  '  Bob,  if  you  are  not  prime 
minister,  I  '11  cut  you  oflf  with  a  shilling.'  As  a  man  who  had  himself 
sprung  from  their  ranks.  Peel,  though  a  strong  Tory,  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  ideas  of  the  rising  manufacturing  population.  As  home  secretary, 
his  best-known  achievement  was  the  organisation  of  the  London  police 
force,  his  connection  with  which  is  still  remembered  by  sevend  popular 
nicknames  for  the  force,  founded  on  his  Christian  and  surname  re- 
spectively. 

These  changes  considerably  altered  the  tone  of  Lord  Liverpool's  ad- 
ministration ;  but  the  greatest  change  of  all  was  made  by  the  suicide  of 
Lord  Castlereagh  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.     Lord     t^     y.    e 
Castlereagh,  who,  in   1821,  had  succeeded  his   father  as     Castie- 
marquess  of  Londonderry,  embodied  in  the  popular  mind  the     ^^^^ 
spirit  of  the  old  Toryism.    Though  a  most  genial  and  kindly  man  in  private 
life,  he  had,  in  public,  the  character  of  being  an  unsympathetic  opponent 
of  new  ideas  ;  and  he  had  done  himself  harm  by  some  injudicious  speeches. 
He  had  certainly  little  sympathy  with  popular  or  national  movements  as 
such ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  acted  as  a  decided  check  on  the 
vagaries  of  the  Holy  Alliance.    Such  a  man — whose  narrowness  of  view  had 


926  Ge(yrge  IV,  1822 

been,  as  is  often  the  case,  accompanied  with  great  force  of  character — had 
been  an  admirable  foreign  minister  when  dogged  determination  had  been 
needed  to  bring  to  a  successful  end  the  struggle  with  Napoleon.  In  times 
of  peace,  when  greater  breadth  of  view  and  a  more  delicate  tact  were 
needed,  he  was  less  successful.  In  home  affairs  he  was,  except  in  the 
matter  of  Roman  Catholic  emancipation,  a  decided  reactionary,  and  his 
death  probably  removed  a  bar  to  progress.  In  the  end  his  mind  failed 
him,  and  he  committed  suicide.  His  death  was  received  with  indecent 
expressions  of  joy,  which  showed  the  unpopularity  of  the  system  with 
which  the  Lord  Castlereagh  of  popular  imagination  was  closely  identified. 

Lord  Londonderry's  place  as  foreign  secretary  was  taken  by  Canning. 
That  statesman,  who,  in  1812,  preferred  not  to  be  in  office  at  all  if  he 
.  were  not  to  be  the  head,  had  found  himself  eclipsed  by  the 

glory  of  his  rival  Castlereagh  ;  and  after  taking,  for  a  time, 
the  post  of  ambassador  at  Lisbon,  had,  in  1817,  joined  the  ministry  as 
president  of  the  Board  of  Control.  He  had  then  confined  his  attention 
to  Indian  affairs  till  1820,  when  his  disapproval  of  the  Bill  of  Pains  and 
Penalties  led  to  his  resignation.  He  then  contemplated  going  out  to 
India  as  governor-general,  and  had  been  elected  by  the  board  of 
directors,  when  his  plans  were  completely  changed  by  the  news  of  his 
rival's  death.  Lord  Liverpool  immediately  offered  him  the  foreign  office, 
with  the  leadership  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  Canning  accepted 
both. 

The  moment  of  his  accepting  office  was  critical.  Hitherto  the  Holy 
Alliance  had  been  little  more  than  a  name,  but  an  opportunity  had  lately 

The  Holy     arisen  for  putting  its  principles  into  practice.     This  arose 

Alliance,  q^^  Qf  ^n  insurrection  in  Spain.  On  the  return  of  Ferdin- 
and VII.,  after  the  expulsion  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  he  had  abolished  the 
constitution  of  1812,  and  dissolved  the  Cortes.  Even  in  Spain  this 
return  to  absolutism  caused  some  dissatisfaction.  In  1822  a  rebellion 
broke  out,  the  constitution  of  1812  was  restored,  and  Ferdinand  compelled 
to  give  his  consent.  To  take  into  consideration  this  event,  a  congress  was 
called  at  Verona,  at  which  the  duke  of  Wellington  was  to  be  the  British 
representative ;  and  it  was  on  the  verge  of  meeting  when  Canning  re- 
placed Castlereagh  at  the  foreign  office.  Canning  made  no  verbal  change 
in  Londonderry's  written  instructions  to  Wellington ;  but  on  receiving 
from  the  duke  a  request  for  further  orders,  he  laid  it  down  distinctly 
that  England  would  be  no  party  to  any  attempt  to  coerce  the  Spaniards. 
Had  he  not  done  so,  it  is  certain  that  the  whole  weight  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  would  have  been  brought  to  bear  on  Spain,  for  the  Czar  was 
proposing  to  bring  Russian  troops  to  the  Rhine.     Canning's  attitude. 


1822  Liverpool  927 

however,  checked  this  combined  movement ;  but  he  was  obliged  to 
remain  neutral  when  French  troops  invaded  Spain,  restored  Ferdinand, 
and  abolished  the  constitution.  This  position  was  not  a  very  dignified 
one  for  Great  Britain,  but  Canning  defended  it  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  prevented  a  general  war,  and  reduced  the  matter  to  one  between 
France  and  Spain.  Moreover,  the  Spaniards  showed  themselves  so  little 
willing  to  sacrifice  themselves  in  defence  of  their  own  liberties,  that  their 
revolution  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  really  national  movement.  In 
form,  Canning's  action  was  not  very  different  from  that  of  Londonderry, 
who,  in  1821,  had  permitted  Austria  to  interfere  in  Naples  ;  but  the 
spirit  of  the  two  men  was  different,  and  it  was  felt  all  over  Europe  that 
Canning's  policy  was  fatal  to  any  effective  continuance  of  the  Holy 
Alliance. 

Equally  important  was  Canning's  attitude  towards  the  Spanish- 
American  colonies.  These  colonies  had  never  accepted  the  rule  of  King 
Joseph,  who,  not  having  the  command  of  the  sea,  was  quite  The  Spanish 
incapable  of  coercing  them.  During  his  nominal  rule  they  Colonies, 
had  practically  enjoyed  independence,  and  on  Ferdinand's  restoration 
were  by  no  means  willing  to  return  to  their  old  position.  They  were, 
however,  obliged  to  accept  his  rule ;  but  at  the  first  opportunity 
insurrections  broke  out,  of  which  the  chief  heroes  were  Miranda,  the  real 
father  of  Spanish  colonial  independence,  Bolivar,  and  the  English  admiral, 
Cochrane.  By  the  year  1822,  practical  independence  had  been  secured, 
and  to  this  Canning  gave  great  importance.  In  his  opinion,  the  situation 
as  regards  French  interference  in  Spain  was  changed  by  the  loss  of  the 
Spanish  colonies.  As  he  said  himself :  '  Contemplating  Spain,  such  as  our 
ancestors  had  known  her,  I  resolved  that  if  France  had  Spain,  it  should 
not  be  Spain  "  with  the  Indies."  I  called  the  New  World  into  existence  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  Old.'  In  accordance  with  this  policy  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  colonies  was  recognised  by  Great  Britain,  and  Spain  was 
reduced  to  the  dimensions  of  a  European,  but  not  a  colonial,  power. 

With  discountenance  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  and  recognition  of  the  new 
American  republics,  Canning  combined  a  real  sympathy  with  the  efforts 
which  the  Greeks  were  making  to  win  their  independ-  q,.  ^  . 
ence.  A  revolt  of  the  Greeks  against  the  Turks  appealed  to 
politicians  trained  in  Greek  literature  more  forcibly  than  the  struggles  of 
obscure  colonists,  and  many  Englishmen  took  a  most  lively  interest  in  the 
success  of  the  insurgents.  Turkey,  of  course,  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  and  therefore  could  not  claim  assistance  against  her 
revolted  subjects.  On  the  contrary,  Russia,  the  leading  member  of  the 
Alliance,  had  every  reason  to  wish  success  to  the  Greeks,  whose  triumph 


928  George  IV.  I822 

would  make  more  easy  the  Russian  advance  on  Constantinople.  The 
position  was  further  complicated  by  the  fears  which  the  western  powers 
held  of  the  aggrandisements  of  Russia.  In  these  circumstances  the 
Turks  were  left  to  deal  with  the  insurrection  as  best  they  could,  with 
the  result  that  the  Greeks,  for  seven  years,  maintained  themselves  in  the 
field. 

While  Canning  was  thus  breathing  new  life  into  the  foreign  policy  of 

this  country,  his  friend  Huskisson  was  carrying  out  little  less  than  a 

,,    , .  revolution  in  its  trade  and  manufactures.      Huskisson  was 

Huskisson. 

born  in  1770,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  Staffordshire 
squire  of  small  means.  In  1790  he  became  a  secretary  in  the  British 
embassy  at  Paris,  and  afterwards  distinguished  himself  by  the  tact  and 
courtesy  with  which  he  administered  Pitt's  Alien  Act.  In  1795  he  was 
appointed  under-secretary  for  the  colonies ;  but  his  further  rise  was 
slow,  and  after  1812  it  was  retarded  by  his  close  friendship  with  Canning. 
When  Canning  became  foreign  secretary  in  1822  he  procured  for 
Huskisson  the  post  of  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  in  1823  he 
succeeded  Canning  as  member  for  Liverpool.  Though  a  Tory  in 
politics,  Huskisson  was  distinguished  by  his  broad  and  liberal  views 
on  all  matters  relating  to  commerce,  and  his  i)resence  at  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  soon  shown  by  the  adoption  of  the  more  enlightened  policy. 
As  Huskisson's  changes  could  not  be  carried  out  without  alterations 
in  taxation,  credit  must  also  be  given  to  Frederick  John  Robinson, 
afterwards  Lord  Goderich,  who,  in  1823,  succeeded  Vansittart  as 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  who  worked  with  Huskisson  in  a  most 
friendly  spirit. 

Their  first  step  was  to  aid  manufacturers  by  reducing  the  taxes  on 
silk  and  wool,  and  shipbuilders  by  reducing  that  on  foreign  timber,  so 
Reduction  of  enabling  manufacturers  to  produce  their  wares  at  a  less 
material .^^^  cost,  and  shipowners  to  charge  a  less  freight.  At  the  same 
Navigation  ^^°^®  ^  large  modification  was  made  in  the  Navigation  Acts. 
Acts.  These  acts,  which  had  been  first  enacted  under  the  Com- 

monwealth, and  renewed  under  Charles  11.,  had  the  effect  of  prohibiting 
most  goods  being  brought  to  England  except  in  English  ships,  or,  in  the 
case  of  Europe,  the  ships  of  those  countries  where  they  were  produced. 
Until  1782  the  American  colonies  had  been  exempt  from  this  law  as 
British  colonies,  but  they  had  since  ranked  as  foreign  countries,  and 
therefore  their  ships  had  been  unable  to  bring  goods  to  Britain.  They 
had  therefore  to  come  in  ballast ;  and  the  Americans  had  therefore  to 
pay  a  freight  which  paid  the  journey  both  ways.  This  naturally  pro- 
duced retaliation  ;  and  many  countries  forbade  British  vessels  to  bring 


1825  Liverpool  929 

goods  to  their  ports.  Such  a  state  of  things  was  intolerable,  now  that 
we  wished  to  do  a  large  trade  with  the  United  States  and  with  the  new 
South  American  republics  ;  and  Huskisson  met  it  by  putting  these 
states  on  the  same  footing  as  if  they  had  been  European  countries.  A 
great  outcry  was  raised  that  this  would  be  the  ruin  of  British  shipping  ; 
but  experience  showed  that  the  shipbuilding  trade  flourished  under 
the  new  regime^  and  that  the  number  of  British  vessels  increased  rapidly. 

Another  interesting  piece  of  legislation  concerned  the  Spitalfields 
silk-weavers.  The  London  silk  manufactures  had  been  originally 
set  on  foot  by  the  Huguenot  refugees  who  fled  to  England  The  Siik- 
in  the  time  of  James  ii.  They  had  then  been  placed  under  weavers, 
careful  regulations,  and  the  wages  of  the  weavers  were  fixed  from  time 
to  time  by  the  magistrates.  Meanwhile,  an  unrestricted  manufacture  of 
silk  sprang  up  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  especially  in  Cheshire  and 
Stafibrdshire.  This  competed  at  an  advantage  with  the  Spitalfields 
trade  ;  and  the  result  was  an  outcry  by  the  London  weavers  against  the 
restrictions.     Accordingly  they  were  repealed  by  act  of  parliament. 

Another  change  was  made  in  the  condition  of  workmen  by  the  repeal 
of  all  acts  which  restricted  the  freedom  of  workmen  to  travel  about  the 
country.      These  restrictions  had  grown  up  out  of  the  Act   „,    , 

•^  1  ,  AVorkmen's 

of  Settlement  of  Charles  ii.,  which  enabled  the  overseers  of  Combina- 
any  parish  to  remove  any  new  arrival  who  seemed  likely  to 
become  chargeable  to  the  parish.  In  1824  and  1825  a  most  important 
change  was  made  in  the  laws  which  dealt  with  combinations  of  em- 
ployers or  employed  with  a  view  to  regulating  the  conditions  of  labour. 
By  a  law  passed  in  1800,  all  agreements  between  journeymen  and 
workmen  for  obtaining  advancements  of  wages,  reductions  of  the  hours 
of  labour,  or  any  other  change  in  the  condition  of  work,  were  declared 
illegal.  This  continued  to  be  the  law  down  to  1824,  when,  on  a  report 
of  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  whole  of  the  laws 
restricting  combinations  were  repealed.  This  measure,  however,  was 
thought,  on  reflection,  to  be  too  sweeping  ;  so,  in  1825,  another  act  was 
passed  which  attempted  to  define  what  was  legal  and  what  was  not.  It 
•enacted  that  combinations  of  masters  and  workmen  to  settle  terms  about 
wages  and  hours  of  labour  were  legal ;  but  that  combinations  for 
controlling  employers  by  moral  violence  are  not. 

Huskisson's  legislation  met  with  the  less  opposition  because  it  was 
passed  at  a  time  when  trade  and  manufacture  were  extremely  prosperous. 
This  inflation  led  to  much  unwarranted  speculation,  especi-   commercial 
ally  in  the  South  American  trade,  and  was  followed  by    P^"^«=- 
commercial  depression.      Many  banks  and  joint-stock  companies  failed  ; 

3n 


930  George  IV.  1886 

numbers  of  workpeople  were  thrown  out  of  employment ;  with  the  result 
of  reviving  much  of  the  disorder  that  had  characterised  the  years  which 
immediately  followed  the  declaration  of  peace.  Much  machinery  was 
wrecked  both  in  town  and  country,  for  the  workpeople  still  regarded  its 
introduction  with  aversion,  and  in  times  of  distress  imputed  all  their 
misfortunes  to  the  new  machines. 

Meanwhile,  the  Catholic  question  was  beginning  to  occupy  more  than 

ever  the  attention  of  prominent  politicians.      This  was  due,  to  some 

extent,  to  the  action  of  Irish  journalists,  who  persisted  in 

Emancipa-  pushing  it  to  the  front,  partly  to  the  very  serious  condition 
of  affairs  in  Ireland.  In  that  country  there  had  been  no 
political  outbreak  since  Emmett's  rebellion  ;  but  the  war  against  tithes 
and  rent  had  been  unremitting  ;  and  the  hostility  between  the  Catholics 
and  the  Orangemen  had  become,  if  possible,  more  violent.  However,  in 
1823,  a  remarkable  change  was  brought  about  by  the  organisation  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Association,  which  was  joined  almost  universally  by  the 
Roman  Catholics,  and  which  was  supported  by  contributions  collected  by 

Daniel         the  priests.     The  leader  of  the  new  movement  was  Daniel 

O'Connell.  O'Connell,  an  Irish  barrister.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
natural  eloquence,  and  was  able  to  exercise  from  the  platform  an  almost 
unbounded  sway  over  the  passions  of  his  countrymen.  The  rise  of  this 
body  had  a  most  salutary  effect  on  the  condition  of  the  country.  By 
concentrating  the  attention  of  the  people  on  the  repeal  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Disabilities,  almost  a  complete  stop  was  put  to  the  irregular 
outrages  that  had  disgraced  the  country.  At  the  same  time  it  was  diffi- 
cult for  the  government  to  look  on  unmoved  at  its  proceedings.  The 
very  oath  taken  by  the  members  savoured  of  civil  war.  On  his  entrance, 
each  swore  :  '  By  the  hate  he  bore  the  Orangemen,  who  were  their  natural 
enemies,  and  by  the  confidence  he  reposed  in  the  Catholic  Association, 
who  were  his  natural  and  zealous  friends,  to  abstain  from  all  secret  and 
illegal  associations  and  Whiteboy  disturbances  and  outrages.'  Accor- 
dingly the  Association  was,  in  1825,  dissolved  by  law ;  but  it  had  had 
the  effect  of  forcing  the  Catholic  question  to  the  front,  and  it  became  th^ 
question  of  the  hour.  The  friends  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  desirous 
of  showing  that,  though  they  disapproved  of  the  Association,  they  were 
still  true  to  their  promises  ;  and,  accordingly.  Sir  Francis  Burdett  brought 
forward  a  Relief  Bill,  which,  besides  repealing  the  disabilities,  provided 
for  the  endowment  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests.  This  bill  passed  the 
Commons  without  difficulty,  but  was  thrown  out  by  the  Lords  ;  and  the 
debate  in  that  House  was  made  memorable  by  an  announcement  by  the 
duke  of  York,  who  declared  that  in  whatever  position  he  were  placed  he 


1827  Liverpool — Canning  931 

should  be  an  opponent  of  the  bill.  This  announcement  determined  the 
friends  of  repeal  to  carry  it,  if  possible,  before  the  duke  came  to  the 
throne.  Their  efforts  were  therefore  redoubled  ;  and  the  Catholic  Asso- 
ciation was  virtually  reconstructed  under  another  form. 

These  events  naturally  led  to  difficulties  in  the  cabinet.  Under  Lord 
Liverpool  the  Catholic  question  had  been  regarded  as  an  open  one  ;  but 
the  prominence  of  the  subject  tended  to  divide  the  cabinet 

1         •!  ^    t  ^      n         •  i  xt     i  •  Resignation 

into  two  hostile  camps — one  led  by  Canning  and  Huskisson,  of  Lord 
the  other  by  Lord  Eldon  and  the  duke  of  Wellington.  ^^^«'T*°<'l- 
Except,  indeed,  in  opposition  to  parliamentary  reform,  there  was  hardly 
any  subject  on  which  the  cabinet  was  agreed.      Wellington  looked  with 
suspicion  on  Canning's  foreign  policy  ;  and  both  Canning  and  Huskisson 
were  disliked  by  their  aristocratic  associates.      Matters  so  stood  when, 
in  1827,  Lord  Liverpool  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and  had  to  give  in  his 
resignation.     The  king  wished  him  to  be  succeeded  by  some  nobleman 
under  whom  the  rest  of  the  cabinet  would  agree  to  work.     None  such, 
however,  could  be  found  ;  and,  after  some  delay.  Canning  became  first 
lord  of  the  treasury  in  April  1827.      The  result  was  the   canning's 
resignation  of  the  duke  of  Wellington,  Lord  Eldon,  Peel,    Ministry, 
and  three  other  anti-Catholic  members  of  the  cabinet.      Canning  filled 
their  places  with  men  who  were  favourable  to  the  Roman  Catholic  claims. 
Huskisson  continued  at  the  Board  of  Trade  ;  Lord  Palmerston  continued 
secretary  at  war  ;  and  Robinson,  now  Lord  Goderich,  became  war  and 
colonial  secretary.     There  was  little  now  to  distinguish  the  transfonned 
Tory  administration  from  a  Liberal  government,  except  in  the  matter  of 
parliamentary  reform,  and  as  such  it  received  the  support  of  Brougham  ; 
but  it  was  opposed  by  Earl  Grey  and  Lord  John  Russell,  and  could  not 
be  regarded  as  a  very  stable  administration.     There  was.    Death  of 
however,  hope  that  before  long  it  would  be  joined  by  the   banning, 
leading  Whigs,  for  whom,  indeed,  places  had  been  kept,  when  its  career 
came  to  a  sudden  termination  through  the  death  of  Canning  in  1827. 

During  the  short  time  he  had  been  premier  Canning's  attention  had 
been  chiefly  given  to  the  affairs  of  Greece.  The  struggle  between  the 
Greeks  and  the  Turks,  if  left  to  themselves,  seemed  inter-   ^.     ^ 

.      ,,  .,  .,  ,,/..•  1      ..         The  Greeks. 

mmable,  as  neither  side  was  capable  of  gaming  a  decisive 
advantage  over  the  other  ;  but,  in  1827,  the  interposition  of  Mahomet 
Ali,  tributary  pasha  of  Egypt,  seemed  likely  to  be  fatal  to  the  Greeks. 
Their  strongholds  were  the  islands  of  the  Greek  archipelago,  which  the 
Turks,  having  no  fleet,  were  unable  to  attack,  but  which  could  make 
little  stand  against  the  Egyptian  fleet.  Accordingly,  the  islands  fell 
fast ;    Athens  was  taken  ;    and  Corinth  and  Napoli  alone  remained  in 


932  George  IV.  18« 

Greek  hands.  Their  conquest  was  merely  a  question  of  time  ;  but  it 
seemed  to  the  European  powers  that  the  Greeks,  by  their  seven  years' 
struggle,  had  earned  a  better  fate.  Canning,  therefore,  was  able  to 
negotiate  a  triple  alliance  between  Great  Britain,  Eussia,  and  France, 
and  to  demand  from  the  Porte  that  Greece  should  have  the  same 
position  as  the  Danubian  states,  Servia  and  Wallachia — i.e.  that  she 
should  manage  her  own  affairs  subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  the  Porte. 
Time  was  given  to  the  sultan  for  the  consideration  of  this  proposal ;  but, 
before  anything  was  settled,  large  reinforcements  were  sent  to  the 
Egyptian  fleet.  Sir  Edward  Codrington,  the  English  admiral  on  the 
station,  allowed  these  to  join  the  rest  of  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian 
vessels  in  the  harbour  of  Navarino  ;   but   blockaded  them  there  with 

Battle  of      *^^    ^i<i    ^f  ^^®    French    and    Russian    squadrons.      The 

Navarino.  proximity  of  the  rival  fleets  led  to  a  fight ;  and  on  October 
20,  1827,  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleets  were  utterly  destroyed,  after  a 
cannonade  of  four  hours.  Had  the  destruction  of  the  fleets  been 
promptly  followed  up  by  the  appearance  of  the  British  and  their  allies 
off  Constantinople,  the  Turks  would  probably  have  brought  the  war  to 
an  end  by  granting  the  demands  of  the  Greeks  ;  but  the  ministry  at 
home  did  not  know  its  own  mind,  and  the  favourable  opportunity  was 
lost. 

Canning  had  been  succeeded  as  prime  minister  by  his  friend  Lord 
Goderich.      Canning  had  been  both  first  lord  of  the  treasury  and  also 

Goderich's  chancellor  of  the  exchequer ;  and  as  Lord  Goderich,  being 

Ministry,  jn  the  Upper  House,  could  not  be  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer, that  post  was  given  to  Herries,  a  Tory.  This  led  to  a  difiiculty 
in  appointing  the  chairman  of  a  financial  committee  for  the  coming 
session.  Herries  wished  to  act  himself:  Huskisson  desired  to  have 
Lord  Althorp,  the  ofiicial  leader  of  the  Whigs.  Both  resigned  ;  and 
Wellington's  Goderich,  quite  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  resigned  also.  This 
Ministry.  disastrous  ending  of  the  Canningite  administration  enabled 
the  king  to  offer  the  premiership  to  the  duke  of  Wellington,  by  whom  it 
was  accepted  ;  and  a  mixed  government  was  formed,  including  Huskisson, 
Goderich,  Palmerston  and  other  followers  of  Canning,  and  the  strong 
Tories  who  followed  the  duke,  and  Peel. 

The  first  effect  of  the  change  was  to  undo  Canning's  work  in  the  East. 
His  policy  had  all  along  been  directed  to  keep  Russia  from  acting  by 

^   ^        ^     herself  for  her  own  aggrandisement,  and  to  induce  her  to 

Independ-  .       ,  ^° 

ence  of         take  part  m  the  common  action  of  the  other  powers.     The 

failure  of  the  allies  to  follow  up  the  battle  of  Navarino 

ruined  Canning's  plan.     It  seemed  as  if  the  British,  at  any  rate,  were 


1828  Canning — Goderich — Wellington  933 

half-ashamed  of  their  victory,  which  the  duke  of  Wellington  described  as 
'an  untoward  event.'  Disgusted,  therefore,  with  the  slackness  of  their 
allies,  the  Russians  invaded  Turkey  in  1828,  and  forced  the  Turks  to 
agree  to  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople.  One  of  the  articles  of  this  secured 
the  independence  of  the  Greeks.  This  was  subsequently  ratified  by  the 
other  great  powers,  and  Prince  Otto  of  Bavaria  was  elected  fii-st  king  of 
the  Greeks. 

The  session  of  1828  is  chiefly  memorable  for  the  repeal  of  the  Test 
and  Corporation  Acts.  This  was  not  a  government  measure,  but  was 
brought  forward  by  Lord  John  Russell.  It  was  not,  how-  Test  and 
ever,  seriously  opposed,  for  the  Acts  had  been  rendered  ^°^P°'^^**°" 
nugatory  for  many  years  by  the  passing  of  the  annual  repealed. 
Indemnity  Act  for  those  who  had  broken  their  provisions.  The  repeal  of 
the  Acts  was,  however,  most  irksome  to  the  duke  of  Wellington,  who 
had  agreed  with  Canning  in  resisting  it  for  many  years,  and  led  to 
friction  with  the  more  liberal  members  of  his  cabinet.  This  came  to  a 
head  in  May,  1828,  when  Huskisson,  having  disagreed  with  Peel  about 
the  procedure  connected  with  the  disfranchisement  of  Penryn  and  East 
Retford,  sent  in  a  conditional  offer  to  resign.  This  Wellington  eagerly 
seized  upon  and  sent  to  the  king  ;  and  Huskisson's  resignation  led  to 
that  of  Palmerston,  Lamb  (afterwards  Lord  Melbourne),  and  the  other 
Canningites  in  the  ministry.  Their  places  were  taken  by  Wellington's 
Tory  friends,  and  all  seemed  to  be  going  smoothly,  when  suddenly  the 
Catholic  question  reappeared  in  a  form  which  commanded  immediate 
attention. 

Vesey  Fitzgerald,  whom  Wellington  had  made  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  was  the  Tory  member  for  Clare,  and  his  acceptance  of  office  necessi- 
tated his  re-election.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  Roman  Catholic  The  Clare 
claims ;  but,  nevertheless,  the  Catholic  Association  which,  on  Election, 
the  expiration  of  the  act  dissolving  it,  had  resumed  its  old  name,  deter- 
mined to  contest  the  seat  and  brought  forward  as  his  opponent  O'Connell 
himself.  To  elect  a  Roman  Catholic  was  legal  enough,  for  it  depended  on 
the  choice  of  the  elected  member  whether  or  not  he  would  take  the  oath 
required  from  a  member  of  parliament  on  taking  his  seat.  Accordingly 
the  forty-shilling  freeholders,  directed  by  their  priests,  placed  O'Connell  at 
the  head  of  the  poll ;  and  the  contest  was  therefore  transferred  to  West- 
minster. It  was  not  merely  the  return  of  one  member.  The  Associa- 
tion boasted  that  at  the  next  general  election  no  less  than  sixty  Roman 
Catholic  members  would  be  returned  ;  it  showed  also  how  complete  was 
its  command  of  Irish  life  by  putting  a  complete  check  on  crime.  During 
the  Clare  election  not  a  drunken  man  was  to  be  seen — except  O'Connell's 


934  George  IF.  1828 

Protestant  coachman  —  and  judges  on  assize  were  surprised  at  the 
absence  of  prisoners.  A  power,  in  fact,  had  arisen  in  Ireland  which  was 
more  powerful  than  the  government,  and  the  duke  of  Wellington  made 
up  his  mind  that  there  was  no  choice  between  making  way  for  O'Connell 
and  civil  war.  If  O'Connell  were  prevented  from  taking  his  seat,  it  was  the 
opinion  of  the  duke  of  Wellington  that  civil  war  would  be  inevitable ;  and 
when  the  duke  had  once  decided  that  it  was  a  choice  between  emancipat- 
ing the  Roman  Catholics  and  civil  war,  his  mind  was  soon  made  up. 
As  a  general  it  had  been  one  of  his  strongest  points  that  he  was  ready  to 
fight  or  retreat  exactly  as  occasion  required.  He  carried  the  same 
qualities  into  civil  life,  defended  a  position  as  long  as  he  could,  and  when 
it  was  no  longer  tenable,  fell  back  unconcernedly  to  the  next. 

Accordingly  he  decided  that  resistance  to  the  Roman  Catholic  claims 
would  now  do  more  harm  than  good  ;  decided  to  surrender,  and  carried 
Catholic  his  Cabinet  with  him.  The  statesman  who  was  placed  in  the 
pation^^'  greatest  difficulty  by  this  change  of  front  was  Peel,  who  held 
carried.  his  seat  for  Oxford  University  as  an  opponent  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  claims.  Peel  felt  it  his  duty  to  resign.  He  stood  again  for  the 
seat,  but  was  beaten  by  Sir  R.  Inglis,  and  had  to  take  refuge  at  West- 
bury.  Some  difficulty  was  met  with  in  dealing  with  the  king ;  but 
George  iv.  was  a  very  different  man  from  his  father,  and  the  duke  of 
Wellington  made  little  of  his  scruples.  As  no  anti-Catholic  ministers 
were  forthcoming,  a  threat  to  resign  soon  brought  him  to  his  senses,  and 
Peel  was  able  to  preface  his  introduction  of  the  Relief  Bill  by  observing 
that  it  had  the  full  consent  of  the  king.  Thus  brought  forward,  the  bill 
passed  the  Commons  by  large  majorities  ;  and  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
Lord  Eldon,  Wellington's  influence  secured  its  acceptance  by  the  Lords. 
It  was  preceded  and  followed  by  two  other  bills.  By  the  first  the 
Catholic  Association  was  again  declared  illegal ;  but  it  anticipated  the 
blow  by  dissolving  itself.  By  the  second  the  forty-shilling  freeholders  of 
Ireland  were  deprived  of  their  votes,  and  the  franchise  limited  to  those 
possessed  of  freehold  to  the  value  of  ten  pounds.  During  the  agitation 
against  the  disabilities,  O'Connell  had  repeatedly  declared  that  their 
abolition  would  lead  to  the  final  pacification  of  Ireland  ;  but  the  bill  had 
hardly  been  passed  before  he  was  again  at  work  as  an  agitator,  declaring 
that  he  would  never  be  satisfied  till  he  had  secured  the  Repeal  of  the 
Union. 

With  parliamentary  reform  rapidly  becoming  the  question  of  the  day 

Death  of      in  England,  and  agitation  for  Repeal  on  foot  in  Ireland,  the 

George  IV.  political  horizon  was  anything  but  peaceful  when  the  death 

of  George  brought  a  new  actor  on  the  scene.     Little  good  can  be  said 


1830 


Wellington 


935 


for  George  iv.  As  a  young  man  he  had  dallied  with  the  Whigs  ;  in  his 
old  age  he  had  lent  himself  to  the  Tories.  By  neither  was  he  honoured 
or  believed  to  be  sincere  ;  and  he  left  behind  him  as  ill  a  memory,  as  a  bad 
son,  a  faithless  friend,  a  cruel  husband,  as  a  man  could  well  do.  He  died 
June  26,  1830. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

Death  of  Londonderry,      .... 
Canning  becomes  Prime  Minister,     . 

Battle  of  Navarino, 

Repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts, 
Repeal  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Disabilities, 


A.D. 

1822 
1827 
1827 
1828 
1829 


CHAPTEK  VI 

WILLIAM   IV.:    1830-1837 
Born  1765  ;  married  1818,  Adelaide  of  Saxe-Meiiiiiigen. 

CHIEF   CONTEMPORARY   PRINCES 

France. 
Louis  Philippe,  1830-1848. 

The  Great  Reform  Bill — Period  of  Active  Legislation — The  Irish  Church — 
Slavery— The  Poor  Laws— The  Municipal  Reform — Peel  and  Conservative 
Reaction — Lord  Melbourne's  Government. 

The  new  king  had  been  educated  as  a  sailor,  and,  till  the  death  of  the 
duke  of  York  in  1827,  had  little  expectation  of  ascending  the  throne. 
Character  of  At  sea  he  had  learnt  such  habits  of  genial  good-nature  as 
William  IV.  corresponded  ill  with  the  etiquette  of  a  court.  Even  after 
he  became  king  he  would  stop  the  royal  carriage  in  order  to  pick  up 
a  friend  in  the  street,  and  give  him  a  lift  home  ;  and  would  willingly  sit 
with  his  back  to  the  horses  in  order  to  do  so.  In  politics  he  was  in 
favour  of  parliamentary  reform,  was  believed  to  dislike  the  duke  of 
Wellington,  and  to  be  extremely  desirous  of  popularity.  The  reform  party, 
therefore,  expected  much  advantage  from  having  the  court  on  their  side. 
By  his  wife,  Adelaide  of  Saxe-Meiningen,  whom  he  married  in  1818,  he 
had  only  two  daughters,  both  of  whom  died  in  babyhood ;  so  on  his 
death  the  crown  was  expected  to  go  to  Victoria,  daughter  of  William's 
next  brother,  the  duke  of  Kent. 

Hardly  had  William  ascended  the  throne  when  all  Europe  was  startled 
by  the  intelligence  of  a  new  French  Revolution.  Louis  xviii.  had 
The  Revoiu-  died  in  1824,  and  been  succeeded  by  Charles  x.,  the  Count 
tion  of  July,  d'j^i-tois  of  the  Revolution.  Between  the  characters  of  the 
two  brothers  there  was  much  the  same  difference  as  between  those  of 
Charles  ii.  and  James  ii.     Each  was  desirous  of  becoming  as  nearly 


1830  Wellington  937 

absolute  as  he  could  ;  but  whereas  Louis  xviii.  and  Charles  ii.  contrived 
to  attain  much  of  their  wish  without  alienating  their  subjects,  Charles  x. 
and  James  ii.  both  lost  their  thrones,  and  both  were  succeeded  by  a 
junior  member  of  the  royal  family — the  one  by  Louis  Philippe,  the  other  by 
William  iii.  The  progress  of  the  new  French  Revolution  was  watched  in 
England  with  the  greatest  interest,  and  excited  an  amount  of  enthusiasm 
which  it  is  now  hard  to  realise ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  unlikely  that  had 
the  unpopular  George  iv.  been  still  on  the  throne,  a  serious  attempt 
would  have  been  made  to  effect  his  expulsion.  As  it  was,  the  popularity 
of  the  new  sovereign  saved  the  throne  from  attack.  It  failed,  how- 
ever, to  shield  his  ministers.  Invidious  comparisons  were  made  between 
the  duke  of  Wellington  and  the  Prince  de  Polignac,  the  unpopular 
mi.nister  of  Charles  x.  This  was  most  unfair  to  Wellington  ;  but  it  had 
its  effect  on  the  country,  and,  in  the  general  election  which  followed  the 
accession  of  a  new  sovereign,  was  helpful  to  the  opponents  of  the 
ministry.  The  Revolution  in  France  was  followed  by  an  outbreak  in 
Belgium.  The  Catholics  of  the  old  Austrian  Netherlands  had  always 
detested  the  arrangement  made  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  l)y  which  they 
were  united  with  the  Protestant  Dutch,  and  encouraged  by  the  hope  of  aid 
from  the  new  French  government,  they  rose,  expelled  the  Dutch  troops, 
and  laid  siege  to  Antwerp.  This  was  finally  captured  with  French  aid, 
and  the  Austrian  Netherlands  were  then  formed  into  the  kingdom  of 
Belgium.  Prince  Leojjold,  the  widower  of  the  Princess  Charlotte,  was 
chosen  first  king  of  the  Belgians,  and  the  integrity  of  the  new  state  was 
guaranteed  by  the  great  powers. 

Before  the  new  parliament  met  an  epoch-making  event  in  the  world's 
history  had  occurred  in  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway.  This  was  due  to  the  ingenuity  of  George  Stephen-  xhe  Liver- 
son,  a  working  pitman  in  the  Durham  coalfield,  who  saw  Manchester 
that  by  using  a  locomotive  engine,  driven  by  steam,  to  Railway, 
draw  the  waggons  along  the  old  tram  lines,  much  greater  speed  could  be 
attained.  The  idea  was  first  put  into  execution  near  Stockton,  and  the 
first  passenger  carriage  was  made  of  the  body  of  a  coach  placed  on  a 
waggon.  The  plan  was  so  successful  that  a  company  was  formed  for 
making  one  of  the  new  lines  from  Manchester  to  Liverpool,  which  had  long 
felt  road  and  water  carriage  to  be  inadequate  to  the  trade  done  between 
them.  The  work  was  superintended  by  Stephenson  himself,  and  the 
line  was  opened  in  September  1830.  The  event  was  felt  to  be  of  national 
importance,  and  the  duke  of  Wellington  and  many  other  politicians  were 
invited  to  be  present.  Among  others  was  Huskisson,  and  during  a 
stoppage  of  the  train  he  and  Wellington  had  alighted,  when  a  friend 


938  miliam  IV.  1830 

seized  the  opportunity  to  bring  them  together  and  smooth  away  the 
coolness  that  had  existed  since  Huskisson's  resignation.  The  two  met 
Death  of  Cordially  ;  but  at  that  moment  a  passing  engine  came  up 
Huskisson.  suddenly,  and  before  Huskisson,  who  was  both  awkward  and 
lame,  could  regain  his  seat  he  was  knocked  down  and  his  leg  crushed. 
So  bad  was  his  health,  that  it  was  not  thought  wise  to  attempt 
amputation,  and  he  died  the  same  evening. 

The  political  and  commercial  effects  of  the  introduction  of  railways 
cannot  be  described  in  a  few  sentences  ;  perhaps  the  most  poetic  way  is 
to  say  of  the  locomotive  that  '  cities  leapt  nearer  by  hundreds  of  miles 
at  the  snort  of  his  iron  chest.'  Whether  we  regard  the  event  commer- 
cially, as  saving  the  time  of  the  world,  and  enabling  the  transport  of 
Influence  of  goods  to  be  carried  on  a  scale  never  dreamt  of  before,  or  as 
Railways.  diffusing  knowledge,  or  politically,  as  knitting  together 
widely  scattered  nationalities,  its  influence  has  been  enormous.  What 
the  locomotive  has  done  on  land,  the  steamboat  has  effected  by  sea.  As 
early  as  1788  attempts  had  been  made  in  Scotland  to  propel  a  vessel  by 
steam  ;  but  the  first  effective  steamboats  were  the  Claremont,  built  by 
Fulton,  an  American,  in  1807,  and  the  Comet,  launched  by  Henry  Bell  of 
Glasgow  in  1808.  The  new  means  of  transit  opened  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  nations  and  the  possibilities  of  political  life  ;  and  to  no 
country  was  this  event  of  greater  importance  than  to  Great  Britain, 
with  her  island  colonies  rising  up  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

When  parliament  met.  Brougham,  who  to  his  great  honour  had  been 
elected  member  for  Yorkshire,  at  once  brought  forward  a  scheme  of  his 
Fall  of  own  for  parliamentary  reform  ;  but  before  it  could  be  dis- 

Welhngton.  ^ussed  in  parliament,  the  ministry  of  the  duke  of  Welling- 
ton had  ceased  to  exist.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  unpopularity  of 
the  duke  of  Wellington's  ministry  at  this  moment.  In  reality  the  duke 
had  acted  perfectly  fairly  towards  the  new  French  government,  and  had 
in  no  way  interfered  in  Belgium  ;  but  at  the  opening  of  parliament  the 
king  was  made  to  speak  disparagingly  of  both  events.  The  duke  also,  with 
a  foolish  excess  of  caution,  advised  the  king  not  to  attend  the  Guildhall 
banquet  for  fear  of  a  hostile  demonstration  in  the  streets,  and  so  gave  the 
impression  that  he  was  in  fear  of  revolution.  The  Whigs  were,  of  course,, 
liostile  to  him  as  an  anti-reformer ;  the  old  Tories  regarded  him  as  little 
better  than  a  renegade  on  the  Koman  Catholic  question.  His  fall,  there- 
fore, was  merely  a  question  of  days.  Its  actual  occasion  arose  out  of  the 
failure  of  the  government  to  defeat  a  motion  brought  forward  in  the 
House  of  Commons  by  Sir  Henry  Parnell  for  a  committee  on  the  Civil  List. 
This  was  carried  against  the  government  by  29,  the  majority  consisting  of 


1830  Wellington — Grey  939 

Whigs  and  of  discontented  Tories.  The  defeat  was  not  very  serious, 
but  the  duke  chose  to  resign  upon  it,  probably  for  the  reason  that  the 
Whigs,  by  coming  in  on  such  a  question,  were  not  unlikely  to  quarrel 
with  the  king.  The  duke's  sentiments  on  reform  were,  however,  per- 
fectly well  known.  In  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords  he  had  said 
'  that  he  had  never  read  or  heard  of  any  measure,  up  to  the  present 
moment,  which  could  in  any  degree  satisfy  his  mind  that  the  state  of  the 
representation  could  be  improved,  or  be  rendered  more  satisfactory  to 
the  country  at  large,  than  at  the  present  moment.'  This  unwise  declara- 
tion had  the  effect  of  fixing  the  attention  of  the  country  upon  reform  ; 
and  consequently,  when  the  king  sent  for  Earl  Grey  to  succeed  Welling- 
ton, it  was  understood  on  all  hands  that  parliamentary  reform  would  be 
the  question  of  the  day. 

Earl  Grey  was  in  every  way  a  most  fitting  head  of  the  new  government. 
Born  in  1764,  he  was  the  oldest  living  advocate  of  parliamentary  reform. 
He  had  struggled  for  its  attainment  when  to  do  so  exposed  a  ^^^1  Grey's 
politician  to  obloquy  and  abuse,  and  eyen  to  some  risk  of  im-  Ministry, 
prisonment.  Moreover,  his  personal  character  and  position  were  calculated 
to  dispel  much  of  the  alarm  which  was  felt  by  those  who  believed  that 
parliamentary  reform  was  inseparably  connected  with  revolution.  He  was 
a  large  landed  proprietor,  a  man  of  courtly  manners,  absolutely  without 
the  slightest  tinge  of  a  demagogue,  and  his  advocacy  of  the  measure 
was  known  to  be  the  result  of  the  deepest  conviction.  Earl  Grey's 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer  was  Lord  Althorp,  the  eldest  son  of  Earl 
Spencer.  As  in  the  case  of  his  chief,  personal  character  constituted  the 
strongest  claim  to  his  position.  He  was  no  financier,  and  a  very  bad 
speaker  ;  but  his  sincerity  and  earnestness  were  patent  to  all,  and  he  was 
always  listened  to  with  attention.  Brougham  became  lord-chancellor, 
and,  in  all  dealings  with  the  king.  Grey  and  he  acted  together.  The 
other  members  of  the  government  were  Lord  Palmerston,  foreign  secretary, 
Melbourne  (formerly  Lamb)  at  the  Home  Office,  and  Lord  Goderich, 
colonial  secretary.  Lord  John  Russell,  paymaster-general,  and  Edward 
Stanley,  afterwards  earl  of  Derby,  chief  secretary  to  the  lord-lieutenant 
of  Ireland,  were  the  chief  members  outside  the  cabinet. 

Now  that  parliamentary  reform  had  become  the  question  of  the  hour, 
society  became  divided  into  two  camps,  for  and  against  it.     Those  who 
opposed  it  pointed  to  the  antiquity  of  the  existing  arrange- 
ment,  to  its  long  success  in  carrying  on  the  affairs  of  the    mentary 
nation,  to  the   number  of  illustrious   men   who  had  dis-      ^  °*^"^' 
tinguished  it,  and  objected  to  the  new  system  as  untried.     Much  stress 
was  laid  on  the  number  of  distinguished  men  who  had  first  found  their 


940  William  IV.  1830 

way  into  parliament  by  means  of  nomination  boroughs — among  whom  were 
reckoned  the  two  Pitts,  Burke,  Canning,  Huskisson,  and  Brougham — and 
it  was  asked  how  could  such  men  have  recommended  themselves,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  the  larger  constituencies  who  were  afterwards  glad  to 
elect  them.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  were  in  favour  of  reform 
denied  the  success  of  the  old  system,  and  pointed  to  the  ignorance  of  the 
lower  classes  as  a  convincing  proof  that  it  had  not  done  what  it  might  for 
the  '  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number,'  a  phrase  which  Jeremy 
Bentham,  the  great  Radical  philosopher,  had  brought  into  vogue.  It  was 
also  pointed  out  that  a  system  which  gave  the  great  majority  of  members 
to  the  south  of  the  country  was  an  anachronism  now  that,  through  the 
new  manufacturing  industry,  the  Midlands  and  the  North  had  become, 
next  to  London,  the  most  populous  parts  of  the  country.  The  anomaly  of 
giving  as  many  county  members  to  Rutland  as  to  either  Middlesex  or 
Lancashire,  and  two  members  each  to  Gatton  and  Old  Sarum,  while  none 
were  given  to  Leeds,  Manchester,  or  Birmingham,  was  notorious.  There 
was  no  doubt  that  the  arguments  of  the  reformers  were  those  which 
appealed  most  forcibly  to  the  country,  and  the  chief  strength  of  the  new 
ministry  lay  in  the  enormous  weight  of  support  which  they  were  able  to 
command  outside  the  walls  of  parliament. 

In  March  the  Reform  Bill  was  introduced  in  the  Commons  by  Lord 
John  Russell.  It  was  based  on  the  new  princii3le  of  symmetry.  All 
The  First  borouglis  having  less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants  were  to 
Reform  Bill.  y^Q  disfranchised,  and  all  having  less  than  four  thousand  were 
to  be  deprived  of  one  member  each.  The  seats  thus  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  government  were  to  be  allotted  to  London,  to  large  towns  which  at 
present  returned  no  member,  and  to  the  counties.  A  uniform  franchise 
for  boroughs  was  also  proposed  instead  of  the  existing  anomalous  system. 
In  towns,  all  householders  who  paid  a  rent  of  ten  pounds  were  to  have  a 
vote  ;  in  counties,  in  addition  to  the  forty-shilling  freeholders,  all  coj^y- 
holders  to  the  value  of  JIO,  and  leaseholders  for  twenty-one  years  or  over 
of  the  value  of  .£50.  For  the  future  all  voters  were  to  be  registered,  so  that 
a  man's  name  being  on  the  register  should  be  sufficient  proof  of  his  right 
to  vote  ;  and,  instead  of  the  poll  being  open  for  a  varying  time,  some- 
times amounting  to  weeks,  the  voting  was  to  take  j^lace  in  boroughs  on 
one  day,  in  counties  on  two.  This  was  the  outline  of  the  bill  which  Lord 
John  Russell  submitted  to  the  House  in  a  speech  well  worthy  of  himself 
Opposition  ^ud  of  the  occasion.  The  bill  was  stoutly  opposed  ^by 
to  the  Bill.  i-j^g  Tories  ;  but  it  passed  its  second  reading  by  302  to  301. 
On  going  into  committee,  however,  the  government  suffered  a  defeat. 
By  the  bill  it  was  proposed  that  the  number  of  members  should  be 


1831  Grey  941 

reduced  from  658  to  596  ;  but  General  Gascoyne  proposed  an  instruction 
to  the  committee  that  the  members  for  England  and  Wales  should  not 
be  diminished,  and  carried  it  against  the  government  by  a  majority  of 
eight ;  and  three  days  later  the  House  refused  to  go  into  committee  of 
supply,  which  meant  that  it  would  vote  no  money  for  the  existing 
government. 

In  these  circumstances  the  ministers  had  no  choice  except  to  resign,  or 
to  persuade  the  king  to  dissolve  parliament.  They  chose  the  latter,  and 
induced  William  to  act  with  such  rapidity  as  to  anticipate 
a  petition  of  parliament,  proposed  by  Lord  Wharncliffe,  ofParlia- 
against  a  dissolution.  The  dissolution  was  extremely  "^^"  ' 
popular.  '  Turn  out  the  rogues,  your  majesty  ! '  shouted  the  mob  as  the 
king  drove  to  Westminster.  In  the  city  the  lord  mayor  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  movement  for  a  general  illumination.  Some  of  those  who  re- 
fused to  take  part,  including  the  duke  of  Wellington,  had  their  windows 
broken.  All  over  the  country  the  news  of  a  new  election  was  received 
with  joy,  and  the  popularity  of  the  king  and  his  ministers  was  unbounded. 
The  new  elections  took  place  amidst  great  excitement,  and  were  ex- 
tremely favourable  to  the  reformers.  In  the  counties  and  large  towns 
they  carried  all  before  them.  A  hundred  of  the  anti-reformers  lost 
their  seats,  and  the  leading  opponents  of  the  bill  had  to  take  refuge  in 
the  very  boroughs  which  it  was  proposed  to  abolish. 

The  cry  of  the  reformers  everywhere  was  for  '  the  bill,  the  whole  bill, 
and  nothing  but  the  bill ' ;  and  when  the  new  parliament  met,  the  old 
bill,   with  only  slight  alterations,  was   again   introduced.    The  Second 
This  time  it  passed  the  second  reading  by  136  votes,  but  in    Reform  Bill, 
committee  it  was  fought  clause  by  clause,  and  the  fate  of  each  mori- 
bund constituency  made  the  subject  of  a  debate  and  a  division.     In  this 
struggle  the  burden  of  defending  the  bill  lay  mainly  on  Peel,  Sir  C. 
Wetherell,  and  J.  W.  Croker  ;  the  attack  was  chiefly  conducted  by  Lord 
John  Russell,  and  T.  B.  afterwards  Lord  Macaulay.    At  length  the  work 
was  done,  and  the  bill  passed  its  third  reading  by  345  to  236.     In  the 
Lords  its  fate  was  different.     Though  there  were  very  few  who  ventured 
to  go  so  far  as  the  duke  of  Wellington  and  deny  the  necessity         . 
for  any  reform,  the  bill  was  generally  regarded  as  going  too     by  the 
far ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  Earl  Grey,  aided  by       °^  ^' 
Lord-Chancellor  Brougham,  was  thrown  out  on  the  second  reading  by 
199  to  158. 

The  excitement  caused  by  the  news  that  the  Lords  had  rejected  the 
bill  was  intense.  Peers  were  mobbed  in  the  streets,  and  the  bishops, 
whose  opposition  had  been  unanimous,  were  subject  on  every  appearance 


942  William  IV.  1831 

to  the  vilest  abuse.     At  Birmingham  the  bells  were  muffled  and  tolled. 

At  Nottingham  the  mob  rose  and  burnt  the  castle,  which  was  the  pro- 

.     .         perty  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  one  of  the  most  unpopular 

against  of  the  peers.  At  Bristol,  when  Sir  Charles  Wetherell 
arrived  to  hold  the  Sessions  as  Kecorder,  so  violent  was 
the  attack  made  on  him  that  he  had  to  escape  in  disguise  as  a  postillion. 
Then  the  mob,  balked  of  their  prey,  and  infuriated  with  drink,  set  the 
soldiers  at  defiance,  burnt  the  bishop's  palace,  the  mansion-house,  and  the 
gaols  ;  released  the  prisoners  ;  and  for  three  days  gave  themselves  over  to 
every  kind  of  excess.  More  serious  than  these  ebullitions  of  mob  violence 
was  the  formation  all  over  the  country  of  organisations  called  '  political 
unions,'  the  object  of  which  was  '  to  defend  the  king  and  his  ministers 
against  the  boroughmongers.'  In  Birmingham  the  'union'  numbered 
150,000  persons,  including  all  the  most  respected  inhabitants  ;  and  the 
members  were  ready,  if  need  were,  to  march  on  London  in  case  the  govern- 
ment seemed  in  need  of  their  personal  support.  Other  towns  had  similar 
organisations,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  in  their  efforts  to  carry 
reform  the  ministers  had  the  people  at  their  back. 

Encouraged  by  this  support,  ministers  lost  no  time  in  again  passing 
the  bill  through  the  House  of  Commons,  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one,  and 
The  Third       sending  it  up  to  the  Lords.     It  now  appeared  that  the 

e  orm  i  .  opposition  party  in  the  Lords  was  divided  into  two  sections — 
one  headed  by  the  duke  of  Wellington,  which  was  opposed  to  all  reform, 
the  other  under  Lords  Wharncliffe  and  Harrowby,  known  as  the  '  trim- 
mers '  or  '  waverers,'  who  were  willing  to  allow  the  second  reading  to 
pass,  but  hoped  to  make  large  changes  in  committee.  The  opposition 
was  thus  disunited  ;  and  as  it  was  known  that  the  king  had  agreed  to 
create  enough  peers  to  secure  the  passing  of  the  second  reading,  the  bill 
was  read  a  second  time  by  nine  votes.  However,  when  the  bill  reached  the 
committee  stage,  a  resolution  was  passed  against  the  government  to  take 
the  enfranchising  clauses  first.  On  the  surface,  this  amendment  was  not 
very  important,  but  it  really  involved  the  question  whether  the  govern- 
ment or  the  opposition  should  control  the  bill  in  committee,  and  was 
regarded  by  the  government  as  fatal  to  further  progress,  unless  the  king 
was  prepared  to  assent  to  a  large  creation  of  new  peers.  This  William 
was  not  ready  to  do,  though  he  had  been  willing  to  take  that  course  in 
order  to  pass  the  second  reading  ;  but  his  eagerness  for  the  bill  had  now 

Grey  changed  into  something  not  far  removed  from  hostility,  and 

resigns.  j^^  ^g^  much  alarmed  at  the  prospects  of  a  revolution  Avith 
which  he  was  continually  threatened.  Earl  Grey  therefore  resigned,  and 
the.  king  sen t^f or  the  duke.     Directly  this  was  knownlthe  excitement  in 


1832  Grey  943 

the  whole  country  became  intense.  '  Go  for  gold  and  stop  the  duke '  was 
placarded  over  London.  At  Manchester  and  other  towns  large  sums  of 
money  were  actually  withdrawn  from  the  banks.  Perhajxs  more  significant 
than  anything  else  was  the  action  of  Lord  Milton,  the  eldest  son  of  Earl 
Fitzwilliam,  who  told  a  tax-collector  to  call  again.  Had  Wellington 
really  formed  a  ministry,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  there  would  have 
been  a  general  move  on  London  ;  military  officers  were  ready  to  take  the 
command  ;  and  changes  of  the  most  sweeping  character  would  probably 
have  been  enforced.  The  need  for  such  a  movement,  however,  never 
came.  Wellington,  who  regarded  it  as  his  first  duty  to  aid  his  sovereign 
under  all  circumstances,  and  wished  now  to  save  William  from  what  he 
considered  the  humiliation  of  creating  more  peers,  was  willing  to  form  a 
ministry,  and  to  attempt  to  carry  a  modified  bill ;  but  he  could  get  no 
one  to  join  him.  Peel  positively  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
plan.  Sir  R.  Inglis,  representing  the  old  Tories,  also  refused  assistance  ; 
and,  foiled  in  every  direction,  the  duke  yielded  to  the  inevi-  Grey 
table,  and  advised  the  king  to  recall  Earl  Grey.  He  did  '•^^u'-ns. 
more ;  for,  acting  at  William's  request,  he  withdrew  his  opposition 
to  the  bill,  and  induced  so  many  peers  to  follow  his  example 
that  the  bill  passed  through  its  remaining  stages  without 
difficulty  ;  and,  in  June  1832,  the  Reform  Bill  passed  the  Lords  by  108 
votes  to  22. 

The  bill  which  thus  passed  into  law  did  not  materially  difier  from  that 
brought  forward  by  Lord  John  Russell.     One  hundred  and  forty-three 
members  were  taken  away  from  small  boroughs.     Of  these, 
sixty-five  were  given  to  the  counties,  two  members  each  to   Acts!^'^°'^"^ 
Birmingham,  Manchester,  Leeds,  Sheffield,  and  eighteen  other   ^ 
large  towns,  including  some  new  London  constituencies,  and 
one  member  each  to  twenty-one  other  towns,  none  of  which  had  been 
previously  directly  represented.    The  right  to  vote  was  as  previously  pro- 
posed ;  except  that  by  the  Chandos  clause,  introduced  in  the  Commons 
by  the  marquess  of  Chandos,  farmers  occupying  land  worth  £bO  a  year 
as   tenants-at-will   were  enfranchised.      Similar  bills   were   passed  for 
Scotland  and  Ireland.     In  Scotland  the  need  for  a  Reform 

_,.,,  -,_,-,_,  .       ,  .         Scotland. 

Bul  was  even  greater  than  in  England.  Even  m  the  counties 
the  right  of  voting  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  an  infinitesimal  number 
of  voters  ;  in  the  towns  it  was  invariably  the  privilege  of  a  self-electing 
corporation.  In  the  whole  country  the  number  of  voters  did  not  exceed 
four  thousand ;  the  number  of  voters  for  Argyleshire  was  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  ;  for  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  thirty-three  each.  By  the  new 
bill  the  number  of  members  for  Scotland  was  raised  from  forty-five  to 


944  William  IF.  1832 

fifty-three  ;   the  franchise  in  counties  was  given  to  all  owners  of  land 

worth  ^10,  and  to  some  classes  of  leaseholders  ;  and  in  towns  to  those 

who  paid  a  ^10  rental.      In   Ireland  so   many   rotten  boroughs  were 

,    ,      ,        disfranchised  at  the  Union,  that  no  more  was  done  in  this 
Ireland.  ,         .  ,  ' 

direction,  and  the  chief  change  made  was  the  transference 

of  the  town  franchise  from  the  corporations  to  the  ^10  householders. 

One  great  result  of  the  Reform  Bill  was  the  introduction  of  a  uniform 
franchise.  Till  this  date  each  borough  had  rules  of  its  own  ;  at  Preston 
Results  of  ^^^^7  householder  had  a  vote ;  in  others,  those  who  paid 
the  Reform  scot  and  lot,  i.e.  parish  rates  ;  in  others,  the  members  of 
the  corporation.  The  chief  merit  of  the  new  plan  was 
its  simplicity ;  its  drawback  was  that  it  destroyed  the  differences 
between  one  town  and  another,  which  might  be  expected  to  affect  the 
members  chosen,  and  so  make  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  less  a 
reflection  of  the  varieties  of  English  life  than  it  had  been.  Another 
result  was  the  transference  of  power  from  the  south  and  east  of  England 
to  the  north  and  west.  If  a  line  be  drawn  from  Hull  to  Bristol,  it  may 
roughly  be  said  that,  setting  the  metropolitan  district  aside,  almost  all  the 
disenfranchised  towns  lie  east  and  south  of  it ;  almost  all  the  enfran- 
chised north  and  west.  A  third  was,  that  in  the  counties  the  farmers,  in 
the  towns  the  smaller  class  of  shopkeepers,  formed  the  bulk  of  the  new 
voters,  and  their  ideas  became  the  predominant  factors  in  determining 
the  drift  of  public  opinion.  The  period  we  are  about  to  enter  upon, 
therefore,  is  that  of  the  rule  of  the  middle  classes — as  that  which  pre- 
ceded the  Reform  Bill  is  that  of  the  rule  of  the  aristocracy  ;  and  this 
distinction  would  have  been  more  marked  had  it  not  been  for  the 
influence  which  the  great  land-owning  families  still  exerted  in  the 
counties. 

When  the  Reformed  Parliament  met,  it  was  found  that  the  Tories  had 
only  secured  172  seats,  while  the  Whigs,  who  had  carried  all  before 
The  New  them  in  the  new  constituencies,  had  486.  The  composition 
Parliament.  q£  ^j^^  ^^^  parliament  excited  great  interest  ;  but  though 
there  was  a  larger  infusion  of  the  commercial  and  business  class  than 
before  the  new  members  were  not  found  to  differ  very  materially  from  the 
old.  Several  interesting  elections  had  taken  place.  William  Cobbett  was 
returned  for  Oldham,  but  Henry  Hunt  lost  his  election  at  Preston,  where 
many  of  his  old  Radical  friends  had  been  disfranchised.  A  few  constitu- 
encies still  remained,  which,  though  they  had  been  saved  by  the  amount  of 
the  population  from  disfranchisement,  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
pocket  boroughs.  Among  these  was  Newark,  where  the  influence  of  the 
duke  of  Newcastle  secured  the  return  of  his  young  Tory  friend,  William 


1833  Grey  945 

Ewart  Gladstone,  the  son  of  a  Liverpool  merchant,  and  born  in  1809,  who 
had  just  completed  a  brilliant  career  at  Oxford. 

A  period  of  great  legislative  activity  followed  the  meeting  of  the 
Reformed  Parliament.  The  first  evil  dealt  with  was  slavery.  Though 
the  slave  trade  had  been  abolished  in  1807,  the  practice  of  slavery 
both  domestic  and  agricultural  slavery  still  continued  in  abolished, 
the  West  Indies  and  the  adjacent  settlements  on  the  continent.  The 
subject  was  a  most  difficult  one,  for  the  whole  social  and  commercial 
system  of  the  West  Indian  colonies  was  based  upon  slavery  ;  but  the 
English  middle  classes,  who  had  been  profoundly  impressed  by  the  teach- 
ing of  Wilberforce,  Clarkson,  and  Zachary  Macaulay,  father  of  T.  B. 
Macaulay,  would  hear  of  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  abolition.  Accord- 
ingly, an  act  was  passed  by  which  (1)  slavery  was  abolished  ;  (2)  outdoor 
slaves  were  to  work  as  apprentices  for  their  present  masters  for  seven 
years  and  domestic  slaves  for  five  years  ;  (3)  a  sum  of  ^20,000,000  was 
voted  to  compensate  the  slaveholders  for  their  loss.  The  period  of 
apprenticeship  was  afterwards  reduced  to  four  years.  At  the  same  time, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  duty  on  sugar  grown  by  free  labourers  should 
always  be  less  than  that  on  sugar  grown  by  slaves — a  bargain  which  has 
not  been  carried  out. 

At  home  ministers  took  an  important  step  in  making  a  grant  of 
£20,000  in  aid  of  education.  Until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  education  of  the  poor,  such  as  it  was,  had  been  carried  National 
on  at  ancient  endowed  grammar-schools  and  dame  schools,  E<*"cation. 
and  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  working  classes,  both  in  town  and 
country,  received  no  teaching  at  all.  To  remedy  this,  in  1782,  Robert 
Raikes  estixblished  his  first  Sunday-school,  but  the  first  idea  of  a  really 
national  system  of  education  was  due  to  Andrew  Bell  and  Joseph  Lan- 
caster. From  the  first  a  difficulty  arose  from  the  rivalry  of  the  church 
and  the  nonconforming  bodies ;  and  two  societies  were  founded — the 
National  Society,  consisting  of  Churchmen,  to  carry  out  the  ideas  of  Bell ; 
and  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  consisting  of  Nonconform- 
ists, to  carry  out  those  of  Lancaster.  In  1807  Whitbread  proposed  a 
scheme  for  parochial  schools,  which  came  to  nothing  ;  but  in  1816 
Brougham  took  up  the  idea  with  his  usual  energy,  succeeded  in  getting 
a  committee  appointed  to  inquire  into  teaching  in  London,  and  in  1820 
brought  forward  a  scheme  of  national  education.  Brougham's  scheme, 
however,  was  wrecked,  as  Whitbread's  had  been,  on  the  rock  of  religious 
jealousy,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  any  scheme 
were  insurmountable.  However,  in  1833,  the  ministers  hit  upon  a  way 
of  assisting  education  without  raising  much  jealousy.      The   sum  of 

3o 


946  William  IV.  1833 

^20,000  was  devoted  to  aiding  school  building,  and  was  allotted  in 
special  grants  on  the  request  of  the  National  Society,  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society,  and  in  Scotland  through  the  minister  and  kirk- 
session  of  each  parish.  The  sum  of  „£20,000  was  not  a  large  sum  for  a 
nation  to  expend  on  such  an  important  object,  but  as  the  germ  of  the 
great  system  which  now  absorbs  annually  six  and  a  half  millions  of  public 
money,  the  grant  of  1833  was  of  great  importance. 

Another  most  important  piece  of  legislation  dealt  with  work  in 
factories.  Since  the  introduction  of  the  factory  system  which  bad 
followed  the  inventions  of  Arkwright,  Hargreaves,  and 
Factory  Crompton  in  spinning,  and  of  Horrocks  and  Cartwright 
in  weaving,  a  new  set  of  problems  had  arisen  for  statesmen 
and  philanthropists.  The  simplicity  of  much  of  the  work  required,  and 
its  easy  character,  led  to  the  employment  of  large  numbers  of  children, 
from  whom  the  avarice  of  their  parents  and  employers  exacted  an  amount 
of  labour  destructive  of  their  health,  and  wholly  ruinous  to  their  educa- 
tion. These  children  were  sometimes  the  children  of  parents  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, but  were  often  apprentices  brought  from  a  distance,  and  housed 
in  cottages  or  barracks  belonging  to  the  millowner.  The  hardships 
of  the  latter  class  first  attracted  the  attention  of  the  legislature,  and  in 
1802  an  act  brought  forward  by  Sir  Eobert  Peel,  the  elder — himself  a 
large  manufacturer — was  passed  for  their  benefit.  It  contained  many 
humane  and  sanitary  regulations.  The  work  was  not  to  exceed  twelve 
hours  a  day,  and  night-work  was  in  general  prohibited.  There  was  to 
be  instruction  in  reading,  writiug,  and  arithmetic,  and  the  working  of  the 
act  was  to  be  superintended  by  two  visitors  appointed  by  the  justices  of 
the  peace.  It  was  soon  found  that  children  living  at  home  but  working 
in  the  mills  were  almost  as  much  in  want  of  protection  as  the  apprentices  ; 
and  in  1819  the  second  Factory  Act  was  passed,  applicable  only  to 
cotton  mills,  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  children  should  not  work  at 
all  till  they  were  nine  years  of  age,  and  between  nine  and  sixteen  were 
not  to  work  more  than  twelve  hours  a  day.  The  third  Factory  Act, 
passed  in  1833,  extended  this  act  to  other  textile  industries,  and  made  a 
distinction  between  'children'  from  nine  to  thirteen,  and  'young 
persons '  from  thirteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age.  Young  persons  might 
work  twelve  hours  a  day,  and  children  nine,  but  they  had  to  spend 
another  two  hours  in  school.  Such  children  are  called  'half-timers.' 
The  Education  Grant  and  the  new  Factory  Act  were  attempts  to  intro- 
The  New  ^^^^  ^  ^^^  system ;  the  new  Poor  Law  attempted  to  re- 
Poor  Law.  organise  an  old  system  which  had  fallen  into  abuse.  Since 
the  Poor  Laws  had  been  consolidated  in  1601,  a  number  of  changes  had 


1834  Grey  947 

been  made.  Under  the  old  law  the  functions  of  the  overseers  had  been 
to  apprentice  pauper  children,  to  set  able-bodied  persons  to  work,  and  to 
relieve  the  impotent  poor — that  is,  the  lame,  the  old,  and  the  blind.  In 
1697,  at  the  instance  of  John  Carey,  a  special  act  of  parliament 
was  passed  for  erecting  the  first  workhouse  at  Bristol,  to  which  the 
able-bodied  paupers  were  compelled  to  go.  The  plan  proved  so  successful 
that  it  was  widely  copied,  and  in  1722  it  was  enacted  by  act  of  parlia- 
ment that — '  No  poor  who  refused  to  be  lodged  and  kept  in  such  houses 
should  be  entitled  to  ask  or  receive  parochial  relief.'  This  system  of  a 
'  workhouse  test'  was  found  to  work  well  during  the  pros-  -n^g  work- 
perous  times  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  but  in  1795  it  house  Test, 
broke  down  under  the  stress  caused  by  the  war,  and  the  magistrates  at 
Speenhamland,  near  Newbury,  in  Berkshire,  devised  a  scheme  by  which 
relief  was  given  to  able-bodied  men  and  their  families  at  a  scale  which 
varied  with  the  price  of  bread.  If  the  price  of  a  gallon  of  bread  was  Is., 
a  single  man  received  3s.,  a  man  and  his  wife  4s-  6d.,  and  out-door 
every  child  up  to  seven  Is.  6d.  ;  the  whole  for  the  family  Relief, 
amounting  to  15s.  In  1796  this  plan  received  the  sanction  of  parlia- 
ment, and  was  generally  adopted.  The  result  was  completely  disastrous. 
Instead  of  wages  rising,  farmers  contrived  to  throw  more  and  more  charge 
on  the  rates.  The  honest  labourer,  who  prided  himself  on  not  being 
a  pauper,  found  himself  worse  off  than  the  man  who  took  jmrish  pay. 
The  poor  ratepayer  found  himself  gradually  drawn  down  into  the  gulf  of 
pauperism.  Paupers  married  paupers,  and  received  the  more  as  their 
families  increased.  In  some  parishes  the  rates  outweighed  the  rental 
and  the  tithes,  and  the  land  went  out  of  cultivation.  In  1817  it  was 
found  that  the  relief  amounted  to  close  on  eight  million  pounds,  in  a 
population  of  eleven  millions.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  required  a  drastic 
remedy  ;  but  it  needed  some  courage  to  apply  one.  However,  Earl 
Grey's  government  ajDpointed  a  strong  commission,  whose  report  showed 
a  state  of  affairs  worse  even  than  had  been  anticipated.  On  its  sugges- 
tions, a  new  Poor  Law  was  founded,  and  received  the  consent  of  parlia- 
ment in  1834.  By  its  chief  provisions,  'All  relief  to  able-bodied  persons 
except  in  well-regulated  workhouses,'  was  declared  illegal.  This  enact- 
ment, therefore,  re-enacted  the  *  workhouse  test,'  and  was  coupled  with 
other  salutary  provisions  for  the  better  dealing  with  vagrants,  parish 
apprentices,  and  workhouse  children.  In  the  past,  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  abuse  had  arisen  from  each  parish,  or  each  union  of  parishes, 
being  a  law  unto  itself ;  for  the  future,  the  working  of  the  Poor  Law  was 
given  over  to  a  department  of  government  called  the  Poor  Law  Board. 
These  changes  had  a  most  salutary  effect  on  the  country  ;  but  it  was 


948  William  IV.  1834 

many  years  before  the  demoralising  influence  of  the  old  state  of  things 
was  eradicated. 

During  these  English  reforms,  ministers  had  been  compelled  to  give 
much  attention  to  Ireland.     There  a  great  cause  of  grievance  was  the 

,    ,     ^       Irish  Episcopal  Church.     In  Ireland,  the  Eeformation  had 

Ireland. 

never  taken  any  real  hold  among  the  native  Irish  popula- 
tion, and  since  the  time  of  Strafford  the  condition  of  the  Protestant 
Church  had  been  a  source  of  scandal.  It  had,  however,  in  its  hands  all 
the  property  of  the  ancient  Irish  Church,  and  in  parishes  where  there  was 
scarcely  a  single  Protestant,  the  tithe  was  still  paid  to  the  Protestant 
rector.  Of  late  years,  however,  the  collection  of  the  tithe  had  become 
almost  impossible,  and  though  the  whole  civil  and  military  force  of  the 
government  was  at  the  back  of  the  tithe  proctors,  the  amount  collected 
did  not  pay  the  cost  of  collection.  The  criminal  statistics  of  the  country 
were  terrible.  In  1832  no  less  than  nine  thousand  crimes,  of  which  two 
hundred  and  forty-two  were  murders,  were  committed.  The  government 
accordingly  passed  a  severe  act,  by  which  the  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland 
was  authorised  to  prohibit  political  meetings  in  proclaimed  districts,  and 
to  change  the  venue  of  trial  for  political  crimes.  To  be  out  of  doors  be- 
tween sunset  and  sunrise  without  due  cause  was  made  punishable,  and 
the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  virtually  suspended.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  reorganised.  The  number  of  archbishops 
was  reduced  from  four  to  two,  and  of  bishops  from  twenty-two  to  twelve. 
The  reform  of  the  Irish  Church  would  probably  have  gone  further,  had 
ministers  been  able  to  agree  about  the  destination  of  the  funds  set  at 
liberty  by  a  reduction  of  the  church  establishment.  As  it  was,  the  more 
liberal  section  of  the  cabinet  were  in  favour  of  applying  the  surplus  to 
general  philanthropic  purposes  ;  the  so-called  friends  of  the  church  were 
desirous  of  reserving  it  for  strictly  ecclesiastical  purposes.  Accordingly 
on  this  question,  the  duke  of  Eichmond,  the  earl  of  Ripon  (formerly  Lord 
Goderich),  Edward  Stanley,  and  Sir  James  Graham  left  the  government. 
Their  places,  however,  were  soon  filled  up,  and  the  ministry  appointed  a 
commission  to  inquire  into  the  whole  question  of  the  Irish  Church. 

Hardly,  however,  had  Lord  Grey's  ministry  tided  over  this  difficulty 
when  another  appeared.  In  1834  the  Irish  Crimes  Act  was  to  be 
Resignation  renewed,  and  ministers  were  not  agreed  whether  the  clause 
of  Earl  Grey,  about  political  meetings  should  be  re-enacted.  Earl  Grey 
was  for  it.  Lord  Althorp  against  it.  Littleton,  the  Irish  secretary,  very 
foolishly  told  O'Connell  that  it  would  not  be  re-enacted  ;  and  when  the 
cabinet,  influenced  by  Earl  Grey,  decided  that  it  should,  O'Connell 
declared  that  he  had  been  tricked.     Lord  Althorp  insisted  on  resigning  ; 


1834  Grey — Melhmirne  949 

on  which,  Earl  Grey,  who  had  long  been  weary  of  the  toils  of  office,  seized 
the  opportunity  to  resign  too.  On  this  Lord  Melbourne  became  prime 
minister,  Lord  Althorp  most  reluctantly  remained  iii  «  jt^ 
office,  and  the  Crimes  Act  was  toned  down  to  meet  the  First  Minis- 
views  of  O'Connell.  The  appointment  of  William  Lamb,  ^^' 
Viscount  Melbourne,  to  be  prime  minister  was  somewhat  of  a  surprise 
to  the  country.  As  a  follower  of  Canning  he  had  not  shown  any 
marked  enthusiasm  for  reform  ;  in  private  life  he  was  frivolous  and 
inconstant ;  and  though  he  had  shown  decided  ability  in  the  various 
offices  he  had  held,  especially  in  the  Home  Office,  and  a  diligence  far 
beyond  his  repute,  few  thought  him  equal  to  the  difficult  task  of  leading 
the  Liberal  party,  and  his  accession  to  power  probably  diminished  the 
reputation  of  the  ministry. 

The  appointment  of  Melbourne  may  be  taken  as  a  convenient  date  for 
noting  an  important  change  which  was  taking  place  in  the  political  con- 
dition of  the  country.  Ever  since  the  passing  of  the  Reform  state  of 
Bill  a  natural  reaction  hatl  been  setting  in,  partly  owing  to  Parties, 
the  bill  satisfying  the  moderate  requirements  of  many  of  its  supporters, 
partly  owing  to  the  violent  demands  of  the  extreme  Radicals,  who  wished 
to  make  the  Bill  a  starting-point  for  a  series  of  constitutional  changes. 
The  result  was  to  divide  off  the  moderate  and  extreme  sections  of  the 
Whig  party.  To  describe  the  new  state  of  parties,  new  names  were 
needed  ;  and  instead  of  the  general  appellation  of  Whig,  the  party  became 
divided  into  the  Liberals  and  the  Radicals — the  former  of  whom  accepted 
the  Reform  Bill  as,  for  the  present  at  any  rate,  final,  and  wished  to  carry 
on  the  social  and  political  reforms  which  had  occupied  parliament  since 
1832  ;  the  latter  of  whom  wished  to  push  forward  the  ballot  and  other 
changes,  for  which  the  bulk  of  the  party  was  as  yet  unprepared.  A 
similar  change  had  been  taking  place  in  the  old  Tory  party.  Men  like 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  were  in  touch  with  the  ideas  of  the  middle  classes, 
saw  that  the  old  Tory  role  of  opposition,  pure  and  simple,  would  secure 
no  support  in  the  new  constituencies.  He  therefore  declared  his  adhesion 
to  the  new  order  of  things,  and  advocated  a  well-considered  and  orderly 
progress  within  the  lines  of  the  existing  constitution.  For  this  policy  a 
new  name  was  needed,  and  he  and  his  followers  began  to  call  themselves 
Conservatives,  as  distinguished  from  the  old  Tories  of  the  type  of  Lord 
Eldon.  The  result  was  decidedly  favourable  to  the  Conservative  party. 
They  began  to  gain  in  elections,  especially  in  the  counties  where  the 
'Chandos  Clause,'  by  giving  votes  to  the  farmers,  had  helped  to  re- 
establish the  influence  of  the  county  families. 

This  state  of  affairs  had  great  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  king,  whose 


950  William  IK  1834 

friendship  for  the  Whigs  had  been  decidedly  on  the  wane.  In  June  he 
took  an  opportunity  to  express  to  the  Irish  bishops  in  the  strongest 

Melbourne  terms  the  obligation  under  which  he  felt  himself  to  defend 
ismisse  .  ^j^g^^  church  and  the  Protestant  religion — a  clear  menace  to 
the  Whigs  ;  and,  in  November  1835,  he  took  the  distinctly  unconstitu- 
tional step  of  dismissing  Melbourne  and  his  colleagues.  All  the  usual 
grounds  for  dismissal  were  absent.  The  ministers  had  neither  been 
defeated  in  parliament  nor  quarrelled  on  any  particular  point  with  the 
king,  and  they  were  perfectly  agreed  among  themselves.  The  king, 
however,  was  encouraged  by  the  symptoms  of  a  Conservative  reaction, 
the  extent  of  which  he  exaggerated,  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  of 
getting  rid  of  his  Whig  advisers  ;  and  when  the  death  of  Earl  Spencer 
necessitated  the  removal  of  Lord  Althorp  to  the  Upper  House,  and  his 
resignation  of  the  post  of  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  he  summarily 
dismissed  his  ministers,  and  sent  for  the  duke  of  Wellington. 

Wellington,  in  his  turn,  advised  the  king  to  send  for  Sir  Robert  Peel ; 
but,  as  that  statesman  was  at  Eome,  he  consented,  till  his  arrival,  to 
Peel's  First  himself  fill  the  posts  of  the  three  secretaries  of  state.  Of 
Ministry.  course  he  transacted  nothing  but  routine  business,  so  an 
outcry  that  was  raised  against  him  for  aspiring  to  a  dictatorship  was 
rather  absurd  ;  and  as  soon  as  Peel  arrived  in  England,  the  ministry 
was  constituted  as  usual,  with  Peel  as  first  lord  of  the  treasury  and 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  Lyndhurst  chancellor,  the  duke  of 
Wellington  foreign  secretary.  Among  the  junior  members  of  the 
government  was  W.  E.  Gladstone,  who  was  first  made  a  lord  of  the 
treasury,  and  was  then  promoted  to  be  junior  secretary  for  the  colonies, 
his  chief  there  being  Lord  Aberdeen. 

Before  meeting  parliament,  Peel  decided  to  appeal  to  the  country  ;  and 
took  the  opportunity,  in  addressing  the  electors  of  Tamworth,  to  define 

Peel's  the  policy  of  the  new  Conservative  party.     'Our  object,' 

Policy.  jjg  wrote,  'will  be  the  maintenance  of  peace,  the  scru- 
pulous and  honourable  fulfilment,  without  reference  to  their  original 
policy,  of  all  engagements  with  foreign  powers,  the  support  of  public 
credit,  the  enforcement  of  strict  economy,  and  the  just  and  impartial 
consideration  of  what  is  due  to  all  interests,  agricultural,  manu- 
facturing, and  commercial.'  The  elections  gave  a  decided  proof  of 
the  reality  of  the  Conservative  reaction  in  the  increase  of  his  party 
by  more  than  one  hundred  members.  The  numbers,  however,  still 
stood — Conservatives  two  hundred  and  seventy-three,  Liberals  three 
hundred  and  eighty  ;  so  that  Peel  was  in  a  minority  by  one  hundred 
and    seven    in    the    House    of    Commons.       Peel's     difficulties    soon 


1835  Melbourne — Peel — Melbourne  951 

thickened.  The  duke  of  Wellington  did  him  great  harm  by  ap- 
pointing Castlereagh's  brother,  now  marquess  of  Londonderry,  to  be 
the  British  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg.  Though  Lord  Londonderry 
had  shown  himself  an  excellent  ambassador,  he  had  in  the  House  of 
Lords  spoken  of  the  Poles  as  the  Czar's  rebellious  subjects.  As  most 
Englishmen  sympathised  with  the  Poles,  there  was  an  outburst  of 
indignation  when  his  appointment  was  known  ;  and  Peel  and  the  duke 
were  only  saved  from  the  condemnation  of  parliament  by  the  magna- 
nimity of  Londonderry,  who  chivalrously  declined  the  post.  Peel,  too, 
was  little  more  fortunate.  In  vain  he  brought  forward  a  series  of 
reforming  measures.  His  opponents  scouted  them  as  mere  imitations 
of  those  of  the  Whigs.  He  was  uniformly  beaten  ;  and  when  Lord 
John  Russell  succeeded  in  carrying  a  motion  for  the  appropriation  of  the 
surplus  revenues  of  the  Irish  Church  to  general  moral  and  religious 
purposes,  he  was  forced  to  resign,  after  holding  office  four  months. 

On  this  William,  much  to  his  disgust,  was  compelled  to  recall  the 
Whigs  ;  and  Lord  Melbourne  again  came  into  power.      The  only  im- 
portant changes  in  this  ministry  were  that  Spring  Rice   j. 
became  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  in  place  of  Lord  Althorp,    Second 
and  that  the  great  seal  was  placed  in  commission.      This       '°*     ^' 
was  a  heavy  blow  to  Brougham.      No  one  doubted  his  ability  ;    but  his 
violence,  indiscretion,  and,  above  all,  his  insufi'erable  egotism,  had  made 
him  a  most  undesirable  colleague,  and  Lord  Melbourne  was  glad  of  an 
opportunity  to  quietly  shelve  him.     After  a  year,  Sir  Charles  Pepys 
became  the  Liberal  lord-chancellor,  under  the  title  of  Lord  Cottenham. 

The  principal  achievement  of  Lord  Melbourne's  second  administration 
was  the  passing  of  the  Municipal  Reform  Act.  The  condition  of  the 
English  boroughs  was  as  anomiilous  as  had  been  that  of  Municipal 
the  parliamentary  constituencies.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  ^^^o'''"- 
corporation  of  each  town  filled  up  its  own  vacancies,  and  its  members 
held  their  places  for  life  ;  it  appointed  the  freemen  of  the  town,  often 
for  a  money  consideration  ;  and  its  proceedings  were  conducted  in 
secret.  In  such  a  state  of  affairs  it  was  inevitable  that  corruption  and 
malversation  should  exist  on  a  large  scale ;  and  in  1833  a  commission 
was  appointed  to  go  into  the  whole  matter.  Its  report  conclusively 
showed  that,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  the  corporation  existed 
solely  for  the  good  of  its  own  members,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  popula- 
tion had  lost  all  confidence  and  respect  for  the  local  government  under 
which  they  lived.  It  was,  therefore,  determined  to  put  municipal 
government  once  for  all  on  a  popular  basis.  The  towns  were  divided 
into  wards,  and  the  ratepayers  of  each  ward  were  to  elect  one  or  more 


952  William  IF.  1835 

members  to  form  a  town  council,  which  was  to  be  the  governing  body  of 
the  town.  The  town  council  was  to  have  in  its  hands  the  ultimate 
appointment  of  all  corporate  officers ;  all  trading  privileges  were 
abolished  ;  and  the  town  councillors  ceased  to  be  magistrates.  Thus  the 
bill  stood  as  it  passed  the  Commons.  In  the  Lords  a  clause  was  added, 
and  ultimately  accepted  by  the  Commons,  by  which  aldermen  were  to 
be  elected  by  the  councillors  for  six  years,  during  which  they  were  to 
have  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  the  elected  councillors.  The 
effect  of  this  addition  was  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  majority 
of  the  council  for  the  time  being,  and  to  make  it  more  difficult  for  any 
change  in  popular  opinion  to  have  effect  on  the  policy  of  the  corporation. 
The  Municipal  Corporation  Bill  created  quite  a  revolution  in  town  life. 
It  not  only  improved  the  government  of  the  boroughs,  but  introduced  a 
most  important  educative  influence  in  the  art  of  local  self-government, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  application  of  the  same  principles  in  rural 
districts.  It  was  designed  to  deal  with  the  ancient  corporation  of 
the  city  of  London  in  a  separate  act,  but  for  some  reason  this  was  post- 
poned, and  the  corporation  of  London  still  remains  unaltered. 

Next  year  the  ministers  were  successful  in  carrying  a  measure  which 
removed  a  fruitful  source  of  ill-feeling  between  churchmen  and  Non- 
conformists.     Hitherto  rectors  and  vicars  had  been  in  the 
Commuta-    habit  of  collecting  their  tithe  in  kind — for  example,  mark- 
ing every  tenth  sheaf,  and  removing  it  to  the  tithe  barn. 
This  process  was  most   exasperating  to   farmers,  and   particularly  to 
Nonconformists  ;  so  an  act  was  passed  called  the  Tithes  Commutation  Act, 
which  provided  for  the  commutation  of  tithes  in  kind  into  a  rent-charge 
upon  the  land,  payable  in  money,  and  reckoned  according  to  the  average 
price  of  corn  for  the  seven  preceding  years.     A  similar  act  was  passed 
by  the  Commons  for  Ireland,  but  the  Lords  refused  to  pass  a  clause  by 
which  surplus  revenue  was  to  be  applicable  to  general  purposes,  and  the 
bill  was,  therefore,  allowed  to  drop. 

Two  changes  made  in  1836  had  much  influence  on  the  political 
education  of  the  people.  Since  1*712,  when  Harley's  government  laid  a 
duty  on  newspapers  of  one  penny  a  sheet,  and  one  shilling 
Newspapers  on  each  advertisement,  the  tax  on  news  had  been  an 
owere  .  important  source  of  revenue.  North  increased  it ;  and 
under  Pitt  it  was  regularly  raised  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  war, 
reaching  eventually  in  1816  the  rate  of  fourpence  a  sheet,  and  three 
shillings  and  sixpence  for  each  advertisement.  This  was  slightly  lowered 
in  1826  ;  and  in  1833  Lord  Althorp  lowered  the  duty  on  advertisements 
to  eighteenpence.     The  tax  on  news,  however,  continued  at  4d.  a  sheet 


1837  Melbmirne  953 

till  1836,  when  Spring  Rice  lowered  the  duty  to  one  penny.  This  reduc- 
tion forms  an  epoch  in  the  development  of  the  press.  For  a  time  the  gross 
amount  of  the  duty  fell ;  but  the  circulation  increased  so  rapidly  that 
in  1854  the  proceeds  of  the  tax  were  as  much  as  at  the  old  rate.  This 
was  caused  not  only  by  an  increase  in  circulation  of  the  old  newspapers, 
but  by  the  springing  up  of  a  number  of  others,  especially  daily  papers, 
with  a  corresponding  diffusion  of  interest  and  information  about  political 
ideas. 

The  other  event  was  the  publication  by  parliament  of  its  own  division 
lists.      Hitherto  these  had  been  published   on   hearsay,   and  without 
parliamentary  authority,   and    the    right    to    keep    them         .  . 
private  had  been  jealously  guarded  by  the  members.     It   Lists  pub- 
was  felt,  however,  that,  as  in  practice  it  was  always  known 
how  membei"s  had  voted,  it  was  better  to  publish  an  authentic  list ;  and 
authority  was  now  given  for  the  purpose.     The  result  was  not  only  that 
a  member's  constituents  knew  for  certain  how  he  had  voted,  but  were 
also  aware  in  what  divisions  he  had  taken  part,  so  that  a  valuable  check 
was  established   on   the   attendance  of  members  ;    and  the  duties  of 
members  became  better  fulfilled  than  before. 

In  1837  no  act  of  importance  was  passed  through  parliament ;  and  in 
June  the  session  was  interrupted  by  the  death  of  the  old  king,  which 
created  the  necessity  for  a  general  election.  As  sovereign  Death  of 
of  the  United  Kingdom  William  was  succeeded  by  his  ^'"•a'"  iv. 
niece,  Victoria,  the  daughter  of  the  late  duke  of  Kent ;  but  as  the  Salic 
law  prevailed  in  Hanover,  the  duke  of  Kent's  next  brother,  the  duke  of 
Cumberland,  became  king  of  that  country  ;  and  the  separation  between 
the  crowns  was  viewed  by  Englishmen  without  regret. 


CHIEF  DATES 

A.D. 

The  Reform  Bill  passed,    . 

1832 

Slavery  aboUshed,      .... 

1833 

Irish  Church  reformed, 

1833 

New  Factory  Act  passed,  . 

1833 

New  Poor  Law  Act  passed, 

1834 

Municipal  Corporation  Act, 

1835 

CHAPTEE  VII 

victoria:  1837-1865 

Bom  1819  ;  married  1840,  Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg. 
PART  I 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY  PRINCES  AND  GOVERNMENTS  TO  1865 


France. 

Russia. 

Prussia. 

Sardinia. 

Louis  Philippe, 

Nicholas, 

William  i. 

Victor  Emmanuel, 

deposed  1848. 

d.  1855. 

1861. 

1849. 

Republic,  1848-1852. 

Alexander  n,, 

Becomes  King  of  Italy, 

Napoleon  iii. , 

d.  1881. 

1861. 

Emperor,  1852-1870. 

Canada — The  Chartists  — The  Corn  Law  Agitation — The  Afghan,  Scinde,  and 
Sikh  Wars — O'Connell — Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws — The  Year  of  Revolutions 
— The  Russian  War — Indian  Mutiny— Parliamentary  Reform — Foreign 
Affairs— Death  of  Palmerston. 

The  new  queen  had  only  come  of  legal  age  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  May 
before  the  death  of  King  William,  and  was  little  known  to  her  subjects. 
The  Queen's  Her  mother,  the  duchess  of  Kent,  had  with  great  judgment 
Education.  ^^^^  j^^j.  ^g  niuch  as  possible  from  mixing  in  the  society  of 
her  uncle's  court,  which  was  not  desirable  for  a  young  girl.  In  her 
seclusion,  however,  at  Kensington  Palace  nothing  had  been  omitted  by 
the  duchess  which  could  help  to  fit  her  daughter  for  the  high  place  she 
was  to  occupy.  Her  intellect  and  her  heart  had  been  alike  carefully 
trained.  She  had  been  brought  up  in  habits  of  self-reliance,  regularity 
and  economy,  and  when  she  was  called  to  the  duties  of  her  high  office, 
she  astonished  all  who  had  to  deal  with  her  by  the  way  in  which  she 
performed  her  part.  From  the  very  beginning  of  her  reign  she  showed 
herself  determined  to  reign  as  a  constitutional  sovereign,  and  to  make  no 
distinction  between  parties.  Such  conduct  marked  a  new  departure  in 
the  conduct  of  the  sovereign.  George  iii.  had  claimed  the  right  to 
name  his  ministers,  and  George  iv.  and  William  had  barely  concealed 
their  preferences ;   but   though   the  duke   of  Wellington   foretold  the 


1837  Melbourne  955 

extinction  of  the  Tories,  on  the  ground  that  'he  had  no  small  talk,  and  Peel 
had  no  manners,'  he  found  that  the  new  sovereign  was  swayed  by  no  such 
petty  considerations,  and  made  the  wishes  of  the  House  of  Commons  the 
sole  factor  in  deciding  which  party  should  hold  office  during  her  reign. 
Some  of  the  credit  for  this  should  certainly  be  given  to  Lord  Melbourne, 
for  it  was  he  who  instructed  the  young  queen  in  the  principles  and 
practice  of  constitutional  government.  The  queen  was  crowned  on  June 
28,  1838  ;  and,  on  February  10,  1840,  she  married  her  cousin,  Albert  of 
Saxe-Coburg.  The  marriage  was  one  of  affection.  Prince  Albert  was 
a  handsome  man,  of  the  highest  character,  distinguished  by  ^he  Prince 
his  devotion  to  art,  music  and  literature.  He  made  her  Consort, 
an  excellent  husband,  doing  all  he  could  to  aid  his  wife  in  performing  the 
duties  of  royalty,  and  in  promoting  the  moral  and  intellectual  weU-being 
of  the  people  among  whom  he  came  to  live,  till  his  early  death  in  1861. 

The  separation  of  Hanover  from  the  English  crown  had  been  received 
by  all  classes  with  relief ;  but  a  much  more  serious  loss  than  that  of 
Hanover  threatened  to  couple  with  disaster  the  accession  of  The  state 
the  new  queen.  Canada  was  thoroughly  disaffected.  Since  °^  Canada. 
1774,  when  Lord  North's  government  had  secured  the  French  Catholics 
in  the  exercise  of  their  laws  and  religion,  the  condition  of  the  colony  had 
been  changed  by  the  influx  of  large  bodies  of  Englishmen  and  Scots- 
men, and  of  Loyalists  from  the  United  States,  who  left  that  country 
after  its  declaration  of  independence.  These  men  were  very  different  in 
character  and  objects  from  the  old  French  settlers  ;  and  to  deal  with  the 
new  state  of  affairs  Pitt  had,  in  1791,  passed  the  Canada  Bill,  by  which 
Canada  was  divided  into  two  parts — Upper  and  Lower.  Lower  Canada 
lay  along  the  lower  part  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  contained  the  towns 
of  Montreal  and  Quebec,  and  was  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by  a 
French  population  ;  Upper  Canada  lay  along  the  great  lakes,  and  was 
inhabited  exclusively  by  a  British  population.  This  arrangement  was  poli- 
tically bad,  because  it  prevented  any  amalgamation  between  the  French 
and  English  races,  and  was  on  that  ground  condemned  by  Fox  ;  and 
commercially  unsound,  because  all  the  produce  of  Upper  Canada  passed 
through  the  ports  of  Lower  Canada  on  its  way  to  the  sea.  Besides  this, 
there  were  constant  difficulties  in  each  colony  between  the  governor  and 
his  executive  council,  and  the  legislative  assembly  which  was  elected  by 
the  colonists.  In  these  circumstances  the  people  of  Lower  Canada,  and 
some  of  Upper  Canada,  were  ready  to  revolt,  and  when  the  queen  came 
to  the  throne  many  congregations  showed  their  disaffection  by  leaving 
the  churches  when  her  name  was  heard  in  the  liturgy.  Shortly  after, 
armed  rebellions  broke  out,  headed  in  Lower  Canada  by  Papineau,  a 


956  Victoria  1887 

French  Canadian,  and  in  Upper  Canada  by  M'Kenzie.  Both  outbreaks 
were  put  down  without  difficulty — in  Lower  Canada  by  Sir  John 
Colborne,  supported  by  the  regular  troops,  and  in  Upper  Canada  by 
Major  Head,  with  the  assistance  only  of  the  local  militia. 

It   was,   however,    clear  to   all  parties   that   a  radical   change   was 

necessary  in  the  government  of  Canada.     Accordingly,  the  Melbourne 

ministry  sent  out  the  earl  of  Durham  to  effect  a  reconstruc- 

Durham's    tion  of  the  colony.      Lord  Durham  was   an   enthusiastic 
believer  in  constitutional  principles,  who  had  exercised  great 
influence   over   Earl   Grey,   but    had   recently   withdrawn   from   Lord 
Melbourne's  ministry  on  the  ground  that  it  wanted  energy.     At  first  he 
was  entrusted  almost  with  a  dictatorship  in  Canada,  and  used  his  power 
to  the  fullest  extent.     In  accordance  with  Fox's  views,  he  reversed  the 
act  of  1791,  united  the  two  colonies  into  one,  and  proposed  a  scheme  of 
ministerial  responsibility  with  a  system  of  local  government  throughout 
the  colony.    These  parts  of  his  scheme  were  accepted  and  acted  upon,  and 
form  the  foundation  of  the  present  constitution  of  Canada  proper ;  and 
Lord  Durham's  scheme  even  prepared  the  way  for  such  a  federal  union 
of  the  British  North  American  colonies  as  has  since  been  carried  out. 
On  the  other  hand,  his  method  of  dealing  with  the  prisoners  who  had 
been  arrested  after  the  rebellions  gave  an  opportunity  of  attacking  him, 
of  which  the  opposition  in  the  Lower  House,  and  his  personal  opponents 
in  the  Upper,  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves.     Had  these  prisoners 
been  tried  in  Lower  Canada,  any  ordinary  jury  would  have  been  certain 
to  have  acquitted  them.     Some  of  them,  however,  had  already  confessed 
their  guilt,  and  Lord  Durham  adopted  the  unconstitutional  course  of 
condemning  them  to  exile  in  Bermuda,  and  denouncing  death  against 
them  in  case  they  returned  to  Canada.     Such  action  was  clearly  illegal, 
for  Lord  Durham  had  no  authority  over  Bermuda ;  and  though  it  was 
approved  in  the  colony,  it  was  fiercely  attacked  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment,  especially  by   Lord   Brougham,    who   took   this   opportunity  of 
revenging  himself  on  Lord  Melbourne  for  not  having  made  him  chancellor 
on  his  return  to  office  in  1836.     So  weak  was  Lord  Melbourne,  that  he 
threw  over  his  high  commissioner,  and  cancelled  the  ordinance  of  exile. 
Of  course.  Lord  Durham  resigned.     On  his  return  home  he  was  coldly 
received  by  the  government,  but  had  some  consolation  in  the  friendly 
reception  accorded  to  him  by  the  mass  of  the  Liberal  party.    Disappoint- 
ment, however,  certainly  injured  his  health,  and  though  he  lived  long 
enough  to  know  that  his  plans  for  the  future  of  Canada  would  be  carried 
into  effect,  he  died  in  1840,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight. 

The  weakness  shown  by  the  government  in  the  case  of  Lord  Durham 


1838  Melbourne  957 

was  characteristic  of  the  Melbourne  administration.  Several  causes 
combined  to  weaken  their  position.  In  the  general  election  which  fol- 
lowed the  queen's  accession,  they  lost  a  number  of  seats  in  weakness  of 
England,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  successes  of  their  sup-  Melbourne, 
porter  O'Connell  in  Ireland,  would  have  been  placed  in  a  minority  ;  while 
the  fact  that  the  government  was  kept  in  power  by  Irish  votes  did  them 
a  great  deal  of  harm  in  England.  Another  cause  of  the  weakness  of  the 
government  lay  in  the  character  of  Lord  Melbourne  himself,  who  cared 
little  about  reforms  of  any  kind  ;  and  the  impression  gained  ground 
in  the  country  that  little  more  progress  was  to  be  expected  under  his 
government  than  under  a  Conservative  administration.  This  state  of 
things  was  most  exasperating  to  the  ardent  reformers,  and  resulted  in 
the  growth  of  agitation  in  the  country.  This  agitation  had  two  objects, 
and  was  conducted  by  two  quite  different  classes  of  men — the  manu- 
facturers, who  wished  to  abolish  the  Corn  Laws,  and  the  Kadicals,  who 
wished  for  constitutional  reform. 

The  Kadicals  and  the  Whigs  had  looked  on  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  in 
very  different  lights.  The  official  Whigs,  by  whom  it  had  been  passed, 
regarded  it  as  a  final  measure  of  reform — at  any  rate  for 
their  time — and  Lord  John  Russell  had  used  language  to  People's 
this  effect  ;  while  the  Radicals  had  regarded  it  as  a  mere 
instalment,  which  would  pave  the  way  for  further  constitutional  changes. 
This  was  specially  the  feeling  among  the  industrial  classes,  who  saw 
votes  given  to  the  small  shop-keeping  class  of  £10  householders,  but 
denied  to  themselves  ;  and  the  feeling  was  specially  bitter  at  places  like 
Preston,  where  the  artisans  had  actually  been  deprived  of  their  votes  by 
the  new  franchise.  Accordingly,  an  agitation  was  got  up  for  further 
constitutional  changes,  and  the  wishes  of  its  leaders  were  embodied  in 
the  following  demands  :  (1)  Universal  suffrage,  on  the  ground  that  every 
grown-up  man  had  a  right  to  a  vote  ;  (2)  vote  by  ballot,  to  secure  the 
voter  from  intimidation  ;  (3)  annual  parliaments,  to  secure  the  depend- 
ence of  members  on  the  wishes  of  their  constituents  ;  (4)  payment  of 
members,  in  order  to  enable  poor  men  to  leave  their  work  if  elected  ; 
(5)  the  abolition  of  the  property  qualification,  by  which  no  one  could  sit 
in  parliament  unless  he  had  a  certain  amount  of  property  (this  rule,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  had  long  been  evaded)  ;  and  (6)  equal  electoral  districts, 
in  order  to  make  the  value  of  each  man's  vote  as  nearly  equal  as  possible. 
This  set  of  demands  received  the  popular  title  of  the  People's  Charter, 
and  the  demand  for  it  received  the  support  of  O'Connell  who  said : 
*  There  is  your  charter  ;  agitate  for  it,  and  never  be  content  with  anything 


958  Victoria  1838 

The  advocates  of  these  changes,  who  were  called  Chartists,  were  of  two 
kinds  :  the  moral  force  Chartists,  and  the  physical  force  Chartists  ;  the 

The  former  of  whom  were  in  favour  of  constitutional  agitation 

Chartists,  only,  the  latter  of  a  resort  to  force.  The  chief  leader 
of  the  former  were  a  member  of  parliament,  Feargus  O'Connor,  a  man  of 
great  natural  eloquence  and  energy,  whose  position  gave  him  the  greatest 
prominence  in  the  eyes  of  outsiders  ;  Stephens,  a  Nonconformist  minister  ; 
and  Henry  Hetherington,  Henry  Vincent,  and  Lovett,  all  working  men. 
They  endeavoured  to  spread  their  views  by  means  of  public  meetings 
and  by  newspapers,  the  chief  of  which  was  The  Northern  Star,  owned  by 
Feargus  O'Connor.  The  physical  force  Chartists  were  composed  of  the 
most  ignorant  of  O'Connor's  followers  ;  they  were  regarded  as  dangerous 
to  the  cause  by  the  leaders,  and  their  only  attempt  at  insurrection  was  a 
complete  failure.  This  rising  took  place  at  Newport,  the  centre  of  the 
mining  district  of  South  Wales,  and  was  headed  by  Mr.  Frost,  formerly  a 
magistrate.  It  was  arranged  that  the  miners  should  march  upon  the 
town  in  three  bodies,  capture  the  town-hall,  and  stop  the  mail  to  Birming- 
ham, whose  non-arrival  was  to  be  the  signal  for  a  general  rising.  The 
plan,  however,  was  badly  carried  out  ;  Mr.  Phillips,  the  mayor  of 
Newport,  defended  the  town-hall  with  resolution,  and  the  attempt  was  a 
complete  failure.  Frost  and  other  ringleaders  were  arrested,  and 
sentenced  to  transportation.  This  had  the  effect  of  completely  crushing 
the  hopes  of  the  physical  force  Chartists  ;  but  the  other  branch  of  the 
agitation  was  continued  for  years,  and  roused  great  enthusiasm  among 
the  unrepresented  classes. 

Of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation  the  centre  was  Manchester.    Between 

1826  and  1836  little  attention  had  been  given  to  the  Corn  Laws,  but  in 

,      that  year  the  depression  of  trade  recalled  attention  to  the 

Corn  Law    fact  that  the  price  of  bread  was  artificially  raised,  and  an 

eague.       association  was   formed  in   London    for    the    purpose   of 

agitating  against  the  Corn  Laws.     The  agitation  was  soon  transferred  to 

Lancashire  where  great  distress  existed,  and  the  lead  in  this  movement 

was  then  taken  up  by  Richard  Cobden,  who  had  hitherto 

been  chiefly  known  as  a  successful  calico  printer.     Cobden, 

however,  soon  showed  that  he  was  much  more  than  this.     In  the  way  of 

his  business  he  had  visited  all  European  countries,  the  East,  and  even 

Canada  and  the  United  States  ;  and  wherever  he  had  gone,  he  had  shown  a 

wonderful  capacity  for  gaining  information  as  to  the  political  and  social 

condition  of  the  countries  which  he  visited.      The  information  thus 

gained,  Cobden  employed  to  form  and  illustrate  his  political  ideas  ;  and 

when  he  entered  on  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation  he  brought  to  bear  on 


1839  Melbourne  959 

it  an  amount  of  political  and  economic  knowledge,  and  a  wealth  of  illus- 
tration, which,  combined  with  a  lucid  and  persuasive  style,  placed  him  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  movement  either  as  a  writer  or  a  speaker.  His  chief 
colleague  was  John  Bright,  a  Rochdale  manufacturer,  and  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  brought  to  the  aid  of 
the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation  not,  indeed,  so  much  information  as  Cobden, 
but  a  marvellous  command  of  the  English  language,  and  a  capacity  for 
moving  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  which  made  him,  for  many  years,  one  of 
the  greatest  political  forces  in  the  country.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
1841  that  Cobden  made  his  way  into  parliament,  and  John  Bright  was 
not  elected  a  member  till  1843.  Under  Lord  Melbourne  the  Anti-Corn 
Law  agitation  was  represented  in  parliament  by  Charles  Villiers,  who, 
year  after  year,  brought  up  a  motion  for  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws, 
and  whose  importance  increased  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  the 
agitation  which  Cobden  and  Bright  were  conducting  in  the  country. 

While  the  country  was  thus  being  agitated  by  Chartism  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  Anti-Corn  Law  movement  on  the  other,  the  Melbourne 
ministry,  coldly  supported  by  its  friends,  and  attacked  ^^^ 
with  renewed  vigour  by  its  opponents,  became  weaker  than  Jamaica 
ever.  At  last  matters  came  to  a  crisis  over  the  Jamaica 
Bill.  Since  the  abolition  of  slavery  the  management  of  the  West  Indian 
Islands  had  been  a  matter  of  great  difficulty.  This  was  especially  the 
case  in  Jamaica,  which  possessed  a  legislative  assembly  and  the  form  of 
constitutional  government.  The  planters  would  not  tamely  submit  to 
allow  their  emancipated  slaves  to  become  their  political  equals,  and  did 
all  they  could  to  defeat  the  spirit  of  the  recent  legislation.  The  governor 
and  his  council  supported  the  law,  while  the  legislative  assembly  sup- 
ported the  planters.  The  only  way  out  of  the  difficulty  appeared  to  the 
Melbourne  government  to  be  to  suspend  the  constitution  of  Jamaicii  for 
five  years,  and  a  bill  for  this  purpose  was  brought  into  parliament.  For 
a  Liberal  govermnent  to  suspend  the  constitution  of  a  self-governing 
colony  was  obviously  to  expose  itself  to  a  great  deal  of  invidious  criticism. 
The  bill  was  attacked  both  by  the  Tories  and  by  the  Radicals,  and 
eventually  the  second  reading  was  only  carried  by  five  votes. 

On  this  Lord  Melbourne  sent  in  his  resignation,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel 
attempted  to  form  a  ministry,  but  was  met  by  an  unexpected  difficulty. 
For  many  years  it  had  been  the  practice  that  the  personal     ^^^  ^^^ 
attendants  of  the  king — the  members  of  his  household —     chamber 
should  be  of  the  same  way  of  thinking  as  the  ministry  of     ^"^^  *°"' 
the  day,  and  so  when  a  minister  resigned  the  household  resigned  too. 
This  practice  had  presented  no  difficulty  in  the  case  of  a  king,  but  it 


960  Victoria  1839 

was  not  so  easy  in  the  case  of  a  young  queen,  who  naturally  objected 
to  the  breaking  up  of  her  family  circle.  Lord  Melbourne  had  given 
the  most  confidential  places  in  the  household  to  ladies  closely  connected 
with  his  government — such  as  the  marchioness  of  Normanby,  wife 
of  the  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  a  sister  of  Lord  Morpeth,  his 
chief  secretary — and  these  ladies  were  in  the  closest  attendance  on 
the  queen.  As  Sir  Robert  Peel  proposed  to  change  the  Irish  policy 
of  the  government,  he  felt  it  very  awkward  that  they  should  have  the 
ear  of  the  queen,  but  had  not  sufficient  tact  to  make  clear  to  her  the  real 
object  of  his  wishes.  As  the  queen  objected  to  a  complete  change  of  the 
household,  Peel  declined  to  go  on  with  the  negotiations,  and  Lord 
Melbourne  resumed  office.  As,  however,  he  was  said  to  have  crept  back 
to  power  '  behind  the  petticoats  of  the  ladies  of  the  bedchamber,'  he 
gained  little  advantage  for  his  party,  and  though  he  held  office  for  two 
more  years,  the  Whigs  were  weaker  than  ever. 

Several  events  of  importance,  however,  occurred  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  Melbourne  administration.  First  of  these  was  the  war  with  China. 
The  First  This  contest,  into  which  the  ministry  were  ignominiously 
China  War.  (Jr^gged  by  the  activity  of  the  Indian  opium  merchants  and 
of  the  commissioner  in  China,  Captain  Elliott,  was  really  fought  to 
compel  the  Chinese  to  admit  the  free  entry  of  opium  into  their  ports. 
As  the  Chinese  authorities  wished,  for  reasons  of  health  and  morality,  to 
check  the  use  of  opium,  the  action  of  our  officials  in  forcing  it  upon  them 
was  perfectly  inexcusable  ;  and  the  ministry  laid  down  the  right  principle 
in  declaring  that  '  Her  Majesty's  government  could  not  interfere  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  British  subjects  to  violate  the  laws  of  the  country 
with  which  they  trade.'  Unfortunately  the  distance  between  England 
and  China  prevented  the  ministry  from  giving  practical  effect  to  its 
excellent  principles  ;  and  when  hostilities  had  once  begun  there  seemed 
no  alternative  but  to  go  on.  The  Chinese  were  easily  defeated,  and 
were  forced  to  grant  the  demands  of  the  British  government,  the  chief  of 
which  were  the  cession  of  the  island  of  Hong-Kong  in  perpetuity,  the 
opening  of  five  ports  to  our  traders,  and  the  payment  of  four  and  a  half 
million  pounds  for  our  expenses  and  losses. 

Much  more  creditable  to  the  government  was  the  adoption  of  Rowland 
Hill's  scheme  of  a  penny  postage.    Though  great  progress  had  been  made 

The  Penny  in  t^e  delivery  of  the  mails  since  Pitt's  time,  the  condition 

Postage.  q£  ^]^g  pQg|.  ^^g  f^j.  behind  the  requirements  of  the  country. 
The  cost  of  a  letter  sent  from  London  to  Reading  was  7d.  ;  to  Brighton, 
8d.  ;  to  Aberdeen,  Is.  3jd.  ;  and  to  Belfast,  Is.  4d.  This  was  paid  by 
the  receiver  of  the  letter.     The  result  of  this  system  was,  first,  to  put  a 


1839  Melbmime  961 

heavy  fine  on  correspondence,  for  the  cost  of  transmitting  letters  was 
nothing  like  that  charged  by  the  post-office  ;  and  also  to  cause  a  large 
part  of  the  correspondence  of  the  country  to  be  conducted  through 
private  hands,  or  to  be  smuggled  through  the  post-office  by  various 
devices.  Eowland  Hill  showed  that  the  cost  of  transmitting  letters  did 
not  vary  with  the  distance,  and  proposed  to  charge  a  uniform  rate  of  Id., 
to  be  paid  for  in  advance  by  a  stamp.  The  plan  was  investigated  by  a 
parliamentary  committee ;  and,  in  1839,  adopted  by  the  government  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  post-office  officials,  who  feared  that  the  work 
of  the  post-office  would  be  rendered  overwhelming  by  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  letters,  and  of  some  politicians  who  feared  to  face  the  loss  to  the 
revenue  owing  to  the  diminished  charges.  Both  proved  to  be  ^\Tong.  The 
post-office  was  equal  to  the  new  demands.  The  revenue  derived  from 
the  transmission  of  letters,  though  at  first  diminished,  soon  recovered 
itself ;  while  the  enormous  increase  in  the  number  of  letters  sent  showed 
what  a  boon  had  been  conferred  on  the  community  by  the  change. 
Especially  great  was  the  boon  conferred  on  business  men  who  wished  to 
advertise  their  goods,  and  on  politicians  who  desired  to  disseminate  their 
ideas ;  and  such  movements  as  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation  gained 
enormously  by  the  facilities  for  communication  afforded  by  Sir  Rowland 
Hill's  scheme. 

In  1839  the  Melbourne  ministry  made  a  very  important  change  in  the 
administration  of  the  Education  Grant.  Until  that  year  the  £20,000  voted 
in  1833  had  been  administered  by  the  treasury  ;  but  now  National 
the  government  raised  the  grant  to  £30,000  and  created  an  Education. 
Education  Department,  consisting  of  the  president  of  the  council,  the 
vice-president,  and  four  other  members.  This  body,  of  whom  the  vice- 
president  was  the  working  member  and  practically  minister  for  educa- 
tion, established  a  system  of  inspection  of  all  schools  receiving  government 
grants,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  the  existing  system  of  elementary 
education.  The  establishment  of  this  committee  was  stoutly  opposed  by 
Peel,  Lord  Stanley,  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  was  then  regarded  as  the 
'  hope  of  the  stern,  unbending  Tories.'  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  sup- 
ported by  O'Connell. 

Considering  how  important  is  the  growth  of  the  British  Colonial 
Empire,  it  is  unfortunate  that  there  are  so  few  striking  events  in  the 
history  of  the  colonies.  For  the  most  part  their  progress  has  colonial 
been  due  to  the  efforts  of  individuals,  the  results  of  which  History, 
have  been  from  time  to  time  recognised  by  the  government.  Neverthe- 
less, during  these  years  steady  progress  was  being  made  in  occupying 
the  lands  which  had  been  secured  to  us.     In  1836  South  Australia  was 

3p 


962  Victoria  X839 

first  colonised,  its  capital  taking  the  name  of  Adelaide  from  the  queen  of 
William  iv.  The  next  year  Natal  was  founded  by  Dutch  settlers,  who 
had  made  their  way  north  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  At  first  they 
were  independent ;  but  in  1841  Natal  was  placed  under  English  rule. 
In  1839  we  occupied  Aden,  which  is  to  the  entrance  to  the  Red  Sea 
what  Gibraltar  is  to  the  Mediterranean.  The  same  year  New  Zealand 
was  first  permanently  colonised. 

The  principal  act  of  parliament  passed   during  Lord   Melbourne's 

second  administration   was  the   Irish  Municipal  Reform   Bill.      This 

measure,  which  had  for  six  years  been  a  bone  of  contention 

Municipal  between  the  Upper  and  Lower  Houses,  was  eventually 
e  orm.  i^^sed  upon  a  compromise.  Fifty-eight  corporations  were 
abolished,  and  ten  were  reconstituted.  Besides  this,  parliament  was 
engaged  in  a  most  important  struggle  for  the  right  of  printing  what  it 
chose  in  parliamentary  reports.  In  1840  the  firm  of  Stockdale  brought 
stockdale's  ^"^  action  for  libel  against  Messrs.  Hansard,  the  parlia- 
Case.  mentary  printers,  and  obtained  a  verdict  for  libel  in  the 

Court  of  Queen's  Bench.  Parliament  supported  their  printers  ;  and,  after 
a  long  contest,  the  law  court  was  compelled  to  give  way.  An  act  of 
parliament  was  then  passed  to  prevent  such  actions  being  brought  for 
the  future.  The  principle  at  stake  was  most  important,  for  the  publica- 
tion of  full  parliamentary  papers  was  the  great  means  of  educating  the 
public  as  to  the  merits  of  any  controversy  in  which  parliament  was 
engaged,  and  the  position  was  well  stated  by  Sir  Robert  Peel  when  he 
cited  the  case  of  the  publication  of  the  evidence  collected  by  the  com- 
mission on  the  slave  trade,  and  said  :  '  Do  you  believe  that  slavery  would 
have  been  abolished  unless  we  had  published  to  the  world  the  abuses 
and  horrors  of  slavery  1 ' 

On  the  merits  of  the  Stockdale  case  both  parties  were  at  one  ;  but  the 
weakness  of  the  Whigs  was  steadily  increasing,  and  at  length  in  1841 

General        ^^^  Robert  Peel  carried  a  direct  vote  of  want  of  confidence 

Election,  jjj  ^^vQ  Melbourne  administration  by  312  votes  to  311.  On 
this,  Lord  Melbourne  advised  the  queen  to  dissolve  parliament,  and  a 
general  election  followed.  The  result  was  highly  favourable  to  the 
Conservatives,  who  came  back  to  Westminster  with  a  majority  of  81 
votes,  counting  367  against  the  Liberals'  286.  Their  success  was  owing 
in  general  to  the  progress  of  the  Conservative  reaction,  which  had  set  in 
.  since  the  passing  of  the  Reform  Bill,  and  in  particular  to 

tion  of  the  financial  reputation  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  On  the  result 
ourne.  ^^  ^^^  general  election  being  known.  Lord  Melbourne  re- 
signed office,  and  retired  into  private  life.      The  fall  of  the  Melbourne 


1842  Melbourne — Peel  963 

ministry  brings  to  a  close  the  period  which  succeeded  the  passing  of 
the  Keform  Bill  of  1832.  Many  useful  measures  had  been  passed,  but 
the  enthusiasm  for  reform  had  died  out,  and  the  natural  reaction  which 
always  follows  a  period  of  unusual  activity  had  set  in. 

Sir  Kobert  Peel  formed  his  ministry  from  two  sources — the  old  Tories, 
and  the  Whigs  who  had  dissented  from  Lord  Grey  on  his  Irish  ecclesias- 
tical policy.  The  duke  of  Wellington  sat  in  the  cabinet 
without  any  special  ofl&ce,  and  led  the  ministerial  party  Second 
in  the  House  of  Lords  ;  Lord  Aberdeen  was  secretary  for  '"*"  ^' 
foreign  affairs  ;  Lord  Stanley  was  colonial  secretary ;  and  Sir  James 
Graham  home  secretary.  Of  the  junior  members  of  the  government, 
no  one  was  more  important  than  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  was  first  vice-presi- 
dent, and  afterwards  president,  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  He  had  no  seat 
in  the  cabinet,  but  to  no  one  did  Peel  look  for  more  assistance  in  the 
financial  policy  on  which  he  so  much  relied  for  the  strengthening  of  his 
position  in  the  country.  Generally  speaking.  Peel's  policy  was  to  sub- 
stitute direct  for  indirect  taxation.  In  1842  he  reduced  the  customs 
duties  on  many  articles,  and  substituted  an  income  tax  for  a  limited 
period  ;  and  in  1845  he  took  the  duty  off  no  fewer  than  430  articles,  and 
substituted  for  them  an  income  tax  for  three  years. 

This  was  a  step  in  the  direction  of  free  trade  ;  but  at  the  general 
election  the  maintenance  of  the  Corn  Laws  had  been  part  of  the  Con- 
servative programme,  and  had  gained  them  the  votes  of  The  Corn 
the  agricultural  interest.  Peel,  however,  made  a  change  in  L*ws. 
the  method  of  calculating  the  duty  by  introducing  the  Sliding  Scale. 
By  this  arrangement,  when  British  corn  was  selling  at  51s.  a  quarter, 
foreign  corn  could  be  introduced  at  a  duty  of  20s.  ;  and  the  duty 
regularly  decreased  till,  when  British  corn  was  at  73s.,  the  duty  on 
foreign  com  fell  tols.  This  method  led  to  a  great  deal  of  gambling  on  the 
Corn  Exchange,  the  price  of  corn  being  artificially  raised  in  order  to 
lower  the  duty  on  foreign  corn,  while  of  course  it  did  not  satisfy  Cobden 
and  Bright,  who  continued  their  agitation  with  more  energy  than  ever. 

During  the  year  1842  the  chief  attention  of  the  country  was  given  to 

affairs  in  India,  where  the  East  India  Company  had  engaged  in  war  with 

Dost  Mahomed,  Ameer  of  Cabul.    Since  the  Mahratta  War      ,    ,. 

India, 
of  1803  the  rule  of  the  East  India   Company  had   been 

rapidly  extended.     In  1818  the  Pindarees,  a  set  of  armed  robbers  who 

infested  the  territory  of  the  Great  Mogul,  were  j)ut  down  and  the  central 

provinces  brought  under  the  direct  rule  of  the  company.   In  1817  trouble 

began  with  the  Peishwah  of  Poonah,  the  nominal  head  of  the  Mahrat- 

tas.     For  above  a  year  the  Peishwah  maintained  himself  in  the  jungle, 


964  Victoria  1839 

but  was  beaten  whenever  he  ventured  to  attack  the  company's  troops. 
Eventually  he  was  forced  to  surrender,  and  was  placed  by  the  company 
at  Bithoor,  near  Cawnpore,  where  he  died  in  1853.  In  1819  the  island 
of  Singapore,  which  commands  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  was  annexed.  In 
1824  occurred  the  first  Burmese  war,  which  resulted  in  the  cession  of 
Rangoon  and  Lower  Burmah,  leaving  Upper  Burmah,  with  its  capital  of 
Ava  or  Mandalay,  independent.  In  1826  a  usurper  murdered  the 
guardian  of  the  infant  Rajah  of  Bhurtpore,  seized  the  fortress,  which 
was  one  of  the  strongest  in  India,  and  bade  defiance  to  British  authority. 
A  powerful  army,  commanded  by  Lord  Combermere,  the  best  of 
Wellington's  cavalry  officers,  marched  upon  the  fortress,  and,  after  a 
regular  siege,  captured  it  and  restored  the  infant  Rajah  to  the  throne. 

In  1833  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company  expired,  and,  on 
application  being  made  to  parliament  for  its  renewal,  several  important 
changes  were  made.  The  accessions  of  territory  made  since 
of  the  Com-  Pitt's  time  had  resulted  in  the  company  becoming  more 
P^^y-  than  ever  the  rulers  of  India ;   while  it  had  begun  to  be 

recognised  that  the  commercial  privileges  of  the  company  were  a  bar  to 
the  development  of  our  trade  with  the  East.  Accordingly,  the  monopoly 
of  the  trade  with  the  East,  hitherto  enjoyed  by  the  company,  was 
abolished,  and  the  duties  of  the  company  were  confined  to  the  business  of 
ruling  only.  In  order  to  make  the  governor- general  and  council  more 
efficient,  a  lawyer,  appointed  by  the  crown,  was  made  a  permanent 
member  of  council,  and  the  first  appointment  fell  to  Macaulay,  who  had 
so  much  distinguished  himself  in  the  debates  on  the  Reform  Bill. 

Meanwhile,  the  advances  of  the  company  had  brought  it  into  contact 

with  the  rulers  of  Scinde,  of  the  Punjab,  and  of  the  more  distant  state  of 

Afghanistan.      This  state,  which  lies  beyond  the  Hindoo 
Afghanistan.   ^°      .  .  ,  «  .1         .  .  , 

Khoosn,  on   the  upper  waters  of  the  river,  contains  the 

great  cities  of  Cabul,  Ghuznee,  Candahar,  and  Herat.      In   1837   the 

greater  part  of  it  was  ruled  by  Dost  Mahomed  of  Cabul  and  his  brothers, 

who  had   expelled  the   former  Ameer,    Shah   Sujah ;  and    the  exiled 

sovereign  was  living  in  Bengal,  under  the  protection  of  the  British. 

Meanwhile,  the  advance  of  the  Russians  in  Central  Asia  had  begun  to 

fill  the  company  with  alarm,  and  there  was  considerable  apprehension 

lest  Dost  Mahomed  should  make  friends  with  them  and  admit  them  into 

India  through  the  great  passes  which  his  territory  commanded.     This 

fear  was  increased  when  the  Persians,  who  were  supposed  to  be  instigated 

by  Russia,  laid  siege  to  Herat,  then  ruled  by  a  relation  of  Shah  Sujah, 

and  were  only  prevented  from  taking  it  by  the  bravery  and  skill  of  an 

English  officer,  Eldred  Pottinger.     At  this  time,  Alexander  Burnes,  who 


1842 


Melbourne — Peel 


965 


believed  Dost  Mahomed  to  be  friendly  to  the  British,  was  at  his  court ; 
but  in  1838,  when  the  Russians  also  sent  an  envoy,  the  Ameer  did  not  feel 
strong  enough  to  dismiss  him.  Accordingly,  in  spite  of  Bumes'  outbreak 
views,  the  governor-general  declared  war  against  Dost  Ma-  °^  vvar. 
homed,  and  British  troops  captured  Candahar,  Ghuznee,  and  Cabul. 
Dost  Mahomed  surrendered,  and  Shah  Sujali  was  established  as  Ameer. 
It  soon  became  evident,  however,  that  the  new  Ameer  was  intensely 
unpopular.  A  rising  took  place,  in  which  Burnes,  who  was  regarded  by 
the  Afghans  as  a  traitor,  Wiis  murdered,  and  the  British  force,  under 
General  Elphinstone  and  the  Commissioner,  Sir  William  Macnaghten, 


oH'erat 


#'^^iJSSs. 


.      .#t?^^k.   NOllTlIEllN  INDIA. 


was  besieged  in  its  cantonments.  The  military  arrangements  were  grossly 
mismanaged  ;  the  houses  which  contained  the  provisions  were  captured, 
and  the  British  force,  instead  of  fighting  its  way  out,  even  at  the  risk 
of  certain  death,  agreed  to  a  disgraceful  treaty  with  Akbar  Khan,  Dost 
Mahomed's  son,  who  had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  insurgents. 
In  the  course  of  a  parley  with  Akbar  Macnaghten  was  murdered, 
Akbar  saying  to  him,  '  So  you  are  the  fellow  who  came  to  take  our 
country.'  Then  General  Elphinstone,  who,  being  old  and  ill,  was  quite 
past  his  work,  agreed  that  the  British  force,  which  for  the  most  part 
consisted  of  Sepoys,  should  be  escorted  to  the  frontier,  Dost  Mahomed 
restored,  and  a  number  of  British  officers  handed   over  as  hostages. 


966  Victoria  1839 

Even  this  ignominious  arrangement  was  not  carried  out.     As  the  army 

made  its  way  through  the  Koord  Cabul  Pass  in  January,  1842,  it  was 

attacked  by  the  mountaineers,  and  when  it  emerged,  after  terrible  loss, 

The  Re-       Akbar  agreed  to  save  the  married  women  and  their  hus- 

treat.  bands.     The  rest  then  marched  on,  only  to  encounter  the 

wild  tribes  of  the  JugduUuk  Pass.     These  completed  their  destruction  ; 

and  only  one  European,  Dr.  Brydon,  reached  Jellalabad,  where  he  found 

General  Sale  holding  out  at  the  entrance  of  the  Khyber  Pass.     Shortly 

after  the  withdrawal  of  the  British  Shah  Sujah  was  murdered.     This 

disastrous  affair,  more  disgraceful  to  our  army  than  anything  which  had 

ever  happened  in  India,  was  a  terrible  blow  to  our  prestige,  and  had  not 

immediate  steps  been  taken  to  restore  our  military  ascendency,  a  general 

rising  in  India  would  probably  have  followed.      Fortunately,   General 

Siege  of       Nott  held  his  own  at  Candahar  ;  and  General  Sale  resisted 

Jellalabad.  every  effort  to  capture  Jellalabad.     The  British,  therefore, 

possessed  two  roads  into  Afghanistan  ;  and,  advancing  from  these  points, 

General  Pollock  marching   from  Jellalabad,   and   General   Nott  from 

Candahar,  made  their  way  to  Cabul,  captured  the  town,  and  destroyed 

_  the  Bala  Hissar  or  citadel,  as  a  punishment  for  the  murder 

Re-conquest 

of  Afghan-  of  Burnes  and  Macnaghten.  The  victory  of  Pollock  was 
followed  by  a  proclamation  of  the  governor-general.  Lord 
Ellenborough,  that  the  British  would  not  force  a  sovereign  on  a 
reluctant  people.  Dost  Mahomed  was,  of  course,  restored,  so  that  no 
advantage  whatever  was  effected  by  the  war ;  and  Burnes'  declaration 
that  the  true  policy  of  the  company  was  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
Dost  Mahomed  completely  made  good. 

The  war  in  Afghanistan  led  to  a  quarrel  with  the  Ameers  of  Scinde, 
through  whose   territory   our  troops   had   been   allowed  to  march  on 
The  Scinde  their   way  to   Afghanistan.      Encouraged  by   the   British 
^^^'  disasters,  they  ventured  to  break  their  engagements,  and  in 

1843  war  broke  out.  The  British  general.  Sir  Charles  Napier,  defeated 
the  Ameers,  after  severe  j&ghting,  at  Meeanee  and  Hyderabad,  and  Scinde 
was  then  added  to  the  presidency  of  Bombay. 

Hardly  had  Scinde  been  brought  into  order  when  trouble  broke  out 
in  the  Punjab  or  '  land  of  five  rivers.'     This  district  which  comprises  the 
The  Sikh     basins  of  the  Jhelum,  Chenab,  Ravee,  Sutlej,  and  the  middle 
"Wars.  course  of  the  Indus,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Sikhs.    This  name 

means  '  disciple,'  and  was  adopted  by  the  followers  of  Nanuk,  a  religious 
leader  who  attracted  followers  both  from  the  Hindoos  and  from  the  Ma- 
homedans.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  Sikhs  found  a  great  ruler 
in  Runjeet  Singh,  who  made  himself  master  of  the  Punjab,  and  maintained 


1843  Melbourne — Feel  967 

it  by  the  might  of  the  Sikh  army,  which  styled  itself  *  the  army  of  God  and 
the  Sikh  Khalsa.'  Throughout  his  life  Kunjeet  Singh  was  on  excellent 
terms  with  the  British  ;  but  on  his  death  in  1839  the  Punjab  fell  into  hope- 
less confusion,  and  his  army  of  60,000  men  became  completely  unmanage- 
able. At  length  it  invaded  Hindostan,  came  into  collision  with  the  British 
army,  and  was  driven  back  across  the  Sutlej  in  the  battles  of  Moodkee 
and  Ferozeshah.  Next  year  the  invasion  was  renewed ;  but  the  Sikhs 
were  again  beaten  at  Aliwal  and  the  terrible  battle  of  Sobraon.  Runjeet 
Singh's  widow  was  then  left  to  govern  the  country  in  the  name  of  his 
son  Dhuleep  Singh.  This  arrangement,  however,  failed.  In  1848  the 
Sikh  army  again  took  the  field,  came  very  near  beating  a  British  force 
under  Lord  Gough  in  the  battle  of  ChiUianwallah  ;  but  was  eventually 
utterly  routed  at  Goojerat.  After  this  the  Punjab  was  annexed  by  the 
Company  and  organised  by  British  officiak,  of  whom  Sir  Henry  and 
John  Lawrence  were  the  most  distinguished. 

Soon  after  taking  office  Peel  found  himself  called  on  to  deal  with  a 
Repeal  agitation.  This  had  been  begun  by  O'Connell  directly  after  the 
piissing  of  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Bill,  and  reached  its  The  Repeal 
culmination  in  1843.  O'Connell  was  a  born  agitator ;  he  Agitation, 
knew  how  to  stir  all  the  passions  of  his  countrymen,  and  he  made  it 
his  great  object  to  rouse  their  hostility  to  'the  Saxon,'  by  which  he 
meant  the  British  connection  with  Ireland.  This  action  of  his  did  infinite 
harm,  as  for  many  years  the  race  hostility  in  Ireland  had  been  dying  out ; 
but  for  his  immediate  purpose  it  was  extremely  successful,  and  all  over 
the  country  gigantic  meetings  were  held  in  favour  of  Repeal.  At  last 
he  declared  that  1843  should  be  the  Repeal  year.  It  was  his  practice  to 
hold  his  meetings  at  great  historical  places,  such  as  the  hill  of  Tara  ;  and 
in  October  1843  he  summoned  one  to  meet  at  Clontarf.  The  very  day 
before  the  meeting  the  government  forbade  it.  O'Connell,  forced  to 
choose  between  obedience  to  the  law  and  armed  resistance,  gave  way, 
and  to  the  amazement  of  his  followers,  issued  a  proclamation  ordering  that 
the  meeting  should  not  take  place.  This  was  an  anti-climax  ;  the  mass 
of  his  followers  had  believed  that  O'Connell  had  been  leading  up  to 
insurrection,  and  when  they  found  that  he  had  no  intention  of  fighting, 
the  majority  abandoned  the  movement  in  disgust.  The  power  of 
O'Connell,  therefore,  was  gone,  and  it  was  probably  a  mistake  of  the 
government  to  indict  him  for  high  treason.  He  was  prosecuted,  however, 
and  convicted  before  a  jury  composed  entirely  of  Protestants.  Such  a 
conviction  might  easily  have  restored  his  popularity  in  Ireland  ;  but  an 
appeal  being  made  against  it  on  the  ground  of  irregularity,  it  was  fortu- 
nately set  aside  by  the  law  lords  of  the  Upper  House  in  1844.    O'Connell 


968  Vidmia  1843 

himself  recognised  that  his  reign  was  over  ;  his  health  broke  down,  and 
he  died  in  Italy  in  1847. 

Before  O'Connell's  death  Peel  had  done  something  by  way  of  conciliat- 
ing the  Irish  Roman  Catholics.  Until  1795  the  Irish  Eoman  Catholic 
«,.  priests  had,  for  the  most  part,  been  educated  at  the  Roman 

Maynooth  Catholic  seminary  of  St.  Omer  in  France,  but  when  this  was 
destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  French  Revolution,  a  similar 
college  had  been  set  up  in  Ireland,  and  since  1795  had  been  in  receipt  of 
a  small  government  grant.  In  1845  Peel  passed  a  measure  for  increasing 
this  grant,  and  was  strongly  supported  by  Macaulay,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  Lord  Melbourne's  government.  In  consequence  of  this 
measure,  Mr.  Gladstone  resigned  his  post  in  the  government.  He  was 
not  now  opposed  to  the  Maynooth  grant,  but  he  had  written  a  book 
called  The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the  Churchy  in  which  he  had 
expressed  himself  opposed  to  such  grants.  Had  he  retained  office  he  was 
afraid  that  he  would  be  thought  to  have  changed  his  mind  for  the  sake  of 
keeping  his  place  ;  accordingly  he  resigned  his  post,  and  supported  the 
government  as  a  private  member. 

In  1843  an  important  crisis  occurred  in  the  religious  life  of  Scotland. 
Ever  since  1712,  when,  in  opposition  to  the  feeling  of  the  Scottish 
n^i.    o    ..•  ,.   church,  the  British  Parliament   had  restored  the  ancient 

The  Scottish  ' 

Free  rights  of  the  lay  patrons  of  Scottish  parishes,  there  had  been 

constant  friction  between  the  patrons,  who  claimed  to 
appoint  the  ministers,  and  the  parishioners,  who  demanded  the  right  to 
refuse  to  accept  the  minister  so  appointed.  In  1843,  after  an  unpopular 
minister  had  been  presented  to  the  parish  of  Auchterarder,  and  placed  in 
possession  of  the  manse,  and  a  minister  presented  to  the  parish  of  Strath- 
bogie  had  obtained  an  injunction  from  a  civil  court,  requiring  the  Pres- 
bytery to  take  him  on  trial,  no  less  than  five  hundred  ministers  and  a 
large  proportion  of  their  parishioners,  headed  by  Thomas  Chalmers,  left 
the  Established  Church,  and  organised  the  Free  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland.  Eight  years  later,  on  census  Sunday  1851,  228,758  persons 
attended  the  morning  service  of  the  Established  Church,  and  253,482 
that  of  the  Free  Church. 

England,  too,  was  being  stirred  by  a  religious  movement.     This  was 
set  on  foot  by  a  small  circle  of  Oxford  men,  most  of  them  connected 
with  Oriel  College,  from  whom  it  is  generally  known  as  the 
Oxford  '  Oxford  Movement,'  led  by  Keble,  Newman,  and  Pusey. 

Its  beginning  is  usually  dated  from  1833,  when  it  received 
a  special  impetus  from  the  preaching  by  Keble  of  an  assize  sermon  at 
Oxford  on  the  action  of  the  Irish  Church  connnission  in  dealino-  with  the 


1845  Peel  969 

Irish  Church.  The  general  object  of  these  men  was  to  stimulate  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  country,  to  lay  stress  upon  the  continuity  which 
existed  between  the  Church  of  England  and  the  primitive  church,  and  to 
protest  against  the  Liberalism  of  the  day,  which  they  thought  looked  on 
the  church  too  much  in  the  light  of  a  department  of  the  State.  Many  of 
their  particular  views  were  enunciated  in  a  series  of  Tracts  for  the  IHmes, 
and  Newman,  as  vicar  of  the  University  Church  of  St.  Mary,  acquired 
by  his  preaching  immense  influence  over  the  undergraduates.  By 
degrees,  however,  Newman  found  himself  more  and  more  out  of  accord 
with  the  formularies  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  in  1845  he  joined 
the  Church  of  Rome.  In  this  he  was  followed  by  many  others ;  but 
Pusey  and  Keble  still  adhered  to  the  English  Church,  and  the  movement 
thus  initiated  has  been  of  immense  importance  in  forming  the  views  and 
conduct  of  a  large  section  both  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  present  day. 
Between  1841  and  1845  comparatively  little  progress  had  been  made  by 
the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation.  It  was  fairly  strong  out  of  doors,  and  in  1843 
Cobden  and  Bright  had  begun  a  series  of  meetings  in  Covent  . 

Garden  Theatre  which  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention  ;  Corn  Law 
but  in  parliament  it  was  still  very  weak,  and  Mr.  Villiers  ^^2"^. 
found  his  annual  motion  supported  by  a  mere  handful  of  members.  No 
one  expected  any  immediate  change  in  the  fiscal  policy  of  the  country, 
for  though,  in  1842,  Peel  had  distinctly  declared  that  he  was  in  favour 
of  the  principle  of  '  buying  in  the  cheapest  market  and  selling  in  the 
dearest,'  he  had  at  the  same  time  declared  that,  in  his  opinion,  corn  and 
sugar  were  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  The  attitude  of  the  country 
towards  the  Corn  Laws  depended  largely  upon  the  harvest  of  the  year, 
and  during  the  first  years  of  Peel's  ministry  the  harvests  were  uniformly 
good,  and  the  question  of  the  admittance  of  foreign  corn  did  not  seem  to 
the  public  very  important.  However,  in  1845,  a  change  ciinie.  The 
harvest  was  worse  than  had  been  known  for  years.  In  England  this 
was  very  serious,  but  still  more  so  in  Ireland,  where  the  a  Bad 
vast  majority  of  the  population  lived  wholly  upon  potatoes  harvest. 
— the  cheapest  vegetable  food.  When  the  potato  crop  was  ruined  by 
the  continuous  rains,  the  Irish  peasants  had  nothing  to  fall  back  upon, 
and  famine  stared  them  in  the  face.  Confronted  with  such  a  disaster, 
Peel  decided  that  something  must  be  done,  and  proposed  to  the  cabinet 
to  declare  the  ports  free  by  an  order  in  council,  at  the  same  time  telling 
his  colleagues  that  if  the  ports  were  once  free  it  would  be  very  difficult 
to  close  them  again.  To  this  step,  however,  the  duke  of  Wellington  and 
Lord  Stanley  refused  to  agree,  and  the  proposal  was  consequently 
dropped. 


970  Victoria  1845 

Hitherto  the  Whigs  had  been  as  little  in  favour  of  free  trade  in  corn 
as  the  Tories.     Lord  Melbourne  had  declared  that  'of  all  the. maddest 
things  he   ever  heard  of  the  proposal  to  abolish  the  Corn 
Edinburgh      Laws  was  the  maddest'  ;  and  Lord  John  Russell,  though 
^^^"'  more  liberal  on   this   subject   than  Lord   Melbourne,  had 

never  gone  further  than  a  proposal  of  a  fixed  duty  of  eight  shillings  per 
quarter.  But  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  cabinet  would  not  open 
the  ports,  Lord  John  Russell  wrote  a  letter  from  Edinburgh,  known  as 
the  Edinburgh  Letter,  announcing  his  unqualified  conversion  to  the 
principle  of  free  trade  in  com,  and  urging  his  constituents  to  move  the 
government  in  the  same  direction  by  '  petition,  by  address,  by  remons- 
trance.' Between  them,  the  famine  and  the  Edinburgh  Letter  forced 
Peel's  hand,  and  he  at  once  recommended  the  cabinet  to  call  parliament 
together  with  a  view  to  the  speedy  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  To  this 
policy  the  Duke  of  Wellington  agreed  ;  but  as  Lord  Stanley  refused  to 
consent  to  it.  Peel  thought  it  would  be  difl5cult  to  carry  the  measure 
against  the  influence  that  Lord  Stanley  represented,  and  sent  in  his 
resignation.  Accordingly  the  queen  asked  Lord  John  Russell,  whose 
letter  had  made  him  the  leader  of  the  Whig  Free-traders,  to  fomi  a 
ministry  ;  to  this  Lord  John  Russell  agreed,  but  met  with  an  insuperable 
difiiculty  in  composing  his  cabinet,  for  Earl  Grey,  the  son  of  the  former 
prime  minister,  refused  to  take  office  if,  as  Russell  intended.  Lord 
Palmerston  was  to  be  foreign  secretary.  Grey  was  also  strongly  of 
opinion  that  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  ought  to  be  given  to  Mr.  Cobden  ;  and 
on  neither  point  would  Lord  John  Russell  give  way.  His  attempt, 
therefore,  to  form  a  ministry  failed,  and  Peel  was  accordingly  requested 
to  take  back  his  resignation.  This  he  did.  Lord  Stanley  alone  of  the 
cabinet  refused  to  help  him,  and  his  place  was  taken  by  Mr.  Gladstone. 
In  January  1846  parliament  met.  Peel  at  once  introduced  his 
Corn  Laws  measure,  and  eventually  carried  it  by  the  aid  of  his  own 
repealed.  personal  followers,  the  Whigs  and  the  Free-traders.  By 
the  act  so  passed,  the  duty  on  corn  was  to  be  reduced  rapidly  during  the 
next  three  years,  till  it  stood  at  a  registration  duty  of  one  shilling.  The 
effect  of  this  was  at  once  to  lower  the  i3rice  of  corn.  Had  this  occurred 
without  any  compensating  circumstances,  it  would  have  had  the  effect  of 
lowering  rents  in  proportion,  and  of  making  bankrupt  all  farmers  who 
held  their  lands  upon  leases.  Land  would  also  have  been  thrown  out  of 
cultivation  wholesale,  and  thousands  of  agricultural  labourers  deprived  of 
employment.  As  it  was,  the  result  was  not  at  the  time  so  disastrous  to 
agriculture  as  was  feared,  for  the  fall  in  the  price  of  corn  was  coincident 
with  a  rapid  increase  in  the  prosperity  of  our  manufacturing  industries. 


1846  Peel  971 

a  growth  of  the  town  population,  and  a  consequent  increase  in  the 
demand  for  meat,  milk,  and  straw,  which  could  not  then  be  obtained 
from  abroad.  It  was,  however,  certain  that  in  the  long  run  agriculture 
would  suffer,  as  soon  as  American  corn  began  to  compete  on  a  large 
scale  with  that  grown  in  the  United  Kingdom.  This  began  to  be  the 
case  between  1870  and  1880,  when  the  opening  up  of  the  prairie  lands 
and  the  development  of  the  American  railway  system  brought  immense 
quantities  of  American  com  into  the  market.  Prices  then  fell  so  rapidly 
that  wheat-growing  became  almost  unremunerative  ;  and  the  condition 
of  agriculture,  now  that  wheat  is  selling  at  20s.  a  quarter,  has  become 
one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  British  statesmanship. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  representatives  of  the  agricultural 
interest  would  readily  forgive  Peel  for  having  repealed  the  Corn  Laws, 
and  the  country  gentry   found  a  vigorous  champion  in  y 

Benjamin  Disraeli.  Mr.  Dismeli  was  not  himself  a  member 
of  the  landed  aristocracy.  His  father  was  a  literary  man  of  Jewish 
descent,  and  he  himself  had  made  an  early  reputation  by  some  brilliant 
novels.  Born  in  1805,  he  entered  parliament  in  1837  as  a  Tory,  and  up 
to  1846  had  not  met  with  much  success — indeed,  his  first  speech  was 
laughed  down.  But  when  Peel  announced  his  intention  of  repealing  the 
Corn  Laws,  he  stepped  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  country  gentle- 
men, and  immediately  took  a  leading  position  in  parliament.  Disraeli 
had  already  shown  himself  a  master  of  phrases.  He  it  was  Avho  described 
the  Tories  under  Peel  as  '  having  caught  the  Whigs  bathing,  and  stolen 
their  clothes.'  He  had  denounced  Peel's  government  as  an  '  organised 
hypocrisy,'  and  Peel  himself  as  a  man  of  '  sublime  mediocrity,'  and  he 
now  employed  all  his  genius  to  punish  Peel  for  what  the  Tories  regarded 
as  his  second  betrayal — the  passing  of  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act 
being  the  first.  Disraeli,  however,  was  not  at  first  strong  enough  to  be 
the  nominal  leader  of  the  Protectionists.  That  post  was  given  to  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  a  son  of  the  duke  of  Portland,  whose  position  and 
character  secured  him  respect,  and  who  had  considerable  skill  in  organ- 
ising his  followers  ;  but  after  Bentinck's  death  in  1848  Disraeli  became 
the  nominal  as  well  as  the  real  leader  of  his  party  in  the  Lower  House. 

Meanwhile,  the  fiiilure  of  the  potato  crop  had  reduced  Ireland  to  the 
most  terrible  condition.  The  reduction  in  the  price  of  com  could  do 
little  for  people  who  lived  upon  potatoes,  and  whose  crop  The  Irish 
had  failed.  The  peasants  were  dying  by  thousands,  and  all  Fa^^^ne. 
the  efforts  of  public  and  private  charity  seemed  inadequate  to  stem  the 
disaster.  In  this  state  of  affairs  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  there 
would  be  no  increase  of  crime  among  the  panic-stricken  people,  and  to 


972  Victoria  1846 

meet  this  Peel  brought  forward  an  Arms  Act.  This  was  naturally 
objected  to  by  the  Irish  members,  and  by  many  of  the  English  Liberals, 

Fall  of         and  the  Protectionists  saw  that  if  they  too  voted  against  it 

Peel.  pggj   would  be   defeated.      It  was  their  opportunity  for 

revenge,  and  they  took  it.  Peel  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  73,  and  at 
once  resigned  ofl&ce. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Lord  John  Russell,  who  made  Lord  Palmerston 
foreign  secretary.     Earl  Grey  now  consented  to   be  colonial  and  war 

Russell's     secretary  ;  the  earl  of  Clarendon  was  president  of  the  Board 

Ministry,  ^j  Trade,  and  Macaulay  was  paymaster  of  the  forces.  At 
home  the  chief  attention  of  the  new  government  was  given  to  Ireland, 
where  death  and  emigration  were  decimating  the  country.  To  relieve 
the  distress  the  sum  of  £10,0{)0,000  was  voted  by  parliament,  but  the 
amount  was  quite  inadequate.  Between  1846  and  1850  the  population 
diminished  by  nearly  two  millions.  To  cope  with  disorder  the  Russell 
ministry,  though  they  had  voted  against  Peel's  Arms  Act,  were  compelled 
to  bring  in  a  similar  Act  of  their  own.  This  they  passed  by  the  mag- 
nanimous aid  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  declared  that  *  the  best  reparation 
that  could  be  made  to  the  last  government  would  be  to  assist  the  present 
government  in  ptissing  this  law.' 

The  events  of  the  famine  had   brought   into  prominent   notice   the 

poverty  of  many  of  the  Irish  landlords,  who  with  the  best  will  in  the 

world  were  able  to  do  very  little  for  their  tenantry  at  such 

cumbered  a  crisis,  and  who  were  at  all  times  prevented  by  want  of 
capital  from  carrying  out  the  improvements  which  were 
needed  for  the  development  of  the  country.  Their  estates  being  as  a 
rule  strictly  entailed  and  heavily  mortgaged,  escape  from  their  position 
without  the  aid  of  Parliament  seemed  impossible.  Accordingly,  with  a 
view  both  of  aiding  the  existing  race  of  impecunious  landlords  to  pay  off 
their  liabilities  by  selling  their  lands,  and  to  introduce  a  class  of  land- 
lords with  more  enter j)rise  and  capital,  an  Encumbered  Estates  Court 
was  set  up  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  through  its  agency  a  large  number 
of  Irish  estates  passed  into  the  hands  of  Englishmen  and  Scotsmen,  who 
were  often  induced  to  purchase  by  being  told  that  the  rents  were  too 
low,  and  might  easily  be  raised. 

In  1847  a  further  step  was  made  in  limiting  the  hours  of  labour.     By 

Fielden's  Act  the  work  of  those  under  eighteen  was  limited  to  ten  hours 

a  day,  and  eight  on  Saturdays.     As  this  carried  with  it  a 

Factory        similar  limitation  on  the  work  of  adult  hands,  whose  work 

^^'  could  not  be  carried  on  without  that  of  young  persons  under 

eighteen,  it  practically  amounted  to  a  ten  hours'  day.      This  act  was 


1848  Peel— Russell  973 

opposed  by  Cobden  and  Bright,  and  what  had  come  to  be  called  the 
Manchester  School,  but  it  was  supported  by  the  Protectionists. 

The  year  1848  is  memorable  for  the  outbreak  on  the  continent  of  a 
series  of  revolutions.  These  began  in  France  in  February  by  the  overthrow 
of  Louis  Philippe,  who  took  refuge  in  this  country.  His  a  Year  of 
government  had  never  had  a  firm  hold  on  France  ;  at  the  first  Revolutions, 
breath  of  revolution  it  succumbed,  and  its  place  was  taken  by  a  republic. 
The  movement  then  spread  to  Gennany.  There  it  took  two  forms  :  the 
one  the  demand  of  the  people  of  individual  states  for  constitutional 
government ;  the  other,  a  desire  for  a  union  of  all  Germany  on  the  basis 
of  nationality.  The  former  of  these  had  some  success,  but  the  time  had 
not  come  for  the  latter,  and  Frederick  William  iv.  of  Prussia  declined  the 
imperial  crown  when  offered  to  him,  on  the  ground  that  the  states  were 
not  unanimous.  In  Austria,  on  the  other  hand,  the  national  movement 
took  the  fonn  of  a  rising  of  the  Hungarians,  under  Louis  Kossuth, 
against  Austrian  rule.  The  Hungarians  fought  admirably,  and  enlisted 
the  sympathy  of  Europe  ;  but  in  1849  the  Russians  intervened,  and  the 
rebellion  was  crushed  out.  Kossuth  and  the  other  leaders  escaped  into 
Turkey,  and  thence  made  their  way,  by  way  of  England,  to  America. 
In  Italy  Mazzini,  who  had  long  been  advocating  an  Italian  republic,  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  Austrians,  organised  a  popular  rising,  and  Charles 
Albert,  king  of  Sardinia,  led  an  army  against  the  Austrians  in  Lombardy. 
Eventually  both  were  defeated.  Radetzky  beat  the  Sardinians  at  the 
battle  of  Novara,  and  though  Mazzini  succeeded  for  a  time  in  establishing 
a  republic  at  Rome,  it  was  put  down  by  French  republican  troops,  and 
the  rule  of  the  pope  restored. 

In  England  much  sympathy  was  aroused  by  these  events,  but  she  had 
her  own   share  of  difficulties.     These  took  the  form  of  a  rebellion  in 
Ireland,  and  a  Chartist  demonstration  in  London.     After 
O'Connell  lost  influence  in  1843,  the  leadership  of  the  Repeal    *  United 
agitation — which  in  their  hands  was  simply  a  movement  for     "^  '"^"* 
Irish  independence — fell  into  the  hands  of  a  number  of  enthusiastic  young 
men,  of  whom  John  Mitchel,  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  and  Charles 
Gavan  Dufiy,  and  Smith  O'Brien,  an  older  man  and  member  of  parlia- 
ment, were  the  most  remarkable.     Mitchel  was  the  editor  of  the  United 
Irishman^  a  paper  he  had  founded  in  consequence  of  the  moderation  of 
O'Connell's  organ,  the  Nation^  and  in  it  he  deliberately  attempted  to 
goad  his  countrymen  into  insurrection,  and   explained  week  by  week 
the  best  methods  of  attacking  the  British  soldiery.     To  meet  him  the 
government  passed  an  act  by  which  \^Titing  and  speaking  with  a  view 
to   excite  sedition   was   constituted    a  crime  under  the   new  name  of 


974  Victoria  1848 

treason  felony.  Under  this  act  Mitchel  was  convicted  and  transported. 
He  expected  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  rescue  him ;  but  no 
such  attempt  was  made.  Shortly  afterwards,  Smith  O'Brien  and 
Meagher,  who  had  also  been  tried  but  acquitted,  drifted  into,  rather  than 
deliberately  engaged  in,  an  insurrectionary  movement.  This  outbreak 
was  never  serious — an  attack  upon  some  police  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
a  cottage  at  Ballingarry,  was  its  greatest  achievement ;  and  their  follow- 
ing having  broken  up,  O'Brien  and  Meagher  were  quietly  arrested. 
They  were  condemned  to  death,  but  the  sentence  was  commuted  into 
transportation.  O'Brien  was  ultimately  allowed  to  return  to  Ireland, 
and  Meagher  escaped  from  Tasmania  and  made  his  way  to  the  United 
States.  The  insurrection  showed  the  unpractical  nature  of  the  Young 
Ireland  movement,  and  for  some  time  the  spirit  of  insurrection  seemed 
to  have  died  out  in  Ireland. 

In  England  the  Chartist  movement  was  even  less  serious.    Encouraged 
by  the  success  of  the  Parisians  in  effecting  an  overthrow  of  the  govern- 
Xhe  ment,  and  quite  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  whereas  Louis 

Chartists.  Philippe's  government  was  extremely  weak,  the  English 
ministry  was  supported  in  maintaining  law  and  order  by  the  vast  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  country,  they  determined  to  show  their  strength 
by  holding  a  great  meeting  on  April  10,  1848,  and  marching  in  proces- 
sion to  Westminster,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  a  monster  petition 
to  parliament.  A  quarter  of  a  million  persons  were,  it  was  announced, 
to  take  part  in  the  procession,  and  the  petition  was  said  to  be  signed  by 
more  than  five  and  a  half  million  persons.  The  anticipation  of  the  great 
day  roused  much  apprehension  among  the  middle  classes.  The  govern- 
ment, however,  was  thoroughly  prepared.  As  commander-in-chief,  the 
duke  of  Wellington  had  garrisoned  the  Post-office,  the  Tower,  the  Bank, 
and  other  important  buildings.  Soldiers  under  cover,  but  perfectly 
ready  for  action,  held  the  approaches  to  the  bridges,  and  no  less  than 
170,000  special  constables  had  been  sworn  in.  In  face  of  such  prepara- 
tions, and  the  certainty  that  any  rash  movement  would  lead  to  a  terrible 
and  useless  loss  of  life,  Feargus  O'Connor  advised  the  Chartists  not  to 
march  in  procession.  As  in  the  case  of  O'Connell,  this  advice  was  the 
deathblow  of  the  movement.  Not  more  than  twenty-five  thousand 
persons,  spectators  included,  attended  the  meeting,  and  no  procession 
was  formed.  The  great  petition  when  presented  overwhelmed  its  authors 
with  ridicule.  It  was  found  that  there  were  less  than  two  million 
signatures  all  told ;  that  sheets  and  sheets  of  names  had  been  written 
by  the  same  person,  and  among  the  signatures  iwere  such  obvious  forgeries 
as  those  of  the  queen.  Prince  Albert,  the  duke  of  Wellington  and  Sir 


1851  Russell  975 

Kobert  Peel,  to  say  nothing  of  Punch,  Davy  Jones,  *  Cheeks  the  Marine,' 
and  other  fictitious  characters.  Kidicule,  hoAvever,  would  not  have  proved 
the  end  of  Chartism,  had  not  other  causes  operated  as  well,  causes  of 
The  legislation  that  followed  the  Reform  Bill  was  beginning  l^a^ance  of 
to  tell.  The  strong  feeling  excited  by  the  new  Poor  Law  Chartism, 
was  dying  out.  Projects  of  parliamentary  reform  were  being  taken  up  by 
responsible  statesmen,and  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws  had  been  followed 
by  a  great  increase  in  the  material  prosperity  of  the  artisan  classes. 

In  1849  the  system  of  local  self-government,  which  had  been  intro- 
duced in  Canada  in  1840,  was  extended  to  the  Australian  colonies. 
The  method  was  based  on  a  division  of  political  power 
between  the  mother-country  and  the  colony.  All  strictly  Self-Govern- 
local  matters,  with  control  over  customs  duties,  the  militia,  "^^"  ' 
and  the  land  were  handed  over  to  the  colony  ;  foreign  affairs  were 
reserved  to  the  mother-country,  which,  at  her  exclusive  cost,  provided  a 
navy  and  standing  army  for  the  whole  empire,  the  colonies  not  being 
bound  to  make  any  contribution  for  these  purposes.  Within  the  self- 
governing  colony  itself,  the  system  of  govermnent  employed  was  imitated 
from'  that  of  the  mother-country.  The  governor,  appointed  by  the 
queen,  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  constitutional  sovereign,  and 
acted  by  the  advice  of  his  ministers,  who  were  responsible  to  an  elected 
chamber,  consisting  of  two  houses.  Like  the  sovereign,  he  had  the  right 
to  refuse  his  consent  to  bills  passed  by  the  legislature.  In  practice, 
therefore,  each  colony  managed  its  own  affairs,  subject  to  the  rarely 
exercised  authority  of  the  mother-country.  It  was  anomalous  for  two 
reasons  :  first,  because  the  colonists  had  no  direct  voice  in  the  manage- 
ment of  foreign  affairs,  and  peace  and  war,  in  which  their  interests  were 
bound  up  with  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  mother-country  ;  the 
second,  because  the  colonies,  though  containing  a  steadily  increasing 
proportion  of  the  wealth  and  population  of  the  whole  empire,  contributed 
little  or  nothing  to  its  general  military  and  naval  defence. 

The  same  year  parliament  repealed  the  Navigation  Laws,  so  that  for 
the  future  no  restriction  was  made  with  respect  either  to 

Navigation 

the  ships  or  the  seamen   by  whom  the   commerce  of  the    Laws 
British  empire  was  carried  on.     (See  page  928.)  repea  e 

The  idea  of  inaugurating  a  new  era   of  history,  in  which  the  free 
exchange  of  products  should  take  the  place  of  protection,  and  friendly 
competition  in  arts  and  manufactures  should  be  substituted 
for  political   rivalry,   which   was   regarded  by  the   Free-    Exhibition 
traders  as  the  real  object  of  the   repeal  of  the  Corn  and   °  ^  ^^* 
Navigation    Laws,    and    other    Free-trade    legislation,    found    further 


976  Victoria  1848 

expression  in  1851  in  the  opening  of  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  inter- 
national exhibitions.  This  was  held  in  Hyde  Park,  under  the  presidency 
of  Prince  Albert,  in  a  building  of  glass  and  iron  designed  by  Joseph 
Paxton  and  now  removed  to  Sydenham.  In  it  all  the  civilised 
nations  of  the  world  displayed  their  various  productions,  and  it  was 
attended  by  a  vast  concourse  of  people.  Its  effects  were  great,  but  not 
altogether  what  were  expected.  So  far  from  introducing  an  era  of 
peace,  its  date  may  almost  be  taken  as  that  of  the  close  of  the  long  peace 
which  followed  the  revolutionary  wars.  From  a  cosmopolitan  point  of 
view,  it  undoubtedly  supplied  a  great  stimulus  to  progress  by  making  the 
more  backward  nations  acquainted  with  the  methods  in  use  among  their 
more  advanced  neighbours,  especially  by  showing  the  continental  nations 
how  British  manufacturers  carried  on  their  business.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  tended  to  stimulate  foreign  competition  in  markets  where  there  had 
hitherto  been  a  practical  monopoly  for  British  goods.  In  1851,  however, 
the  superiority  of  British  manu^ictures  was  so  marked  that  foreign 
competition  was  hardly  thought  of  as  a  serious  matter ;  and,  moreover,  it 
was  an  article  of  unquestioned  belief  with  the  Free-traders  that  a  very 
few  years  would  witness  the '^adoption  of  their  principles  by  the  whole 
civilised  world — an  expectation  which  has  turned  out  to  be  mistaken. 

Between  1848  and  1852  three  prominent  leaders — Bentinck,  Peel,  and 
Wellington — were  removed  by  death.  In  1848  died  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  the  honest  but  not  very  able  leader  of  the  Protectionists  in 
Death  of  the  Housc  of  Commons  ;  and  as  Lord  Stanley  had  sat  in 
Benti^ck.'^^^  the  House  of  Lords  since  1844,  Disraeli  was  left  to  the 
unquestioned  leadership  of  his  party  in  the  Lower  House. 
Duke  of  *  ^  0^  ^^^s  importance  politically  was  the  death  of  the  duke 
Wellington,  of  Wellington,  who  passed  quietly  away  in  September 
1852.  His  political  life  had  not  been  so  successful  as  his  military, 
and  gained  him  much  unpopularity.  His  chief  claim  to  political 
insight  is  his  clear  apprehension  of  the  fact  that,  the  centre  of  gravity 
of  political  power  having  definitely  shifted  to  the  House  [of  Commons, 
the  House  of  Lords  must  be  prepared  to  give  way  whenever  its  views 
were  in  conflict  with  the  clearly  expressed  wishes  of  the  nation.  Sir 
Death  of  Robert  Peel  died  in  1850.  His  death  left  a  considerable 
^^^''  blank  in  British  politics.     For  some  time  it  had  seemed  as 

if  he  would  again  take  the  leading  place.  Lord  John  Russell's  ministry 
had  not  proved  very  popular  ;  and  the  Protectionists  alone  were  too  weak 
and  too  uncertain  of  their  policy  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  Peel's  strength  lay,  not  only  in  his  own  character 
and  experience,  but  in  the  number  of  able  men  who  had  attached  them- 


1852  Russell  977 

selves  to  him,  and  were  known  as  the  *  Peelites.'  Among  these  \^ere  Lord 
Aberdeen,  Sir  James  Graham,  Sidney  Herbert,  Edward  Cardwell,  and 
William  Ewart  Gladstone ;  and  the  whole  group  numbered  some  forty 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Such  a  body,  if  it  acted  together, 
held  the  key  of  the  situation  ;  and  its  individual  members  commanded 
attention  whatever  subject  was  under  discussion.  Acute  observers  were 
of  opinion  that  one  party  or  the  other  must  make  terms  with  so  impor- 
tant a  body  ;  and  Macaulay,  while  bitterly  lamenting  the  decay  of  Whig 
principles,  declared  that  power  would  go  '  to  those  nasty  Peelites.'  Such 
was  the  state  of  affairs  when  Peel,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two,  was  killed  by 
a  fall  from  his  horse  in  July  1850.  Though  deprived  of  their  leader,  his 
followers  still  held  together. 

The  deaths  of  Peel,  Bentinck,  and  Wellington  mark  the  close  of  a 
distinct  period  in  British  history — that  in  which  the  direct  results  of 
the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  were  worked  out ;  and  from  1850  parliament 
a  new  period,  with  new  objects  of  interest,  sets  in.  In  ^^  Reform, 
domestic  politics  the  central  fact  which  gives  unity  to  the  next  twenty 
years  is  the  rise  of  a  new  reform  movement.  The  settlement  of  1832 
was  eminently  artificial.  The  line  drawn  both  in  counties  and  towns 
between  voters  and  non- voters  was  purely  arbitrary  ;  and  the  spread  of 
education  and  of  political  ideas  caused  it  to  be  called  in  question.  Such 
a  revival  of  the  reform  movement  was  opposed  to  the  ideas  of  statesmen 
like  Lord  John  Russell,  who  had  regarded  the  franchise  question  as 
settled  for  their  time ;  and  for  some  years  it  had  been  left  to  the 
Chartists.  In  1850  the  matter  was  broached  in  parliament  by  a  regular 
member  of  the  Whig  party.  This  was  Locke-King,  who  brought  forward 
a  motion  for  assimilating  the  county  and  borough  franchises,  and  carried 
it  against  the  government  by  one  hundred  and  two  to  fifty-two.  On 
this  Lord  John  Russell  resigned.  Lord  Derby  was  then  asked  to  form 
a  ministry,  but  as  he  felt  that  his  party  in  the  Commons  was  not  strong 
enough  to  justify  his  taking  office  in  opposition  both  to  the  Whigs  and 
to  the  Peelites,  he  declared  himself  unable  to  do  so  ;  and  Lord  John 
Russell  was  persuaded  to  retain  office.  His  position,  however,  was  very 
weak  ;  and  in  1852  he  was  again  forced  to  resign. 

This  arose  from  the  action  of  Lord  Palmerston.  Lord  Palmerston 
had  been  secretary  for  foreign  affairs  under  Lords  Grey  and  Melbourne, 
and  held  the  same  post  under  Lord  John  Russell.  In  Lo^d 
spite,  however,  of  his  long  tenure  of  office,  and  his  thorough  Palmerston. 
acquaintance  with  foreign  affairs,  he  had  nevertheless  been  a  thorn  in 
the  side  of  many  Whig  politicians.  In  the  first  place,  he  had  a 
somewhat  jaunty  and  supercilious  manner  of  asserting  the  rights  of 

3  Q 


978  Victoria  1852 

Englishmen  without  much  regard  for  the  feelings  of  foreigners,  which 
was  most  distasteful  to  men  like  Cobden  and  Bright,  and  also  to 
Mr,  Gladstone,  who  always  tended  to  regard  all  questions  from  the 
cosmopolitan  rather  than  from  the  British  point  of  view.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston  also  had  a  great  belief  in  himself,  and  annoyed  his  colleagues  by 
doing  what  he  called  '  making  a  stroke  off  his  own  bat,'  and  committing 
them  to  a  line  of  conduct  of  which  they  did  not  wholly  approve.  The 
same  habit  also  gained  him  disapproval  at  court,  where  both  the  queen 
and  Prince  Albert  were  often  displeased  to  find  that  the  foreign 
minister  had  embarked  on  a  policy  which  they  had  not  had  time  to 
consider  and  approve  of,  but  from  which  it  was  now  too  late  to  draw 
back.  All  these  things  caused  friction  ;  but  Lord  Palmerston,  who  had 
a  consummate  knowledge  of  the  House  of  Commons  and  of  his  country- 
men, went  his  own  way  without  much  regard  either  for  his  colleagues 
or  for  the  court. 

The  first  '  full  dress '  attack  on  Lord  Palmerston's  policy  arose  out  of 

the  once  famous  Don  Pacifico  case  in  1849.     Don  Pacifico  was  a  man  of 

dubious  nationality,  but  undoubtedly  a  British   subject, 

Pacifico  whose  goods  had  been  destroyed  in  a  riot  at  Athens.  His 
case  was  energetically  taken  up  by  Lord  Palmerston ; 
gunboats  were  sent  to  Athens,  and  reparation  extracted  from  the  Greek 
government  by  a  threat  of  bombardment.  So  much  dissatisfaction  was 
felt  at  this  high-handed  conduct  that,  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis,  a 
friendly  motion  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Roebuck,  approving  of  Lord 
Palmerston's  action.  It  was  opposed  by  Cobden,  Bright,  Gladstone,  and 
Disraeli ;  but  Palmerston  defended  himself  in  a  clever  speech,  and 
declared  that  it  was  his  intention  to  make  the  rights  of  the  meanest 
British  subject  as  safe  as  that  of  the  Roman,  whose  proud  boast — '  Civis 
Romanus  sum ' — announced  him  to  be  the  privileged  citizen  of  the  ancient 
world.  Palmerston  knew  his  audience  well,  .and  struck  exactly  the 
note  which  he  was  sure  would  appeal  to  his  hearers  ;  and  the  result  was 
that  Roebuck's  vote  was  carried  by  three  hundred  and  ten  to  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four.  His  next  difficulty  arose  with  the  queen  in  1860. 
So  annoyed  was  she  with  Palmerston's  method  of  conducting  business 
that  she  sent  him  a  letter,  in  which  she  laid  it  down  as  a  rule  (1) 
that  Lord  Palmerston  was  to  state  distinctly  what  he  proposed  to  do, 
so  that  the  queen  might  know  as  distinctly  to  what  she  was  giving  her 
sanction  ;  (2)  that  the  measure  was  not  to  be  afterwards  arbitrarily  altered 
or  modified  by  the  minister  ;  (3)  that  the  drafts  of  correspondence  were  to 
be  sent  to  her  in  plenty  of  time  for  her  to  make  herself  acquainted  with 
their  contents. 


1852  Bussell  979 

Palmerston,  of  course,  submitted  ;  but  in  1852  his  impulsiveness 
produced  fresh  trouble.  In  1848  the  French  had  elected  as  president  of 
their  republic  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  nephew  of  The  French 
the  great  Napoleon,  and  a  personal  friend  of  Lord  Palmer-  *^°"P  d'etat, 
ston,  who  had  seen  much  of  him  during  his  exile  in  England.  In 
1851  Louis  Napoleon  formed  a  plan  for  making  himself  the  real  ruler 
of  France.  By  a  coup  dietat  carried  out  on  the  2nd  of  December  of  that 
year  he  seized  and  imprisoned  the  leading  republican  deputies,  carried 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  his  opponents  by  shooting  down  large  numbers 
of  persons — mostly  unresisting — in  the  streets  of  Paris;  and  practically 
abolished  the  republic  in  favour  of  a  thinly-veiled  despotism,  to  which 
the  keystone  was  given  in  1852  by  his  assumption  of  the  title  of 
emperor.  Directly  after  the  massacre  of  Paris,  when  Lord  John  Russell 
and  his  colleagues  were  most  anxious  to  do  nothing  that  could  be 
regarded  as  showing  approval  of  what  had  been  done,  Lord  Palmerston 
was  indiscreet  enough  to  express  to  the  French  ambassador  his  private 
impression  that  Bonaparte  could  not  have  acted  otherwise.  This 
expression  of  opinion,  though  quite  unofficial,  was  of  course  transmitted 
to  Paris  and  published  to  the  world.  Ministers,  ^  naturally,  were 
indignant  with  Palmerston  ;  and,  when  his  resignation  was  demanded, 
he  had  no  course  but  to  leave  office.  He  was  not,  however,  by  any 
means  abashed,  and  believed  he  would  still  get  his  countrymen  to 
reinstate  him  in  power. 

Lord  Palmerston  had  not  to  wait  long  for  an  opportunity  of  having 
what  he  called  his  '  tit-for-tat  with  John  Russell.'  The  revival  of  the 
French  empire  under  a  member  of  the  Bonaparte  family  The  Militia 
had  given  rise  to  very  considerable  anxiety  on  this  side  ^**^' 
of  the  Channel.  It  was  believed  that — partly  to  divert  the  thoughts  of 
his  subjects  from  home  affairs,  partly  to  flatter  the  French  craving  for 
military  glory,  which  had  been  somewhat  tarnished  by  the  events  of 
1814  and  1815 — the  emperor  would  be  compelled  to  embark  upon  a  war- 
like policy.  If  he  did  so,  it  was  thought  that  Great  Britain,  Russia,  and 
Prussia  would  be  the  objects  of  his  attack  ;  and,  as  a  mere  matter  of 
precaution,  the  British  government  decided  to  reorganise  the  militia, 
which  had  not  been  embodied  for  nearly  forty  years.  For  this  purpose 
Lord  John  Russell  introduced  a  bill,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  creation 
of  a  local  militia.  Here  Palmerston  saw  his  chance.  He  proposed  to 
substitute  the  word  'national'  for  *  local,'  and  carried  his  motion  by 
one  hundred  and  thirty-six  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  There  was 
not  much  more  than  a  verbal  difl'erence  between  Palmerston  and  Russell, 
as  the  latter  explained  that,  in  case  of  war,  the  militia  would  certainly 


980  Victoria  1852 

be  available  for  national  purposes  ;  but  the  government  chose  to  regard 
Palmerston's  motion  as  practically  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence,  and  in 
February  1852  the  Whig  ministers  resigned. 

Though  Lord  Palmerston  had  defeated  the  government,  he  was  not  in 

a  position  to  take  office.      Accordingly  the  queen  sent  for  Lord  Derby, 

^  ,    who  agreed  to  form  a  ministry  out  of  the  members  of  the 

Lord  Derby's  °.      .  '' 

First  Protectionist  party.     He  himself  became  prime  minister  ; 

Ministry.  j^ord  Malmesbury  was  foreign  secretary,  with  Lord  Stanley, 
the  premier's  eldest  son,  as  under-secretary  ;  Mr.  Disraeli  held  the  post 
of  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  with  the  leadership  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  None  of  the  other  members  of  the  government  were  men  of 
mark.  After  a  Militia  Act  had  been  passed,  on  the  lines  of  that  already 
proposed,  parliament  was  dissolved.  The  election  showed  a  considerable 
growth  of  Conservative  opinion.  In  the  new  House  of  Commons  the 
Conservatives  numbered  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine,  the  Liberals 
three  hundred  and  fifteen,  and  the  Peelites  forty.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  question  naturally  arose  whether  the  Conservative  party  was 
prepared  to  adhere  to  the  Protectionist  views  which  had  been  preached 
by  Lord  Derby  and  Mr.  Disraeli.  To  test  the  question,  several 
resolutions  committing  the  House  to  the  principle  of  Free-trade  were 
brought  forward ;  and  eventually  one  of  these,  devised  by  Lord 
Palmerston  was  passed  by  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight  to  fifty-three. 
Henceforth  Conservatives  and  Liberals  alike  professed  to  accept  Peel's 
policy  as  the  policy  of  the  nation,  and  from  that  time  to  this  a  return  to 
the  policy  of  Protection  has  been  regarded  by  both  parties  as  being  out- 
side the  range  of  practical  politics.  As  the  resolution  of  the  House  in 
favour  of  Free-trade  made  any  direct  return  to  Protection  impossible, 
the  government,  in  framing  the  budget,  were  in  great  difficulty  as  to 
Disraeli's  ^ow  anything  could  be  done  for  the  benefit  of  the  agri- 
Budget,  cultural  interest,  whose  wrongs  had  been  the  chief  theme 
of  Conservative  orators  for  the  last  six  years.  Mr.  Disraeli,  however, 
with  great  cleverness,  devised  an  ingenious  scheme  by  which,  while 
adhering  in  the  letter  to  Free- trade  principles,  he  contrived  so  to 
rearrange  taxation  as  to  give  an  advantage  to  the  fanners  at  the  expense 
of  the  dwellers  in  towns.  The  moment  the  scheme  was  understood  it 
provoked  bitter  hostility.  The  leader  of  this  was  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
then  entered  upon  a  course  of  personal  antagonism  to  Mr.  Disraeli  that 
ended  only  with  the  life  of  the  latter.  Mr.  Disraeli  fought  hard  in 
defence  of  his  scheme,  and  spared  neither  sarcasm  nor  innuendo  in  his 
attacks  upon  his  opponents — declaring,  among  other  things,  that  he  was 
the  victim  of  the  hostility  of  a  coalition,  and  that  '  England  does  not 


1853  Derhj — A  berdeen  981 

love  coalitions.'      Nevertheless,  he  was  defeated  by  three  hundred  and 
five  votes  to  two  hundred  and  eighty-six,  and  Lord  Derby  at  once  resigned. 

A  coalition  ministry  was  then  formed,  consisting  of  Whigs  and 
Peelites.  Lord  Aberdeen,  a  Peelite,  who  had  been  foreign  secretary 
under  Peel,  became  prime  minister,  bringing  with  him 
Mr.  Gladstone,  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  Newcastle,  Aberdeen's 
the  son  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  old  patron,  colonial  secretary  ;  ^"*^  ^^' 
Sidney  Herbert,  secretary  at  war  ;  and  Sir  James  Graham,  first  lord  of 
the  admiralty.  Of  the  Whigs,  Lord  John  Russell  became  foreign  secre- 
tary ;  Palmerston,  home  secretary  ;  and  places  were  found  for  Lord 
Granville  and  the  duke  of  Argyll.  There  was  some  difficulty  as  to 
Lord  Palmerston's  position,  as  neither  the  Whigs  nor  the  Peelites  liked 
his  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  ;  but  he  good-naturedly  settled  the  matter 
himself  by  asking  for  the  Home  Office,  remarking  that  '  it  was  a  good 
thing  for  a  man  to  learn  something  about  his  fellow-countrymen.'  As 
he  had  so  fiercely  criticised  Disraeli's  budget,  everyone  was  interested  to 
see  what  Gladstone  himself  would  produce.  When  he  formulated  his 
proposals  it  was  found  that  his  main  proposal  was  a  farther  step  in  the 
direction  of  free  imports.  He  abolished  the  duty  on  soap,  and  reduced  it 
on  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  other  articles.  To  eflect  this  he  kept 
the  income  tax  at  7d.  in  the  £l,  but  proposed,  as  the  new  system  of 
taxation  became  more  productive,  to  reduce  it  by  degrees,  so  that  it 
would  disappear  in  1860.  Incidentally,  he  pointed  out  the  advantage 
of  the  income  tax  as  a  war  t;ix.  Though  there  was  nothing  new  in  these 
principles,  which  were  those  of  Pitt,  Huskisson,  and  Peel,  Gladstone,  in 
his  budget,  made  a  great  sensiition  by  his  marvellous  power  of  throwing 
the  glamour  of  rhetoric  over  what  had  hitherto  been  a  dry  statement  of 
accounts,  and  from  this  time  forward  he  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being 
a  financier  of  the  highest  capacity. 

Though  Mr.  Gladstone  had  mentioned  the  value  of  the  income  tax  in 
time  of  war,  his  whole  scheme  of  finance  was  based  upon  the  continuance 
of  |3eace,  and  it  was  a  bitter  satire  on  his  forecast  of  events   ^^ 

The 

that  at  the  moment  he  made  it,  he  and  his  colleagues  were  Eastern 
engaged  in  drifting  into  war  with  Russia.  In  dealing  with  ^"^^  '°"* 
the  Russian  war,  as  in  many  other  cases,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  the  essential  causes  of  the  war  and  the  special  circumstances 
which  gave  rise  to  it.  The  real  cause  of  the  war  was  the  determination 
of  the  western  powers  not  to  allow  Russia  to  acquire  such  an  influence 
at  Constantinople  as  would  virtually  amount  to  the  destruction  of 
Turkey  as  an  independent  power  ;  the  special  causes  were  a  dispute 
about   the   claims   of  the   priests   of  the   Latin  and   Greek  Churches 


982  Victoria  1863 

respectively  to  a  special  interest  in  the  holy  places  at  Jerusalem  :  such  as 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ;  and  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
interpretation  of  some  clauses  in  the  Treaty  of  Kutchuck-Kainardji. 
The  quarrel  between  the  priests  was  trivial  in  itself,  but  acquired  im- 
portance from  the  fact  that  the  Emperor  of  the  French  regarded  himself 
as  being  the  special  protector  of  the  interests  of  the  Latin  priests,  and  the 
Czar  of  Russia  of  those  of  the  Greeks.  The  difficulty  about  the  treaty 
was  of  much  deeper  importance.  In  this  treaty,  which  had  been  made 
so  far  back  as  1774,  the  Turks  had  promised  the  Russians  'to  protect 
constantly  the  Christian  religion  and  its  churches.'  On  this  the  Czar 
claimed  to  be  regarded  as  the  protector  of  the  Christian  population 
of  Turkey,  and  to  hold  the  Sultan  responsible  for  his  conduct  to  his 
Christian  subjects — a  view  which  has  received  the  sanction  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. On  the  other  hand,  the  general  opinion  of  Europe  was  opposed 
to  such  a  claim.  For  it  would  mean  that  fourteen  millions  of  Greeks — 
that  is,  of  Greek  Christians — would  henceforward  regard  the  Czar  as 
their  supreme  protector,  and  their  allegiance  to  the  Porte  would  be  little 
more  than  nominal.  The  practical  significance  of  Russia's  claim  lay  in 
the  fact  that  the  Czar  Nicholas  regarded  the  Turkish  empire  as  on  the 
verge  of  dissolution,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of  it  as  '  the  sick 
man.'  It  seemed,  therefore,  to  most  statesmen  that  the  pushing  forward 
of  Russia's  claim  to  the  protectorate  was  only  a  step  towards  claiming 
the  lion's  share  in  the  Turkish  empire  whenever  its  dissolution  came 
about. 

The  matter  became  serious  in  1852,  and  for  two  years  the  diplomatists 

of  Europe   battled  against  one  another.     The  interests  of  the  several 

_  states  were  various.     Great  Britain  regarded  herself  as  dis- 

Progress  ... 

of  Negotia-  tinctly  interested  in  preserving  the  independence  of  Turkey. 
The  Emperor  of  the  French  cared  little  about  the  matter  in 
hand  ;  but  was  anxious  to  appear  as  the  ally  of  Great  Britain,  and  gladly 
welcomed  an  opportunity  of  fixing  himself  more  firmly  on  the  throne  by 
a  popular  war.  Austria,  which  was  more  directly  interested  than  any 
other  power  in  keeping  the  Russians  from  annexing  Turkish  terri- 
tory, was  ready  enough  to  see  Great  Britain  and  France  fight  her 
battles  if  they  could.  The  key  of  the  situation  was  really  held  by 
the  British  ministers,  and  if  they  had  known  their  own  minds,  and 
could  have  made  the  Czar  believe  that  they  meant  what  they  said, 
war  would  probably  have  been  avoided  ;  for  the  Czar  certainly  did 
not  contemplate  pushing  his  claims  at  the  risk  of  war.  As  it  was, 
there  was  no  harmony  in  the  cabinet.  Lord  Aberdeen  believed  war 
impossible,  and  was  friendly  to  the  Czar  ;  Mr.  Gladstone  agreed  with 


1854  Aberdeen  983 

the  Russians  in  their  interpretation  of  the  treaty,  and  also  disliked  a 
war  which  would  upset  all  his  financial  arrangements ;  while  Lord 
Palmerston  believed  in  energetic  measures,  and  was  anxious  to  commit 
his  colleagues  as  far  as  he  could.  The  result  was  that  the  opinions  of 
the  ministers  were  hopelessly  divided.  No  uniform  line  of  policy  was 
adopted  and  adhered  to,  and  before  the  country  realised  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  war  had  become  inevitable.  In  July  1853  the  Russians 
occupied  the  Danubian  principalities  as  a  material  guarantee  for  the 
recognition  of  their  protectorate.  In  October  Turkey  declared  w<ir.  In 
November  the  destruction  by  the  Russians  of  the  Turkish  fleet  at  Sinope 
gave  them  the  command  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  power  of  attacking 
Constantinople.  In  December  the  British  and  French  fleets  entered  the 
Black  Sea ;  and  in  March  1854,  without  waiting  for  Austria  to  join 
them,  Great  Britain  and  France  declared  war  against  Russia. 

Before  the  British  and  French  troops  could  arrive  on  the  Danube,  the 
Turks  had,  single-handed,  checked  the  Russian  advance.  It  was  there- 
fore determined  to  take  advantage  of  the  unquestioned 
superiority  of  the  British  and  French  fleets  to  attack  the  Operations 
naval  arsenals  of  Russia.  For  this  purpose  two  expeditions 
were  organised,  one  under  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Napier  against  Cronstadt 
— the  Portsmouth  of  the  Baltic  ;  and  another  against  Sebastopol,  in  the 
Crimea,  which  played  a  similar  part  in  the  Black  Sea.  The  latter  was 
placed  under  Lord  Raglan,  who,  as  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset,  had  been  mili- 
tary secretary  to  Wellington,  and  had  lost  an  arm  at  Waterloo.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  tact,  and  well  fitted  to  work  in  harmony  with  a  foreign 
force,  but  not  of  enough  force  or  ability  for  his  post.  The  former  efi'ected 
nothing,  as  the  fortificiitions  proved  far  too  strong  for  the  ships,  but  the 
expedition  to  the  Crimea  proved  to  be  of  great  importance.  In 
undertaking  it  the  British  government  had  no  idea  of  its  difficulty.  As 
the  allied  fleet  dominated  the  Black  Sea,  it  was  thought  an  easy  matter 
to  transport  an  expeditionary  force  to  the  Crimea,  destroy  Sebastopol, 
and  return  before  the  inclement  weather  of  a  southern  Russian  winter 
began.  This  would  have  been  the  case  had  the  expedition  started  in 
June,  when  Lord  Palmerston  first  proposed  it,  for  Sebastopol  was  then 
practically  unfortified,  and  there  were  not  more  than  40,000  troops  in  the 
Crimea ;  but  it  was  a  very  diff'erent  matter  in  September,  when  the 
Russian  retreat  from  the  Danube  had  enabled  the  Czar  to  fill  the  Crimea 
with  troops.  Nevertheless,  late  as  it  was,  orders  were  sent  to  Lord 
Raglan  and  Marshal  St.  Arnaud,  the  commanders  of  the  British  and 
French  troops  in  Turkey,  to  embark  for  the  Crimea. 

Accordingly,  25,000  British  and  35,000  French  were  landed  in  the 


984 


Fidoria 


1854 


Crimea  at  Eupatoria,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  river  Alma,  and  some 
twenty  miles  from  Sebastopol.  They  found  the  Russians,  to  the  num- 
Battie  of  ber  of  45,000  men,  drawn  up  on  a  series  of  heights  behind 
the  Alma.  ^^^  j,^^gj.  ^i^^^  jjj  ^  position  SO  strong  as  to  be  con- 
sidered practically  impregnable.  On  September  20  the  allies  attacked 
the  Russians,  the  French  taking  the  right,  the  English  the  left  of  the 
advance.  The  battle  showed  little  skill  on  either  side.  There  was  no 
manoeuvring  or  scientific  arrangement  of  troops  ;  but  both  men  and 
officers  advanced  straight  ahead  with  bull-dog  courage,  and  at  the  expense 
of  great  loss  of  life  carried  the  heights.  Had  the  allies  pushed  boldly  on 
in  pursuit,  it  is  probable  that  they  might  have  carried  Sebastopol  with 
a  rush,  as  it  was  quite  unprepared  for  a  sudden  assault.     For  reasons. 


THE   OPERATIONS   IN   THE   EAST,   1854-1856 

however,  not  easy  to  fathom,  dilatoriness  prevailed,  and  the  Russians 
were  not  only  allowed  to  retreat  unmolested,  but  were  permitted  several 
days  of  respite  to  make  their  preparations  for  defence.  By  the  time 
the  allies  were  again  in  motion,  the  Russians  had  not  only  withdrawn 
their  army  into  a  position  where  it  could  harass  the  besiegers  without 
much  danger  to  itself,  but  had  put  Sebastopol  into  a  condition  to  make 
an  excellent  defence. 

Sebastopol  lay  on  the  south  side  of  an  inlet  of  the  sea,  about  four 

miles  long,  and  consisted  almost  entirely  of  dockyards,  arsenals,  and 

Position  of    barracks,  with  hardly  any  population  unconnected  with  the 

Sebastopol.   government  service.     Its  buildings  were  of  stone.     The  side 

towards  the  sea  was  defended  by  powerful  forts.     As  the  Russian  fleet 

was  too  weak  to  cope  with  that  of  the  allies,  the  Russians  withdrew  it 


SIEGE    of 
SEBASTOPOL 

18B4-185B. 

English  Miles 

° ! ?       3      4 

"^  "^  Russian  Attach  at  Inkerman. 


Btftish 


^H'''^ 

^"'^-  w 


Battle  of 

August  16*^.h 

1855. 


f^^'^ffe  Of  t. 


•^f- 


986  Victoria  1854 

into  the  harbour,  and  blocked  the  entrance  by  sinking  a  series  of  ships 
across  the  mouth.  On  the  land  side,  General  Todleben,  an  engineer,  to 
whom  the  chief  credit  of  the  defence  is  due,  planned  a  series  of  earth- 
works armed  with  guns  from  the  ships.  Of  these,  the  most  notable  were 
the  greater  and  lesser  Redan,  and  the  Malakoflf.  To  besiege  such  a  place 
was  no  light  matter,  and  was  far  beyond  the  powers  of  a  mere  summer 
expedition,  in  which  light  the  ministers  seem  to  have  regarded  the 
invasion. 

There  was,  however,  no  choice  but  to  undertake  the  task  ;  so  the  allied 
army  was  marched  from  the  Alma  round  the  extremity  of  the  harbour  of 
Sebastopol,  and  took  up  its  quarters  on  a  line  of  heights 
overlooking  the  town,  while  the  fleet  prepared  to  attack  the 
forts.  Even  then  it  could  not  surround  the  whole  town  ;  and  the 
northern  side  of  the  harbour  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians. 
As  the  army  had  not  only  to  besiege  Sebastopol,  but  to  be  prepared 
to  repel  an  attack  from  the  army  of  Prince  Menschikov,  it  had  to  form 
two  lines — an  inner  line  engaged  in  the  siege  facing  inwards,  and 
another  and  longer  line  facing  outwards.  Though  the  allies  were 
before  Sebastopol  on  the  26th  of  September,  and  it  is  almost  certain 
that  even  then  an  assault  would  have  carried  the  town,  the  generals 
decided  to  wait  for  their  siege  guns.  It  took  nearly  three  weeks 
to  get  these  into  position,  during  which  time  the  Russians  still  fur- 
ther strengthened  their  defences,  and  it  was  not  till  October  16  that 
fire  was  opened.  Though  carried  on  with  great  energy,  the  bombard- 
ment had  little  effect.  In  an  ordinary  siege,  a  bombardment  is  often 
effective  by  working  upon  the  fears  of  the  non-combatant  population  ; 
but  in  Sebastopol  there  was  practically  no  one  but  soldiers  and  sailors, 
who  were  rather  encouraged  than  otherwise  by  seeing  how  little  damage 
was  done.  At  the  end  of  a  week's  firing  the  allies  found  that  they  must 
give  up  all  hope  of  an  assault,  and  enter  upon  a  regular  siege. 

Hardly  had  this  been  realised  than  the  besiegers  found  themselves 
exposed  to  a  series  of  attacks  from  Menschikov's  army.     The  first  of 

Battle  of      these  led  to  what  is  spoken  of  as  the  battle  of  Balaclava. 

Balaclava,  j^  really  consisted  of  a  series  of  somewhat  isolated  cavalry 
operations  by  the  Russians  against  the  Balaclava  end  of  the  allied 
line,  which  was  defended  by  British,  French,  and  Turks.  The  attack 
of  the  Russians  effected  nothing  of  importance ;  but  three  incidents 
of  the  day  will  always  be  remembered  with  pride  by  the  British  army. 
Near  Balaclava  itself,  the  93rd  Highlanders  (now  2nd  Battalion,  Argyll 
and  Sutherland),  under  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  were  charged  by  a  body 
of  Russian   cavalry,  and  repelled   them  in  line  by  a  volley,  without 


1854  Aberdeen  987 

taking  the  trouble  to  form  square.  The  next  was  the  charge  of  the 
Heavy  Brigade  of  cavalry,  under  General  Scarlett.  In  this,  Scarlett, 
with  three  hundred  horsemen,  charged  a  body  of  halted  Russian  cavalry, 
numbering  between  two  and  three  thousand  men,  and  cut  his  way 
almost  through  it.  Fortunately  other  regiments  were  brought  up  in 
support,  and  the  whole  Russian  mass  of  cavalry  broke  up  in  disorder  and 
fled  from  the  field.  Even  this  magnificent  feat  of  arms  was  thrown  into 
the  shade  by  the  romantic  episode  of  the  Light  Cavalry  charge.  This 
arose  out  of  a  mistake.  Lord  Raglan,  standing  on  the  heights  above  the 
field,  could  see  that  the  Russians  were  carrying  oif  seven  British  guns 
which  had  been  lent  to  the  Turks,  and  lost  by  them,  so  he  sent  orders  to 
Lord  Lucan,  who  commanded  the  cavalry,  to  try  and  save  the  guns. 
Lord  Lucan  being  in  the  plain,  and  not  seeing  as  well  as  Lord  Raglan, 
rather  naturally  asked,  'What  gims?'  Nolan,  the  aide-de-camp  sent 
with  the  message,  said  merely,  but  probably  somewhat  forcibly  :  '  The 
enemy  is  there,  and  there  are  your  guns.'  This,  Lucan  understood  to 
refer  to  a  battery  not  of  British  but  of  Russian  guns,  and  he  ordered 
Lord  Cardigan  with  theLight  Brigadeof  six  hundredand  seventy-three  men 
to  charge  these  guns.  Though  to  obey  it  seemed  certain  death,  the  order 
was  obediently  carried  out.  The  guns  to  be  charged  were  at  the  end  of  a 
valley  two  miles  long,  and  on  the  slopes  at  each  side  of  it,  to  right  and  to 
left,  were  Russian  batteries.  Nevertheless,  as  steadily  as  on  parade.  Lord 
Cardigan  and  his  gallant  followers  rode  off  down  the  valley.  For  some 
moments  the  Russians  were  dumbfounded  at  their  audacity,  but  soon  a 
hundred  guns  were  firing  on  the  devoted  horsemen.  Nevertheless,  the 
brigade  actually  reached  the  Russian  battery,  and  even  passed  it,  but 
their  efforts  were  perfectly  useless,  and,  after  suftering  terribly,  the  sur- 
vivors fought  their  way  back  as  best  they  could.  Two  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  men  were  killed  or  wounded,  with  a  much  larger  number  of  horses. 
Had  it  not  been  for  a  well-directed  charge  of  the  French,  who  silenced 
the  batteries  at  one  side  of  the  valley,  a  much  larger  number  would  have 
perished.  '  It  is  magnificent,  but  it  is  not  war,'  said  a  French  looker-on 
from  the  height ;  and,  from  a  military  point  of  view,  it  was  a  gross 
blunder.  Nevertheless,  as  teaching  a  permanent  lesson  of  unquestioning 
devotion  to  duty,  it  cannot  altogether  be  regretted  ;  and  its  memory  will 
always  remain  a  glorious  heritage  for  the  British  army. 

A  few  days  later,  the  infantry  had  its  opportunity  for  distinction.     On 
November  5  the  Russians  attempted  an  attack  upon  the  opposite  end  of 
the  allied  line  on  the  heights  of  Inkerman,  occupied  solely    Battle  of 
by  British  troops.     According  to  their  plan,  a  sortie  from    inkerman. 
Sebastopol  was  to  assault  the  extreme  end  of  the  allied  line,  and  at  the 


Victm'ia  1854 

same  time  a  body  of  troops  from  Menschikov's  army  was  to  assault 
the  position  in  flank.  The  attack  was  made  in  the  early  morning, 
when  the  slopes  were  covered  with  mist.  The  natural  way  to  repel 
such  an  attack  was  for  the  outlying  picquets  to  fall  back  on  the  main 
body,  and  so  concentrate  on  some  defensible  position  ;  but,  partly  through 
the  mist,  and  partly  through  the  unwillingness  of  the  British  to  retreat 
at  all,  the  battle  took  the  form  of  the  outlying  positions  being  defended, 
and  the  picquets  reinforced  from  the  main  body.  Such  a  method  of 
fighting  was  contrary  to  all  rule,  and  involved  the  greatest  risk,  for  had 
the  Russians  broken  through  at  any  point,  the  whole  defence  must  have 
collapsed.  Luckily  for  the  British,  the  mist  stood  them  in  good  stead  by 
preventing  the  Russians  from  seeing  the  exact  state  of  affairs  ;  and  the 
tenacity  and  courage  with  which  all  ranks  fought  were  beyond  praise.  The 
loss,  however,  was  most  serious,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  French,  who 
moved  up  troops  in  sufficient  numbers  to  give  an  efiective  support  to  the 
scattered  British  regiments,  it  is  difl&cult  to  see  how  the  Russian  masses 
could,  in  the  long  run,  have  been  defeated  by  such  a  method  of  fighting. 
Nevertheless,  victory  declared  for  the  allies,  and  had  the  French  been 
willing  to  engage  in  a  vigorous  pursuit  the  Russian  defeat  might  have 
been  converted  into  a  rout. 

After  the  battle  of  Inkerman  the  Russians  gave  up,  for  a  time,  their 
operations  in  the  open  field,  but  their  inaction  gave  little  respite  to  the 
H  rd  h'       ^^li^d  troops.     The  necessity  for  engaging  in  a  prolonged 
of  the  siege  had  entirely  altered  the  character  of  the  campaign  and 

compelled  the  allies  to  winter  in  the  Crimea.  For  this  they 
were  totally  unprepared.  Losses  by  battle  and  sickness  had  reduced  the 
strength  of  the  British  contingent  to  16,000  men,  a  number  so  small  as 
to  throw  upon  individuals  a  disproportionate  amount  of  work,  and  rein- 
forcements were  slow  in  coming.  The  distance  of  the  British  camp  from 
Balaclava,  some  ten  miles,  traversed  by  a  miserable  road,  made  it 
hard  to  get  supplies.  In  a  terrible  storm  on  November  14,  two  vessels, 
one  containing  warm  clothing  the  other  ammunition,  were  sunk  in  Bala- 
clava harbour.  The  winter  proved  to  be  exceptionally  severe  ;  and  it  was 
hard  for  the  troops,  camped  on  a  wind-swept  plateau,  or  shivering  in  the 
wet  trenches,  to  keep  themselves  warm.  All  these  things  would  have 
tried  the  resources  of  any  country  ;  and  they  proved  far  too  severe  for 
the  ministry  of  Lord  Aberdeen.  Forty  years  of  peace  seem  to  have 
been  fatal  to  the  efficiency  of  the  British  war  department.  The  most 
grotesque  blunders  were  committed.  A  consignment  of  boots,  all  for  the 
left  foot,  was  sent  out  because  the  ministers  had  provided  no  efficient 
way  of  checking  the  stores.     No  care  was  taken  even  to  see  that  those 


1855  Aberdeen — Palmerston  989 

who  were  to  superintend  the  hospitals  knew  their  business.  Medical 
stores  were  sent  out  in  abundance,  but  men  were  allowed  to  die  for  want 
of  them,  because  no  official  authority  had  been  given  for  serving  them 
out.  No  proper  appliances  for  cooking  their  rations  were  given  to  the 
soldiers  ;  and  lastly,  while  sending  out  horses  and  mules  for  the  trans- 
port service,  the  British  treasury  refused  to  send  any  hay  on  which  to 
feed  them.  Moreover,  the  officers  and  men  themselves  did  not  show  the 
resource  they  might  have  done  in  coping  with  difficulties,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  army  became  pitiable  in  the  extreme.  It  is  true  the 
French  were  nearly  as  badly  off,  but  as  there  were  more  of  them,  work 
fell  less  heavily  on  individuals ;  and  the  French  soldiers  certainly 
showed  more  skill  than  the  British  in  making  themselves  comfortable 
under  difficulties. 

Doubtless  there  had  been  other  campaigns  where  the  British  troops  had 
had  to  bear  similar  hardships  ;  but,  in  former  days,  the  exact  state  of  the 
army  was  little  known  at  home,  except  to  the  authorities.   In 
the  Russian  campaign,  for  the  first  time,  the  special  correspon-    '  Times  * 
dents  of  newspapers — and  especially  Dr.  (now  Sir  William)    ^^**^'■^• 
Russell  of  the  Times — kept  the  public  thoroughly  informed  of  what  was 
going  on.     The  natural  result  was  an  outburst  of  vehement  indignation 
against  the  government.     Of  this  Mr.  Roebuck  made  himself  the  mouth- 
piece, and  carried  a  proposal  in  the  House  of  Commons  that 

..  1111  -XT         •         ••  1  Resigna- 

a  commission  should  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  con-   tion  of  Lord 
duct  of  the  war.   The  proposal  was  regarded  as  a  vote  of  want   ^^®''^^^"- 
of  confidence  in  the  government.     Lord  Aberdeen  at  once  resigned,  and 
his  place  was  taken  by  Palmerston. 

What  the  country  really  wanted  was  to  have  a  strong  man  at  the 
head  of  affairs.     It  had  no  confidence  in  Lord  Aberdeen  :  it  did  believe 
in  Lord  Palmerston  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  was  at  the  head  of 
affairs,  confidence  was  restored.     Nevertheless,  the  House   merston's 
was  determined  to  have  its  commission  of  inquiry,  and  Mr.    Jj?*. 
Gladstone  and  other  Peelites,  who  had  at  first  retained  office 
under  Lord  Palmerston,  decided  to  resign.     The  commission  did  much 
good  ;  and  its  report  should  be  a  warning  to  British  governments  for  all 
time.     Its  inquiries  showed  distinctly  that  the  mismanagement  com- 
plained of  was  to  be  traced,  not  so  much  to  the  faults  of  individuals,  as  to 
the  absurd  system  by  which  Great  Britain  had  allowed  the  machinery  for 
making  war  to  grow  rusty  and  obsolete  in  time  of  peace,  and  also  to  the 
foolish  arrangement  by  which  sub-division  of  responsibility  was  canied 
so  far  as  to  make  it  almost  impossible  to  say  who  was  really  to  blame 
for  any  particular  mistake  or  omission.    Without  waiting  for  the  report, 


990  Victoria  1855 

however,  Lord  Palmerston's  government  worked  hard  to  improve  the 
existing  state  of  affairs.  Even  before  the  fall  of  Lord  Aberdeen  Mr. 
Sidney  Herbert  had  persuaded  Miss  Florence  Nightingale  to  go  out  to 
Constantinople  and  see  what  could  be  done  for  the  reorganisation  of  the 
nursing  in  the  hospitals  there  ;  and  the  duke  of  Newcastle  had  suggested 
to  the  cabinet  the  construction  of  a  railway  to  bring  stores  from  Bala- 
clava to  the  camp.  From  Miss  Nightingale's  reports  Lord  Palmerston 
learnt  what  should  be  done,  and  so  energetic  were  the  steps  taken  that, 
whereas,  under  Lord  Aberdeen,  the  deaths  in  the  hospital  at  Scutari 
had  been  fifty  per  cent,  of  those  admitted,  under  Lord  Palmerston 
they  were  enormously  reduced.  The  railway  also  from  Balaclava — the 
necessity  for  which  should  have  been  obvious  to  any  government — was 
at  once  made  by  the  new  ministers.  Energy  and  order  were  infused 
everywhere ;  and,  before  summer,  the  efficiency  of  our  army  in  the 
Crimea  had  been  restored,  though  at  the  best  it  was  so  small  that  hence- 
forward the  French  took  perforce  the  leading  part  in  all  military  opera- 
tions. They  even  took  over  from  the  British  the  north-eastern  end  of 
the  trenches,  and  the  attack  on  the  Malakoff  and  Little  Redan. 

Meanwhile,  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  had  proved  even  more 
serious  for  the   Russians  than  for  the  allies.      The  Crimea  being  far 

distant  from  the  seat  of  Russian  power,  and  there  being  no 
Negotia-  .  .  r  j  n 

tions  for       railways  to  it,  all  reinforcements  both  of  men  and  material 

had  to  be  sent  hundreds  of  miles  by  road.    The  loss  incurred 

in  doing  this  was  enormous,  and  sapped  the  strength  of  the  Russians  far 

more  than  the  losses  in  the  Crimea  itself.     In  these  circumstances  hopes 

of  peace  were  raised,  which  were  increased  by  the  death  of  Czar  Nicholas, 

in  March  1855,  and  by  the  intervention  of  Austria.     It  was,  however, 

found  mipossible  to  come  to  terms,  and,  with  the  approach  of  warmer 

weather,  fighting  was  resumed. 

In  the  spring  of  1855  the  allies  were  joined  by  the  Sardinians,  who 

sent  a  contingent  of  men  to  the  Crimea  under  General  della  Marmora. 

The  Their  arrival,  and  that  of  numerous  reinforcements  for  the 

Sardinians.     Yreiich.  and  some  for  the  British,  enabled  the  allies  to  feel 

comparatively  safe  from  attack,  and  the  siege  works  were  pushed  on 

with   vigour.     It   was  not,   however,  till   June  that  a  serious  assault 

was  delivered.     This  proved  a  failure,  for  Todleben's  energy  had  so 

enormously  strengthened  the  Russian  lines  that  the  capture  of  one  post 

only  revealed  a  new  series  of  defences  behind  it ;  and  on  the  18th  of 

June   the   allies  were    completely  repulsed   in    an  attempted   assault. 

Lord  Raglan  died  a  few  days  later,  and  the  command  of  the  British 

contingent  fell  to  General  Simpson. 


1856  Palmer  ston  991 

New  approaches  had  to  be  opened,  and  before  they  were  ready  the 
Russian  covering  army  made  another  attack.     This  assault  fell  entirely 
upon  the  French  and   Sardinians ;   and  was  repulsed  on 
August  16  in  what  is  known  as  the  battle  of  the  Tchernaya.    of  the 
This  was  the  last  attempt  of  the  relieving  force.     On  Sep-    '^^^^^'^"aya. 
tember  8  the  French,  under  General  Macmahon,  stonned  the  Malakoflf 
and  little  Redan,  and  though  the  British  failed  to  retain  the   Fall  of 
Great  Redan,  into  which  they  had  penetrated  at  a  terrible   Sebastopol. 
cost  of  life,  it  was  evacuated  the  same  evening  by  the  Russians.     The 
loss  of  these  outposts  made  the  other  Russian  works  untenable  ;  and  the 
same  night,  after  destroying  everything  of  value,  the  brave  defenders  of 
Sebastopol  withdrew  across  the  harbour,  leaving  its  blackened  walls  as 
a  barren  trophy  to  the  victors. 

The  fall  of  Sebastopol  brought  to  a  close  the  active  operations  in  the 

field.    There  was  no  other  point  where  the  allied  forces  could  readily  act 

against  the  Russians,  and   for  the  remainder  of  the  war  ^  ,.    ,  „ 

,  .        ,  „  1  1-  .  ,  ,  FallofKars. 

nothing  but  small  naval  expeditions  were  attempted  ;  and 

these  were  of  slight  importance.  The  only  occurrence  of  note  was  the 
capture  of  Kars,  in  Armenia,  by  the  Russians,  after  a  stubborn  defence, 
in  which  the  chief  honours  fell  to  three  Englishmen — General  Williams, 
Dr.  Sandwith,  and  Colonel  Lake — whose  presence  encouraged  the 
Turkish  garrison  to  make  a  most  heroic  resistance.  All  parties  were, 
therefore,  desirous  of  peace  ;  and  a  congress  was  held  at  conclusion 
Paris,  at  which  it  was  agreed  (1)  that  the  Black  Sea  of  Peace, 
should  be  regarded  as  neutral,  and  that  all  ships  of  war,  except  a  few 
small  ones  needed  for  police,  should  be  excluded  from  it ;  (2)  that 
Russia  was  not  to  refortify  Sebastopol ;  (3)  that  Turkey  should  retain  her 
suzerainty  over  the  self-governing  Danubian  principalities  ;  (4)  that  the 
navigation  of  the  Danube  should  be  free  ;  (5)  that  the  Turks  should 
enforce  a  recent  Firman,  giving  certain  rights  to  the  Christian  popula- 
tion. These  terms  were  only  moderately  satisfactory,  but  they  seemed 
the  best  attainable  unless  Great  Britain  and  Turkey  were  prepared  to  go 
on  with  the  war  by  themselves.  The  most  galling  part  to  Russia  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  was  the  neutralisation  of  the  Black  Sea ;  and  in  1870, 
when  Mr.  Gladstone  was  prime  minister  of  England  and  France  was 
engaged  in  war  with  Germany,  she  took  the  opportunity  of  declaring  her 
intention  of  being  bound  by  this  clause  no  longer.  In  this  the  British 
ministry  acquiesced,  merely  stipulating  that  Russia  should  ask  leave 
formally  from  a  European  congress.  Since  then  Sebastopol  has  been 
completely  rebuilt  and  fortified,  and  the  Russian  fleet  on  the  Black  Sea 
is  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  world.    Generally  speaking,  the  Russian  war 


992  Fidma  1856 

effected  two  great  ends.  First,  it  weakened  Russia  so  much  that  for  a 
considerable  time  she  was  unable  to  hold  over  Turkey  the  threat  of 
immediate  dissolution.  Second,  time  was  gained  which  the  Turks  might 
have  used  to  set  their  house  in  order,  and  remove  the  evils  in  their 
administration  which  had  given  an  excuse  for  Russian  interference.  In 
1856  many  people,  especially  Palmerston  and  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe, 
ambassador  at  Constantinople,  believed  that  the  Turks  would  use  their 
respite  well ;  but  subsequent  experience  has  amply  demonstrated  the 
futility  of  any  such  expectations. 

Hardly  was  the  Russian  war  over  when  we  found  ourselves  involved  in 
a  quarrel  with  China.  In  this  we  were  wholly  in  the  wrong.  A 
The  second  Chinese  vessel,  the  Arrow,  of  the  class  known  as  a  Lorcha, 
China  War.  o^ne(i  and  manned  by  Chinamen,  but  flying,  without 
authority,  the  British  flag,  was  boarded  by  the  Chinese  marine  police  in 
order  to  arrest  one  of  the  crew  for  piracy.  This  they  had  a  perfect 
right  to  do,  for  though  the  vessel  had  once  held  a  licence  to  carry  the 
British  flag,  it  had  expired  before  the  seizure  and  had  not  been  renewed. 
Nevertheless,  the  consul  at  Hong-Kong  took  up  the  matter  as  an  insult 
to  Great  Britain,  and  persuaded  Sir  John  Bowring,  our  representative  in 
China,  to  support  him.  The  Chinese  government,  of  course,  held  to  its 
rights  ;  and  the  quarrel  having  once  begun,  and  other  matters  being 
brought  in,  an  amount  of  irritation  was  engendered  which  led  to  a  declara- 
tion of  war  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1857  troops  were  despatched  from 
this  country  to  invade  China.  They  were,  however,  needed  for  a  more 
serious  purpose  ;  and  military  operations  against  China  were  deferred 
till  1858.  Besides  the  Chinese  war,  we  were  also  involved  in  a  quarrel 
with  Persia,  which  led  to  an  expedition  under  Sir  James  Outram  and 
General  Havelock  being  sent  there  in  1857,  The  afiair  of  the  Lorcha 
Arrow  offered  an  excellent  chance  of  attacking  the  government ;  and, 
accordingly.  Lord  Palmerston  was  denounced  by  Gladstone  on  behalf 
of  the  Peelites,  by  Disraeli  for  the  Conservatives,  by  Lord  John  Russell, 
and  by  Cobden,  Bright,  Milner-Gibson,  and  other  representatives  of 
the  Manchester  School,  who  disapproved  of  Lord  Palmerston's  vigorous 
assertion  of  British  rights.  This  combination  was  very  formidable,  and 
though  Palmerston  did  not  spare  his  opponents  in  defending  himself,  he 
was  beaten  by  263  to  247.  Instead  of  resigning,  Palmerston  aj^pealed 
to  the  country.  Ignoring  the  special  grounds  of  censure,  he  practically 
asked  it  to  say  whether  it  believed  in  him  or  whether  it  did  not.  The 
answer  was  conclusive.  Cobden,  Bright,  and  Milner-Gibson  all  lost 
their  seats  ;  and  in  the  new  parliament  Palmerston's  authority  was  for  a 
time  unquestioned. 


1857  Palmer ston  993 

It  was  well  we  had  a  strong  man  in  power,  for  in  1857  broke  out 
the  Indian  Mutiny,  the  most  serious  crisis  through  which  the  empire 
has  passed  since  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Its  causes  were  extremely 
various,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  those  which  were  The  Indian 
general  and  those  which  were  merely  the  sparks  which  ^"^my. 
set  fire  to  the  pile.  Our  rule  in  India  was  a  military  occupation  main- 
tained by  a  mixed  anuy  of  British  and  Sepoys ;  and  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  mutiny  was  the  discontent  of  the  native  soldiers,  coupled 
with  the  circumstance  that  the  proportion  of  native  to  British  soldiers 
was  so  great  as  to  give  them  a  reasonable  prospect  of  success.  The 
special  cause  of  grievance  arose  from  a  change  of  arms.  The  Russian 
war  had  shown  the  advantage  of  rifled  muskets  over  the  old  smooth 
bores,  and  the  new  weapons  were  being  served  out  to  the  native  troops, 
when  a  false  rumour  was  circulated  that  the  grease  with  which  the  new 
bullets  were  lubricated  was  made  of  a  mixture  of  cow's  fat  and  hog's 
lard.  As  the  Hindoos  reverenced  the  cow  and  the  Mohammedans  detested 
the  hog,  the  rumour  was  invented  with  ingenious  subtlety  to  excite  the 
anger  and  apprehension  of  both  the  Hindoo  and  Mohammedan  soldiers. 
Nevertheless,  had  there  been  no  deeper  causes  of  alarm,  the  difficulty 
might  have  passed  over  without  serious  consequences,  as  had  been  the 
case  with  several  previous  mutinies  in  the  Indian  army.  As  it  was,  the 
greased  cartridges  merely  fired  the  train  of  rebellious  feeling  which  had 
for  some  time  been  ready  for  explosion. 

One  of  the  chief  causes  of  this  feeling  of  apprehension  was  the  policy 
of  Lord  Dalhousie,  who  had  been  governor-general  of  India  from  1848 
to  1856.     This  nobleman  had  been  a  most  energetic  ruler,   ^ 

.        General 

who  honestly  believed  that  British  rule  was  good  for  India,  Causes  of 
and  was  bent  on  using  every  opportunity  to  extend  its  area. 
In  1849  he  extinguished  the  independence  of  the  Sikhs  (see  page  967) ; 
he  successively  annexed  Sattara,  Nagpore,  and  Jhansi,  the  territories  of 
Mahratta  chieftains,  on  the  failure  of  direct  descendants ;  and  in  1855  he 
took  over  the  government  of  the  great  kingdom  of  Oude.  These  annexa- 
tions, each  of  which,  especially  that  of  Oude  which  was  grossly  mis- 
governed by  its  native  rulers,  could  readily  be  justified  to  Europeans, 
appeared  very  difierent  in  the  eyes  of  natives,  especially  to  the  kinsmen 
of  the  late  rulers  and  to  the  soldiers  and  hangers-on  at  the  native  courts, 
who  lost  directly  by  the  change.  Moreover,  the  introduction  of  the  rail- 
way, of  the  telegraph,  and,  generally  speaking,  of  Western  civilisation, 
even  the  well-meant  but  not  always  judicious  action  of  the  missionaries, 
all  tended  to  produce  an  impression  that  a  revolution  was  in  progress 
which  must  be  fatal  to  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  to  the  maintenance 

3r 


994  Victoria  1857 

of  which  large  classes  of  natives  were  attached  either  by  interest  or 
sentiment.  Moreover,  there  was  a  prophecy  current  that  the  company's 
rule  would  last  one  hundred  years  from  the  battle  of  Plassey,  and  that  the 
year  1 857  would  see  its  overthrow  accomplished.  It  was  also  believed  that 
the  Russian  war  had  sapped  the  strength  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  she 
had  not  the  troops  to  deal  with  a  widespread  revolt.  All  these  causes 
worked  together  to  produce  a  feeling  of  unrest,  and  nowhere  was  this 
feeling  stronger  than  among  the  Brahmin  Sepoys  of  the  Bengal  army, 
most  of  whom  were  recruited  from  Oude.  For  many  years  acute 
observers  had  noticed  the  unsatisfactory  state  of  this  corps,  and  had 
pointed  out  the  small  proportion  of  European  officers  to  natives,  the 
strong  class  and  family  feeling  'in  the  ranks  and  the  ignorance  of  the 
Europeans  as  to  the  real  feelings  of  the  soldiery  ;  but  their  words  fell 
unheeded,  and  even  when  mutiny  after  mutiny  broke  out  in  the  spring 
of  1857,  the  authorities  were  long  in  realising  the  real  nature  of  the 
crisis  with  which  they  had  to  deal. 

At  last,  after  a  series  of  isolated  outbreaks,  the  mutineers  at  Meerut 
succeeded  in  breaking  away  with  their  arms  and  marched  in  a  body  to 
Outbreak  at  I^^lhi.  There  they  set  up  the  old  king  who  represented  the 
Meerut.  jj^g  ^f  ^jjg  Moguls,  and  endeavoured  to  give  their  mutiny 

the  character  of  a  national  revolt.  The  news  spread  like  wildfire,  and 
presently  every  station  in  the  upper  basin  of  the  Ganges  was  the  scene 
of  a  military  outbreak.  The  central  points  of  the  revolt  were  Delhi, 
Cawnpore,  and  Lucknow.  At  Delhi,  the  presence  of  the  old  king 
formed  a  rallying-point  for  the  mutineers  ;  at  Cawnpore,  Nana  Sahib, 
the  Rajah  of  Bithoor,  the  adopted  son  of  the  last  Peishwah  (see  page 
964),  furious  with  Lord  Dalhousie's  refusal  to  continue  his  pension, 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement ;  and  at  Lucknow, 
though  the  ex-king  himself  was  absent,  being  a  prisoner  at  Calcutta, 
there  were  plenty  of  discontented  nobles  to  take  the  lead  against  the 
British.  At  Delhi,  the  British  were  completely  overpowered.  At 
Cawnpore  and  Lucknow  they  held  out  under  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler  and  Sir 
Massacre  of  Henry  Lawrence  respectively.  The  defence  of  Cawnpore 
Cawnpore.  ^g^g  grievously  ill-managed,  and  in  spite  of  a  most  heroic 
struggle  against  overwhelming  odds,  the  garrison  was  compelled  to 
capitulate,  and  Nana  Sahib  disgraced  himself  by  carrying  out  a  horrid 
Siege  of  massacre  of  men,  women,  and  children,  from  which  only 

Lucknow.  three  men  escaped  to  tell  the  tale.  At  Lucknow,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  defence  was  admirably  managed  by  Sir  Henry  Lawrence, 
and  after  his  death  by  Brigadier-General  Inglis. 

The  situation  of  the   rebellion  was  favourable  to  the   British.     In 


1857  Palmerston  995 

tile  lower  valley  of  the  Ganges,  from  Calcutta  to  Benares,  the  British 
never  lost  their  hold.  The  Ghoorkas  of  Nepal  remained  fiiithful.  The 
Sikhs  of  the  Punjab,  though  so  recently  conquered,  gave  the  highest 
testimony  to  the  skill  of  Henry  and  John  Lawrence,  by  enlisting 
freely  for  service  against  the  rebels.  Scindia,  the  ruler  at  Gvvalior, 
and  Holkar  at  Indore,  though  they  could  not  restrain  their  soldiery, 
remained  true  themselves.  Consequently,  the  rebels  were  sur- 
rounded by  loyal  districts,  and  the  government  was  free  to  concentrate 
against  them  the  troops  from  Lower  Bengal,  Madras,  Bombay,  and  the 
Punjab.  The  great  difficulty  was  to  secure  sufficient  British  troops  to 
form  an  active  army,  while  leaving  enough  men  in  garrison  in  the 
different  loyal  districts  to  guard  against  fresh  revolts.  Fortunately,  the 
small  war  with  Persia  being  just  over,  Outram  and  Havelock  were  already 
on  their  way  back  to  Calcuttii ;  and  Sir  George  Grey,  governor  of  the  Cape 
Colony,  had  the  public  spirit  and  courage  to  take  the  responsibility 
of  ordering  the  troops  which  reached  the  Cape  on  their  way  to  the 
China  war  to  go  to  India  instead.  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  afterwards  Lord 
Clyde,  was  sent  out  from  England  to  take  the  general  command. 

Before  he  arrived,  however,  the  neck  of  the  rebellion  had  been  broken. 
Lord  Canning,  the  governor-general,  son  of  the  former  prime  minister, 
was  statesman  enough  to  see  that  the  real  centre  of  the  The  Siege 
revolt  was  Delhi,  and  he  directed  every  nerve  to  be  strained  °^  Delhi, 
for  its  recapture.  Fortunately,  there  were  in  the  Punjab  sufficient  guns 
to  form  a  siege  train  ;  and,  making  the  Punjab  the  basis  of  operations, 
an  army  attacked  Delhi  from  the  north-west.  The  siege  was  an  arduous 
one,  and  lasted  from  the  end  of  May  till  the  middle  of  September.  At 
times  the  British  were  themselves  in  great  straits,  but  fortunately  they 
were  never  obliged  to  relax  their  hold,  and  eventually,  mainly  through 
the  energy  of  John  Nicholson,  an  officer  despatched  by  John  Lawrence 
from  the  Punjab,  it  was  carried  to  a  successful  conclusion.  The  walls 
were  breached,  and  though  Nicholson  himself  fell  in  the  assault,  the  city 
was  stormed,  and  the  old  king  of  Delhi,  the  nominal  leader  of  the  revolt, 
was  among  the  prisoners.  His  life  was  spared,  but  his  sons  were  sum- 
marily shot  by  Hodson,  of  Hod  son's  Horse. 

While  the  main  British  army  had  been  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Delhi, 
General  Henry  Havelock,  with  troops  from  Lower  Bengal,  had  fought 
his  way  to  Cawnpore  and  defeated  the  Nana.      There  he   ^^^  ^^^^ 
had  to  wait  reinforcements  ;   but  in   September  he   and    Relief  of 
Outram  again  advanced  and  relieved  the  garrison  of  Luck- 
now,  after  they  had  held  out  unassisted  for  eighty-seven  days.     Havelock, 
however,  was  not  strong  enough  to  fetch  the  garrison  out,  and  it  was  not 


996  Victoria  1857 

till  November  that  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  with  the  reinforcements  from 

England,  fought  his  way  through  to  Lucknow   and   brought  out   the 

whole   garrison.      He   was,  however,  obliged   to  retreat  to  Cawnpore. 

By  the  second  relief  of  Lucknow  the  capacity  of  the  rebels 

Second  .  x         ./ 

Relief  of  for  doing  serious  mischief  was  destroyed,  but  it  yet  re- 
new, jjj^g^jjjg^j  j^Q  conquer  them  in  detail.  This  was  done  in  1858. 
Aided  by  the  Goorkhas,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  retook  Lucknow  in  March. 
South  of  Cawnpore,  Sir  Hugh  Rose,  afterwards  Lord  Strathnairn,  ad- 
vancing from  Bombay  by  the  line  of  the  Nerbudda,  carried  out  a 
brilliant  campaign  against  Tantia  Topee  and  the  Ranee  of  Jhansi  and 
put  down  the  rebellion  in  Gwalior.  These  successes  destroyed  the 
coherency  of  the  mutiny.  For  some  little  time  isolated  leaders  held 
out,  but  by  the  close  of  the  year  the  British  rule  was  practically 
restored. 

The  failure  of  the  mutiny  may  be  attributed  chiefly  (1)  to  the  fact 

that  it  was  a  revolt  of  professional  soldiers  and  not  of  any  large  section 

of  the  inhabitants  of  India  ;  (2)  to  the  circumstance  that 

the  British  the  mutiny  was  confined  to  Bengal,  so  that  the  presidencies 
uccess.  ^£  Madras  and  Bombay  could  spare  troops  to  put  it  down  ; 
(3)  to  the  fidelity  of  the  Sikhs  and  Goorkhas  ;  (4)  to  the  accidental 
presence  of  the  troops  despatched  to  China ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  to 
the  extraordinary  heroism  and  devotion  displayed  by  the  army,  and 
by  the  whole  European  population  throughout  that  terrible  time. 
Since  the  suppression  of  the  mutiny,  greater  care  has  been  taken  in  the 
management  of  the  native  troops.  The  proportion  of  British  to  native 
troops  has  been  kept  at  a  higher  rate  ;  and  almost  the  whole  of  the 
artillery  service  has  been  kept  in  European  hands.  Though  the  mutiny 
had  been  put  down  by  the  East  India  Company,  there  was  a  widespread 

^    ,    ,  ^     feeling  that  the  time  had  come  when  the  direct  rule  of  India 

End  of  the  ° 

East  India  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  crown.  Accordingly, 
ompany.  ^^  ^g^g  ^^  ^^^  ^^^  passed  to  place  the  government  of 
India  in  the  hands  of  a  secretary  of  state  in  London  assisted  by  a 
council  of  experienced  Indian  officers,  and  a  viceroy  or  governor-general 
in  India.  The  secretary  of  state  for  India  is  always  a  member  of  the 
cabinet,  and  is  responsible  to  parliament  for  the  conduct  of  Indian 
afiairs. 

Though  Lord  Pahnerston  had  gained  such  a  large  majority  in  the  general 
election  of  1857,  he  was  overthrown  a  year  later  by  a  combination  of 

^    .  .  parties.     This  arose  out  of  the  Orsini  afiair.     Orsini  was 

Orsini.  '^ 

an  Italian  gentleman,  well  known  in  English  society,  who 
in  1858  contrived  a  plot  to  murder  the  Emperor  of  the  French  on  his 


1858  Palmer  ston — Derby  997 

way  to  the  opera.  The  eraperor  escaped  unhurt,  but  ten  persons  were 
killed,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  wounded  by  the  explosion  of 
Orsini's  bomb.  This  diabolical  crime  excited  the  utmost  horror,  and  as 
it  was  certain  that  the  bomb  had  been  manufactured  and  all  Orsini's 
preparations  made  in  England,  the  question  naturally  arose  how  far  politi- 
cal refugees  were  at  liberty  to  use  England  as  a  basis  for  murderous  plots 
against  continental  governments.  Accordingly  Lord  Palmerston  brought 
in  a  Conspiracy  to  Murder  Bill,  making  such  plotting  a  penal  action, 
punishable  in  the  English  Courts.  There  was  little  to  be  objected  to 
in  the  bill  itself;  but  the  country  was  irritated  by  the  vainglorious  boasting 
of  some  French  colonels  who  had  talked  about  the  emperor's  leading  them 
against  the  *  lair  of  assassins,'  and  many  members  of  Parliament  had  a 
feeling  that  Lord  Palmerston  had  in  this  matter  shown  too  much 
deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French.  Accordingly, 
Lord  Palmerston  was  placed  in  a  minority  of  nineteen  votes  by  a 
strange  combination  between  the  discontented  Whigs,  the  Manchester 
School,  the  Peelites  and  the  Conservatives,  and  his  resignation  at  once 
followed. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Derby,  with  Mr.  Disraeli  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer.     Lord  Derby  also  asked  Mr.  Gladstone  to  join  him.     That 
gentleman,  though  not  yet  a  declared  Liberal,  refused  to    Lord 
take  office  ;  but  accepted  instead  the  place  of  Commissioner   ^comi^ 
to  the  Ionian  Islands.     On  his  arrival,  he  found  that  the    Ministry, 
inhabitants  were  desirous   of   severing  their  connection  with    Great 
Britain  and  joining  the  kingdom  of  Greece.      With  this  feeling  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  in  the  fullest  sympathy,  and  aided  the  inhabitants  to  put 
their  views  before  the  British  government.     Eventually,  in  1865,  the 
protectorate  established  by  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  was  terminated,  and 
the  islands  became  part  of  the  Greek  kingdom.     The  chief  attention 
of  the  new  government  was  given  to  the   preparation  of  a  Reform 
Bill.     In  this  measure  it  was  proposed  to  assimilate  the   a  Reform 
county  and  borough  franchises  on  the  basis  of  giving  votes    ^*^^* 
to  all  £10  householders.    Besides  this  votes  were  to  be  given  to  all  univer- 
sity graduates,  to  doctors,  and  lawyers,  and  to  everyone  who  had  £10  in 
the  funds  or  £60  in  a  savings  bank.  These  additional  provisions  proved 
fatal  to  the  bill.      They  were  stigmatised  by  Mr.  Bright  as  '  fancy  fran- 
chises,' and  the  government  were  defeated  on  the  second  reading  by 
330  to  291.     On  this  the  ministers  appealed  to  the  country,  but  at  the 
opening  of  the  new  parliament  they  were  defeated  by  323  to  310,  on  an 
amendment  to  the  address. 

Lord  Palmerston  therefore  became  prime  minister,  wilh  Lord  John 


998  Victoria 


1858 


Russell  as  foreign  secretary.    The  most  important  event  in  the  formation 

of  the  new  ministry  was  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Gladstone  as  a  Liberal. 

He  became  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  his  reputation  as  the  best 
Palmer-  financier  of  the  day  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  new 
le2ond  government.  Palmerston  offered  the  post  of  president  of 
Ministry,     the  Board  of  Trade  to  Cobden.     It  was,  however,  refused  ; 

but  Cobden  gladly  undertook  the  business  of  negotiating  a  commercial 

treaty  with  France.     This  treaty,  which  was  modelled  on 
French 
Commercial    Pitt's  famous  treaty  of  1786,  was  based  on  the  principle 

^^^  ^'  that  each  country  should  lower  its  existing  customs  duties  on 

the  goods  of  the  other.  In  practice  it  was  a  step  towards  free  trade. 
After  the  action  of  Lord  Derby's  government  the  ministers  felt  bound  to 
bring  in  a  Reform  Bill ;  but  as  the  official  leaders  of  parties  cared  little 
about  it  and  there  was  no  strong  wave  of  public  opinion  at  its  back, 
it  was  soon  dropped ;  and  it  was  several  years  before  reform  was 
again  brought  forward  as  a  government  question.  In  1861  occurred  an 
interesting  struggle  on  the  paper  duties.  Though  the  tax  on  newspapers 
had  been  abolished  in  1855^  there  was  still  a  heavy  tax  on  the  paper  on 
which  news  was  printed.  In  1861  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer,  proposed  to  repeal  this.     His  bill  was  accepted 

the  Paper  by  the  Commons,  but  thrown  out  by  the  Lords.  Consider- 
"  ^'  able  excitement  was  caused  by  this,  as  the  bill  was  in  fact, 

if  not  in  form,  a  money  bill.  In  1861,  however,  the  Lords  were  out- 
manoeuvred by  making  the  repeal  of  the  paper  duty  a  part  of  the  budget 
of  the  year,  which  could  only  be  rejected  at  the  price  of  throwing  the 
whole  government  into  confusion.  In  this  form  the  repeal  of  the  duty 
passed  without  difficulty. 

Though  few  events  of  importance  marked  the  period  of  Lord  Palmer- 
ston's  administration,  it  was  an  exciting  time  in  foreign  affairs.  Since  1849 

Foreign       events  in  Italy  had  been  making  in  the  direction  of  national 

Affairs.  unity.  Two  great  men — Cavour  and  Mazzini — the  one 
prime  minister  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  king  of  Sardinia,  the  other  a  free- 
lance who  advocated  by  his  pen  a  restoration  of  Italian 
unity  under  republican  forms,  were  each  in  his  own  way 
pressing  the  matter  forward.  Cavour  did  much  to  increase  the  import- 
ance of  Sardinia  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  by  taking  part  in  the  Russian 
war  ;  and  in  1859,  at  the  price  of  ceding  Savoy  and  Nice  to  France,  he 
persuaded  Louis  Napoleon  to  join  him  in  a  campaign  against  Austria. 
The  Austrians  were  defeated  in  the  battles  of  Montebello,  Magenta,  and 
Solferino  ;  and  were  compelled  to  hand  over  Lombardy  with  its  capitalj 
Milan,  to  the   Sardinians.      At  the   same  time   Tuscany   and   Parma 


1861  Palmerston  999 

declared  for  union  with  Sardinia.  This  formed  the  basis  of  an  Italian 
kingdom,  with  its  capital  at  Florence.  In  1860  Garibaldi,  an  Italian 
who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  wars  of  South  America  and  had 
been  associated  with  Mazzini  at  Rome  in  1849,  raised  an  insurrection  in 
Sicily  and  Naples,  succeeded  in  deposing  the  Bourbon  king,  Ferdinand  ii., 
and  offered  the  crown  to  Victor  Emmanuel.  By  him  it  was  accepted,  and 
in  March  1861  an  Italian  parliament  declared  Victor  Emmanuel  to  be 
king  of  Italy.  Rome,  however,  under  the  pope,  and  Venice  under  the 
Austrians,  still  remained  detached  from  the  rest  of  Italy.  From  this 
time  forward,  Italy,  which  for  centuries  had  been  a  mere  'geographical 
expression,'  began  to  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe. 
Two  months  after  having  thus  achieved  the  object  of  his  life,  Cavour 
died. 

In  1861  a  war  broke  out  between  the  northern  and  southern  sections 
of  the  United  States.  Such  a  quarrel  had  long  been  growing  inevitable. 
The  slave- owning  states  of  the  south  viewed  with  apprehen- 
sion the  rise  of  an  Abolitionist  party  in  the  north,  and  when  American 
Abraham  Lincoln,  an  Abolitionist,  was  elected  president,  ^'^'^  ^^^• 
they  declared  their  intention  of  seceding  from  the  union.  The 
southerners  had  always  laid  great  stress  on  the  rights  of  individual 
states  as  against  interference  from  the  central  government,  and  the 
natural  corollary  of  this  belief  in  state  rights  was  that  each  state  had  a 
right  to  secede  in  case  it  had  good  reason  to  suppose  that  its  private 
institutions  were  in  danger.  Accordingly,  the  two  Carolinas,  Georgia, 
Virginia,  and  seven  other  states  joined  to  form  the  Confederate  States  under 
the  presidency  of  Jefterson  Davis.  Their  right,  however,  to  do  this  was 
not  admitted  by  the  Northerners,  and  the  attempt  of  the  Southerners  to 
seize  Fort  Sumter,  near  Charleston,  which  belonged  not  to  the  state 
but  to  the  Federal  government,  caused  the  outbreak  of  civil  war.  This 
struggle  placed  Great  Britain  in  considerable  difficulty.  The  first  action 
of  the  Northerners  was  to  blockade  the  southern  ports  and  so  stop  the 
exportation  of  cotton,  on  which  Lancashire  depended  for  its  livelihood. 
The  result  was  the  terrible  cotton  famine.  Had  Great  Britain  allied 
herself  with  the  Southerners,  the  blockade  might  have  been  raised  in  a 
week,  and  the  temptation  to  interfere  was,  therefore,  enormous.  More- 
over, a  considerable  section  of  English  society  was  enthusiastically 
in  favour  of  the  South  ;  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  speaking  at  Newcastle  with 
all  the  authority  of  a  cabinet  minister,  declared  that  '  Jefferson  Davis 
had  created  a  nation.'  Nevertheless,  the  Lancashire  operatives  were 
determined  that  whatever  their  miseries  might  be,  they  would  never 
purchase  cotton  at  the  price  of  supporting  slavery,  and  their  noble  disin- 


1000  Vidmia 


1861 


terestedness  kept  the  government  true  to  its  duty.  In  spite,  however, 
of  our  neutrality,  the  negligence  of  the  government  permitted  an 
armed  cruiser,  the  Alabama,  to  be  built  and  launched  at  Birken- 
The  'Ala-  head.  Thence  she  sailed  as  a  Confederate  warship,  and  did 
bama.'  much  damage  to  the  shipping  of  the  Northerners  before 
she  was  sunk  by  one  of  their  men-of-war.  Naturally  her  ravages  caused 
great  exasperation  against  Great  Britain,  and  in  1872,  long  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  war,  Mr.  Gladstone  was  obliged  to  submit  the  matter 
to  arbitration,  with  the  result  that  Great  Britain  had  to  pay  no  less  than 
£3,000,000  damages  to  the  United  States  for  the  negligence  of  Lord 
Palmerston's  government  and  the  action  of  the  shipbuilders.  In  the  end 
the  Northerners  defeated  the  Southerners  owing  to  their  greater  num- 
bers, their  greater  wealth,  and  their  ability  to  establish  a  navy  which 
gave  them  the  command  of  the  sea,  which  enabled  them  to  paralyse  the 
commerce  of  the  Southerners,  and  to  use  the  sea-coast  as  a  basis  for 
military  operations,  advantages  of  which  full  use  was  made  by  the 
dogged  determination  of  President  Lincoln  and  the  military  skill  of 
General  Grant.  During  the  war  the  slaves  of  the  southern  states  were 
declared  by  the  Federal  Congress  to  be  free,  and  since  then  the 
negroes  of  the  United  States  have  had  in  law  the  same  rights  as 
their  fellow-citizens.  In  some  states  they  even  form  the  majority  of 
the  population,  and  the  future  relation  of  the  negroes  and  whites  is  a 
problem  that  will  some  day  require  solution  at  the  hands  of  the  United 
States. 

Lord  Palmerston's  last  ministry  also  saw  a  distinct  step  taken  in  the 

direction  of  German  unity.      The  Napoleonic  wars  had  given  a  great 

stimulus   to   the   idea   of   a   united   Germany,   partly   by 

Germany.  •  ,        ^  y  5    r        J        J 

accustoming  the  Germans  to  act  together  m  great  con- 
federations, partly  by  the  national  feeling  excited  by  the  war  of 
liberation,  partly  by  impressing  on  men's  minds  that,  so  long  as 
Germany  was  disunited,  she  was  in  constant  danger  of  French  inter- 
ference. Accordingly,  ever  since  1814,  many  of  the  best  statesmen  of 
Germany,  and  an  increasing  number  of  the  most  energetic  and  intellectual 
minds  in  the  country,  had  earnestly  wished  to  see  the  Germans  united 
into  one  political  community  instead  of  being  divided  into  a  number  of 
small  and  often  hostile  states.  The  spirit  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  how- 
ever, which  was  dominant  in  the  small  courts,  was  bitterly  hostile  to 
the  movement  ;  and  the  independent  advocates  of  German  unity  had 
almost  as  much  persecution  to  undergo  as  the  followers  of  Mazzini  in 
Italy.  Nevertheless,  in  1834,  a  move  in  the  direction  of  unity  was 
made  by  uniting  all  Germany  into  a  Zolherein,  or  customs  union  ;  and 


1866  Falmerston  1001 

the  revolutionary  year  of  1848,  when  the  king  of  Prussia  was  actually 
invited  to  take  the  title  of  German  emperor,  gave  a  further  impetus  to 
the  movement.  So  long,  however,  as  Austria  was  the  dominant  state, 
little  could  be  done  ;  and  France  naturally  viewed  with  jealousy  any 
change  which  was  likely  to  make  Germany  stronger.  The  position, 
however,  of  Austria  was  now  disputed  by  Prussia.  Since  the  death  of 
Frederick  ii.,  the  personal  feebleness  of  the  kings  of  Prussia  had  been  a 
great  bar  to  the  progress  of  that  state  ;  but  in  1861  William  i.,  a  really 
strong  man,  succeeded  his  brother  as  king  of  Prussia  ;  and  he  immedi- 
ately chose  Bismarck,  a  man  of  great  strength  of  character  and  of  enor- 
mous energy,  for  his  chief  adviser.  These  great  men  saw  that  the  true 
road  to  German  unity  lay  in  making  Prussia  the  leading  state,  and  they 
steadily  worked  for  that  purpose.  On  his  side  the  king  devoted  immense 
attention  to  the  army.  He  was  the  first  European  sovereign  to  arm  his 
troops  with  the  breechloader,  and  he  endeavoured  to  give  the  Prussian 
army  not  only  the  fullest  benefit  of  modern  scientific  appliances,  but  also 
of  the  most  advanced  ideas  on  the  art  of  war.  In  this  he  was  assisted  by 
Count  von  Moltke,  an  admirable  general.  Meanwhile,  Bismarck  devoted 
himself  to  diplomacy  and  to  trying  to  accustom  the  small  states  to  look  up 
to  Prussia  and  not  to  Austria  as  the  leader  of  German  opinion.  The  result 
of  the  joint  eff'orts  of  William,  Bismarck,  and  Moltke  was  seen  in  1864, 
when  Prussia  appeared  as  the  colleague  of  Austria  in  enforcing  the 
claims  of  Germany  to  the  duchies  of  Holstein  and  Schles-  ^he  Danish 
wick,  which  had  long  been  in  the  hands  of  Denmark.  In  War. 
this  quarrel  Denmark  was  in  the  wrong  ;  but  much  enthusiasm  was 
excited  in  England  by  the  stout  resistance  made  by  the  Danes,  especially 
as  the  Prince  of  Wales  had  the  year  before  married  the  Princess 
Alexandra,  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Denmark.  There  was,  however,  no 
legitimate  ground  for  interference.  The  Danish  war  showed  careful 
observers  how  great  was  the  improvement  made  by  the  Prussian  army  ; 
and  when,  in  1866,  the  Austrians,  Bavarians,  Hanoverians,  and  other 
German  states  attacked  Prussia,  the  Prussians,  with  their   _.      .     ^ 

'  '  The  Austro- 

breechloaders  and  modern  methods,  not  only  beat  the  brave    Prussian 

War. 

but  out-generalled  Austrians  in  the  campaign  which  ended 
at  the  battle  of  Sadowa  or  Koniggratz,  but  also  defeated  the  Hanoverians 
and  Bavarians.  The  result  of  this  war  was  to  make  the  Prussians  the 
undisputed  leaders  of  a  new  German  confederation,  from  which  Austria 
was  excluded  ;  while  so  great  was  their  military  efficiency  that  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  did  not  dare  to  interfere  till  he  had  armed  his 
soldiers  with  breechloading  rifles.  While  the  Austrians  were  at  war 
with  the  Prussians  they  were  also  attacked  by  the  Italians  ;  and  though 


1002  Victoria  1865 

they  were  victorious  in  the  battle  of  Custozza,  so  serious  were  their 
defeats  in  Germany  that  they  purchased  peace  in  Italy  by  the  virtual 
surrender  of  Venetia  to  Victor  Emmanuel. 

These  European  wars  had  the  eflfect  of  causing  a  considerable  feeling 
of  anxiety  in  England.  It  was  known  that  our  regular  army  was  very 
The  small   in   comparison  with  the  huge  armies  of  the  great 

Volunteers,  continental  states.  Accordingly  some  patriotic  men  set  on 
foot  a  movement  for  supplementing  the  regular  army  and  militia  by 
increasing  the  number  of  volunteer  soldiers,  who,  without  giving  up  their 
ordinary  avocations,  should  be  regularly  drilled,  armed,  and  disciplined 
to  act  as  an  additional  force  in  case  of  invasion.  The  proposal  proved 
to  be  extremely  popular.  Though  at  first  looked  on  somewhat  askance 
by  the  regular  soldiers,  it  gradually  secured  greater  recognition  ;  and  in 
time  the  volunteer  regiments  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  very  impor- 
tant element  in  our  system  of  defence,  and  as  a  valuable  means  of  moral 
discipline  and  physical  training  for  the  young  men  of  our  great  cities 
and  towns. 

In  1865  a  general  election  had  been  held.  It  produced  no  great 
excitement ;  and  its  chief  incident  was  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Gladstone  for 
^^   „         ,    the   University   of    Oxford,   and  his   election    for    South 

The  General  .  "^  ' 

Election         Lancashire.     This  event,  which  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
^'  turning-point  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  career,  marks  the  close  of 

the  first  thirty-three  years  of  his  political  history,  during  twenty-seven 
of  which,  as  a  Conservative  and  a  Peelite,  he  had  been  regarded  as  a 
strong  supporter  of  what  were  thought  to  be  the  interests  of  the  Church, 
and  of  Conservative  principles  in  all  other  matters  than  Free-trade. 
During  six  years  he  had  been  a  member  of  Lord  Palmerston's  govern- 
ment ;  and  his  defeat  for  Oxford  and  return  for  a  popular  constituency 
mark  definitely  the  beginning  of  a  second  period  of  nearly  twenty  years, 
during  which  he  acted  as  the  recognised  leader  of  a  united  Liberal 
party. 

In  October  1865  Lord  Palmerston  died ;  and  as  his  death  had  been 
preceded  by  those  of  Cobden,  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis,  Sir  James 
Graham,    and    Lord    Herbert    of   Lea   (formerly   Sidney 
Lord  Herbert),  room  was  made  for  new  actors  on  the  political 

a  mers  on.  ^^.^^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^f  greater  activity  began.  The  death  of 
Lord  Palmerston  brings  to  a  close  a  period  which  may  be  said  to  have 
begun  in  1841  with  the  first  ministry  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  It  was  a 
period  when  many  useful  measures  were  passed,  and  had  witnessed  an 
immense  change  in  our  national  life.  At  home,  the  establishment  on  a 
large  scale  of  our  railway  and  steamboat  systems,  the  introduction  of  the 


1865  Palmer sf  on  1003 

penny  post  and  electric  telegraph,  the  advance  of  all  forms  of  education, 
the  multiplication  of  cheap  newspapers,  had  led  to  a  widening  of  the 
area  of  intelligent  thought  that  went  to  form  public  opinion.  Abroad, 
the  same  period  had  seen  the  completion  of  our  Indian  empire,  the  grant 
of  self-government  to  our  distant  colonies,  which  tends  to  make  them  the 
colleagues  rather  than  the  pupils  of  Great  Britain  in  the  government  of 
the  empire  ;  while  the  increased  facilities  of  conmiunication  helped  to 
check  the  tendency  to  separation  which  distance  created,  and  fostered 
a  sentiment  of  common  interest  and  common  aspirations,  which  were 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  unity  of  the  empire. 


CHIEF  DATES. 

A.D. 

Penny  Postage  adopted, 1839 

Great  Secession  from  the  Scottish  Church,  1843 

Com  Laws  repealed, 1846 

Annexation  of  the  Punjab,                         .  1849 

Australian  Colonies  become  self-governing,  1860 

Russian  War, 1854-1866 

Indian  Mutiny, 1867 

Death  of  the  Prince  Consort,    ....  1861 


CHAPTEK    VI 

VICTORIA:  1865- 

PART  II 

CHIEF  CONTEMPORARY  PRINCES  AND  GOVERNMENTS 

France.                                 Germany.  Italy. 

Napoleon  iir.,            William  (King  of  Prussia,  Victor  Emmanuel, 

deposed  1870.               1861-1871),  German  Em-  d.  1878. 

Republic,  1870-             peror,  1871-1889.  Humbert,  1878- 
Frederick,  d.  1889. 
William  ii.,  1889- 

House  Suffrage  granted  to  the  Towns — Great  Legislative  Activity  under  Glad- 
stone—The Russo-Turkish  War— Gladstone's  Ministry  of  1880  to  1885— The 
Irish  Question— The  Occupation  of  Egypt— Lowering  of  the  County  Franchise 
— Home  Rule  adopted  by  Mr.  Gladstone— Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  carry 
his  Views  into  Effect — Extension  of  Popular  Government  to  Counties  and 
Parishes — Problems  of  the  Future— Conclusion. 

On  Lord  Palmerston's  death  the  post  of  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  was 
taken  by  Earl  (formerly  Lord  John)  Russell.  He  made  no  important 
changes  in  the  cabinet,  but  places  in  the  government  were  found  for 
W.  E.  Forster  and  G.  J.  Goschen,  both  of  whom  lived  to  play  a  con- 
siderable part  in  the  history  of  the  country  ;  and  the  appearance  of 
Mr.  Gladstone  as  the  recognised  leader  of  strong  Liberal  opinion  in  the 
House  of  Commons  showed  that  a  new  era  was  beginning. 

For  some  time  the  attention  of  the  ministers  was  engrossed  by  the 
Jamaica  agitation.  This  movement  arose  out  of  the  extraordinary 
The  Jamaica  severity  and  contempt  for  legality  with  which  the  Jamaica 
Agitation.  authorities,  under  Governor  Eyre,  had  punished  a  negro 
riot  in  that  country.  The  colonial  office  at  once  suspended  Mr.  Eyre  ; 
but  the  attempt  of  a  private  association  to  convict  him  of  murder  failed  ; 
and  eventually  the  expenses  he  had  incurred  in  defending  himself  were 
paid  in  1872  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  government. 

1004 


1867  Russell— Derby  1005 

Lord  Palmerston  had  never  been  an  ardent  advocate  of  parliamentary 
reform ;  and  so  long  as  he  lived,  the  government  had  been  content  to 
leave  the  matter  to  the  advocacy  of  private  members  of  par- 
liament ;  but  the  election  of  1865  had  revealed  the  existence   second 
of  a  strong  feeling  in  favour  of  an  extension  of  the  franchise  ;       •"'^try. 
and  in  1866  the  government  measure  of  reform  was  introduced  by  Mr. 
Gladstone.     The  bill,  which  proposed  to  lower  the  county   The  whig 
franchise  to  £14  and  the  borough  franchise  to  £1,  was  a    Reform  Bill, 
moderate  measure,  based  on  no  definite  principle,  and  therefore  it  pleased 
nobody.    It  was  disliked  by  John  Bright  and  the  Radicals  because  it  did 
not  go  far  enough,  and  by  the  Conservatives  and  moderate  Whigs  because 
it  went  too  far.     The  Whig  opposition  was  led  by  Mr.  Robert  Lowe, 
who  had  been  vice-president  of  the  council  under  Lord  Palmerston. 
He  collected  round  him  a  small  but  able  band  of  followers,  who  were 
likened    by   Mr.    Bright  to   the    discontented   jDersons  whom    David 
gathered  together   in  the   cave   of  Adullam,   and  were   hence    called 
the   AduUamites.      This   band    numbered  about  thirty  ;    and  in  the 
committee  stage  of  the  bill  the  government  was  defeated  on  a  motion 
brought  forward  by  one  of  them,  Lord  Dunkellin,  that  rating  valuation, 
not  rental,  should  be  taken  as  the  basis  for  the  franchise.     This  was  in 
June  1866  ;  and  on  the  resignation  of  the  government  Lord        h  n    ^  ' 
Derby  again  took  office,  with  Mr.  Disraeli  as  chancellor  of  third 
the  exchequer  and  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons.     As      *"*^*''y- 
yet  no  special  enthusiasm  for  reform  had  been  shown,  but  during  the 
autumn  two  events  gave  a  marked  impetus  to  the  progress  of  the  reform 
movement.     One  of  these  was  the  holding  of  a  large  meeting  in  Hyde 
Park  in  favour  of  reform,  which  ended  in  a  riot  in  which  many  hundred 
yards  of  railings  were   torn  down.     The  other  was  a  speech  by  Mr. 
Gladstone,  in  which  he  asked  the  pertinent  question — 'Are  not  they 
(the  non-voters)  our  own  flesh  and  blood?'     The  phrase  spread  like 
wildfire,  and  undoubtedly  had  great  efi"ect  in  determining  the  views  of 
the  country. 

Accordingly,  when  parliament  met  in  1867,  there  was  a  strong  feeling 
that  the  question  ought  to  be  settled  as  soon  as  possible.  Mr.  Disraeli 
had  himself  made  up  his  mind  to  go  a  long  way,  and,  as  he 
said,  had  been  '  educating  his  party  for  the  effort.'  After  servative 
some  hesitation,  Mr.  Disraeli  introduced  a  bill  which  went  ^  °^"^  ^  ' 
a  step  farther  than  that  of  the  late  government,  lowering  the  franchise 
to  £10  and  £6  respectively.  Mr.  Disraeli  had  not  secured  its  acceptance 
without  difficulty,  and  Lord  Cranborne  (afterwards  marquess  of  Salis- 
bury) and  Lord  Carnarvon  resigned  their  posts  rather  than  agree  to  it. 


1006  Victoria  1867 

Nevertheless,  Mr.  Disraeli  persevered,  aud  when  he  found  that  his  bill 
did  not  give  satisfaction,  decided  to  '  dish  the  Whigs '  once  for  all  by 
Household  proposing  household  suffrage  in  the  towns,  and  ^12  in  the 
Suffrage,  counties.  Household  suffrage  having  been  proposed  by  the 
Conservatives,  it  was  impossible  for  the  Whigs  to  resist  it,  and  the 
measure  passed  by  large  majorities  in  the  Commons.  In  the  Lords, 
Earl  Derby  described  it  '  a  leap  in  the  dark,'  but  his  followers  accepted 
the  plan  without  much  demur.  A  Distribution  of  Seats  Bill  followed, 
by  which,  following  the  precedent  of  1832,  eleven  boroughs  were  dis- 
franchised, and  one  member  taken  from  thirty-five  others  having  less 
than  10,000  inhabitants.  By  this  means  additional  members  were  given 
to  large  towns  and  to  populous  counties. 

While  the  attention  of  Great  Britain  was  concentrated  on  parliamentary 
reform,  an  act  was  passed  through  parliament  which  was  to  have  the 
most  far-reaching  consequences  in  the  future.  This  was 
Canadian  ^-he  Canadian  Federation  Act,  which  enabled  the  scattered 
Federation  British  colonies  of  North  America  to  form  themselves  into 
a  federation  under  the  title  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 
This  was  based  on  the  principle  that  the  local  affairs  of  each  colony  were 
to  be  under  the  management  of  its  own  local  assembly,  but  that  the 
affairs  which  touched  the  general  interests  of  the  colonies  should  be 
managed  by  a  Dominion  parliament  at  Ottawa,  to  which  a  Dominion 
cabinet  should  be  responsible.  The  new  Dominion  included  Canada 
proper.  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  to  which  were  subsequently  added 
the  old  Hudson's  Bay  Territory,  now  known  as  Manitoba,  and  British 
Columbia.  This  great  change  has  had  enormous  influence  in  Canada.  The 
necessity  for  wide  views,  and  the  consideration  of  conflicting  interests,  has 
almost  eradicated  in  Canada  the  provincial  spirit,  the  existence  of  which 
has  such  a  dangerous  tendency  to  make  small  and  distant  communities 
prefer  their  petty  interests  to  the  good  of  the  greater  community  of 
which  they  form  a  part,  and  has  already  produced  several  Canadian 
statesmen,  such  as  the  late  Sir  John  Macdonald,  of  whom  any  country 
might  be  proud.  Its  success  has  encouraged  other  parts  of  the  empire 
to  consider  the  advisability  of  taking  a  similar  step.  Already  proposals 
are  under  consideration  for  the  federation  of  the  Australian  colonies, 
and  at  no  distant  day  the  South  African  colonies  will  follow  suit,  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  whole  empire. 

As  is  usual  with  great  events,  the  Canadian  Federation  Act  attracted, 
at  the  time,  less  interest  than  a  petty  war  which  Lord  Derby's 
government  were  forced  to  undertake  against  King  Theodore  of  Abyssinia, 
who  had  imprisoned  certain  missionaries  and  travellers  at  his  capital, 


1869  Disraeli — Gladdone  1007 

Magdala.     An  expedition  composed  of  British  and  Indian  troops  was 

sent,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Robert  Napier  (afterwards  Lord  Napier 

of  Magdala),  and,  after  a  difficult  march,  Theodore's  army 

was  defeated,  and  Magdala  stormed.      Theodore  died  by   Abyssinian 

his  own  hand,  and  was  succeeded    by  his  relative  John.      ^^^ 

The    British   brought    away    King    Theodore's    only    legitimate    son, 

Alamayu,  and  he  lived  in  England  till  his  death  in  1879. 

Meanwhile  the  state  of  Ireland  had  again  begun  to  attract  attention. 
After  the  failure  of  the  insurrection  of  1848  there  was  a  cessation  of 
plotting  for  some  years  ;  but,  in  1859,  the  Phcenix  Club  was  .     . 

founded  by  O'Donovan  Rossa  and  Stephens.  This  became 
the  nucleus  of  Fenianism,  a  name  taken  from  the  semi-mythical  followers 
of  an  Irish  king.  At  first  this  movement  was  unimportant,  and  though 
Rossa  was  tried  for  plotting  and  convicted,  he  was  released  ;  but  after 
the  close  of  the  American  Civil  War  it  became  much  more  serious. 
Irishmen  had  taken  a  distinguished  part  on  both  sides,  and  when  the 
armies  were  disbanded  the  Fenian  leaders  hoped  to  enlist  the  services  of 
the  Irish- American  soldiers  for  service  against  the  British  government. 
During  1866  and  1867  there  was  considerable  danger  of  this  being 
effected  ;  but,  in  the  spring  of  1867,  a  feeble  attempt  at  rising  in  Ireland 
showed  the  hopeless  weakness  of  the  insurgents.  Plotting,  however,  did 
not  stop,  and  in  December  of  the  same  year  some  Fenians,  hoping  to 
rescue  an  imprisoned  comrade,  blew  up  the  wall  of  Clerkenwell  Prison 
with  gunpowder,  and  caused  an  explosion  which  destroyed  no  less  than 
twelve  lives.  On  this  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  described  the  Clerkenwell 
explosion  as  the  *  ringing  of  the  chapel  bell,'  which  summoned  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people,  decided  to  take  up  the  cause  of  Ireland. 

The  first  grievance  he  proposed  to  deal  with  was  the  Irish  Church. 
This  body  had  been  reformed  in  1833,  but  it  was  as  unpopular  as  ever 
with  the  Roman  Catholics,  especially  with  the  priests,  who  The  Irish 
regarded  its  existence  as  a  state  establishment  as  an  insult  Church, 
to  their  creed  and  nation.  When  Pitt  had  had  to  consider  this  grievance, 
he  had  proposed  to  settle  it  by  a  system  of  concurrent  endowment,  which 
should  not  only  amount  to  a  state  recognition  of  the  work  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  priests,  but  should  also  do  away  with  the  somewhat  sordid,  if 
natural,  jealousy  with  which  the  poor  church  of  the  majority  must  regard 
the  highly  endowed  church  of  the  minority.  Mr.  Gladstone's  plan  was 
different.  He  proposed  to  produce  equality  by  disestablishing  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church  of  Ireland  and  depriving  her  of  the  greater 
part  of  her  endowments ;  by  depriving  the  Irish  Presbyterians  of  the 
Beg  mm  Donuin,  a  state  grant  they  had  enjoyed  since   the  time   of 


1008  Victoria  1869 

William  iii.,  and  by  taking  away  from  the  Roman  Catholics  the  state 
grant  to  their  college  of  Maynooth.  This  plan  was  in  accordance  with 
a  feeling  that  had  grown  up  since  Pitt's  time  in  the  minds  of  many 
Liberals,  and  of  most  Nonconformists,  that  the  maintenance  of  any  church 
by  public  money  was  undesirable.  Accordingly  Mr.  Gladstone's  plan 
was  accepted  by  the  Liberal  party  ;  and,  in  1868,  he  carried  against  the 
government  a  resolution  in  favour  of  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish 
Church.  Mr.  Disraeli,  who  had  become  prime  minister  in  February 
1868,  when  the  ill-health  of  Lord  Derby  forced  him  to  resign,  imme- 
diately tendered  his  resignation,  but  was  persuaded  to  remain  in  office 
till  the  impending  general  election  should  show  the  views  of  the  country. 
The  election  of  1868  was  fought  mainly  on  the  Irish  Church  question. 
It  resulted  in  a  decisive  victory  for  the  Liberals,  who  carried  393  seats 
A  General  against  265  held  by  the  Conservatives,  and  Mr.  Disraeli 
Election.  ^^  ^^^^  resigned.  His  place  was  taken  by  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  became  first  lord  of  the   treasury,  surrounded  by  a  band  of  re- 

^,   ^  markably  able  colleagues.     Among  them  were  Lord  Gran- 

Gladstone's  J  »  & 

first  ville,  foreign  secretary  ;  Cardwell,  who  like  Mr.  Gladstone 

inis  ry.  ^^^  ^qqh,  a  Conservative  and  a  Peelite,  secretary  for  war ; 
Robert  Lowe,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  John  Bright,  president  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  ;  W.  E.  Forster,  vice-president  of  the  council  and 
practically  minister  of  education  ;  G.  J.  Goschen,  president  of  the  Poor 
Law  Board,  afterwards  first  lord  of  the  admiralty,  and  others. 

When  parliament  met  in  1869  the  government  at  once  brought  in  a 
bill  for  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  based  on  Mr. 
Irish  Gladstone's  proposals.     By  this  the  Irish  Church  became  a 

Church  Act.  ^^^^  Episcopal  Church,  and  its  bishops  ceased  to  sit  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  The  fabrics  of  the  churches  and  cathedrals,  and  all 
private  endowments  given  since  1660,  were  allowed  to  be  retained  by  the 
new  Church.  After  compensation  to  the  clergy  and  church  officials  for 
their  life-interest,  the  remaining  funds  were  to  be  applied,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  government  of  the  day,  to  the  relief  of  unavoidable  suffer- 
ing. The  bill  passed  the  House  of  Commons  easily,  and  though 
vigorously  contested  in  the  Lords,  its  second  reading  was  passed  there 
by  179  to  146,  and  the  bill  became  law. 

The  year   1870  was   chiefly  given  to  legislating  on  another  Irish 

grievance,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  many  acute  observers,   occupied  a 

.  larger  space  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish  people  than  that  to 

Land  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  given  his  first  attention.     This 

Question.       ^^^  ^^^  j^^^  question.     To  understand  this  most  difficult 

and  thorny  subject,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  bear  in  mind   two 


1870  Gladstone  1009 

essential  points  :  first,  that  from  time  immemorial  it  has  been  the  general 
practice  in  Ireland  that  land  should  be  let,  not  as  in  England,  properly- 
fenced,  drained,  and  provided  with  farm  buildings  at  the  expense  of  the 
landlord  (see  page  260),  but  in  its  natural  state — buildings,  fencing, 
and  draining  being  done  subsequently  by  the  tenant,  by  his  own  labour, 
or  at  his  own  expense.  The  second  point  is  that,  whereas  in  England 
farming  is  one  among  a  number  of  other  industries,  in  the  greater  part 
of  Ireland  it  is  practically  the  only  industry,  and  also  that  the  Irish  have 
inbred  in  them  a  keen  desire  to  occupy  land  to  which  there  is  hardly 
anything  analogous  in  England,  though  it  exists  to  some  extent  in  the 
agricultural  parts  of  Wales.  The  consequence  is  that  an  Irish  peasant 
is  more  prone  than  an  Englishman  or  Scotsman  to  ofter  a  rent  which 
he  cannot  reasonably  expect  to  pay.  Another  peculiarity  of  the 
Irish  farmers  was  a  widespread  desire  to  break  up  their  farms  by 
giving  sections  to  their  sons  during  the  lifetime  of  the  father,  and  so 
to  create  tenancies  too  small  to  support  a  family  in  reasonable  com- 
fort. These  peculiarities  of  the  Irish  land  question  had  been  com- 
])aratively  unimportant  till  the  operation  of  the  Encumbered  Estates 
Act  (see  page  972)  had  replaced  many  of  the  old  Irish  landlords — who, 
with  all  their  faults,  had  understood  and  sympathised  with  the  ideas  of 
their  tenants — by  a  new  class  of  landholders,  accustomed  to  English  ideas 
of  rent  and  ftirming,  who  had  often  been  induced  to  purchase  the  pro- 
perty by  the  statement  that  the  present  rents  were  too  low  and  could 
easily  be  raised.  Both  the  virtues  and  faults  of  the  new-comers  led  to 
trouble.  Their  attempts  to  introduce  a  higher  standard  of  cultivation 
and  improved  methods  of  using  land  were  resented,  and  their  attempts 
to  raise  rents  to  what  seemed  to  them  the  commercial  value  of  the  lanrl, 
and  the  evictions  to  which  these  led,  sometimes  produced  bloody  reprisals. 
In  Ulster,  however,  the  presence  of  manufactures,  and  the  thrifty  and 
indejiendent  character  of  the  farmers  of  Scotch  and  English  descent,  had 
introduced  a  modification  of  great  value,  called  the  Ulster  custom  of 
tenant-right,  by  which  the  interest  of  the  farmer  in  the  farm,  caused  by 
his  having  made  or  paid  for  improvements,  was  recognised,  and  a  tenant, 
on  leaving  his  property,  received  the  value  of  his  tenant-right.  The 
plan,  however,  though  customary,  was  not  recognised  by  law ;  and  an 
attempt  to  get  it  legalised,  made  by  Mr.  Harman  Crawford  in  1852,  was 
defeated.  In  1860  Lord  Palmerston's  government  took  a  step  in  exactly 
the  opposite  direction,  by  endeavouring  to  assimilate  the  Irish  to  the 
Eno-lish  system.  Palmerston  himself  had  declared  that,  in  his  opinion, 
'  tenant-right  meant  landlord's  wrong,'  and  an  act  was  passed  by  which 
for  the  future  the  relations  between  landlord  and  tenant  were  to  be  based, 

3s 


1010  Victoria  1870 

not  on  custom  or  common  law,  but  on  contract.  From  an  Irish  point  of 
view  this  made  matters  worse  than  ever  ;  and  in  1870  Mr.  Gladstone's 
government  repealed  Lord  Palmerston's  act,  and  passed  another  by  which 
An  Irish  the  Ulster  tenant-right,  and  similar  customs  in  other  parts 
Land  Act.  ^f  Ireland,  received  a  legal  status.  New  rights  were  given 
to  tenants  with  reference  to  compensation  for  disturbance  for  other 
causes  than  non-payment  of  rents,  and  on  the  termination  of  a  tenancy 
compensation  was  given  for  improvements.  In  deference  to  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Bright,  who  believed  that  the  real  solution  of  the  Irish  land 
question  was  to  be  found  in  the  creation  of  peasant-proprietors,  a  clause 
was  added  by  which  the  government  could  advance  money  on  loan  to 
tenants  who,  with  the  consent  of  their  landlords,  were  desirous  of  pur- 
chasing their  farms.  The  weak  point  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  act  was  that  it 
made  no  provision  to  prevent  a  landlord  raising  the  rent  as  the  tenant's 
improvements  made  his  holding  more  valuable,  and  ultimately  of  evicting 
the  tenant  if  he  could  not  pay — in  which  case,  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  arrange- 
ment, the  tenant  lost  the  whole  value  of  his  interest  in  his  holding. 
This  omission  went  far  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  act,  and  to  falsify 
Mr.  Gladstone's  confident  assurances  that  the  Church  and  Land  Acts 
between  them  would  settle  the  Irish  question. 

While  Mr.  Gladstone  was  legislating  for  Ireland,  Mr.  Forster  had 
passed  through  parliament  the  Elementary  Education  Act,  the  import- 
ance of  which  it  is  difficult  to  over-estimate,  as  it  set  on  foot  a 
Education  national  system  of  elementary  national  education.  Since  the 
first  education  grant  was  made  in  1833,  it  became  increas- 
ingly evident  that,  if  the  work  of  education  was  to  be  carried  on  effec- 
tively, especially  in  populous  districts,  some  system  of  state  schools 
would  have  to  be  introduced.  The  prospect,  however,  excited  a  great 
deal  of  opposition — partly  from  Dissenters,  who  feared  that  in  some 
way  or  other  the  new  schools  would  be  used  to  further  the  interests  of 
the  church  ;  partly  from  those  who  thought  that  the  provision  of  educa- 
tion formed  no  part  of  the  functions  of  government.  Nevertheless,  the 
work  of  the  education  committee  steadily  grew.  Between  1833  and  1839 
the  education  grant  had  been  administered  by  the  Treasury,  but  in  the 
latter  year  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  the  Privy  Council, 
presided  over  by  the  vice-president.  At  the  same  time  it  was  enacted 
that  the  grant  might  be  used,  not  only  to  aid  in  the  erection  of  new 
schools,  to  which  it  had  been  limited  in  1833,  but  also  to  the  main- 
tenance of  existing  schools,  it  being  stipulated,  however,  that  such 
schools  were  to  be  subject  to  government  inspection.  In  1846  one  of  its 
minutes  defined  their  grants  as  of  three  kinds  :  (1)  to  training  colleges ; 


1871  Gladstone  1011 

(2)  for  the  building  of  new  schools  ;  (3)  annual  grants  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  existing  schools.  In  practice  the  maintenance  grants  were  paid 
in  teachers'  salaries.  This  practice  proved  more  expensive  than  efficient. 
In  1839  the  parliamentary  grant  was  £30,000.  In  1859-60  it  was  over 
a  million  ;  while  a  commission  held  in  that  year  reported  that  the  teach- 
ing was  often  very  bad.  Consequently,  in  1862  Mr.  Kobert  Lowe,  when 
vice-president  of  the  council,  issued  a  revised  code  of  instruction,  and  also 
devised  the  policy  of  making  the  annual  grant  depend  on  the  success  of 
the  scholars  in  the  annual  inspection — a  method  defined  by  him  as 
'  payment  by  results.'  This  had  the  effect  of  checking  the  rapidity  of 
the  increase,  and  in  1870  the  grant  had  only  increased  to  £1,225,000. 

Mr.  Forster's  plan  was  to  allow  any  district  to  elect  a  school  board, 
which  should  have  the  power  to  levy  a  rate,  and  to  spend  it  either 
in  aiding  existing  schools,  or   in  erecting  and  managing   The  Eie- 
schools  of  their   own.      In  these   Board   Schools   it  was   Education 
enacted  by  the  Cowper-Temple  clause,  that  no  '  catechisms   Act. 
or  distinctive  dogmatic  formularies'  were  to  be  taught.     For  the  pro- 
tection of  Dissenters,  it  was  also  enacted  that  in  all  state-aided  schools 
where  religious  instruction  was  given,  such  instruction  must  be  placed  at  a 
definite  time,  at  the  beginning  or  end  of  school  hours  ;  and  that  no  child 
should  suffer  any  disability  from  being  withdrawn  by  its  parent  from 
such  religious  instruction.     The  bill  was  strongly  opposed  in  detail  by 
the   Birmingham   League — a  body   of  Dissenters   who  held    that    all 
religious  teaching  should  be  excluded  from  Board  Schools  ;    ..  . 
but  on  the  whole,  it  was  received  as  a  satisfactory  settle-    Tests  aboi- 
ment  of  a  very  difficult  question.      By  an  act  passed  in   *^  ^  • 
1871,  the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  thrown  open  to 
Roman   Catholics  and   Protestant  Dissenters   by  the  abolition  of  all 
religious  tests. 

Meanwhile  the  reforming  zeal,  which,  as  in  1832,  had  followed  a 
lowering  of  the  franchise,  showed  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways.  In  1870 
the  majority  of  appointments  in  the  civil  service  were  thrown  open 
to   competition.     In   1871   the   Ballot  Act  was  passed  to 

p  .      .     .,     .  ,  ,.  ,    .,  The  Ballot. 

protect  voters  from  mtimidation  and  to  discourage  bribery, 
by  enabling  them  to  vote  secretly  by  using  an  unsigned  voting  paper 
instead  of  giving  their  votes  verbally  as  heretofore.  This  had  been  one 
of  the  demands  of  the  Chartists,  and  bills  to  establish  it  had  several 
times  been  passed  by  the  Commons,  but  hitherto  had  been  rejected  by 
the  Lords.  In  1858  another  of  the  Chartist  demands  had  been  granted 
by  the  abolition  of  the  property  qualification  for  members  of  parlia- 
ment. 


1012  Victoria  1871 

Ever  since  the  Crimean  war  a  strong  feeling  had  been  growing  up  that 
the  purchase  system,  by  which  commissions  in  the  army  were  bought  and 
y^r^y  sold,  was  unsatisfactory.     By  this  plan  a  man  who  held  a 

Purchase,  lieutenant's  commission  had,  on  becoming  by  seniority 
entitled  to  a  captain's  commission,  to  purchase  it  at  a  price,  the  minimum 
of  which  was  fixed,  but  the  maximum  varied  in  different  regiments. 
The  system  worked  as  a  hindrance  to  poor  men  either  entering  the  army 
or  rising  in  it ;  while  rich  officers  not  only  bought  their  commissions  with 
ease,  but  by  a  system  of  purchasing  exchanges  from  one  regiment  to 
another,  were  able  to  secure  rapid  promotion.  Wellington,  for  example, 
was  a  lieutenant- colonel  at  twenty-three,  a  rank  only  reached  by  Sir  Colin 
Campbell  after  twenty-seven  years  of  distinguished  service.  The  system, 
however,  had  many  defenders,  mainly  on  the  ground  that,  having  not 
worked  so  badly  in  practice  as  might  be  expected  in  theory,  it  was  inad- 
visable to  change  it  for  some  untried  plan.  Nevertheless,  in  1871 
Mr.  Cardwell  passed  a  bill  through  the  House  of  Commons  for  the 
regulation  of  the  army,  of  which  the  abolition  of  purchase  formed  part. 
The  purchase  section  was,  however,  thrown  out  by  the  Lords,  upon 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  advised  the  queen  to  cancel  the  royal  warrant 
which  authorised  the  purchase  of  commissions.  This  the  queen  did,  and 
the  Lords  then  agreed  to  the  bill,  which  contained  a  provision  for  the 
compensation  of  those  officers  who  lost  by  the  measure.  The  abolition 
of  purchase  formed  only  one  part  of  a  general  system  of  army  reform 
initiated  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  government.  In  1870  an  Army  Enlistment 
Act  was  passed,  by  which  men,  instead  of  pledging  themselves  to  twenty- 
Short  ^^^  years'  actual  service,  were  allowed  to  offer  themselves  for 
Service.  j^  term  of  six  years'  regimental  service,  and  a  further  period 
of  six  years  in  the  reserve.  The  same  year,  by  an  order  in  council,  the 
commander-in-chief  was  placed  under  the  authority  of  the  secretary  of 
state  for  war,  a  regulation  which  did  away  with  the  division  of  authority 
between  the  Horse  Guards,  as  the  commander-in-chiefs  department  was 
generally  called,  and  the  War  Office,  which  on  many  occasions  had 
been  found  fruitful  of  trouble.  In  1871  the  crown  re-assumed  direct 
control  over  the  militia  and  volunteers,  which  had  been  vested  in  the 
lords-lieutenant  of  counties.  This  made  possible  a  scheme  for  the 
organisation  of  the  regular  infantry,  militia,  and  volunteers  on  a  terri- 
torial basis,  by  which  the  regiments  of  the  regular  infantry  became 
known  by  territorial  titles,  such  as  the  Dorsetshire  or  East  Staffordshire 
regiments,  and  the  militia  and  volunteers  of  each  county  became  bat- 
talions of  the  regiment  named  from  their  districts.  The  advantages 
of  this   plan  were  seriously  diminished   by  the   abolition  of  the   old 


1873  Gladstone  1013 

re^^imental  numbers,  under  which  many  regiments  had  gained  distinction 
in  former  wars,  and  whose  loss  was  regarded  with  regret  not  only  by 
soldiers  but  by  the  country  at  large.  The  abolition  of  purchase,  the  in- 
troduction of  short  service,  and  the  beginning  of  the  territorial  system, 
make  Mr.  Cardwell's  management  of  the  War  Office  a  critical  period  in 
the  history  of  the  British  army. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  government  also  carried  out  an  important  reform 
in  our  judicial  arrangements.  The  gradual  development  from  the  old 
curia  regis  of  the  courts  of  Exchequer,  Common  Pleas,  King's  u-  h 

Bench,  and  Chancery,  had  resulted  in  a  hard  and  fast  line  Court  of 
being  drawn  between  them,  which  often  resulted  in  con- 
siderable inconvenience  to  judges,  barristers,  and  suitors.  It  was  de- 
termined, therefore,  to  unite  them  in  one  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature,  of 
which  the  four  courts  were  to  be  regarded  merely  as  divisions.  For  the 
accommodation  of  the  new  court,  it  was  also  decided  to  build  a  com- 
pletely new  set  of  buildings,  known  as  the  New  Law  Courts.  These 
were  placed  between  Lincoln's  Inn  and  the  Temple,  just  outside  Temple 
Bar  ;  and  the  concentration  of  all  the  civil  courts  under  one  roof  has 
proved  a  great  convenience  to  everybody. 

After  the  church  and  the  land,  the  great  Irish  difficulty  was  the 
question  of  higher  education.  The  Roman  Catholic  clergy  have  always 
held  very  strong  views  as  to  the  undesirabiiity  of  Roman  «,.  ,  •  j^ 
Catholic  students  attending  not  only  colleges  or  universities  University 
where  Protestant  teaching  in  religious  subjects  formed 
part  of  the  course,  but  also  those  from  whose  curriculum  religious 
education  was  altogether  excluded.  What  they  wanted  was  a  Catholic 
university,  where  definite  teaching  of  religion  on  Roman  Catholic  lines 
should  form  part  of  the  ordinary  curriculum  ;  and  in  this  view  the  great 
majority  of  Irish  Roman  Catholics  shared.  No  such  university  existed 
in  Ireland.  Trinity  College  was  definitely  Protestant ;  Maynooth  was 
merely  a  training  college  for  priests,  and  had  just  been  deprived  of  its 
grant.  In  1845  Peel  had  tried  the  experiment  of  founding  university 
colleges  at  Belfast,  Cork,  and  Galway,  under  the  title  of  Queen's 
Colleges.  In  these  the  education  was  to  be  purely  secular.  Unluckily, 
they  were  at  once  branded  as  '  Godless  Colleges,'  and  the  success  they 
achieved  was  not  great.  In  1873  Mr.  Gladstone  brought  forward  his 
solution  of  the  question.  This  was  the  foundation  of  a  national  univer- 
sity for  Ireland,  from  which  the  teaching  of  theology,  moral  philosophy, 
and  history  was  to  be  excluded.  The  plan  pleased  nobody.  It  was  not 
what  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  wanted.  A  university  which  had  no 
place  for  either  theology,  moral  philosophy,  or  history,  was  laughed  at  by 


1014  -  Victoria  1873 

the  Protestants  ;  and,  on  the  second  reading  of  the  bill,  the  government 
was  defeated  by  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  to  two  hundred  and 
eighty-four.  On  this  Mr.  Gladstone  resigned  ;  but,  as  Mr.  Disraeli  had 
no  majority  in  parliament,  he  declined  to  take  office  ;  and,  after  some 
readjustment  of  his  cabinet,  Mr.  Gladstone  resumed  the  reins. 

A    general    election,   however,   could   not  be  long    deferred.      Mr. 
Gladstone's   government  had  lost    twenty-three  seats   since   the    last 

election ;  it  had  brought  forward  or  passed  almost  all  the 
Gladstone       measures   that   had   then   been   before  the  country ;    and 

Mr.  Disraeli  had  jocularly  described  the  occupants  of  the 
Treasury  bench  as  'a  row  of  extinct  volcanoes.'  Accordingly,  in 
January  1874,  Mr.  Gladstone  dissolved  parliament,  announcing  in  his 
election  manifesto  that,  if  he  were  returned  to  office,  the  income  tax 
should  be  abolished.  The  country,  however,  appeared  to  be  tired  of  the 
heroic  legislation  of  the  last  five  years  ;  the  extreme  Nonconformists 
took  little  pains  to  support  the  government,  which  had  ofi'ended  them  by 
its  compromise  on  the  education  question  ;  while  what  Mr.  Disraeli 
had  once  described  as  the  '  harassed  interests '  rallied  vigorously  round 
the  Conservative  banner.  The  result  was  that  Mr.  Disraeli  came  to 
parliament  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  followers,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  at 
once  resigned.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Disraeli  as  prime  minister, 
with  Lord  Derby  foreign  secretary.  Lord  Salisbury  secretary  for  India, 
and  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 

During  Mr.  Gladstone's  ministry  several  events  of  first-rate  importance 
had  occurred  on  the  continent.     In  1870  the  Emperor  of  the  French, 

having  armed  his  troops  with  the  Chassepot  breechloader, 
German  which  had  a  longer  range  than  the  Prussian  needle-gun, 

thought  himself  strong  enough  to  enter  on  a  war  with 
Prussia,  hoping  that,  in  face  of  his  attack,  the  German  confederation  of 
which  Prussia  was  the  head  would  fall  in  pieces,  Bismarck  was  at 
least  as  eager  as  Napoleon  to  fight,  and  with  better  reason,  for  the 
German  states — even  including  Bavaria,  and  the  other  states  which 
had  fought  against  her  in  1866 — remained  true  to  Prussia ;  and 
Napoleon  found  that  he  had  to  do  not  merely  with  Prussia,  but  with  the 
whole  German  nation  outside  Atistria.  Austria  also  remained  neutral. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  invading  Prussia,  he  had  to  stand  on  the  defensive. 
Even  this  did  not  save  him.  The  imperial  rule,  which  had  been  based  on 
a  system  of  corruption  and  intimidation,  proved  to  have  sapped  the  mili- 
tary power  of  France.  The  Germans,  admirably  led  by  King  William  and 
Moltke,  won  victory  after  victory,  and  eventually  forced  the  Emperor  to 
surrender  at  Sedan,    Upon  this  the  French  proclaimed  a  republic ;  but  this 


1874  Gladstone — Disraeli  1015 

failed  to  stay  the  German  march.  Metz  fell ;  Paris  was  besieged,  and  after 
a  defence  of  more  than  four  months,  it  capitulated  to  the  Germans.  Such 
a  glorious  termination  of  a  war — in  which  for  the  first  time  for  centuries 
all  Germans,  outside  the  Austrian  empire,  had  fought  shoulder  to 
shoulder  —  seemed  a  favourable  opportunity  for  putting  the  key- 
stone to  the  slowly-wrought  edifice  of  German  unity.  Accordingly, 
at  the  request  of  the  other  princes.  King  William  took  the  title  of 
German  emperor ;  and  the  German  confederation  was  changed  into  the 
German  empire.  At  the  same  time  France  was  compelled  to  surrender 
the  ancient  German  provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  to  pay 
i;200,000,000  in  gold  as  an  indenmity  to  Germany. 

During  the  war  the  Italians  had  taken  advantage  of  the  weakness  of 
the  French  to  occupy  Rome,  which  henceforth  became  the  capital  of  a 
united  Italy,  and  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope  came  to 
an  end.      The  unification  of  Gennany  and  Italy  are  de- 
cidedly the  two  greatest   European  events  of  modem  times,  and  have 
completely  changed  the  character  of  continental  politics.      During  the 
war  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  which  had  been  guaranteed  in  1839,  was 
in  great  danger  of  being  violated  ;  but  Mr.  Gladstone's  government,  by  a 
vigorous  assertion  of  Great  Britain's  intention  to  maintain  it,    The  Black 
obtained  a  declaration  of  its  inviolability  from  both  the   ^^** 
contending  parties.      Mr.  Gladstone,  however,  was  unable  to  prevent 
Russia  declaring  the  neutrality  of  the  Black  Sea  at  an  end  (see  page  991). 

Out  of  the  war,  also,  arose  a  financial  change,  which  has  since  proved 
of  great  consequence.     For  ages  the  commerce  of  the  civilised  world  has 
been  carried  on  in  gold  and  silver,  some  nations  using  gold 
as   their    standard,    some   silver,  and   some   both.      Great    Currency 
Britain,   for  example,  uses  gold   as   a  standard,  and   has  *°"' 

done  so  since  1816,  the  silver  coins  being  merely  tokens.  France,  since 
1V85,  had  used  both  gold  and  silver,  and  Germany  had  used  silver.  In 
this  way  it  hapjDened  that  a  practical  equilibrium  had  been  maintained 
between  the  purchasing  power  of  gold  and  that  of  silver.  In  1872 
Germany  took  advantage  of  the  French  indemnity  to  issue  a  gold  coinage, 
and  to  make  gold  her  standard  ;  and  in  1873  France  also  ceased,  as 
heretofore,  to  coin  gold  and  silver  indiscriminately,  and  began  to  coin 
gold  only.  The  result  was  to  increase  the  demand  for  gold  and  to 
diminish  that  for  silver.  That  is,  more  goods  had  to  be  given  for  gold 
than  formerly — or,  in  other  words,  a  steady  fall  in  prices  set  in.  This 
was  advantageous  for  all  persons  with  fixed  incomes,  or  who  had  interest 
to  be  paid  to  them  in  gold  ;  but  it  had  a  most  serious  effect  on  all 
manufacturers,  because,  in  dealing  with  silver  countries,  the  silver  prices 


1016  Victoria  i874 

they  had  to  charge  for  their  goods  were  higher  in  order  to  get  the  same 
amount  of  gold  in  return  :  and  also  because  manufacturers  or  producers 
in  silver-using  countries,  such  as  India,  could  afford  to  sell  their  goods  at 
a  lower  rate  in  gold  than  formerly,  thereby  underselling  British  fanners 
in  the  home  market  and  British  manufacturers  in  the  markets  of  other 
countries.  The  difficulty  was  further  aggravated  by  the  opening  up 
about  this  time  of  immense  silver  mines  in  America  and  Australia,  which 
of  course  tended  still  further  to  lower  the  price  of  silver.  This  fall  in 
the  value  of  silver  as  compared  to  gold  has  proved  a  most  serious  matter. 
It  affects  the  whole  relations  between  India,  China,  Japan,  and  the  old 
countries  of  Europe,  and  how  to  deal  with  it  is  one  of  the  most  pressing 
problems  of  the  day. 

The  reforming  zeal  of  the  nation  had  spent  itself  during  the  five  years 
of  Mr.  Gladstone's   administration,  and  under  Mr.  Disraeli  little  was 
Mr.  done  in  the  way  of  domestic  legislation.    In  1875  an  Artisans' 

Seccmd*^  Dwellings  Act  was  passed.  This  act,  though  not  very  for- 
Ministry.  going  in  itsclf,  is  important  because  it  may  be  taken  as 
initiating  a  series  of  social  legislation  in  the  interest  of  the  industrial 
classes,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  striking  feature  of  modern  legislation. 
It  should  be  coupled  with  acts  passed  in  1871  and  1876,  which  removed 
the  last  vestiges  of  the  law  by  which  trades'  unions  were  regarded  as 
in  themselves  illegal  combinations.  In  1875  an  important  step  was 
taken  in  determining  the  relation  of  landlords  and  agricultural  tenants, 
by  which  arrangements  were  made  for  the  compensation  of  out-going 
tenants  for  unexhausted  improvements,  in  cases  where  neither  landlord 
nor  tenant  objected  to  coming  under  the  act.  This  measure  was  merely 
tentative  and  permissive,  but  it  formed  the  starting-point  for  further 
changes. 

The  real  interest  of  the  day  was  given  to  foreign  affairs.     In  1875  an 
insurrection  of  the  Christian  population  of  European  Turkey  broke  out 
in   Herzegovina.      This   created  a  ferment   of  excitement 
Eastern         throughout  the  whole  Turkish  empire,  and  it  became  clear 
Jon.       ^^^^  .^  ^j^^  Turks  did  not  quickly  carry  out  such  reforms  as 
the  Christians  demanded,  there  would  be  a  general  insurrection,  supported 
in  all  probability  by  such  emancipated  provinces  as  Servia,  Montenegro, 
and  Roumania,  and  possibly  by  Russia.     For  Great  Britain,  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  situation  lay  in  the  facts  that  it  was  not  easy  to  coerce 
Turkey  without  giving  a  free  hand  to  Russia,  which  might  result  in  the 
complete  overthrow  of  the  Turkish  empire  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Russians  at  Constantinople ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  it  was  not  easy 
to  keep  back  the  Russians  without  seeming  to  condone  the  evil  govern- 


1876  Disraeli  1017 

ment  of  the  Turks.  At  first  the  best  plan  seemed  to  be  to  secure  the 
co-operation  of  all  the  great  powers  in  enforcing  reform  on  the  Turks  ; 
but  in  1876  Mr.  Disraeli  refused  to  agree  to  what  was  called  the  Berlin 
note,  which  was  presented  to  Turkey  in  the  name  of  the  great  powers, 
and  which  urged  on  her  the  necessity  of  carrying  out  her  promises  of 
reform.  In  this  way  Great  Britain  retained  a  free  hand,  and  avoided 
committing  herself  to  any  definite  line  of  action.  Unfortunately,  almost 
at  the  same  moment,  the  Turks  roused  a  wave  of  indignation  throughout 
Europe  by  the  diabolical  cruelty  with  which  they  put  down  an  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Christians  in  the  province  of  Bulgaria.  This  made  it  even 
more  difficult,  not  only  to  hold  back  Russia  from  independent  action,  but 
also  to  take  any  steps  at  all  without  seeming  to  condone  the  action  of  the 
Turks.  Probably  the  only  really  satisfactory  course  would  have  been  to 
have  sent  an  armed  force  to  Constantinople  and  anticipated  the  designs  of 
Russia  by  ourselves  compelling  the  Turks  to  reform.  Instciid  of  doing 
this,  however,  Mr.  Disraeli  reverted  to  the  idea  of  joint  action,  and  a 
conference  was  held  at  Constantinople  to  again  urge  reform  upon  the 
Turks.  The  Sultan  apparently  acquiesced,  and  even  granted  a  parlia- 
mentary constitution  to  his  subjects,  but  had  no  real  intention  of  doing 
anything. 

The  opportunity  of  advocating  the  cause  of  the  eastern  Christians,  in 
whom  he  had  always  been  interested,  coupled  with  the  hoj^e  of  discredit- 
ing the  Conservative  government,  brought  Mr.  Gladstone  Mr. 
into  the  field.  Little  more  than  a  year  before  he  had  declared  Gladstone, 
his  intention  of  retiring  from  politics  and  had  abandoned  the  leadership 
of  the  Liberal  party  ;  but  in  September  1876  he  again  came  forward,  and 
addressing  a  great  meeting  on  Blacklieath  denounced  the  Turks  with  all 
the  resources  of  his  eloquence  and  advocated  the  grant  of  autonomy  to 
the  Christian  provinces  of  Turkey.  Hitherto,  Mr.  Gladstone's  power 
had  been  chiefly  exercised  in  parliament ;  but  he  now  appeared  as  a 
platform  orator,  and  men  probably  realised  for  the  first  time  what  an 
extraordinary  magnetic  influence  his  personality  and  eloquence  exercised 
over  a  large  body  of  his  countrymen. 

Meanwhile,  to  add   to   Mr.  Disraeli's  difficulties,  the   Servians  and 
Montenegrins,  largely  aided  by  Russian  officers,  declared  war  against 
Turkey  in  June  1876.     The  Turks,  however,  were  excellent 
soldiers,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  defeating  them  in  the  open   outbreak 
field,  but  the  victories  of  the  Turks  roused  stiU  further  the   °  ^^^' 
indignation  of  the  Russians  and  the  Czar  was  implored  to  lead  a  crusade 
against  the  Turks.    Accordingly,  the  Russian  army  was  embodied  and  the 
Turks  were  requested  to  grant  an  armistice  to  the  Servians  and  Monte- 


1018  Victoria  1876 

negrins.  This  was  done,  and  it  was  during  the  armistice  that  the 
conference  was  held  at  Constantinople  ;  but  as  nothing  came  of  it,  the 
Russians,  in  April  1877,  crossed  the  Pruth,  and  passing 
Russians  through  Roumania  invaded  Turkey.  For  a  time  the  Turks 
TuScey  ^&re  successful,  especially  at  the  great  earthworks  of  Plevna, 
in  checking  the  Russian  advance,  but  in  December  Plevna 
was  stormed,  and  the  Russians,  pouring  over  the  Balkans,  threatened  to 
take  Constantinople  itself.  To  stop  this  appeared  essential  to  Mr. 
Disraeli,  who  had  lately  become  Lord  Beaconsfield,  and  therefore,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  resignation  of  Lord 
Derby  and  Lord  Carnarvon,  two  of  his  own  cabinet,  he  sent  a  British 
fleet  to  Constantinople,  called  out  the  reserves,  and  brought  a  contingent 
of  Indian  troops  to  Malta,  Meanwhile,  the  Russians  had  compelled  the 
Turks  to  agree  to  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  the  chief  points  of  which 
were  that  Bulgaria  should  be  made  an  autonomous  province,  with  a  port 
on  the  JEgean  Sea,  and  that  Russia  should  have  a  large  slice  of  Turkish 
territory  in  Asia  Minor.  Lord  Beaconsfield  was  under  the  impression 
that  the  new  Bulgaria  would,  in  practice,  prove  to  be  merely  an  outlying 
Treaty  of  province  of  Russia,  which  would  be  thrust  like  a  wedge 
San  Stefano.  between  Constantinople  and  the  rest  of  European  Turkey. 
He  therefore  continued  his  preparations  for  \var  in  spite  of  the  protests 
of  the  opposition  in  parliament  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  agitation  in  the 
country.  Seeing  that  the  British  government  was  in  earnest,  the 
Russians  agreed  to  submit  the  treaty  to  be  revised  at  a  European 
Congress.  Before  this  met  at  Berlin  they  entered  into  an  agreement  with 
Great  Britain,  by  which  they  gave  up  the  idea  of  what  was  called  the 
'  big  Bulgaria,'  and  allowed  it  to  be  divided  into  two  parts — one  wholly, 
one  only  partially,  independent  of  the  authority  of  the  Sultan.  Servia 
and  Roumania  were  to  be  wholly  independent  ;  Russia  was  to  have 
Kars  and  Batoum,  but  was  not  to  fortify  the  latter.  Turkey  was  to  at 
once  carry  out  reforms  which  should  secure  the  good  government  of 
Armenia.  These  provisions  formed  the  gist  of  the  great  Treaty  of  Berlin, 
The  Berlin  which  was  negotiated  by  Lord  Beaconsfield  and  Lord  Salis- 
Treaty.  ^^^.^  ^^  person,  and  which  was  described  by  Lord  Beacons- 

field on  his  return  as  'peace  with  honour.'  On  the  whole,  the  treaty 
effected  a  great  deal.  It  secured  the  autonomy  of  the  most  important 
portions  of  the  Christian  population  of  European  Turkey  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  Russia  had  not  established  herself  at  Constantinople.  The  subse- 
quent history  of  the  treaty  has  falsified  many  of  the  hopes  and  fears  of 
both  sides.  The  autonomous  provinces  did  not  prove  so  subservient  to 
Russia  as  the  Czar  hoped  and  Lord  Beaconsfield  feared,  and  in  1885  the 


1879  Beaconsfield  1019 

two  Bulgarias,  with  the  goodwill  of  Great  Britain,  were  practically  united  ; 
Batoum  has  been  fortified  by  the  Russians,  while  the  Turks  have  not  yet 
carried  out  their  promised  reforms  in  Armenia.  Just  before  the  Berlin 
Congress  Great  Britain  entered  into  a  treaty  with  Turkey,  occupation 
by  which,  in  consideration  of  being  allowed  to  occupy  and  of  Cyprus, 
administer  the  island  of  Cyprus,  Great  Britain  guaranteed  the  integrity 
of  the  Asiatic  dominions  of  the  Porte. 

The  check  which  Lord  Beaconsfield's  government  had  given  to  the 
forward  policy  of  the  Russians  in  Europe  received  its  natural  counter- 
blow in  Asia,  where  it  was  easy  for  Russia  to  threaten  the  ,  ^  ^     . 

/  Afghanistan, 

safety  of  British  rule  in  India  by  entering  into  friendly 

relations  with  the  ruler  of  Afghanistan.  Accordingly,  in  the  summer  of 
1878,  the  Russians  persuaded  the  Ameer  to  receive. a  Russian  envoy. 
As  this  was  certain  to  be  rumoured  throughout  India  in  the  form  that 
the  Afghans  were  in  alliance  with  the  Russians,  Lord  Lytton,  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  viceroy  of  India,  demanded  that  the  Ameer  should  also 
receive  a  British  envoy.  The  mission,  however,  was  stopped  on  the 
frontier,  and  the  Indian  government  immediately  ordered  an  invasion  of 
Afghanistan.  The  military  operations  were  carried  out  without  difiiculty  ; 
the  Ameer  fled,  and  shortly  afterwards  died.  In  these  circumstances  the 
British  set  up  a  new  Ameer,  Yakoob  Khan,  who,  on  consideration  of 
receiving  £60,000  a  year,  agreed,  by  the  Treaty  of  Gundamak,  to  receive 
an  English  envoy  at  Cabal,  and  to  surrender  the  Kurum,  Pishin,  and 
Sibi  valleys,  which  opened  out  into  the  valley  of  the  Indus.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  Afghans  showed  themselves  just  as  bitterly  opposed  to  the 
idea  of  receiving  a  resident  envoy  as  they  had  been  in  1841,  and  in  Sep- 
tember 1879  the  British  envoy.  Sir  Louis  Cavagnari,  was  murdered  in  a 
popular  outbreak.  A  second  invasion  followed.  Cabul  was  again 
occupied,  and  Yakoob  Khan  imprisoned  in  India  (see  page  1021). 

Simultaneously  with  the  fighting  in  Afghanistan  we  were  also  engaged 
in  military  operations  in  South  Africa.  Ever  since  we  had  taken  over 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  our  relations  both  with  the  former  south 
Dutch  colonists  and  with  the  natives  had  been  a  constant  Afnca. 
source  of  trouble.  The  Dutch  farmers,  or  Boers,  did  not  like  the  ways  of 
the  British  settlers  and  resented  the  interference  of  the  government  in 
their  own  dealings  with  their  native  servants.  Accordingly,  in  1837,  a 
body  of  Dutchmen  left  Cape  Colony  and  settled  north  of  it  in  the  district 
of  Natal.  They  were  not  long  allowed  to  remain  independent,  but  were 
again  brought  under  British  rule  in  1844.  However,  the  steady  influx 
of  British  settlers  into  South  Africa  remained  a  constant  source  of  irrita- 
tion, and  another  migration  of  Boers  established  the  Orange  Free  State. 


1020  Victoria  iBl9 

This,  too,  was  annexed  by  Great  Britain  in  1848  ;  but  in  1853  it  was 
thought  better  to  allow  the  Dutch  to  have  an  independent  territory, 
and  Britisli  rule  was  withdrawn.  Nevertheless,  in  1861,  another  body 
of  Boers  pushed  on  into  native  territory  and  founded  the  Transvaal, 
which  also  remained  independent  till  1876.  The  expansion  of  a  European 
colony  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  lead  to  fighting  with  the  natives 
if  they  are  strong  enough  to  attempt  resistance,  and  this  led  to  the  Kaffir 
wars  of  1835  and  1853,  in  which,  not  without  some  difficulty,  the  natives 
were  defeated.  In  1876  an  even  more  formidable  danger  threatened 
both  the  Dutch  and  British  settlements.  This  was  the  rise  of  the  Zulu 
power.  The  Zulus  were  a  race  of  warriors,  probably  superior  to  any  other 
African  race,  who,  under  a  certain  Chaka  and  his  son  Cetewayo,  had  been 
organised  on  a  military  basis  which  made  them  a  terror  to  all  their 
neighbours.  One  result  of  this  was  that  in  1876  a  considerable  number 
of  the  Transvaal  Boers  were  willing  to  accept  the  sovereignty  of  Great 
Britain.  It  is,  however,  an  open  question  whether  Cetewayo  would  not 
have  left  the  Europeans  alone  had  he  been  allowed  a  free  hand  to  extend 
his  dominions  among  the  native  states.  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  the  Lord  High 
Commissioner,  thought  otherwise,  and  in  1879  it  was  determined  to 
attack  Cetewayo,  and  put  a  stop  to  his  military  power.  The  invasion 
was  badly  managed,  and  the  British  suffered  a  disastrous  reverse  at 
Isandhlwana  ;  though  the  courage  of  a  handful  of  men,  who  held  a  post 
at  Eorke's  Drift  against  the  whole  Zulu  army,  somewhat  redeemed  the 
disgrace  to  our  arms.  Eventually  an  overwhelming  force  was  collected. 
Cetewayo  was  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Ulundi  and  afterwards  taken 
prisoner,  and  the  power  of  the  Zulus  was  irretrievably  broken.  So  soon 
as  the  danger  from  the  Zulus  was  gone,  the  Boers  of  the  Transvaal  wished 
again  to  be  independent,  and  received  some  countenance  from  Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  other  members  of  the  Liberal  party. 

At  home,  the  latter  years  of  Lord  Beaconsfield's  administration  were 
times  of  marked  depression,  both  in  manufactures  and  agriculture.  This 
Depression  was  due  to  a  series  of  causes,  the  effects  of  which  are  not 
of  Trade.  ^^^j^  y^^  £^jjy  (jgyeloped.  Chief  of  these  Avere  :  (1)  the 
immense  development  of  foreign  and  colonial  competition  in  raw  materials, 
such  as  corn,  wool,  and  the  like,  which  had  the  effect  of  lowering  the 
price  of  British  produe  to  a  point  far  below  that  contemplated  when 
Cobden  and  Bright  advocated  the  system  of  free  imports  ;  (2)  the 
growth  of  foreign  manufactures,  stimulated  by  the  system  of  protection 
which  is  in  use  in  almost  all  countries  except  Great  Britain,  which 
enabled  foreigners  both  to  supply  their  own  wants  and  to  compete  with 
us  in  neutral  markets ;  (3)  the  derangement  of  currency  which  set  in 


1880  Beaconsfield — Gladstone  1021 

in  1873,  and  which  had  steadily  given  an  advantage  to  onr  silver-using 
competitors,  such  as  the  Japanese,  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world. 

The   depression  of  trade,  and  the  many  vulnerable  points  in  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  foreign  policy,  enabled  Mr.  Gladstone  to  make  out  a  strong 
case  against  the  government,  which  he  exhibited  with  won-    a  General 
derful  energy  and  eloquence  in  a  series  of  speeches  in  Scot-    ^^^ction. 
land,  known  as  the  '  Midlothian  Tour ' ;  and  in  the  general  election 
of  1880  the  Liberal  leader  carried  all  before  him.     No  less    ^,  , 

.  .  Gladstone  s 

than  349  Liberals  were  returned  agamst  243  Conservatives  second 
and  60  Home  Rulers,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  again  became  *"*^  ^^' 
prime  minister,  with  Lord  Granville  as  foreign  secretary.  Sir  W.  Harcourt 
home  secretary,  Lord  Hartington  war  secretary,  John  Bright  chancellor 
of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  W.  E.  Forster  chief  secretary  to  the  lord- 
lieutenant  of  Ireland.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  whose  admirable  work  in 
connection  with  the  local  government  of  Birmingham  had  gained  him  a 
wide  reputation,  became  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  His  first 
attention  was  devoted  to  foreign  affairs. 

On  coming  into  power,  Mr.  Gladstone's  design  was  to  reverse  as  far  as 
possible  the  policy  of  Lord  Beaconsfield.     He  emphasised  his  hostility 
to  the  Turks  by  inducing  the  Great  Powers  to  bring  armed    pQj.gj 
pressure  to  bear  upon  them  to  compel  them  to  give  up   Affairs. 
Dulcigno  to  the  Montenegrins,  and  to  give  an  improved 
frontier  to  the  Greeks  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  did  not  compel 
them  to  grant  the  improved  government  to  the  Armenians,  which  had 
been  stipulated  for  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.     He  decided  to  withdnxw 
from   further  interference   in   the   affairs  of  Afghanistan.  .^ 

o     1         *  I.  1  1  1        .1.  Afghanistan. 

However,  the  energy  of  the  Afghans  prolonged  military 
operations  for  some  time.     A  British  force  was  defeated  at  Maiwand  ; 
but  the  prestige  of  our  arms  was  restored  by  General  Roberts,  who,  after 
a  ])rilliant  march  from  Cabul  to  Candahar,  defeated  the  enemy  at  Pir 
Paimal.     Eventually,  Abdurrahman  Khan  was  recognised  as  the  sole 
ruler  of  Afghanistan,  and  Candahar  was  handed  over  to  him.     The 
British  then  withdrew  from  the  country,  and  have  since  been  on  most 
friendly  terms  with  the  Afghan  authorities.    Meanwhile,  war  had  broken 
out  in  South  Africa.     The  Boers  of  the  Transvaal,  disap-    The  Trans- 
pointe  1  to  find  that  the  accession  to  power  of  Mr.  Gladstone   ^^^^' 
was  not  immediately  followed  by  the  restoration  of  their  independence, 
broke  into  rebellion,  and  invaded  the  colony  of  Natal.    The  British  troops 
available  for  service  proved  unequal  to  the  task  of  dislodging  them,  and 
the  handling  of  our  men  compared  most  unfavourably  with  the  practical 
skill  shown  by  the  Boers  in  irregular  warfare.     After  suffering  several 


1022  Victoria  1880 

reverses  our  commander,  Sir  George  CoUey,  was  killed,  and  a  portion  of 
the  British  force  cut  to  pieces  at  Majuba  Hill.  By  this  time  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  convinced  that  the  Boers  had  right  on  their  side,  and 
though  an  overwhelming  force  had  been  collected  under  Sir  Evelyn 
Wood,  he  granted  their  demand  for  independence,  merely  retaining  for 
Great  Britain  a  nominal  suzerainty  over  the  Transvaal. 

The  presence  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  sixty  Home  Rulers  marked 
a  new  stage  in  the  history  of  the  Irish  question.     In  spite  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's Irish  reforms  there  was  still  a  great  deal  of  discon- 

Ireland. 

tent.  This  arranged  itself  under  two  heads.  First,  there 
was  a  recrudescence  of  the  sentiment  of  Irish  nationality,  which  had 
always  regarded  with  dislike  the  legislative  union  between  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland.  Second,  the  grievances  of  the  farmers,  mainly  due  to  the 
same  fall  in  the  gold  value  of  agricultural  produce  that  had  caused  de- 
pression in  England  and  which  made  rents  increasingly  difficult  to  pay. 
This  led  to  evictions;  and  as  Mr.  Gladstone's  Land  Act  of  1871  had 
expressly  denied  to  the  tenant  any  right  to  compensation  for  disturbance 
in  case  of  non-payment  of  rent,  very  great  hardship  resulted.  Evictions 
were  numerous,  and,  as  is  always  the  case  in  Ireland,  under  such  provo- 
cation outrages  multiplied. 

The  revival  of  a  Nationalist  agitation  took  the  form  of  a  demand  for 
Home  Rule,  by  which  was  meant  the  establishment  of  a  subordinate 

Irish  parliament,  able  to  deal  with  exclusivelv  Irish  affairs. 

Home  Rule.     ,         ,        .  „  ,.  •  •  i 

but  leaving  all  matters  of  imperial  concern  to  the  imperial 
parliament  at  Westminster.  The  desire  for  Home  Rule  was  connected 
partly  with  the  wave  of  national  feeling,  which  during  this  century  has 
played  such  an  important  part  in  European  politics,  partly  with  the 
feeling  of  dislike  towards  a  highly  centralised  government,  which  is 
always  more  or  less  present  in  large  and  scattered  states.  To  Englishmen 
the  establishment  of  Home  Rule  appeared  impossible  on  several  grounds  : 
(1)  that  if  granted  it  would  only  be  a  step  towards  a  demand  for  Irish 
independence  ;  (2)  that^without  making  a  complete  change  in  our  system 
of  government  it  was  impossible  to  design  a  scheme  of  Home  Rule  that 
could  be  fair  to  both  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  and  (3)  that  a  large 
part  of  the  population  of  Ireland  was  utterly  averse  to  anything  of  the 
kind.  For  many  years  these  objections  were  regarded  as  insuperable  by 
men  of  all  political  parties  in  Great  Britain. 

The  Home  Government  Association,  afterwards  the  Home  Rule 
League,  was  founded  in  1870  ;  and  at  the  election  of  1874  it  succeeded 
in  returning  fifty-eight  members  to  the  House  of  Commons.  These  were 
led  first  by  Mr.  Isaac  Butt,  and  afterwards  by  Mr.  Shaw ;  but  the  general 


1880  Gladstone  1023 

estimate  of  Home  Rule  held  at  that  time  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in 
1874  a  motion  of  Mr.  Butt's  on  the  subject  was  defeated  by  458  to  61  ; 
and  one  of  Mr.  Shaw's,  in  1877,  by  417  to  67.     In  1877,     „ 

Progress 

however,  a  new  phase  of  the  question  was  introduced  by  of  Home 
Mr.  C.  S.  Parnell,  a  young  member  of  the  Home  Rule  "  ^" 
party,  who,  in  concert  with  Mr.  J.  Biggar,  began  a  course  of '  obstruc- 
tion,' the  object  of  which  was  to  make  the  conduct  of  parliamentary 
business  so  difficult  that  either  the  Liberals  or  the  Conservatives  would 
have  to  come  to  terms  with  the  Home  Rulers.  This  policy,  in  spite  of 
the  passing  of  more  stringent  rules  for  the  conduct  of  debate  than  had 
hitherto  been  necessary,  had  been  steadily  persevered  in  by  its  in- 
ventors, and  though  it  made  the  Home  Rulers  detested  in  England, 
had  certainly  the  effect  of  raising  their  consequence  and  popularity 
in  Ireland. 

Hitherto  the  weak  part  of  the  Nationalist  movement  had  been  that  it 
was  almost  confined  to  the  town  population,  and  received  little  support 
among  the  farmers.  However,  in  1879,  Michael  Davitt,  The  Land 
a  Home  Ruler,  but  not  a  member  of  parliament,  saw  his  league, 
way  to  rectify  this.  It  was  a  time  of  acute  distress  in  Ireland.  The 
steady  fall  in  the  price  of  produce  made  rents  more  difficult  to  pay, 
while  a  partial  failure  of  the  potato  crop  brought  some  districts  to  the 
verge  of  famine.  Of  this  state  of  affiiirs  Mr.  Davitt  took  advantage  to 
form  a  Land  League,  the  great  object  of  which  was  to  obtain  for  the 
farmers  a  reduction  of  rent ;  and  by  allying  the  agitation  for  diminished 
rents  with  the  agitation  for  Home  Rule,  he  succeeded  in  giving  to  both 
movements  a  strength  which  neither  would  have  had  by  itself.  The 
result  was  seen  in  the  election  of  1880,  when  sixty  members  were  sent 
from  Ireland  explicitly  pledged  to  support  Parnell  and  Biggar,  and  bent 
on  pressing  forward  land  reform  and  Home  Rule  side  by  side.  The 
importance  of  the  new  aspect  of  Irish  affairs  had  been  pointed  out  by 
Lord  Beaconsfield  in  his  election  address  and  Mr.  Gladstone  found 
that  his  chief  attention  would  have  to  be  given  to  the  affairs  of  that 
country.  Accordingly  he  chose  for  chief  secretary  Mr.  W.  E.  Forster, 
a  statesman  of  the  first  rank  in  England,  who  was  also  recom- 
mended to  the  Irish  by  the  prominent  share  he  had  taken,  as  a  young 
man,  in  relieving  Irish  distress  during  the  famine  of  1846. 

The  first  object  of  the  government  was  to  terminate  the  land  agitation 
by  striking  at  the  roots  of  discontent,  and  in  bringing  for-     m^.  Glad- 
ward  a  measure  for  the  relief  of  distress  they  introduced  a     i  J°s"h  ^ 
proviso  known  as  the  Compensation  for  Disturbance  Clause,     Policy, 
suspending,  during  1880  and  1881,  the  clause  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  act 


1024  Victoria  1880 

which  deprived  tenants  evicted  for  non-payment  of  rent  of  compensation 
for  disturbance.  The  clause,  however,  was  rejected  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  Instead  of  insisting  on  the  passing  of  a  provision  which  he 
regarded  as  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  Mr.  Gladstone 
accepted  the  rebuff.  Then,  as  the  agitation  was  growing  more  pro- 
nounced, and  many  outrages  were  taking  place,  Mr.  Parnell  and  others 
were  prosecuted  for  inciting  to  lawlessness  ;  but  as  the  jury  did  not 
agree,  this  abortive  attempt  only  added  to  the  popularity  of  the  Irish 
leaders.  When  parliament  met  in  1881  a  new  departure  was  announced. 
In  1880  Mr.  Gladstone  had  somewhat  ostentatiously  announced  that  the 
government  would  not  renew  the  Peace  Preservation  Act,  a  measure 
passed  by  the  late  parliament  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Irish  Execu- 
tive ;  but  he  now  came  forward  and  persuaded  parliament  to  pass  a 
Protection  for  Life  and  Property  Act,  amounting  to  a  suspension  of  the 
Habeas  Corpus  Act,  by  which  the  chief  secretary  was  authorised  to 
arrest  and  detain  in  prison,  without  trial,  any  one  whose  liberty  he 
regarded  as  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  country.  At  the  same  time 
a  Land  Act  was  passed,  by  which  a  tribunal  called  a  Land  Court  was  set 
up  in  Ireland,  with  power  to  fix  a  judicial  rent  for  any  ftirm,  the  tenant 
of  which  made  an  application  to  the  court.  In  spite,  however,  of  the 
fact  that  the  price  of  agricultural  produce  was  steadily  falling,  Mr. 
Gladstone,  instead  of  making  judicial  rents  vary  in  proportion  to  the 
price  of  produce  as  was  the  case  with  the  tithe,  arranged  that  the 
judicial  rents  should  be  unalterable  for  a  term  of  fifteen  years,  and  so 
made  it  certain  that  any  further  fall  of  prices  would  result  in  an 
agitation  against  the  judicial  rents  themselves.  Moreover,  he  excluded 
leaseholders  from  the  benefit  of  the  act,  though  their  rents,  fixed  when 
prices  were  higher,  were  often  actually  more  unjust  than  those  of 
ordinary  farmers.  Naturally  the  Home  Rule  leaders  did  not  wish  the 
Land  Act  to  check  the  ardour  of  their  new  supporters,  and  did  all  they 
could  to  discredit  it.  On  this,  Mr.  Gladstone  denounced  them  as 
'  marching  through  rapine  to  the  disintegration  of  the  empire,'  and 
declaring  that  the  'resources  of  civilisation  were  not  yet  exhausted,' 
used  the  powers  given  by  the  recent  Act  of  Parliament  to  shut  up  Mr. 
Parnell,  Mr.  Dillon,  and  other  Home  Rulers  in  Kilmainham  Gaol.  The 
Home  Rulers  replied  by  issuing  a  manifesto,  in  which  they  altogether 
forbade  the  payment  of  rent ;  and  on  this  the  Land  League  was  pro- 
claimed to  be  an  '  illegal  and  criminal  association.'  However,  in  1882, 
Mr.  Gladstone  again  altered  his  tactics,  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances 
of  Mr.  Forster,  released  Mr.  Parnell,  it  being  understood  at  the  same  time 
that  the  Home  Rulers  would  for  the  future  support  the  government  in  the. 


1882  Gladstone  1025 

passing  of  Liberal  measures.  This  arrangement,  subsequently  known  as 
the  Kilmainham  Treaty,  was  strongly  condemned  by  Mr.  Forster,  who  re- 
signed his  place  in  the  government,  and  sternly  denounced  Mr.  Parnell  as 
the  prime  mover  in  outrage  and  violence.  Upon  Mr.  Forster's  resignation, 
Mr.  Gladstone  sent  Lord  Spencer  as  lord-lieutenant,  and  Lord  Frederick 
Cavendish  as  chief  secretary.  It  was  understood  that  ihey  were  to  carry 
out  a  conciliatory  policy,  but  almost  immediately  on  arriving  in  Dublin, 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  was  murdered  by  a  ring  of  desperadoes,  who 
called  themselves  the  Invincibles,  and  the  excitement  was  so  fierce  that 
Mr.  Gladstone  again  fell  back  on  a  policy  of  coercion,  and  carried  through 
parliament  a  Prevention  of  Crimes  Act,  the  chief  point  of  which  was  to 
enable  the  government  to  hold  secret  investigations  into  crimes  and  to 
facilitate  convictions  by  trying  prisoners  before  special  juries.  This 
Act  was  of  course  vigorously  resisted  by  the  Home  Kulers,  and  was  only 
passed  after  twenty-five  of  them  had  been  'suspended'  under  the  new  rules 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  At  the  same  time  an  Arrears  Act  was 
pxssed,  by  which  money  was  voted  to  aid  in  paying  off  the  arrears  of 
rent  which  had  accumulated  during  the  period  of  distress.  Lord 
Frederick  Cavendish  had  been  succeeded  by  Mr.  (now  Sir)  G.  Trevelyan, 
and  under  him  and  Lord  Spencer,  partly  owing  to  the  operation  of  the 
Land  Act,  partly  to  the  energetic  application  of  the  new  Crimes  Act,  the 
condition  of  Ireland  steadily  improved,  though  the  Home  Rulers  in  no 
way  relaxed  their  eftbrts  either  in  parliament  or  in  the  country. 

In  spite  of  the  time  taken  up  by  Ireland,  Mr.  Gladstone's  government 
contrived  to  pass  a  number  of  important  English  and  Scottish  measures. 
In  1880  an  act  known  as  the  Hares  and  Rabbits  Act  was   ,,     ... 

•     1    -       .11        .    ,        fc-nghsh  and 

passed,  by  which  farmers  were  given  an  indefeasible  right   Scottish 
to  kill  ground-game  on  land  in  their  occupation ;   and  in      ^^'^ 

1883  an  Agricultural  Holdings  Act  was  passed  to  entitle  tenants  to 
receive  compensation  from  landlords  for  certain  kinds  of  improvements 
on  the  termination  of  their  tenancies.  An  improved  Bankruptcy  Act, 
introduced  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  also  became  law  ;  a  tax  on  beer  was 
substituted  for  the  malt-tax  ;  a  Burials  Bill  was  passed  for  the  relief  of 
Nonconformists ;  and  an  Employers'  Liability  Bill,  to  make  employers 
liable  to  damages  in  case  of  certain  accidents  happening  to  their  work- 
people. The  system  of  organising  the  land  forces  of  the  country  on 
a  territorial  basis  was  also  carried  a  step  further. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  ministry,  he  met  with  com- 
paratively little  energetic  opposition  from  the  ofl&cial  leaders   The  Fourth 
of  the  Conservative  party,  who  were  disheartened  by  the    Party, 
collapse  of  1880,   and   the   task   of  criticising  his   measures   was  left 

3t 


1026  Victoria  1882 

chiefly  to  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  and  his  allies,  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour, 
Mr.  Gorst,  and  Sir  Henry  Drummond  Woltf.  The  activity  of  these 
men,  and  their  independence  of  the  official  Conservatives,  gained  for  them 
the  name  of  the  Fourth  Party. 

This  legislative  activity,  however,  was  thrown  into  the  shade  not  only 
by  the  excitement  engendered  by  Irish  aflairs  but  by  a  most  difficult 
problem  which  had  arisen  in  connection  with  Egypt.  The 
causes  of  this  dated  much  further  back  than  Mr.  Gladstone's 
accession  to  power.  The  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal,  built  chiefly  with 
French  capital  in  1869,  had  given  Great  Britain  a  vital  interest  in 
Egypt,  as  holding  the  key  of  the  shortest  route  to  India,  and  in  1875 
Lord  Beaconsfield's  government  had  secured  Great  Britain  a  powerful 
voice  in  the  management  of  the  canal,  by  purchasing  from  the  Khedive 
of  Egypt  a  number  of  Suez  Canal  shares.  Besides  this,  the  Egyptian 
government  had  borrowed  very  large  sums  from  European  capitalists, 
chiefly  Englishmen  and  Frenchmen,  and  the  payment  of  the  interests 
on  these  loans  was  therefore  a  matter  of  importance  to  a  large  and 
influential  class.  Moreover,  the  facilities  ofi'ered  by  Egypt  as  a  place 
of  trade  had  led  to  the  settlement  of  a  large  number  of  European 
merchants,  whose  rights  and  safety  were  secured  by  a  series  of  '  Capitu- 
lations'  or  agreements  between  various  European  powers  and  the 
Egyptian  and  Turkish  governments,  some  dating  from  so  far  back  as 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  existence  of  these  various  interests  and 
rights  gave  the  British  and  French  governments  great  weight  in  Egyp- 
tian affairs,  and  they  had  given  Tewfik,  the  viceroy  of  Egypt,  a  sort  of 
guarantee  against  deposition,  so  long  as  he  followed  their  advice.  The 
interference  of  foreigners  was  most  distasteful  to  many  Egyptians, 
especially  to  the  official  class,  which  felt  wronged  by  the  viceroy's 
practice  of  employing  British  and  French  officers  both  in  the  army  and 
civil  service.  Accordingly  Arabi  Pasha,  an  Egyptian  soldier,  organised 
an  insurrection,  and  took  possession  of  the  fortifications  which  com- 
manded the  harbour  of  Alexandria.  As  his  revolt  threatened  the  throne 
of  the  viceroy  and  had  led  to  riots  and  murders  in  Alexandria  itself,  the 
British  government  called  on  the  French  to  make  a  joint  interference. 
The  French,  however,  refused ;  so  the  British  fleet  was  ordered  to 
bombard  the  fortifications.  This  was  done  most  effectively  ;  but  as  no 
troops  were  landed  to  keep  order,  the  fugitives  set  the  city  on  fire,  and 
a  great  destruction  of  life  and  property  followed.  Mr.  Gladstone's 
government,  therefore,  found  it  necessary  to  send  troops ;  and  in 
September  1882,  a  British  army,  under  General  Wolseley,  completely 
defeated  Arabi  at  Tel-el-Kebir,  and  restored  Tewfik's  authority.     These 


1884  Gladstone  1027 

events  practically  established  a  British  protectorate  in  Egypt ;  but 
Mr.  Gladstone's  policy  was  to  limit  British  interference  to  a  minimum, 
This  proved,  however,  very  difficult.  Some  time  previously  there  had 
appeared  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Nile  a  religious  fanatic,  m  i  d* 

styling  himself  the  Mahdi,  who  aimed  at  collecting  an  army 
of  disciples  and  leading  them  to  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  The  disorders 
in  Egypt  had,  of  course,  weakened  the  Egyptian  hold  over  the  Soudan 
or  basin  of  the  Upper  Nile,  of  which  Khartoum  was  the  capital,  which 
had  long  been  under  Egyptian  rule.  Hardly  were  the  British  established 
in  Cairo,  when  it  became  known  that  the  Mahdi  was  threatening  to 
overwhelm  tlie  Egyptian  garrisons  and  to  conquer  Khartoum.  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Gladstone's  theory,  the  action  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  Soudan 
was  no  concern  of  the  British  government ;  and  so  when  a  miserably 
inadequate  force  of  Egyptian  soldiers  under  Hicks  Pasha  was  sent  by 
the  Egyptian  government  to  save  the  Soudanese  garrisons,  no  remon- 
strance was  made.  As  might  have  been  expected,  Hicks'  force  was 
annihilated,  and  the  exultant  Mahdists  pressed  on  more  fiercely  than 
ever.  This  danger  broke  down  the  theory  of  non-intervention.  The 
Egyptians  were  peremptorily  ordered  to  abandon  the  Soudan,  and  in 
January  1883  the  British  government  despatched  to  the  Soudan  a 
British  officer.  General  Gordon,  well  known  for  his  exploits  in 
China,  who  had  formerly  served  in  the  Soudan  under  the  Egyptian 
government,  with  orders  to  make  arrangements  for  the  retreat  of  the 
Egyptian  garrisons  and  officials.  No  troops,  however,  were  sent  with 
Gordon,  and  he  was  expressly  told  that  no  troops  would  be  sent  to  his 
assistance.  With  curious  inconsistency,  however,  an  Egyptian  army, 
under  General  Baker,  was  sent  to  Suakim,  on  the  Red  Sea,  to  rescue 
other  Egyptian  garrisons  by  force.  Baker's  army,  however,  being  hope- 
lessly inefficient,  was  cut  to  pieces ;  while  the  Madhi's  forces  closed 
round  Khartoum  and  compelled  Gordon  to  take  his  choice  between 
leaving  the  Egyptian  garrisons  and  officials  to  the  vengeance  of  their 
enemies  sUmding  a  siege.  Of  course  he  chose  the  latter.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  therefore,  was  driven  to  further  interference,  and  sent  a 
British  force,  under  General  Graham,  to  rescue  the  garrisons  near 
Suakim  ;  but  he  held  to  the  plan  of  giving  no  aid  to  Gordon,  declaring  in 
parliament  that,  'though  hemmed  in,  he  was  not  surrounded.'  In 
February  and  March  Graham's  force,  after  some  fighting,  cleared  the 
district  round  Suakim,  and  it  was  then  proposed  to  send  a  flying 
column  across  the  desert  to  aid  Gordon.  The  government,  however, 
still  held  back,  till  public  opinion  insisted  that  Gordon  should  not  be 
left  to  his  fate,  but  it  was  not  till  August  that  an  expedition  was  sent 


1028  Victoria  1884 

up  the  Nile.  The  advanced  column  of  this,  after  the  loss  of  many  lives, 
fought  its  way  to  the  Upper  Nile  in  January  1885,  only  to  lind  that  it 
was  unhappily  too  late  ;  for  Khartoum  fell,  and  Gordon  was  killed  only 
two  days  before  the  first  British  soldier  arrived  within  sight  of  the  town. 
Upon  this,  further  military  operations  were  abandoned,  and  the  British 
confined  themselves  to  holding  Wadi  Haifa,  on  the  confines  of  Egypt 
proper,  and  Suakim,  on  the  Red  Sea. 

The  circumstance  that  the  British  were  occupied  in  Egypt  seemed  to 
the  Russians  a  favourable  opportunity  for  improving  their  position  in 
^,     . ,  ^        Asia.     In  1884  they  crossed  the  desert  and  occupied  the 

The  Afghan  .       ,. -.^  n-  i  • 

Frontier  oasis  of  Merv,  which  constitutes  the  military  basis  for  opera- 
ion.  ^[qj^^  against  Afghanistan,  and  soon  afterwards  Russian 
troops  appeared  on  the  borders  of  that  state.  It  became,  therefore, 
necessary  to  have  a  clear  understanding  as  to  the  exact  frontier.  Accord- 
ingly, a  joint  Russian  and  British  commission  was  appointed  for  the 
purpose  ;  but  as  the  Russians  seemed  to  proceed  on  the  principle  of 
seizing  any  place  they  wished  for  and  then  declaring  that  it  was  on  their 
side  of  the  frontier,  considerable  friction  followed.  Eventually  Britain 
and  Russia  were  brought  to  the  verge  of  war  by  a  Russian  attack  upon 
an  Afghan  force  at  Penjdeh.  The  matter,  however,  was  presently 
arranged,  chiefly  by  granting  all  Russian  demands  ;  and  the  frontier  so 
settled  was  guaranteed  by  the  British  government  to  the  Ameer. 

For  some  time  there  had  been  growing  up  a  feeling  in  favour  of  further 
parliamentary  reform.  The  spread  of  education  since  1870  had  removed 
Parliament-  the  chief  argument  against  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to 
ary  Reform,  ^j^^  agricultural  labourers,  and  in  1884  the  government 
brought  forward  a  measure  for  giving  household  suffrage  to  the  counties. 
The  principle  of  this,  as  applied  to  England  and  Scotland,  was  accepted 
by  both  political  parties,  but  there  was  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  advisability  of  extending  it  to  Ireland.  It  was,  however,  decided  to 
do  so.  The  government  proposed  to  pass  the  Franchise  Bill  in  1884,  but 
to  postpone  the  Redistribution  of  Seats  Bill,  which  was  the  natural 
corollary  of  such  a  measure,  till  1885.  When  the  bill  reached  the  House 
of  Lords,  it  was  pointed  out  that  if  this  were  done,  it  might  be  possible  to 
have  a  general  election  on  the  new  franchise  but  with  the  old  constitu- 
encies, in  which  case  there  would  be  the  grossest  anomalies  in  the  relative 
value  of  votes  between  one  constituency  and  another.  The  Lords  consC' 
quently  passed  a  resolution  postponing  the  consideration  of  the  Franchise 
Bill  till  the  Redistribution  Bill  was  also  before  them.  At  this  there  was 
considerable  agitation  in  the  country,  many  meetings  being  held  to 
condemn  or  approve  the  action  of  the  peers.    Opinion  being  thus  divided 


1885  Gladstone — Salisbunj  1029 

Mr.  Gladstone,  though  he  held  an  autumn  session  to  again  pass  the 
bill,  decided  to  accept  the  view  of  the  peers,  and  a  Eedistribution  Bill 
having  been  drafted  by  the  heads  of  both  parties  in  consultation,  the 
Franchise  Bill  was  passed  at  the  close  of  1884  and  the  Redistribution  Bill 
in  the  session  of  1885. 

The  same  session  saw  the  close  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  administration. 
The  firm  rule  of  Lord  Spencer  in  Ireland,  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  uncompro- 
mising opposition  to  Home  Rule,  had  so  deeply  oflfended  the 
Nationalist  members,  that  in  1885  they  determined  to  take  the  Govern- 
the  first  eligible  opportunity  to  transfer  their  votes  to  the  "^^"*- 
Conservatives,  in  hopes  of  reaping  their  reward  in  obtaining  from  them 
a  more  favourable  consideration  for  their  proposals  than  they  seemed 
at  all  likely  to  obtain  from  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  Liberal  party.  Under 
our  system  of  party  government  no  party  is  likely  to  put  any  unnecessary 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  receiving  votes  which  will  place  it  in  power,  and 
when  Mr.  Gladstone  exasperated  the  Home  Rulers  by  declaring  that  he 
meant  to  re-enact  some  of  the  most  important  clauses  of  the  Crimes  Act, 
they  retaliated  by  voting  with  the  Conservatives  against  a  clause  in  the 
budget  which  imposed  additional  beer,  spirit  and  death  duties.  In  conse- 
quence, Mr.  Gladstone  was  beaten  by  eleven  votes,  and  at  once  resigned. 

His  place  was  taken  by  Lord  Salisbury.  Though  Lord  Salisbury  did 
nothing  for  Home  Rule,  he  decided  to  drop  the  Crimes  Act,  and  a  large 
sum  was  voted  to  enable  the  Irish  farmers  to  purchase  their 

Lord  Salis- 

holdings  under  what  is  known  as  Lord  Ashbourne's  Act.  bury's  first 
Accordingly,  when  the  general  election  began  in  November  *"*^  ^^' 
of  the  same  year,  the  Home  Rulers  gave  orders  that  all  Irish  voters  in 
England  and  Scotland  were  to  vote  for  Conservative  candidates.  Their 
object  in  doing  this  was  to  create  as  nearly  as  possible  a  balance  of 
parties  ;  and  Mr.  Gladstone  endeavoured  to  counteract  their  action  by 
ituploring  the  voters  to  give  him  such  a  majority  as  would  make  him 
independent  of  the  Irish  vote. 

In  the  election,  the  towns,  influenced  to  some  extent  by  the  Irish  votes, 
returned  a  much  larger  number  of  Conservatives  than  before,  but  the 
Liberals  had  a  majority  of  supporters  among  the  newly  a  General 
enfranchised  labourers  ;  and  when  the  results  were  counted,  Election, 
it  was  found  that  the  Liberals  numbered  335  against  249  Conservatives. 
In  Ireland  the  lowering  of  the  franchise  proved,  as  was  generally 
expected,  most  favourable  to  the  Home  Rulers.  Eighty-six  of  them 
were  returned  ;  and  it  was  at  once  evident  that  as  the  Conservatives  and 
Home  Rulers  together  exactly  balanced  the  Liberals,  the  Home  Rulers 
held  the  key  of  the  situation. 


1030  Victoria  1886 

Hardly  were  these  results  known  when  the  whole  country  was  electri- 
fied by  a  rumour  that  Mr.  Gladstone  had  become  a  convert  to  Home 
Rule ;  and,  though  the  accuracy  of  the  story  was  indignantly 
Gladstone       denied  by  leading  Liberals  and  by  the  Liberal  papers,  it  was 
accepts  found  before  long  to  be  true.     Meanwhile  the  amount  of 

Home  Kule.  _  *^ 

lawlessness  in  Ireland  had  seriously  alarmed  the  government, 
and  when  parliament  met  it  was  announced  that  a  bill  would  be  brought 
in  to  suppress  the  National  League,  which  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
Land  League.  Indignant  at  the  action  of  their  recent  allies,  and  delighted 
with  Mr.  Gladstone's  rumoured  conversion,  the  Home  Rulers  now  voted 
with  the  Liberals,  and  in  the  debate  on  the  queen's  speech  the  government 
was  defeated  by  331  to  252  on  an  amendment  'regretting  that  no 
measure  was  promised  dealing  with  allotments.'  Up  to  this  time  it  had 
not  been  authoritatively  stated  that  the  rumour  about  Mr.  Gladstone 
was  true,  but  so  strong  suspicion  of  its  truth  existed  that  Lord  Harting- 
ton,  Mr.  Goschen,  and  sixteen  other  Liberals  declined  to  vote  for  the 
overthrow  of  Lord  Salisbury's  government. 

Even  after  the  defeat  of  Lord  Salisbury,  it  was  uncertain  how  far  Mr. 
Gladstone  meant  to  go  ;  and  though  Lord  Hartington  and  Mr.  Goschen 
were,  of  course,  omitted  from  the  government,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  thoroughgoing  Radicals  in  the  country,  took  oflSce 
under  him,  in  hopes  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  genius  might  prove  capable  of 
surmounting  what  seemed  to  be  the  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  constructing  a  workable  scheme.  Besides  Mr.  Chamberlain,  Mr. 
Gladstone's  chief  colleagues  were  Lord  Herschell,  Lord  Rosebery,  Sir 
William  Harcourt,  Lord  Spencer,  Mr.  Trevelyan,  and  Mr.  John  Morley, 
The  latter,  who  was  one  of  a  very  small  band  of  Liberals  who  had  advo- 
cated the  granting  of  Home  Rule  at  the  recent  election,  was  made  chief 
secretary  for  Ireland.  Having  accepted  the  principle  of  Home  Rule,  Mr. 
Gladstone  had  before  him  two  courses.  He  might  either  have  requested 
the  Nationalists  to  bring  in  a  bill  of  their  own,  in  order  to  show  exactly 
what  it  was  they  wanted  and  how  they  thought  it  could  be  secured  in 
practice  ;  or  he  might  devise  a  scheme  himself,  and  try  to  persuade 
parliament  to  accept  it.     He  chose  the  latter. 

However,  when  the  details  of  his  scheme  were  laid  before  the 
Cabinet,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  Mr.  Trevelyan,  and  other  members  of  the 
government  sent  in  their  resignations.  The  result  was  a 
Liberal  division  in  the  old  Liberal  party,  the  majority  of  whom 

^^^^'  followed  Mr.  Gladstone  in  accepting  Home  Rule  ;  but  a 

considerable  minority,  headed  by  Lord  Hartington,  Mr.  John  Bright, 
Mr.  Goschen,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  Sir  Henry  James,  and  Mr.  Trevelyan, 


1887  Salisbury —  Gladston  e  1031 

preferred  to  adhere  to  the  old  Liberal  policy  of  regarding  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Legislative  Union  as  a  fundamental  principle,  but  at  the 
same  time  of  persevering  in  the  remedial  legislation  initiated  by  Mr. 
Gladstone,  in  the  hope  that,  by  removing  all  reasonable  causes  of 
grievance,  the  Irish  people  might  be  won  over  to  accept  the  Union  as 
the  Scotch  had  been  before  them.  The  minority  adopted  the  name  of 
Liberal  Unionists  to  distinguish  them  at  once  from  the  Conservatives 
and  from  the  followers  of  Mr.  Gladstone. 

It  was  obvious  to  everybody  that  one  great  difficulty  in  devising  any 
Home  Rule  scheme  lay  in  the  question.  Should  or  should  Mr.  Glad- 
not  members  for  Ireland  sit  in  the  imperial  parliament  ?  and  Home^Rufe 
there  was  great  anxiety  to  know  how  Mr.  Gladstone  would  Bill, 
deal  with  the  question.  When  he  introduced  his  plan,  it  was  found  to 
consist  of  the  creation  of  an  Irish  legislature  at  Dublin,  capable  of  dealing 
with  exclusively  Irish  subjects  only.  The  legislature  was  to  consist  of 
two  orders  :  one  representing  the  householders,  the  other  the  propertied 
classes  paying  a  rentjxl  of  not  less  than  £25.  The  legislature  was  pro- 
hibited from  endowing  any  religious  body  or  creating  any  religious 
disability.  It  was  to  have  power  to  enrol  a  body  of  police.  The  repre- 
sentation question  Mr.  Gladstone  proposed  to  solve  by  excluding  any 
Irish  representatives  from  sitting  in  the  imperial  parliament,  but  requir- 
ing Ireland  to  pay  her  quota  towards  imperial  expenses.  In  introducing 
the  bill,  Mr.  Gladstone  made  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  British  to  grant 
the  request  of  the  Irish  majority  and  expressed  the  profoundest  belief  in 
the  efficacy  of  his  bill  to  promote  good  feeling  between  the  two  countries. 
A  few  days  later  Mr.  Gladstone  brought  in  a  Land  Purchase  Bill,  by 
which  ^50,000,000  was  to  be  advanced  to  the  new  Irish  government  to 
carry  on  the  purchases  begun  under  Lord  Ashbourne's  Act.  In  spite  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  appeal,  his  bill  was  severely  criticised  even  by  those 
who  accepted  the  general  principle  of  Home  Rule.  The  special  points 
attacked  were  the  exclusion  of  the  Irish  members  from  the  imperial 
parliament,  which  seemed  not  only  to  court  separation  but  to  violate 
the  constitutional  principle  that  those  who  pay  taxes  should  have  a  voice 
in  their  expenditure.  Radicals  disliked  his  'two  orders';  Irish  Pro- 
testants and  anti-Home  Rulers  cried  out  that  their  rights  were  not 
sufficiently  secured,  while  Home  Rulers  regarded  the  checks  and  balances 
contained  by  the  bill  as  unnecessary,  and  as  insulting  to  the  Irish 
majority.  The  Land  Purchase  Bill  was  also  severely  attacked,  chiefly 
on  the  ground  that  the  security  for  the  repayment  of  so  large  a  sum 
seemed  insufficient.  In  face  of  these  objections,  Mr.  Gladstone  offered 
to  make  great  modifications  in  committee  if  only  the  principle  of  the 


1032  Victoria  1886 

bill  was  adopted  ;  but  at  the  second  reading  the  bill  was  thrown  out 
by  341  votes  to  311,  93  Liberals  voting  in  the  majority. 

Upon  this,  Mr.  Gladstone  appealed  to  the  country,  and  issued  a 
powerful  manifesto,  in  which  he  declared  that  the  opponents  of  his 
The  General  measure  Consisted  of  '  class  and  the  dependants  of  class,' 
Election.  while  his  friends  represented  'the  upright  sense  of  the 
nation.'  Lord  Salisbury,  on  the  other  hand,  appealed  for  support  on  the 
ground  that  'what  Ireland  wanted  was  government — government  that 
does  not  flinch,  that  does  not  vary  ;  government  that  she  cannot  hope  to 
beat  down  by  agitations  at  Westminster  ;  government  that  is  not  altered 
in  its  resolutions  or  its  temperature  by  the  party  changes  that  take  place 
at  Westminster.'  The  Liberal  Unionists,  on  the  other  hand,  while 
siding  with  the  Conservatives  on  the  fundamental  question  of  Home 
Rule,  laid  stress  in  their  addresses  on  the  need  for  steady  pei-severance 
in  the  work  of  removing  Irish  grievances.  The  elections  took  place 
amidst  great  excitement,  and  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  came  back  to  Westminster  with  only  191  Home  Eule  Liberals, 
against  316  Conservatives  and  78  Liberal  Unionists,  while  the  Irish 
Home  Rulers  numbered  85. 

Accordingly  Mr.  Gladstone  resigned.  There  was  then  some  talk  of  a 
coalition  ministry  composed  of  Conservatives  and  Liberal  Unionists  ; 
Lord  Saiis-  l>ut  eventually  a  purely  Conservative  administration  was 
second  formed,  with  Lord  Salisbury  as  prime  minister,  and  Lord 

Ministry.  Randolph  Churchill  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  and 
leader  of  the  House'of  Commons.  This  arrangement,  however,  did  not 
last  long.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  finding 
himself  unable  to  get  his  own  way  in  regard  to  the  reduction  of  the 
army  and  navy  estimates,  threw  up  his  post.  His  place  was  taken  by 
Mr.  Goschen,  who  had  the  reputation  of  being,  next  to  Mr.  Gladstone, 
the  greatest  financier  of  his  time,  and  who  had  held  cabinet  office  in  Mr. 
Gladstone's  government  of  1868-1874.  Mr.  Goschen,  however,  had 
opposed  the  lowering  of  the  county  franchise,  and  had  not  been  included 
in  the  ministry  of  1880-1885.  At  the  same  time,  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour 
became  chief  secretary  for  Ireland. 

Naturally  the  chief  attention  of  the  new  ministry  was  attracted  to 
Ireland.  The  difficulty  of  governing  that  country  had  been  much 
increased  by  the  disappointment  caused  by  the  rejection  of 
the  Home  Rule  Bill,  and  the  Nationalist  leaders  declared  it 
their  policy  to  prove  that  to  govern  Ireland  under  the  legislative  union 
was  'impossible.'  Moreover,  the  ill  efl'ects  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  method 
of  fixing  rents  in  1881  were  beginning  to  show  themselves.    The  judicial 


1887  Gladstone — Salisbury  1 033 

rents  being  fixed  in  money  were  really  to  be  estimated  at  the  amount  of 
produce,  the  sale  of  which  would  produce  that  sum.  If,  for  example, 
a  farmer  could  reckon  that  the  sale  of  one  pig  would  in  1882  produce 
his  rent,  and  if  the  price  of  pigs  went  down  50  per  cent.,  then  he  would 
have  to  feed  and  sell  two  pigs  in  order  to  produce  the  same  sum.  As 
prices  had  steadily  decreased  since  1881,  and  were  still  decreasing,  the  real 
pressure  of  the  judicial  rents  was  therefore  steadily  increasing.  Rents, 
therefore,  which  had  formerly  been  fair  now  became  impossible,  and  the 
position  of  the  leaseholders,  whom  Mr.  Gladstone  had  excluded  from 
the  act  of  1881,  was  even  more  distressing  than  that  of  the  ordinary 
farmers.  Fairness  demanded  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  mistake  should  be 
set:  right,  but  when  Mr.  Parnell  brought  in  a  bill  for  the  abatement  of 
rents  fixed  before  1885,  it  was  rejected  by  297  to  202.  The  Home 
Rulers  retaliated  by  devising  the  Plan  of  Campaign,  by  The  Plan  of 
which  all  the  tenants  on  certain  estates  acted  together,  paid  Campaign, 
such  rent  as  they  said  they  could  into  a  common  fund,  and  used  it  to 
maintain  a  struggle  against  the  landlords.  This  caused  an  embittered 
contest  between  the  landlord  and  tenant  class,  and  evictions  on  one  side 
and  outrages  on  the  other  did  infinite  harm  to  the  prospects  of  peace.  At 
the  same  time  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country  afforded  the  Govern- 
ment an  excuse  for  postponing  the  grant  of  local  government  to  Ireland, 
on  which  the  Liberal  Unionists  had  always  laid  stress,  and  which  in 
August  1886  the  government  had  officially  promised  to  bring  The  Crimes 
before  parliament  in  the  spring  of  1887.  Instead  of  this,  ^^'■ 
ministers  brought  forward  a  Crimes  Act.  Previous  acts  of  this  nature 
had  been  passed  for  a  short  term  of  years  and  this  had  afforded  a  con- 
stant temptation  to  politicians  to  buy  Irish  votes  by  allowing  them  to 
drop.  To  this  both  parties  had  fallen  victims.  It  was,  therefore,  pro- 
posed to  make  the  act  perpetual,  but  to  make  its  provisions  applicable  to 
any  district  only  on  the  proclamation  of  the  lord-lieutenant.  The  chief 
point  of  the  bill  was  to  avoid  the  risk  and  delay  of  jury  trials,  which  ex- 
perience had  shown  to  be  most  uncertain,  by  enabling  resident  mngistrates 
to  try  prisoners  accused  of  certain  classes  of  crime  by  summary  jurisdiction. 
Secret  inquiries  also  might  be  held,  and  venue  of  trials  changed  with  a 
view  to  finding  a  fairer  jury.  The  act  was  opposed  by  the  Irish  Home 
Rulers  and  by  Mr.  Gladstone  and  his  followers  ;  and  so  prolonged  was  the 
debate  that  a  time  having  been  fixed  when  it  must  cease,  fourteen  out  of 
twenty  clauses  in  the  bill  were  passed  without  any  discussion  at  all. 

The  same  session  another  Irish  Land  Act  was  passed.  Though 
Mr.  Parnell's  bill  had  been  rejected  so  lately  as  the  autumn  before,  the 
government  had  now  been  convinced  that  justice  demanded  an  immediate 


1034  Victoria  1887 

revision  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Act  of  1881.  Accordingly,  by  the  new 
act,  leaseholders  who  had  been  excluded  in  1881  were,  on  the  strong 
An  Irish  representation  of  the  Liberal  Unionists,  admitted  to  its 
Land  Act.  i^gnefits  ;  and  judicial  rents  fixed  before  1886  were  to  be 
revised  in  accordance  with  the  change  in  the  price  of  agricultural  produce. 
At  the  same  time  further  provisions  to  facilitate  purchase  were  introduced. 
The  effects  of  this  act  were  admirable,  and  might  have  been  even  better  had 
the  arrears,  which  had  accumulated  under  the  pressure  of  the  old  rents, 
been  vigorously  dealt  with.  Unfortunately,  the  omission  to  deal  with 
these,  the  trouble  on  the  Plan  of  Campaign  estates  and  the  existence  of 
a  large  body  of  tenants  who  had  been  evicted  from  their  holdings  through 
being  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay  the  old  rents,  militated  against  the  res- 
toration of  peace,  and  brought  about  a  bitter  conflict  between  Mr.  Balfour 
and  the  Irish  leaders,  many  of  whom  were  convicted  of  conspiracy  and 
sent  to  prison  by  tlie  resident  magistrates.  In  1888  a  further  sum  of 
ten  millions  was  voted  for  Irish  land  purchase  on  the  lines  of  the  Ash- 
bourne Act,  and  in  1889  money  was  voted  to  develop  the  drainage  of 
^^  Ireland,  and  to  facilitate  trade  and  locomotion  by  the  intro- 

neii  Com-  duction  of  light  railways.  In  1888,  in  consequence  of 
some  facsimile  letters  having  appeared  in  the  Times  pur- 
porting to  have  been  signed  by  Mr.  Parnell  and  other  Irish  leaders, 
inciting  to  the  murder  of  Mr.  Forster  and  approving  that  of  Lord 
Frederick  Cavendish,  a  commission  was  appointed  by  parliament  to 
inquire  into  the  whole  question  of  the  connection  of  the  Home  Rulers 
with  crime.  It  was  stoutly  resisted  by  the  Home  Rulers  ;  but  in  the 
event  it  was  shown  conclusively  that  the  letters  were  forgeries,  and 
though,  as  was  to  be  expected  in  such  an  extensive  organisation,  some 
of  the  Nationalists  had  compromised  themselves  with  the  committers 
of  crime  and  outrage,  the  parliamentary  leaders  came  well  out  of  the 
ordeal.  At  the  close  of  1890  the  revelations  with  regard  to  the  private 
character  of  Mr.  Parnell,  made  in  the  O'Shea  divorce  case,  led  to  a  split 
in  the  Irish  party  ;  and  a  majority  of  the  members  of  parliament, 
encouraged  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  declined  to  act  any  longer  under  his 
leadership.  He  was,  however,  supported  by  an  energetic  minority,  and 
the  strife  between  the  two  factions  became  so  acute  as  to  seriously 
injure  the  Home  Rule  cause.  From  one  cause  or  another  an  un- 
deniable improvement  in  the  condition  of  Ireland  took  place  under 
Mr.  Balfour ;  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  deal  with  the  local  govern- 
ment question  till  1892,  when  a  bill  creating  a  limited  form  of  county 
government  was  introduced.  It  was,  however,  not  popular  with  the 
Conservatives,  especially  the  Ulstermen  ;   and  as  it  was  scouted  by  the 


1892  Salisbury  1035 

Nationalists  and  severely  criticised  by  the  Gladstonians,  it  was   sood 
withdrawn. 

Besides  their  Irish  legislation,  the  government  passed  a  great  deal  of 
legislation  for  Great  Britain,  much  of  which,  owing  to  the   alliance 
with  the  Liberal   Unionists,  was  of  a  decidedly  Liberal    British 
character.     In  1887  were  passed  an  Allotments  Act,  ad-    Legislation, 
mitting  the  principle  of  the  compulsory  purchase  of  land  for  this  purpose, 
a  Coal  Mines  Regulation  Act,  and  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act    In  1888 
Mr.  Goschen  carried  out  a  plan  for  reducing  the  interest  on  much  of  the 
National  Debt  from  3  to  2|  per  cent,,  and  afterwards  to  2|  per  cent., 
wliereby  a  great  saving  was  effected  for  the  nation.    In  1889,  owing  to 
a  widespread  feeling  that  the  country  was  not  paying  so  much  towards 
the  navy  as  the  magnitude  of  our  empire  and  commerce  demanded,  an 
expenditure  of  ^21,500,000  was  authorised  on  the  building  of  seventy 
more  vessels  of  war.    In  1890  a  new  Education  Code  was  issued,  abolish- 
ing  Mr.  Lowe's  system  of  'payment  by  results,'  as  estimated  by  the 
examination  of  individual  pupils,  and  the  govertiment  grant  based  for 
the  future  on  the  general  condition  of  the  school.     In  1891    pree  Edu- 
a  bill  was  passed   creating  free   education,   with   certain   <^^*»°"- 
modifications,  in  elementary  schools  in  England  and  Wales.      In  1888  a 
most  important  bill  was  carried  by  the  consent  of  all  parties  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  elective  county  government.     The  bill  was 
based  on  the  lines  of  the  Corporation  Bill  of  1835,  and  con-    Councils 
tained  provisions  for  the  creation  of  a  class  of  aldermen 
elected  by  the  councillors  (see  page  951).     In  1890  a  sum  of  money 
arising  from  a  spirit  duty,  which  had  been  designed  to  be   Technical 
used  for  the  extinction  of  licences,  was  given  to  the  councils    Education, 
of  counties  and  county  boroughs  for  the  purpose,  if  they  so  chose,  of  pro- 
moting technical  and  intermediate  education. 

The  period  of  Lord  Salisbury's  administration  is  also  remarkable  for 
the  holding  of  a  Colonial  Conference  in  London  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing matters  of  common  interest.  This  conference  was  ^he 
the  outcome  of  a  great  change  that  had  taken  place  in  Colonies, 
regard  to  the  feeling  of  the  home  country  towards  the  colonies.  At  the 
time  when  the  right  of  self-government  was  granted  to  the  Australian 
colonies,  there  is  no  doubt  that  mo.st  British  statesmen  expected  the 
change  to  work  in  the  direction  of  independence,  and  expected  that  when 
the  time  was  ripe  the  colonies  would,  without  objection  from  the  mother- 
country,  declare  their  wish  to  be  independent  states  ;  and  a  bill  was 
actually  drafted,  but  not  presented  to  parliament,  to  facilitate  the  pro- 
cess.    In  time,  however,  opinion  on  this  subject  underwent  a  complete 


1036  Victoria  1892 

transformation,  partly  owing  to  the  increased  communication  and 
enormous  growth  of  trade  with  our  colonies,  and  also  between  the 
colonies  themselves,  partly  owing  to  the  protection  policy  of  the  European 
nations  and  of  the  United  States,  partly  also  to  a  higher  conception  of 
the  possibilities  of  the  British  Empire  as  a  great  agency  for  good  and 
especially  for  the  preservation  of  peace.  Not  only  was  the  value  of  the 
colonies  much  better  understood,  but  the  importance  of  the  empire  as  a 
whole  much  better  appreciated,  and  a  new  class  of  statesmen  arose,  con- 
spicuous among  whom  were  Mr.  Forster  in  this  country,  Sir  John  Mac- 
donald  in  Canada,  and  Sir  Henry  Parkes  in  Australia,  who  set  a  high  value 
on  national  unity,  and  wished  to  see  the  integrity  of  the  Empire  preserved 
intact.  Mr.  Forster  devoted  much  energy  to  pushing  his  views  ;  and 
after  his  death  in  1886,  his  place  was  taken  by  Lord  Rosebery.  In  1884 
their  efforts  were  much  aided  by  the  publication  of  Professor  John 
Seeley's  great  work  on  The  Expansion  of  England.  In  1885  a  strong 
impetus  was  given  to  the  movement  when  New  South  Wales  sent  a 
contingent  to  Suakim,  and  Canadian  boatmen  were  employed  in  the 
Nile  Expedition ;  in  1886  by  the  holding  of  a  Colonial  and  Indian 
Exhibition,  which  was  itself  an  object  lesson  in  the  value  of  the  colonies  ; 
and  in  1887  by  the  heartiness  with  which  the  queen's  jubilee  was  cele- 
brated in  every  part  of  the  Empire.  Seizing  on  this  favourable  moment 
for  promoting  common  action,  Mr.  Stanhope,  the  colonial  secretary, 
summoned  the  first  colonial  conference  ;  and  another  was,  in  1894,  held 
at  Ottawa,  in  Canada. 

In  1889  an  important  forward  step  was  taken  in  African  affairs  by  the 
granting  of  a  charter  to  the  British  South  Africa  Company.  When  the 
present  queen  came  to  the  throne  our  knowledge  of  the  interior  of  Africa 
and  of  the  courses  of  the  Rivers  Zambesi,  Congo,  and  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Nile  was  almost  a  blank  ;  but  by  the  efforts  of  a  number  of  great 
Englishmen,  of  whom  the  names  of  Livingstone  for  the  Zambesi,  Burton, 
Speke,  Grant,  and  Baker  for  the  Nile  valley,  and  Stanley  for  the  Congo, 
will  always  be  remembered,  the  interior  was  explored  in  every  direction, 
and,  much  of  it  being  found  suitable  for  colonisation,  settlements  of 
British,  Germans,  and  Belgians  were  founded  in  various  parts.  The 
formation  of  the  South  African  Company  was  mainly  due  to  a  great 
Englishman,  Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes,  who  had  become  prime  minister  of  Cape 
Colony,  and  under  his  energetic  direction  it  has  already  pushed  far  into 
the  interior,  and  extended  British  influence  in  South  Africa  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  East  African  Company,  starting  from  near  Zanzibar,  has  occu- 
pied the  lands  explored  by  Burton,  Speke,  and  Grant.     Its  territory 


1892  Salisbury  1037 

reaches  inland  to  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  and  the  carrying  of  a  railway 
from  the  coast  to  the  lake  is  expected  to  open  up  a  most  valuable  terri- 
tory to  the  energy  of  British  commerce  and  colonisation. 

In  foreign  affairs,  the  period  of  Lord  Salisbury's  ministry  was  very 
quiet.  An  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  between  Germany,  Austria, 
and  Italy,  tended  much  to  the  preservation  of  peace.  A  Foreign 
small  war  with  Bulgaria  and  Servia  was  happily  prevented  Affairs, 
from  developing  into  a  European  conflict ;  and  in  India  and  the  colonies 
there  was  profound  peace.  The  British  occupation  of  Egypt  still  con- 
tinued ;  and  in  spite  of  the  manifold  difficulties  created  by  the  extra- 
ordinary system  of  Egyptian  government,  the  good  work  done  by 
British  officials  in  the  army,  the  finance,  the  administration  of  justice, 
and  in  developing  the  material  resources  of  the  country,  has  become  a 
source  of  pride  to  their  countrymen. 

The  split  in  the  Home  Kule  party,  the  improving  fortunes  of  the  Irish 
farmers,   coupled   with  the  popularity   of  much   of  the  legislation   of 
Lord    Salisbury,    militated    against    the    success    of   the 
Gladstonian  Liberals  at  th«  next  election  ;  and  though  Mr.    castle  Pro- 
Gladstone  was  convinced  that  'the  flowing  tide  was  with   s^*™"^^- 
him,'  some  of  his  ablest  followers  saw  that  the  cry  of  '  Home  Kule,' 
by  itself,  would  never  carry  the  country.      Accordingly  a  manifesto, 
known  as  the  Newcastle  Programme,  was  forumlated,  to  embody  the 
whole    policy    of    the     Gladstonian    Liberals.       It     included    Home 
Rule   for   Ireland,  the   disestablishment   of  the   Episcopal   Church  in 
Wales,  greater  powers  for  the   London  county  council,  the  establish- 
ment of  District  and  Parish  Councils,  the  direct  Popular  Veto  on  the 
liquor  traffic,  the  'ending  or  mending'  of  the  House  of  Lords,  payment 
of  members,  '  one  man  one  vote,'  and  other  proposals. 

Accordingly,  in  the  general  election  of  1892,  the  Gladstonians  laid 
stress  on  the  Newcastle  Programme  as  a  whole  ;  the  Unionists  on  the 
maintenance   of    the   legislative   union  with   Ireland  and    ^  General 
the  general  success  of  Lord  Salisbury's  administration  at   Election, 
home  and  abroad.     The  voting  gave  Mr.  Gladstone  a  majority  of  40 — 
made  up  of  274  British  Home  Rulers,  72  Anti-Parnellites,  and  9  Parnell- 
ites,  as  against  269  Conservatives,  and  46  Liberal  Unionists.    Mr.  Glad- 
On  the  meeting  of  parliament,  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence,    fourth^ 
proposed  by  Mr.  Asquith,  was  carried  by  350  to  310.    Lord   Ministry. 
Salisbury  resigned  ;  and  Mr.  Gladstone  came  back  to  power  with  Lord 
Rosebery  as  foreign  secretary.  Sir  William  Harcourt  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer,   Mr.   Asquith  home  secretary,   and    Mr.  John   Morley   as 
secretary  for  Ireland. 


1038  Victoria  1892 

A  Home  Rule  Bill  was  soon  introduced.     When  it  appeared,  it  was 

found  that  the  chief  change  in  it  was  that  the  Irish  members,  instead  of 

^^  ^    being  excluded  from  all  share  in  imperial  affairs  as  in  the 

The  second     ^    ,. 

Home  Rule  bill  of  1886,  were  to  sit  in  the  Imperial  Parliament  but 
only  to  vote  on  imperial  matters.  This  proposal,  however, 
created  much  opposition  among  Mr.  Gladstone's  followers,  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  throw  the  working  of  the  Imperial  Parliament  into  com- 
plete confusion,  and  on  that  ground  a  similar  proposal  had  been  ridiculed 
by  Lord  Rosebery  in  1886.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Gladstone  reversed  his 
policy,  and  accepted  a  proposal  that  Ireland  should  be  represented  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament  by  eighty  members,  whose  votes  should  be  of  equal 
value  with  those  of  English  and  Scottish  members,  not  only  in  imperial 
affairs  but  also  in  exclusively  English  and  Scottish  matters  as  well. 
The  new  proposal  was  inserted  in  the  bill  by  327  votes  to  300.  With 
this  alteration  the  Home  Rule  Bill  was  carried  through  the  House  of 
Commons  after  no  less  than  eighty -two  days'  discussion ;  but  when  it 
reached  the  House  of  Lords,  it  was  thrown  out  on  the  second  reading  by 
419  to  41. 

On  this,  two  courses  presented  themselves  to  the  government — either  to 

dissolve,  as  Lord  Grey  had  done  in  1831,  or  to  carry  the  remainder  of  the 

Newcastle  Programme.     The  latter  was  preferred  ;  and  in 

Councils  an  autumn  session,  a  Parish  Councils  Bill,  the  prospect  of 
which  had  proved  most  popular  in  the  rural  districts,  was 
passed  through  both  Houses.  This  act,  which  established  parish  councils 
in  the  larger  parishes,  and  parish  meetings  in  the  smaller,  and  also  district 
councils  to  stand  between  the  parish  councils  and  the  county  councils, 
completed  the  process  of  re-creating  the  self-government  of  the  country, 
which  had  been  begun  by  the  Reform  Act  of  1832,  the  Corporation  Act 
of  1835,  and  the  Act  creating  County  Councils  in  1888.  Its  passing 
effected  little  less  than  a  revolution  in  rural  life,  in  which  its  effects, 
both  for  good  and  evil,  have  still  to  be  developed. 

Besides  passing  the  Parish  Councils  Bill,  the  government  also  passed 

an  Employers'  Liability  Bill,  but  dropped  it  because  the  House  of  Lords 

,    introduced  a  '  contracting-out  clause,'  giving  liberty  to  any 

Liability       body  of  workmen  to  form  an  insurance  society  of  their  own, 

if  certified  as  satisfactory  by  the  Board  of  Trade.     A  Liquor 

Traffic  Bill  was  also  introduced,  giving  facilities  for  the  entire  prohibi- 

Local  Veto    ^^^^  ^^  'public-houses'  in  limited  areas  bya  popular  vote.    The 

^*^^'  bill,  however,  was  not  carried  to  a  second  reading.     In  the 

spring  of  1894  Mr.  Gladstone,  being  then  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  and  having 
sat  in  parliament  almost  continuously  since  1832,  decided  finally  to  retire 


1895  Gladstone — Rosehery — Salisbury  1039 

from  politics.  He  therefore  resi</ned,  and  his  place  was  taken  by  Lord 
Rosebery,  with  practically  the  same  cabinet  as  before. 

After  Mr.  Gladstone's  resignation  Lord  Rosebery's  government  fol- 
lowed his  policy  of  abandoning  Home  Rule  for  the  moment  and  devoting 

their  attention  to   British   legislation.     In  1894  the  great   ^      ,     . 

-  .  ®  °  Conclusion, 

achievement  of  the  Session  was  the  passing  of  Sir  William 

Harcourt's  budget,  in  which  he  largely  increased  the  death  duties  on 
large  properties  as  a  substitute  for  a  graduated  income-tax.  In  1895  the 
government,  as  their  chief  measures,  brought  forward  a  Welsh  Church 
Disestablishment  Bill  and  a  Liquor  Traffic  Bill,  and  announced  their 
intention  of  carrying  in  the  House  of  Commons  a  resolution  condemning 
the  right  of  the  House  of  Lords  to  reject  bills  passed  by  the  House  of 
Commons.  All  this  time,  however,  their  majority  was  steadily  diminish- 
ing. The  nine  Parnellite  members  had  voted  against  them  ever  since 
Home  Rule  had  been  allowed  to  fall  into  the  background  ;  they  lost 
many  seats  at  by-elections  ;  and  by  June  1895  their  normal  majority 
was  reduced  to  less  than  ten.  In  these  circumstances  they  were  defeated 
by  a  majority  of  seven  in  a  vote  connected  with  the  administration  of  the 
army  and  immediately  resigned. 

Lord  Rosebery's  place  as  Prime  Minister  was  then  taken  by  Lord 
Salisbury,  at  the  head  of  a  cabinet  composed  not  only  of  Conservatives, 
but  also  of  Liberal  Unionists.  He  himself  became  prime  minister  and 
secretary  of  state  for  foreign  affairs.  Mr.  Balfour  was  made  first 
lord  of  the  treasury  and  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  formerly  Lord  Hartington,  became  president  of  the  council, 
Mr.  Goschen,  first  lord  of  the  admiralty,  Mr.  Chamberlain  colonial 
secretary,  and  Sir  Henry  James  (now  Lord  Aylestone),  chancellor  of  the 
duchy  of  Lancaster.  As  parties  were  so  evenly  balanced  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  a  dissolution  was  absolutely  necessary,  if  the  affairs  of  the 
country  were  to  be  managed  efficiently,  and  the  new  government  imme- 
diately announced  their  intention  of  appealing  to  the  country. 

No  lack  of  questions  for  solution  await  this  and  future  governments. 
Among  others  there  are  such  world-wide  questions  as  the  future  organisa- 
tion of  the  British  Empire,  '  the  greatest  secular  agency  for  good  now 
known  to  the  world,'  as  Lord  Rosebery  has  called  it,  and  the  dislocation 
of  trade,  caused  by  the  financial  changes  which  set  in  in  1873  ;  while, 
among  merely  local  problems,  there  are  the  proper  amount  of  local 
government  which  shall  best  accord  with  the  best  interests  of  Ireland 
and  of  Great  Britain ;  the  proper  relations  of  church  and  state ; 
the  education  of  the  people  ;  the  tremendous  questions  involved  in  the 
relations  between  employers  and  employed  ;  and  the  discovery  of  the 


1040 


Victoria 


1895 


organisation  of  society  which  shall  give  the  best  results  in  promoting 
the  moral  and  material  condition  of  the  public.  Such  are  the  problems 
which  await  solution  at  their  hands,  and  on  these  every  self-respecting 
man  will  be  obliged  to  form  an  opinion.  In  the  past,  the  British  people 
have  shown  themselves  well  able  to  cope  with  the  problems  of  their  own 
day.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  their  descendants  will  prove  worthy 
of  the  inheritance  bequeathed  to  them,  and  be  able  to  hand  on  to 
their  children  as  worthy  a  record  of  noble  ideal  and  successful  per- 
formance as  their  ancestors  have  left  to  them. 


CHIEF  DATES. 


Household  Suffrage  in  towns, 
Irish  Church  disestablished, 
Elementary  Education  Act, 
First  Irish  Land  Act, 
Ballot  established. 
Treaty  of  Berlin, 
Second  Irish  Land  Act, 
Occupation  of  Egypt, 
Death  of  Gordon, 
Household  Suffrage  in  counties, 
Mr.  Gladstone  accepts  Home  Rule, 
First  Home  Rule  Bill  rejected, 
First  Colonial  Conference, 
County  Councils  established,     . 
Second  Home  Rule  Bill  rejected, 
Parish  Councils  established, 


A.D. 

1867 
1869 
1870 
1870 
1872 
1878 
1881 
1882 
1885 
1885 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1893 
1894 


INDEX 


Abel,  420 
Abercromby,  795 
Abercrombie,  Sir  Ralph,  375 
Aberdeen,  battle  of,  573 

,  Lord,  950,  963,  981,  982,  988,  989 

Abernethy,  96 

Aberystwith,  216 

'Abhorrers,'  637 

Absalom  and  Achitophel,  640 

Abdurrahman  Khan,  1021 

Achard,  165 

Acolytes,  140 

Acre,  capture  of,  160,  161 

Acre,  siege  of,  872,  873 

Act  against  Occasional  Conformity,  742 

of  Explanation,  625 

of  Indemnity  and  Oblivion,  614 

of  Settlement  of  Charles  ii.,  625 

(English),  699 

(Irish),  676 

of  the  Six  Articles,  420 

of  Union,  717 

of  Louvain,  111,  123,  125. 

Addington,    880,  882,    889  (see  Sidmouth, 

Lord) 
Addison,  734,  742 
Adela  of  France,  155 
Adelaide,  962 
Aden,  962 

Adjutators,  the,  578 
Adrian  iv.,  147 
Adrianople,  Treaty  of,  933 
Adventurers,  the  Irish,  553,  603,  624 
'Adullam,  Cave  of,'  1005 
Advowsons,  141 
Adwalton  Moor,  562 
iElfgar,  79 
^Ifgifu,  74 
iEthelings,  47 

Afghanistan,  964,  965,  1019,  1021,  1028 
Agilbert,  32 

Agincourt,  battle  of,  318-320 
Agnes  of  Meran,  168 
Agricola,  14,  15 
Agricola's  Forts,  15 
Agricultural  Holdings  Act,  1025 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  188 
Aidan,  St.,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35 
Aids,  177 
Ailmar,  192 

Aislabie,  742,  744,  746,  748 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of,  785 
Akbar  Khan,  965 
Alabama,  The,  1000 
Alamayu,  1007 

3 


Albany,  Duke  of,  301,  308,  359,  368 
Albemarle,  George  Monk,  Duke  of,  614,  615, 

616,  622,  625 
Alberoni,  739,  740 
Albert  the  Great,  188 
Albion,  7 

Albuera,  battle  of,  900 
Alcantara,  900 
Alcuin,  38 
Aldermen,  952,  1035 
AlenQon,  Count  of,  255 

,  Francis,  Duke  of,  462,  467  (see  Anjou) 

Alexander  ii.,  180,  217 

II.,  Pope,  91 

III.,  217 

III.,  Pope,  135 

Bishop,  126 

Alexandria,  battle  of,  875 

Bombardment  of 

Alexius  Comnenus,  109 
Alfonso  of  Castille,  209 
Alfred  the  Great,  53-60,  74 

,  the  Atheling,  81 

Alfred's  Translations,  58 

Algiers,  bombardment  of,  910 

Allegiance,  269 

Allen,  William,  463  ' 

Allibone,  Judge,  658 

Allotments  Act,  1035 

Alma,  battle  of,  984 

Almanza,  battle  of,  720 

Almarez,  900 

Almeida,  899,  900 

Almenara,  battle  of,  721 

Alnwick,  106,  151 

Alod,  48 

Alphonzo  of  Navarre,  168 

Attainder,  Acts  of,  344 

Althorp,  Lord,  932,  939,  948,  949,  950,  952 

Alva,  459 

Amboyna,  596 

American  Colonies,  811 

Amherst,  Jeffrey,  794,  795,  796 

Amiens,  Mise  of,  196 

Treaty  of,  875 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  21 

Andre,  Major,  831 

Angles,  21,  23 

Anglesea,  137,  214 

Anglla,  23 

Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  121 

Anjou,  118,  135,  138,  167,  170 

,  Francis,  Duke  of,  467  (see  AleuQon) 

,  Margaret  of,  332,  338,  341,  342,  345, 

346,  347,  348,  350,  353,  356,  357,  358 
U 


1042 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Anlaf,  64 

Annates,  410,  411 

Anne,  daughter  of  James  ii.,  620,  662,  673, 

686 

,  reign  of,  705,  730 

Annual  Register,  820 

Anselm,  108,  112,  113,  114,  115 

Anson,  Commodore,  767,  771,  772,  785 

A7ite-nati,  the,  491 

Anti-Corn  Law  League,  958 

Antioch,  siege  of,  109 

Appledore,  59 

Apprenticeship  Act,  480 

Aquitaine,  Duchy  of,  264 

Arabi  Pasha,  1026 

Arcot,  siege  of,  799 

Arden,  Forest  of,  41 

Ardriagh,  147 

Argaum,  battle  of,  887 

Argyll,  John  Campbell,  Duke  of,  729,  734, 

738 
,  Archibald  Campbell,  Earl  of,  538,  546, 

573,  582,  590,  623 
,    Archibald   Campbell,    Earl    of,    the 

younger,  641,  647,  673,  674 

,  George  Douglas,  Duke  of,  981 

Arkwright,  Richard,  851 

Arietta  of  Falaise,  77 

Arlington,  Lord,  625,  626,  627,  629,  630,  631 

Armada,  the,  470,  471 

Armagh,  147 

Armagnacs,  308 

Arms  Act,  972 

Army  Pay,  316 

Plot,  the,  543 

Arnold,  Benedict,  825,  831 

Arragon,  Katharine  of,  388,  393,  402,  413 

Arran,  Earl  of,  454 

Arras,  Congress  of,  328 

Array,  Commission  of,  555 

Arrow,  the  Lorcha,  992 

Arsuf,  battle  of,  161 

Artevelde,  James  van,  248,  252 

Arthur  of  Brittany,  154,  167,  168,  169,  170 

,  son  of  Henry  vii.,  376,  388 

Articles  of  Religion,  the,  450 
Articuli  super  cartas,  209 
Artisans'  Dwellings  Act,  1016 
Arundel,  461 

,  Archbishop,  290,  291,  292 

,  Castle,  104 

,  Richard  Fitz-Alan,  Earl  of,  285,  287, 

290 

,  Sir  Humphrey,  430 

Aryans,  4,  5 

Aschaffenburg,  770 

Ascue,  595 

Ashbourne's,  Lord,  Act,  1029 

Ashburton,  Lord  (see  Dunning),  833,  836 

Ashdown,  battle  of,  54 

Ashley,  Baron,  614,  615  (see  Shaftesbury). 

,  Lord,  625,  627 

Aske,  Robert,  416 
Askew,  Anne,  424 

,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  337 

Asquith,  H.,  1037 
Assandun,  battle  of,  71 
Assaye,  battle  of,  887 
Asser,  57 
Assiento,  the,  726 
Assize  of  Arms,  153,  211 


Astley,  Sir  Jacob,  575 
Aston,  Sir  Arthur,  588 
Athelney,  55 
Athelstan,  39,  63 
Athlone,  capture  of,  679 

,  Ginkell,  Lord,  697 

Atterbury,  728,  729,  749 
Auberoche,  battle  of,  252 
Auchterarder  Case,  968. 
Audley,  Lord,  343 

,  Lord  (another),  380 

Aughrim,  battle  of,  680 
Augustine,  27,  28,  29,  35 
Augustinians,  187,  273 
Auldearn,  battle  of,  573 
Aulus  Plautius,  13 
Aumale,  William  of,  184 
Aurelius,  22 

Austerlitz  battle  of,  888 
Austin  Canons,  120 
Australia,  849,  961,  975 

,  South,  961 

Australian  Colonies,  975 

Austria,  Don  John  of,  462 

Austrian  Netherlands,  864,  937 

AutoMography  of  a  Radical,  917 

Auverquerque,  697 

A  vice  of  Gloucester,  169 

Avranche,  Hugh  of,  82 

Axtel,  615 

Aymer  de  Valence,  229 

Babington,  Anthony,  469,  695 

Bacon,  Sir  Francis,  479,  500,  501,  502,  505 

,  Nicholas,  449 

,  Roger,  188,  273 

Badajos,  899,  900 
Badby,  John,  303 
Badlesmere,  Lady,  237 

,  Lord,  237 

Bagnal,  Sir  Henry,  478 

Bagot,  Sir  William,  290 

Bailiff,  43 

Baillie,  566,  581 

Baird,  Sir  David,  875,  886,  887 

Baker,  Major,  677 

,  Sir  Samuel,  1036 

,  General,  1027 

Balaclava,  battle  of,  986,  987 
Baldwin,  Archbishop,  160,  169 

I.,  155 

of  Flanders,  77,  81,  118 

Balfour,  Arthur  James,  1026, 1032, 1034, 1039 

of  Burley,  573 

,  Sir  William,  549,  560 

Ball,  John,  280 
Ballingarry,  974 
Balliol,  Edward,  245,  264 

,  John  (the  elder),  195 

,  217,  218,  220 

Ballot,  the,  957,  1011 

Balmerino,  Lord,  776,  781 

Baltimore,  Lord,  531 

Bamford,  Samuel,  917 

Bamborough,  70,  106,  137 

Banaster,  Ralph,  367 

Banbury,  559 

Bancroft,  Bishop  of  London,  489,  491 

Bangor,  28 

in  Ireland,  147 

Bank  of  England,  688,  689 


Index 


1043 


Bankruptcy  Act,  1025 

Barbadoes,  498 

Barbarians,  19,  24 

Barbarossa,  Frederick,  123,  142,  155,  160 

Barbon,  Praise-God,  599 

Barcelona,  712 

Barclay,  Sir  George,  694,  695 

Bardolph,  Lord,  307 

Barillon,  646 

Barlow,  Bishop,  451 

Barnard,  Sir  John,  765 

Barnes,  Dr.,  420 

Barnet,  battle  of,  355 

Barnveldt,  the  Dutchman.  495" 

Barons,  conspiracy  of,  149 

Barre,  Colonel,  811,  812,  815,  817,  818,  823, 

832,  844 
Barrier  Treaty,  735 
Barrows,  4 
Barton,  Andrew,  379 

,  Elizabeth,  415 

,  Robert,  379 

Basing,  battle  of,  54 

Basques,  5,  6 

Bastille,  the,  858 

Bastwick,  John,  527,  528,  541 

Bate's  Case,  494 

Bath,  John  Granville,  Earl  of,  647 

,  Lord  (see  Pulteney),  768,  784 

Batoum,  1018,  1019 
Batten,  Vice-Admiral,  571 
Battle,  town  of,  84 
Bayeux,  Odo  of,  82,  02,  95,  98 
Baylen,  894 
Bavaria,  1001,  1014 

,  Louis  of,  248,  252 

,  Maximilian  of,  707,  708,  709 

Baxter,  Richard,  602,  618,  647,  654 

Beachy  Head,  battle  off,  681 

Beaconsfield,   Earl  of  (see  Disraeli),  1018, 

1019,  1021 
Bearroc  Wood,  41 
Beaton,  Cardinal,  423 
Beauchamp,  Anne,  540 
Beaufort,  Cardinal  Henry,  311,  313,  320, 

324,  328,  331,  333 

,  Duke  of,  776 

,  Edmund,  330,  333,  338,  339,  341,  342 

,  John,  290,  300,  311,  356 

,  Jane,  325. 

,  Henry,  Duke  of  Somerset,  345 

,  Margaret,  Countess  of  Stanley,  331, 

332,  366 

,  Thomas,  311,  321 

Beauforts,  the,  289 

Beaumaris,  216 

Beaug6,  battle  of,  322 

Beaumont,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  660 

Bee,  Monastery  of,  108 

Becket,  Gilbert,  136 

,  (see  Thomas,  Archbishop) 

Beckford,  Alderman,  766 

Bedchamber  Question  959,  960 

Bede,  18,  22,23,  25,  27,  28, 29,  30,  31,  32,  34,  36 

Bedford,  62 

,  John,  Duke  of,  306,  324,  328,  329 

,  Duke  of,  769,  809 

,  Earl  of,  535,  539 

,  John  Russell,  Duke  of,  813,  818 

,  siege  of,  185 

Whigs,  the,  809 


Bedloe,  William,  635 
Beer  Riots,  760 
Begums,  the,  841,  845 
Behar,  839 
Bek  Antony,  206 
BelgJB,  9,  11 
Belgium,  937 

Neutrality  of,  1015 

Bell,  Andrew,  945 
Bellingham,  John,  902 
Benedict  Biscop,  33,  34 

X.,  81 

Benedictines,  120,  121 
Benefit  of  Clergy,  408 
Benevolences,  385 
Bengal,  800,  839 

Bennet,  Henry  (see  Arlington),  625 
Bensington,  battle  of,  38 
Bentham,  Jeremy,  940 
Bentinck,  697,  702 

,  Lord  George,  971,  976 

,  William  the  younger,  697 

Beornwulf,  39 
Berengaria  of  Navarre,  160 
Bergen-op-Zoom,  siege  of,  784 
Berkeley,  Judge,  530,  541 
Berkhampstead,  87 
Berlin  Note,  1017 

Treaty,  1018,  1021 

Bernicia,  47,  56 
Bertrand  of  Born,  154 
Berwick  Castle,  152 

,  capture  of,  220 

,  Duke  of,  660,  684,  694,  720 

Bessieres,  900 
Bhurtpore,  964 
Bible,  Wyclifs,  311 

,  Authorised  Version,  489 

,  Matthew's,  420 

,  'the  Great, '420 

,  Tyndal's,  419 

Bidasoa,  903 

Biddle,  604 

Biggar,  J.,  1023 

Bigod,  Roger,  176,  179,  221 

Bill  of  Security,  716 

Billings,  Sir  Richard,  626 

Birch,  Colonel,  630 

Birinus,  31 

Birkbeck,  Doctor,  924 

Birmingham,  940,  942,  943 

League,  the,  1011 

Bishop's  Court,  140 

War,  first,  534 

,  second,  536 

Bismarck,  Count,  1001,  1014 
Bithoor,  963,  994 
Black  Death,  257 
'  Black  Friday,'  777 

Hole  of  Calcutta,  800 

Prince,  266,  275,  276 

Blackheath,  battle  of,  380 

Bladensburg,  battle  of,  904 

Blake,  Robert,  Admiral,  566,  587,  590,  595, 

596,  597,  599,  605,  606 
Blakeney,  General,  778,  791 
Blanche  of  England,  168 

of  Castille,  168,  183 

of  Lancaster,  272 

Taque,  253 

'  Blanketeers,'  916 


1044 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Blenheim,  battle  of,  708 
Bloody  Assize,  the,  649 
Blore  Heath,  battle  of,  343 
Blucher,  Marshal,  90G 
Blunt,  Sir  John,  744 
Boadicea,  14 

Board  of  Control,  the,  844 
Bocland,  48 

Bohemia,  Anne  of,  284,  289 
Bohemia,  John  of,  255 
Bohemund  of  Taranto,  109 
Bohun,  Henry  of,  176,  179 

,  Humphrey  de,  221,  229 

Bohuns,  pedigree  of,  229 

Bois-le-Duc,  battle  of,  865 

Boleyn,  Anne,  403,  405,  409,  410,  413. 

Bolingbroke,  Henry  of.  Earl  of  Derby,  284, 

286  (see  Henry  iv.) 
,  Henry  St.  John,  Viscount,  727,  729, 

735,  736,  748,  749,  753,  786 
Bolivar,  927 
Bolton,  Duke  of,  759 
Bombay,  620,  797 
Bonaparte,  Joseph,  894,  897 
,  Louis  Napoleon,   979,  982,   996,  999, 

1014 
,  Napoleon,  865,  870,  873,  874,  882,  896, 

902,  903,  905,  910 
Bond,  Oliver,  877 
Boniface,  34 

of  Savoy,  191 

VIII.,  221,  224,  225 

IX.,  284 

Bonner,  Bishop  of  London,  419,  433,  442 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  429,  434,  601,  605, 

618 
Booth,  Sir  George,  610  (see  Lord  Delamere) 
Boroughbridge,  battle  of,  237 

,  567 

Boscawen,  Admiral,  801 

Boston,  821,  822 

Bosworth,  battle  of,  371 

Bothwell  Brigg,  637 

Bothwell,  James  Hepburn,  Earl  of,  455,  456 

Boucher,  Joan,  434 

Boufflers,  Marshal,  686,  719 

Boulogne,  Eustace  of,  82 

Bourchier,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  342, 

343,  347,  364 

,  Lord,  342,  343,  345,  355 

,  Robert,  251 

Bourkes,  the,  381 

Bouvines,  battle  of,  175 

Bowring,  Sir  John,  992 

'  Boys,  The,'  765,  768 

Brackenbury,  Sir  Robert,  371 

Braddock,  General,  790,  794 

Bradshaw,   John,   584,   598,   606,  609,  010, 

611,  614 
Bramham  Moor,  battle  of,  307 
Brandon,  4 

Breadalbane,  John  Campbell,  Earl  of,  675 
Breakspear,  Nicholas  (Adrian  iv.),  147 
Brember,  Sir  Nicholas,  285,  286 
Brentford,  battle  of,  71 
Brenville,  battle  of,  118 
Breteuil,  Roger  of, 
Bretigny,  Peace  of,  264 
Brett,  Lieutenant,  771,  773 
Bretwalda,  29 
Brian  Boru,  147 


Brian,  Fitz-Count,  127,  129 
Bridgenorth,  62 

,  siege  of,  113 

Bridgwater,  698 

canal,  852 

Brigantes,  15 

Brigham,  treaty  of,  217 

Bright,   John,  959,  963,  969,  973,  992,    997, 

1005,  1010,  1021,  1030 
Brihuega,  battle  of,  721 
Brihtnoth,  70 
Brindley,  James,  852 
Bristol,  74,  92,  562 

,  Digby,  Earl  of,  507,  539,  548 

British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  945 

Colonial  Empire,  961 

Britons,  7 
Brittany,  252 

,  John  of,  206,  226 

,  Alan  of,  82 

,  Anne  of,  386 

Broad-bottomed  Ministry,  769 

Broc,  Ralf  de,  143,  144 

Broi,  Philip  de,  141 

Brooklyn,  825 

Brooke,  George,  488 

Brook,  Robert  Greville,  Lord,  535,  539,  547, 

562 
Brougham,  Henry,  Lord,  912,  915,  923,  931, 

938,  939,  940,  941,  945,  951,  956 
Brown,  Robert,  464 
Browne,  Sir  Anthony,  426 
Browning,  Micaiah,  678 
Bruce,  Edward,  235 

,  Robert,  217,  218 

(the  younger),  226,  232,  233,  234, 

243 
Brueys,  Admiral,  872 
Brunanburh,  battle  of,  63 
Brunswick,  Caroline  of,  921,  922 
Brydon,  Dr.,  966 
Brynglas,  battle  of,  304 
Brythons,  7,  9,  11,  25 
Buckingham,  Humphrey  Stafford,  Duke  of, 

342,  345 

,  Henry  Stafford,  Duke  of,  362 

,  George  Villiers,   Duke  of,    506,    510, 

513,  514,  515,  516,  518 
,  George  Villiers  the  younger,  Duke  of, 

580,  625,  627,  629,  630,  631,  632. 

,  George  Grenville,  Duke  of,  925 

Bulgaria,  1017,  1018,  1037 

Bunker's  Hill,  battle  of,  824 

Buonaparte,  Napoleon,  865,  870,  873,  874, 

882,  896,  902,  903,  905,  910 
Burdett,  Sir  Francis,  917,  930 
Burford,  battles  of,  37,  588 
Burgh-on-the-Sands,  226 
Burghersh,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  250 
Burgos,  siege  of,  901,  902 
Burgoyne,  Sir  John,  825 
Burgundians,  308 
Burgundy,  Anne  of,  325,  327 

,  Charles,  Duke  of,  352,  353,  357 

,  Margaret  of  York,   Duchess  of,  852, 

379 

,  Philip,  Duke  of,  322,  325,  330 

Burh,  43 
Burh-ed,  54 
Burhgerifa,  43 
Burials  Bill,  1025 


Index 


1045 


Burke,  Edmund,  814,  817,  818,  820,  823,  829, 
832,  833,  835,  836,  838,  840,  841,  845,  846, 
861,  863,  874 

Burleigh,  William  Cecil,  Lord.  469,  472 

Bui-ley,  Sir  Simon,  284,  285 

Burmah,  964 

Burnell,  Robert,  206,  209,  218 

Bumes,  Alexander,  964,  966 

Burnet,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  644,  659,  660, 
661,  670,  671,  683,  713 

Burns,  852,  924 

Burrard,  Sir  Harry,  896 

Burton,  Henrv,  527,  541,  547,  671 

,  Sir  R.  f!,  1036 

Busaco,  battle  of,  899 

Bussy,  or  Bushy,  Sir  John,  290,  292 

Bute,  John  Stuart,  Earl  of,  805,  806,  807,  808 

Butt,  Isaac,  1022,  1023 

Butler,  Lady  Eleanor,  864 

Butlers,  the,  381 

Buttington,  battle  of,  59 

Buxar,  battle  of,  839 

Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Parliament  at,  221 

'  By,'  56 

Bydel,  42 

Byland,  Abbey,  238 

Byng,  Admiral  Sir  George,  709,  718 

John,  791 

Byron,  Lord,  924 

,  Sir  John,  558,  564 


Cabot,  John,  390 

,  Sebastian,  390 

Cabul,  964,  965,  1019,  1021 

Caedmon,  34 

Caen,  95 

Cade,  Jack,  336,  337 

Cadiz,  511 

Cadoudal,  Georges,  883 

Cadogan,  General,  719 

Cadwallon,  25,  80,  81 

Calais,  330 

,  loss  of,  446 

,  siege  of,  255 

,  surrender  of,  256,  257 

Calamy,  Edward,  545,  618 

Calcutta,  797 

Calder,  Sir  Robert,  884 

Calicut,  475 

Calvin,  452 

Cambray,  League  of,  394 

Cambridge,  54,  62,  92,  557 

,  Richard,  Earl  of,  316 

Camden,  battle  of,  831 

,  Lord,  815,  836,  843 

Cameron  of  Lochiel,  774 

,  Dr.,  781 

Cameronian  Regiment,  674 
Camerons,  the,  673 
'  Campaign,  Plan  of,'  1033 
Campbell,  Captain,  of  Glenlyon,  675 

,  Sir  Colin,  afterwards  Lord  Clyde,  98 

995,  996 
Campbells,  the,  673,  675 
Campeachy  Bay,  766 
Campeggio,  Cardinal,  403,  404 
Camperdown,  battle  of,  866 
Campion,  463 
Camulodunum,  13,  14 
Canada,  790,  797,  911,  955,  956,  1006,  1036 


Canals,  852 

Candahar,  964,  965,  966,  1021 

Canning,  882,  883,  892,  898,  912, 917,  925,  926, 

927,  928,  931,  932,  940 

,  Lord,  995 

Cannon,  674 

,  General,  990 

Canon  Law,  140 
Canterbury  Tales,  289 
Cantreds,  the  four,  213,  216 
Canute  of  Denmark,  99 

,  71,  72-74 

Cape  Colony,  911,  1019,  1036 

Capel,  Lord,  581 

Cape  Passaro,  battle  of,  740 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  869,  905 

Cape  St.  Vincent,  first  battle  of,  834 

,  second  battle  of,  866 

Caractacus,  13 

Carberry  Hill,  456 

Carbisdale,  battle  of,  590 

Cardiff  Castle,  114 

Cardigan,  Lord,  987 

Card  well,  E.,  977,  1008,  1012,  1013 

Carew,  Sir  Peter,  430,  440 

Carey,  John,  947 

Carisbrook,  580 

Carlisle,  106,  137,  457 

Carmarthen,    Marquess    of,    629,    672   {see 

Danby),  683 
Carmelites,  187,  273 
Carnarvon,  216 

,  Earl,  1005,  1018 

Carpenter,  General,  738 

Carolina,  788,  999 

Caroline  of  Anspach,  756,  757,  765 

Carr,  Robert,  500,  501 

Carstares,  William,  674 

Carteret,  Lord,  748,  750,  752,  757,  768,  770, 

771,  782 
Cartwright,  577,  851 

,  Thomas,  464 

Carucate,  168 

Cashel,  147 

Casket  Letters,  the,  457 

Cassivellaunus,  10, 13 

Castile,  Constance  of,  273,  289 

Castillon,  battle  of,  339 

Castlebar,  878 

Castlereagh,   Robert    Stewart,    Lord,    879, 

883,  892,  898,  902,  910,  912,  917,  920,  925 
Castles,  154. 

Cateau  Cambresis,  Treaty  of,  453 
Catesby,  479 

,  Robert,  492 

,  Sir  William,  367,  369,  871 

Cathcart,  Lord,  892 
Catherine  ii.  of  Russia,  848 
Catholic  Emancipation  carried,  934 
Cato  Street  Plot,  920 
Catuvelauni,  10 
Cavagnari,  Sir  Louis,  1Q19 
Cavalier,  550 
Cavendish,  Lord,  630,  634 

,  Lord  Frederick,  1025 

,  Lord  John,  809,  833,  836,  838 

Cavemen,  4 

Cavour,  Count,  998,  999 
Cawnpore,  994 
Caxton,  William,  390 
Ceawlin,  23,  24,  29,  37,  38 


1046 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Cecil,  Sir  Edward,  512 

,  Sir  Robert,  486 

,  Robert,  472 

,  William,  449,  465  (see  Burleigh) 

Celtic  invasion,  4 

Celts,  4,  5,  6,  7,  9 

Ceorls,  47 

Cetewayo,  1020,  1025,  1030,  1039 

Ceylon,  869,  905 

Chad,  St.,  33 

Chaderton,  Master  of  Emmanuel  College, 

Cambridge,  489 
Chalgrove  Field,  561 
Chalmers,  Thomas,  968 
Chalon,  the  little  battle  of,  206 
Chains,  165 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  1021, 1025, 1030, 1039 
Chambers,  Alderman,  518,  526,  541 
Chancery  Court,  212 
Chandernagore,  797 
'Chandos  Clause,'  943,  949 
Channel  Islands,  170 
Charlemont,  Lord,  836 
Charles  the  Great,  38,  39 

the  Simple,  64 

Charles  i.,  506,  507 

,  reign  of,  509-585 

,  Prince,  Charles  ii.,  552,  588,  590,  591, 

594,  611 

II.,  reign  of,  613-643 

Edward,  Prince,  772,  773,  779 

,  Archduke,  707,  726 

VIII.  of  France,  358,  369,  379,  387 

v.,    Emperor,   400,    401,  415,  423,  439, 

440,  443 

XII.  of  Sweden,  740 

Albert,  973 

Charlotte,  Princess,  921 
Charnock,  Sir  Robert,  694,  695 
Charter  of  Forests,  184 

of  the  Forest,  222 

of  Henry  i.,  referred  to,  175 

of  Liberties,  112 

,  The  People's,  957 

Charters,  Confirmation  of,  223 

to  towns,  164 

Chartists,  the,  957,  974 

Chateau  Gaillard,  163,  170 

Chatham,  Earl  of  (see  Pitt),  815,  816,  818, 

827,  828 

,  Earl  of,  son  of  above,  897 

Chatrys,  William,  302 
Chaucer,  259,  288,  289 
Chesapeake,  the,  903 
Cheshire,  69 
Chester,  62,  74,  93 

,  battle  of,  24,  25,  26,  37 

Chesterfield,  Philip  Dormer  Stanhope,  Earl 

of,  750,  759,  768,  769,  783,  784,  786,  798, 

809,  835,  857 
Cheriton,  battle  of,  565 
Cheyte  Singh,  845 
Chichele,  Henry,  315 
Chichester,  Arthur.  496,  497 
Chillianwallah,  battle  of,  967 
Chiltern  Hills,  41 
China  War,  first,  960 

,  second,  992 

Chinon,  150 
Chippenham,  55 
election,  768,  819 


Christianity,  introduction  of,  17 

Roman,  26 

Christina,  79 

Chronicle,  Anglo-Saxon,  58,  67 

Church,  influence  of,  on  national  life,  35 

Churchill,  Admiral,  722 

,  Arabella,  660 

,  John,  Lord,  afterwards  Marlborough, 

628,  648  659,  661,  671,  672,  681,  686,  696, 

698 

,  Lord  Randolph,  1026,  1032 

,  the  Poet,  810 

Cider  Tax,  the,  808 

Cinque  Ports,  196 

Circuits,  145 

Cistercians,  120 

Ciudad  Rodrigo,  899,  900 

Civil  jury,  145 

Clare  election,  the,  933 

,  Richard  de,  148 

,  Thomas  of,  199 

Clarence,  George,  Duke  of,  352,  353,  355, 

356,  358 

,  Lionel,  Duke  of,  272 

,  Thomas,  Duke  of,  312,  322 

Clarendon,  Assize  of,  145 

,  Constitutions  of,  141,  145 

,  Council  of,  141 

,  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of,  614,  622 

,  Henry  Hyde,  645,  664 

,  G.  W.  Villiers,  972 

Clark,  Anne,  898 

Clarkson,  Thomas,  847,  890,  945 

Claypole,  Elizabeth,  608 

Clement  vii,.  Pope,  403 

Clericis  laicos,  221 

Clerkenwell  Explosion,  1007 

Clermont,  Council  of,  109 

Cleveland,  83 

Cleves,  Anne  of,  421 

Cliff"ord,  Lord,  342,  345,  346 

,  Sir  Thomas,  afterwards  Lord,  625,  626, 

627,  630 
Clifton,  skirmish  at,  778 
Clinton,  General,  825,  831 
Clive,  Robert,  799,  839,  840 
Clonmacnoise,  147 
Clonmel,  589 
Clontarf,  battle  of,  147 

,  meeting  at,  967 

Clugniacs,  120 

Clugny,  67 

Coa,  combat  of,  899 

Coal  Mines'  Regulation  Act,  1035 

Cobbett,  William,  914,  917,  944 

Cobden,   Richard,   958,   959,  963,  969,  970, 

973,  978,  992,  998 
Cobham,  Eleanor,  332 

,  Lord,  479,  487,  488,  759 

Coehorn,  682 

Cochrane,  Admiral,  927 

Code  Napoleon,  874 

Codriugton,  Sir  Edward,  932 

Coffee  Houses,  632 

Coifi,  30 

Coinage,  debasing  of,  423 

Coke,  Edward,  501,  502,  504,  506,  510,  512, 

515 

,  American  Methodist,  763 

Colbert,  626,  627 
Colbome,  Sir  Thomas,  908 


Index 


1047 


Colchester,  13 
Coldstream  Guards,  616 
Coleman,  635 
Colepepper,  William,  702 
Coleridge,  852,  924 
Colet,  John,  389 
Coligny,  Admiral,  458 
College,  Stephen,  640 
CoUey,  Sir  George,  1022 
CoUingwood,  Admiral,  884,  885 
Colman,  32,  33 

Colonial  Conference,  1035, 1036 
Colonies,  473,  497,  788,  812,  816 
Columba,  St.,  26,  27,  33 
Columban,  St.,  27 
Combermere,  Viscount,  964 
Comines,  Philip  de,  357 

,  Robert  of,  93 

Common  Pleas,  Court  of,  153 

Communa,  164 

Companies,  trading,  499 

Compreliension  Bill,  626 

Compton,  Bishop  of  London,  651,  652,  659, 

662 

,  Sir  Spencer,  756,  768 

Compurgation,  145 

Compurgators,  49 

Comyn,  John,  225,  226 

Concord,  823 

Conde,  Prince  of,  458 

'  Confederates,'  564,  566,  575 

Confederate  States,  the,  999, 1000 

Congregation,  Lords  of  the,  454 

Congress  of  Vienna,  905 

Connaught,  147 

Connecticut,  788 

Conrad  of  Montferrat,  161 

Conservatives,   numbers  of,   944,  950,  962, 

1008,  1014,  1021,  1029,  1032,  1037 
Consillt,  battle  of,  137 
Cons])iracy  to  Murder  Bill,  997 
Constable,  Sir  John,  416 
Constance  of  Brittany,  135,  167 
Constantino,  17,  63 
Continental  War,  Frederick's,  802 
Contract,  the  Great,  494 
Conventicle  Act,  619 
Convention,  the,  of  1660,  611 

,  the,  of  1688,  663 

Convocation  of  Canterbury,  Constitution  of, 

302,  303 

,  discontinued,  762 

Conway,  216 

,  General,  809,  812,  813,  816,  817,  832 

Cony,  605 

Conyers,  Sir  John,  352 

Cook, 615 

Cooke,  Captain,  849 

Cooper,  Sir  Antony  Ashley,  599,  600,  614 

{see  Shaftesbury) 
Coote,  Colonel  Eyre,  800,  841 
Cope,  Sir  John,  774,  775,  776 
Cork,  147,  679 

,  Robert  Boyle,  Earl  of,  523 

Cornbury,  Lord,  662 
Com  Laws,  the,  915,  957,  963,  970 
Cornwallis,  Lord,  831,  832,  888 
Cornwall,  Richard,  Earl  of,  193,  194,  197 

,  Henry,  Earl  of,  195 

Corporations,  619 
Act,  671,  863 


Corunna,  battle  of,  896 

Cosin,  Bishop  of  Durham,  517 

Cottenham,  Lord,  951 

Cotton,  Sir  John  Hynde,  769 

Council  of  the  North,  417,  422,  544 

Counter  Reformation,  463 

'  Country  Party,'  the,  630 

County  Councils,  1035 

Coupland,  256 

Courtenay,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  283 

,   Edward,    Earl    of   Devon,   439,   440. 

441 
Court  of  Chancery,  602 

of  Common  Pleas,  178 

of  High  Commission,  451 

Courtrai,  battle  of,  225 

Coventry,  558 

Coverdale,  Miles,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  419,  433, 

444,  451 
Cowper,  734,  704 
Cowper-Temple  Clause,  1011 
Craft  Guilds,  165 
Craftsman,  the,  753 
Craggs,  746,  748 

Cranborne,  Lord  (see  Salisbury) 
Cranfleld,  Lionel,  508 
Cranmer,  Thomas,  409,  410,  419,  420,  426, 

429,  442,  444 
Crauford,  Robert,  899 
Crawford,  Earl  of,  546 
Crecy,  battle  of,  253 
Crefeld,  battle  of,  802 
Cressingham,  224 
Crevant,  battle  of,  325 
Crew,  Chief-Justice,  513 
Cricklade,  61 
Crimea,  983-991 
Crimes  Act,  Gladstone's,  1025 

,  Salisbury's,  1033 

Criminal  Code,  the,  919 

*  Criminous  clerks,'  140,  141 

The  Crisis,  728 

Croke,  Judge,  530 

Croker,  J.  W.,  941 

Crompton,  851 

Cropredy  Bridge,  battle  of,  566 

Cromwell,  Henry,  602,  609 

,  Lord,  335 

,  Richard,  609,  610 

,  Thomas,  412,  415,  416,  419,  421 

,  Oliver,  539,  542,  545,  557,  558,  560,  561, 

562,  563,  565,  566,  568,  569,  570,  572,  578, 

682,  583,  584,  587,  588,  590,  591,  598,  599, 

600,  607,  608,  609,  614 
Crowland,  53,  67 
Crowmer,  336 
Crown  Point,  790 
Crusade,  causes  of,  108 

,  the  first,  108 

,  the  third,  160,  161 

Cuesta,  General,  897 

Culloden,  779 ;  battle  of,  780 

Culpepper,  550 

Cumberland,   William,  Duke  of,   771,  772, 

778,  779,  791,  792,  793,  811,  813 

,  William,  Duke  of  (another),  953 

Cunedda,  23,  26 

Cunningham,  Colonel,  677 

Cunobelinus,  13 

Cur  Deus  Homo,  108 

Curia  Regis,  116,  117,  152,  177,  185 


1048 


Jn  Advanced  History  of  England 


Currency  question,  1015,  1020 

,  state  of,  690 

Curtis,  Captain,  834 
Customary  service,  139 
Customs  duty,  271 
Custom,  the  great,  223 
Custozza,  battle  of,  1002 
Cutlibert,  34 

Cutts,  General  Lord,  686,  709 
Cyprus,  Isle  of,  160,  161 

D'Alembert,  857 
Dalhousie,  Lord,  993 
Dalrymple,  Sir  John,  674,  675 

,  Sir  Hugh,  896 

Damme,  174 

Danby,  Earl  of  (see  Latimer),  629,  631,632, 

633,  646,  656,  659,  062,  664,  668,  672  (see 

Leeds) 
Danegeld,  73 
Danes,  51 
Danelaw,  56,  64,  69 
Dangerfield,  635,  646 
Danish  boroughs,  62,  64 
Danton,  859,  869 
d'Arcon,  834 
Dare,  Jeanne,  327 
Darcy,  Lord,  416 
Dare  of  Taunton,  648 
Darien  Scheme,  714 
Darnley,  Henry,  455,  456 
Darrein  presentment,  178 
Dashwood,  Sir  Francis,  808,  829 
Dauphin,  264 
David,  King  of  Scotland,  98,  111,  123,  124, 

128 

,  Prince  of  Wales,  214,  216 

of  Scotland,  256,  264 

,  St.,  26 

Davis,  Jefferson,  999 
Davis,  John,  466 
Davison,  469 
Davitt,  M.,  1023 
Dawstone,  battle  of,  24,  25 
Deane,  Admiral,  587,  596 

,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  395 

De  donis  conditionalibus  Statute,  209,  210 

d'Enghien,  Duke,  883 

d'Estaing,  Admiral,  827 

d'Estrees,  Admiral,  628 

d'Ewes,  Sir  Simon,  539 

Declaration  of  the  Army,  579 

of  Breda,  614 

of  Indulgence  of  Charles  ii.,  627,  629 

,  the  first,  of  James  ii.,  654 

,  the  second,  of  James  ii.,  656 

of  Right,  English,  664 

,  Irish,  836 

Defoe,  Daniel,  697,  702 

De  Hceretico  Comhurendo,  302 

Deira,  24 

De  la  Clue,  Admiral,  801 

Delamere,  Booth,  Lord,  614 

,  Lord,  662,  672 

Delaval,»684 
Delaware,  789 
Delhi,  994,  995 
Denewulf,  57 
Denham,  Judge,  530 
Denissburn,  31 
Denman,  928 


Denmark,  Prince  George  of,  662,  722 

Derby,  62 

,  Henry,  Earl  of,  and  Duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, 248,  252,  257 

,  Stanley,  Earl  of,  438 

,  Earl  of,  593,  594,  595 

De  religiosis,  209 

Dermot  Macarthy,  149 

Macmorrough,  148 

De  Ruyter,  596,  621,  622,  628 

Derwentwater,  Lord,  739 

Desborough,  598,  599,  600,  607,  610 

Desmonds,  the,  478 

Desmoulins,  Camille,  858 

Despenser,  Hugh  le,  195 

,  elder,  236,  238,  289 

,  younger,  236,  238,  239 

,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  281 

Lord,  300 

De  Tallagio  non  Con^edendo,  223,  515 

Dettingen,  battle  of,  771 

De  viris  religiosis,  statute  of,  209 

Devonshire,  William  Cavendish,  Earl  of, 
651,  655,  662,  742 

,  Duke  of,  808,  809 

,  1039  (see  Hartington) 

Devorgil,  148 

De  Witt,  596,  621,  628 

Dhuleep  Singh,  967 

Diderot,  857 

Dieskau,  790 

Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  513 

Digby,  Lord,  539,  541,  545,  551,  552,  572 

Dighton,  366 

'  Directory,'  601 

'  Disinherited,'  the,  109,  200 

Dispensing  power,  the,  651 

Disraeli,  971,  978,  980,  997,  1005,  1006,  1014, 
1016,  1017,  1018  (see  Beaconsfield) 

Distraint  of  knighthood,  211 

,  521 

'  Disturbance,  Compensation  for,'  Clause, 
1023,  1024 

Division  lists  published,  953 

Doddington,  Bubb,  769 

Dodwell,  669 

Dol,  castle  of,  151 

Dominicans,  188,  272 

Dom  Pantaleone  Sa,  604 

Donauwerth,  battle  of,  708 

Donell,  O'Brien,  149 

Doomsday  Book,  99 

Dorchester  Heights,  825 

Dore,  62 

Dorislaus,  596 

Dorset,  Earl  of,  549 

,  Marquis  of,  394 

Douai,  College  at,  463 

Douglas,  243,  245 

,  Earl  of,  303,  305 

,  Margaret,  455 

■ ,  Andrew,  678 

Douro,  passage  of  the,  897 

Dover,  77,  87,  92 

,  battle  of,  183 

,  treaty  of,  626 

Drapier's  Letters,  the,  751 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  466,  469,  470,  473 

Drogheda,  siege  of,  588 

'  Drop  Shuttle,'  851 

Druids,  11,  14 


iTidex 


1049 


Drumclog,  637 

Driimmond,  Sir  John,  777,  778 ;  Lord,  780, 

781 
Dryden,  682 
Dublin,  147,  149 
Dubois,  Abbe,  739 
Dudley,  Sir  Edmund,  385,  393 

,  Lord  Guildford,  436,  439 

,  Lord  Robert,  437,  438 

,  Dud,  851 

Dufify,  C.  G.,  973 

Dulcigno,  1021 

Duleek,  679 

Dunbar,  battles  of,  220,  591 

,  George  of.  Earl  of  March,  301 

Duncan,  Admiral,  866,  867 

Dundalk,  588 

Dundas,  Henry,  843,  844 

Dundee,  Viscount,  673,  674 

Dunes,  battle  of  the,  608 

Dunkeld,  674 

Dunkellin,  Lord,  1005 

Dunkirk,  470,  608,  620 

Dunmail,  64 

Dunning,  829,  833 

Dunois,  Count,  326 

Duns  Scotus,  188 

Dunstan,  33,  65-70 

Dupleix,  799 

Du])plin  Moor,  battle  of,  245 

Dutch,  wars  with,  596,  628,  827,  866 

Durham,  93, 151 

,  Earl  of,  950 

Dyck  veldt,  656 

Dyrham,  battle  of,  24,  25,  26 


Eadric,  Streona,  70,  71,  72,  73 

the  Wild,  92 

Ealdorman,  44 
Ealdred,  80 
Baldgyth,  81 
Earldoms,  95 
East  Angles,  23 

India  Comimny,  474,  499 

Retford,  933 

Saxons,  23 

Eaton,  Sir  Jolin,  530 
Ecclesiastical  Commission,  the,  652 

Courts,  140,  408 

Holdings,  107 

Polity,  the,  465 

Eddington,  battle  of,  55 
Eddisbury,  62 
Edgar,  66 

Atheling,  79,  81,  86,  87,  92,  93,  96 

Edgecote,  battle  of,  352 

,  559 

Edgehill,  battle  of,  559 

Edinburgh,  Castle  of,  152,  220,  232,  775 

Letter,  970 

Edith,  76,  77,  78 
Edmund,  63,  64 

,  Archbishop,  193 

,  Ironside,  71,  72 

,  Crouchback,  229 

,  of  Lancaster,  206 

Edred,  65 

Education,  Elementary,  945,  961, 1010, 1011, 

1035 
EdAvard  the  Confessor,  74,  76,  81 


Edward  i.,  196,  197, 198,  199,  200  ;  reign  of, 

205-227;  character  of,  205  ;  compared  with 

Henry  ii.,  205 

the  Elder,  61,  62,  63 

II.,  217,  222  ;  reign  of,  228-241 

II.  and  Richard  ii.  compared,  293 

III.,  239;  reign  of,  242-277 

IV.,  343,  346,  347  ;  reign  of,  348-360 

v.,  reign  of,  361-364 

VI.,  reign  of,  426-436 

of  Hungary,  79,  81 

the  Martyr,  67 

Prince,  340,  341,  345,  357,  366 

son  of  Malcolm  in.,  106 

Edwards,  920 

Edwin  of  Northumbria,  24,  25,  29,  30,  31, 

37,  38,  39 

,  Earl,  79,  83,  84,  87,  91,  92,  93 

Edwy,  66,  72 

Effingham,  Lord  Howard  of,  469,  470,  473 

Egbert,  38,  39,  40 

Egfrith,  34,  37 

Egremont,  Thomas  Percy,  Earl  of,  345 

,  Lord,  807,  809,  810 

Eikon  Basilike,  585 

Eikonoklastes,  585 

Elcho,  Lord,  573 

Eleanor  of  Acquitaine,  128,   135,  151,  167, 

167,  168,  169 

of  Brittany,  162 

de  Montfort,  214 

of  Provence,  191 

Elfric,  70 

Eldon,  Lord,  880,  892,  911,  931,  934 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  510,  512,  513,  515,  519,  520 

Elliott,  Governor,  833,  834 

,  Captain,  960 

Elizabeth,  410,  430,  441 ;  reign  of,  448-481 , 

495 
Ella,  29 

Ellandun,  battle  of,  39 
EUenborough,  Lord,  889 
Elmete,  41 

Elphinstone,  General,  965 
Elswitha,  53 
Ely,  67,  75 

,  Isle  of,  93 

,  Thomas,  Bishop  of,  285 

Emma,  70,  73,  74,  97 
Emmett,  Robert,  880 
Employers'  Liability  Acts,  1025 

Bill,  1038 

Empson,  Sir  Richard,  385,  393 

Encumbered  Estates  Court,  972 

Encyclopsedists,  the,  856 

Engagement,  the,  580,  601 

*  Engagers,'  590,  593 

Enniskillen,  676 

Entail,  210 

Eorls,  47 

Erasmus,  389 

Eric,  73 

Ennine  Street,  16 

Erskine,  Sir  Thomas,  487 

,  Lord,  862 

Esnes,  47 

Essex,  Countess  of,  500 

,  Robert  Deverenx,  Earl  of,  472,  473, 

478,  479 
,  the  younger,  500,  512,  535,  539, 

543,  551,  559,  561,  563,  566,  569,  570 


1050 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Essex,  Arthur  Capel,  Earl  of,  633,  634,  639, 

641 
Estates  General,  the,  858 
Etaples,  Treaty  of,  386 
Bthelbald,  37,  53 
Ethelbert,  53 

,  of  Kent,  23,  27,  28,  29 

Ethelburga,  29,  30,  31 
Ethelfleda,  57,  61 
Ethelfrith,  24,  28,  31,  32,  37,  88 
Ethelmar,  192 
Ethelred  of  Kent,  37 

I.,  53,  54 

,  Ealdorman,  57,  59 

the  Unready,  69,  71 

Ethel wald,  61 
Ethelwold,  65,  67 
Ethelwulf,  39,  53 

,  Ealdorman,  52,  54 

Eugene,  Prince  of  Savoy,  707,  709,  712,  718, 

719,  720,  726 
Eugenius  iv.,  328 
Eustace,  son  of  Stephen,  129 

of  Boulogne,  77,  92,  104 

the  Monk,  183 

de  Vesci,  176,  179 

Eva,  148 

Evangelical  Party,  764 

Evelyn,  Sir  John,  644,  650,  661,  746 

Evertsen,  Admiral,  681 

Exchequer,  Court  of,  117,  152,  178,  212 

,  stop  of,  617 

Excise  Scheme,  758 
Exclusion  Bill,  the,  638 
Exeter,  55,  63,  92,  562,  563,  661 

,  George  Neville,  Bishop  of,  345,  347 

,  Duke  of,  341,  345 

,  Henry  Courtenay,  Marquess  of,  419 

Exhibition,  the  Great,  976 

Exmouth,  Lord,  910,  911 

Exorcists,  140 

Expansion  of  England,  The,  1036 

Eylau,  battle  of,  890 

Eyre,  Governor,  1004 

Factory  Acts,  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd,  946 

,  Fielden's,  972 

Paddiley,  battle  of,    24 

Fagher,  battle  of,  235 

Fairfax,  Ferdinand,  Lord,  509,  539,  561,  568, 

593,  614 
,  Sir  Thomas,  561,  565,  566,  568,  569, 

571,  572,  578,  580,  582,  583,  584,  587,  591, 

611 
Fairs,  260 

Falaise,  Treaty  of,  152,  158,  216 
Falkes  de  Breaute,  176,  179,  184,  185 
Falkirk,  battles  of,  225,  778 
Falconbridge,  William,  Lord,  340,  347,  348, 

349 
Falkland,  Henry  Carey,  Lord,  522 
,  Lucius  Carey,  Lord,  539,  541,  544,  545, 

550,  556,  563 
Family  Compact,  the,  806 
Famine  of  1315,  235 
Farmer,  Anthony,  653 
Fastolf,  Sir  John,  326 
Faversham,  663 
Fawkes,  Guy,  492 
Fealty,  269 
Fee,  Knight's,  138 


Fenwick,  Sir  John,  696 

Felix,  31 

Fell,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Christchurch,  651 

Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  802 

of  Styria,  504 

Ferguson,  647,  648,  662 

Ferozeshah,  battle  of,  967 

Ferrand,  Count  of  Flanders,  175 

Ferm,  the,  164 

Ferrar,  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  443 

Featherstone,  420 

Feudal  array,  153 

Feudalism,  100 

Feudal  dues,  107,  177,  494 

commuted,  615 

Feversham,  Earl  of,  648,  659 
Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  401 
Fiennes,  Lord,  584 

,  Nathaniel,  555,  557,  558,  562,  607 

Fifth  Monarchy,  597 
Finch,  Judge,  541 

,  Lord,  539 

First-fruits,  410,  411 

'  First  tonsure,'  140 

Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  411,  412 

Fitzalan,  Richard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  285,  287, 

290,  801 
Fitz-Geralds,  the,  422 
Fitzgerald,  Lord  Edward,  877,  878 

,  Maurice,  148 

,  Vesey,  933 

Fitzherbert,  Mrs.,  921 
Fitz-Nigel,  Richard,  158 
Fitz-Osbern,  William,  82,  92,  95,  97 
Fitz-Osbert,  William,  164 
Fitz-Stephen,  Robert,  148 
Fitz-Urse,  Reginald,  143 
Fitz- Walter,  Robert,  176,  179,  183 
Fitz-William,  Earl,  882 
Five-Mile  Act,  619 
Flammock,  Thomas,  380 
Flanders,  Philip  of,  150 

,  Count  of,  96,  221 

Fleet,  Alfred's,  57,  58 

Fleetwood,  Charles,  591,  598,  598,  599,  602, 

607,  610 
Flemings,  114  (see  Netherlands) 
Fletcher,  Colonel,  899 

,  Andrew,  of  Salton,  647,  674 

Flodden,  battle  of,  397 

Florida,  790 

Flushing,  898 

'  Fly  Shuttle,'  850 

Flood,  Henry,  835 

Folkland,  46,  48 

Fontenoy,  battle  of,  772 

Forbin,  718 

Forbes,  Duncan,  775,  781,  795 

Fornham,  battle  of,  151 

Forest,  366,  521 

,  the  New,  101,  110 

Forster,  Thomas,  738,  739 

W.  E.,  1004,  1008,    1010,   1011,    1023, 

1024,  1025,  1036 
Fort  Augustus,  676,  774 

Duquesne,  790 

Fortescue,  John,  357 

,  Sir  John,  490 

Fort  William,  676,  774 
Fosseway,  16,  24 
Fotheringay,  469 


Index 


1051 


Fouche,  874 

'Fourth  Party,  The,'  1025 

Fox,  Richard,  360,  393,  395 

,  Henry,  782,   783,  784,  787,  788,  791, 

792,  808,  810 
,  Charles  James,  820,  823,  828,  829,  832, 

833,  835,  836,  837,  838,  842,  843,  844,  845 
,  846,  847,  849,  850,  860,  861, 

863,  882,  889,  890,  955 
Fox's  India  Bill,  841 

Libel  Act,  819 

Franchises,  43 

Francis  i.,  398,  410  ;  policy  of,  399 

II.  of  France,  458 

Alban,  652,  653 

,  Sir  Philip,  840,  841,  845 

Franciscans,  188,  273 
Franilinghain,  151 
Frank  almoign,  139 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  814,  822 
Frank  pledge,  145,  270 
Frederic  i..  Emperor,  135 

II.,  Emperor,  18(3,  209 

,  Prince  of  Wales,  765,  768,  786 

the  Great,  769,  794,  802 

,  Elector  Palatine,  495,  504 

William  iv.,  973 

Free  Socage,  139 

French  language,  use  of,  232 

Revolution  of  1789,  854,  869 

1830,  937 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  1020 

Friedland,  battle  of,  890 

Friedlingen,  707 

Frobisher,  Sir  Martin,  466,  470,  473 

Frontinus,  14 

Frost,  Mr.,  958 

Fuentes  De  Onoro,  battle  of,  900 

Fulford,  battle  of,  83 

Fnlk  of  Anjou,  118,  119,  155 

Fyrd,  44,  58,  153 

Gaedels,  7 

Gaels,  7 

Gage,  General,  823,  824 

Gainsborough,  53,  502 

Gall,  St.,  27 

Gallic  Invasion,  The,  682 

Galloway,  152 

Galway,  Lord,  712 

Gambler,  Admiral,  892 

Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  409,  419, 

421,  433,  439,  440,  441,  442,  444 

,  Colonel,  775,  776 

Garibaldi,  999 
Gascony,  195,  257,  267 
Gascoigne,  General,  941 
Gatton,  940 
Gaultier,  Abbe,  726 
Gaunt,  Elizabeth,  649 

,  John  of,  267,  272,  275,  277,  282,  286 

Gaveston,  Piers,  230,  231 

Gay,  John,  745,  757 

'  General  Warrants,'  814 

Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  81,  118, 119, 127, 128, 155 

,  the  younger,  138 

Fitzpeter,  163,  165,  175 

,  son  of  Henry  ii.,  135,  150,  154,  155, 

160,  162 
George  i.,  reign  of,  734-755 
II.,  742,  745,  754 ;  reign  of,  756,  803 


George  iii.,  reign  of,  804-919 

IV.,  849  ;  reign  of,  920-935 

,  Prince  of  Wales  (George  iv.),  849 

Georgia,  789 

Gerald  the  Welshman,  18,  171,  172,  273 

Gerard,  420 

Germaine,  Lord  George  (see  Sackville),  827 

Geraldines,  the,  381 

Gerberoi,  Castle  of,  98 

Ghuznee,  9d4,  965 

Gibraltar,  726,  755,  832,  911 

Gibbon,  E.,  852 

Giffard,  Bonaventura,  653 

Gilbert  Foliot,  139,  142,  143 

of  Sempringham,  129 

,  Sir  Humphrey,  473 

Gildas,  22,  23 

Ginkell,  679,  680,  697  (see  Lord  Athlone) 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  945,  950,  961,  963,  970, 
977,  978,  980,  981,  982,  989,  991.  992,  997, 
998,  999,  1000,  1002,  1004,  1005,  1007, 
1008,  1010,  1013,  1014,  1015,  1017,  1018, 
1020,  1021,  1022,  1024,  1025,  1026,  1027, 
1029,  1030,  1031,  1032,  1033,  1034,  1037, 
1038 

Glamorgan,  Edward  Somerset,  Earl  of  (see 
Worcester),  575 

Glastonbury,  65 

Glanville,  Ralf,  150,  158,  160 

Glenshiel,  740 

Gloucester,  55,  557,  562,  563 

,  Henry  Stuart,  Duke  of,  620 

,  Earl  Gilbert  of,  227,  230,  231,  233,  234 

,  Gilbert  de  Clare,  Earl  of,  196,  199 

,  Humphrey,   Duke  of,  325,  326,   328, 

331,  332,  333 

,  Margaret  of,  230 

,  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of,  195,  196 

,  Richard,  Duke  of,  354, 356,  359,  362,  363 

,  Thomas  of,  284,  286,  290 

,  William,  Duke  of,  698 

Goderich,  Lord  (see  Robinson),  931,  932,  939 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  109 

,  Sir  Edmund  Berry,  634 

,  Michael,  689 

Godolphin,  Sidney,  Lord,  645,  668,  669,  696, 
698,  7C6,  721,  722,  724,  748 

Godwin,  73,  74,  76,  77-79,  92 

Goidels,  7, 11,  12,  25,  26 

Gondomar,  506,  507 

Goodman,  696 

Goodwin,  John,  576 

,  Sir  Francis,  490 

Goojerat,  battle  of,  967 

Goorkas,  the,  995,  996 

Gordon,  Lord  George,  830 

,  Katharine,  379,  380 

,  General  C.  G.,  1027, 1028 

Goree,  800 

Goring,  General,  557,  568,  572 

Gorst,  Sir  John,  1026 

Goschen,  G.  J.,  1004,  1008,  1030,1032, 1039 

Gough,  Lord,  967 

,  Matthew,  336 

Gower,  Earl.  809 

Grafton,  Duke  of,  818,  815,  816,  817,  818, 
833,  836,  843 

Graham,  General  Sir  Gerald,  1027 

,  Sir  James,  948,  963,  981 

,  John,  687  (see  Dundee) 

.  Sir  Thomas,  902 


1052 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Grammont,  Duke  of,  770 
Grampound,  924 
Granby,  Marquess  of,  802,  807 
Grand  Jury,  145 

Remonstrance,  548,  549 

Grandval,  694 

,  General  Ulysses,  1000 

Granville,  784,  792  (see  Carteret) 

,  Earl  George,  1008,  1021 

Grasse,  Count  de,  832,  833 
Grattan,  Henry,  835,  836,  924 
Graves,  Admiral,  832 
Gray,  John  de,  172,  173 
Great  Charter,  176,  184,  222,  636 

Council,  116,  118 

Fire,  622 

Meadow,  790 

Mogul  or  Padishah,  799 

Plague,  622 

Scutage,  138 

Greeks,  the,  927,  931,  932,  1021 
Green,  General,  831 

Sir  Thomas,  290,  292 

Gregory  vii..  Pope,  81,  91,  96 

VIII.,  Pope,  155 

IX.,  Pope,  186 

X.,  Pope,  206 

XIII,,  Pope,  786 

the  Great,  27,  28,  34 

Grenville,  Sir  Bevil,  561 

,  George,   769,   792,  806,  807,  810,  812, 

813,  817,  818 
-—,  W.  W.,  Lord,  882,  889,  890,  911,  912 

,  Sir  Richard,  473,  474 

Whigs,  890 

Grey,  Mr.  (see  Earl  Grey),   863,   882,   889, 

898,  911  (see  Howick) 
,  Earl  (see  Howick)  931,  938,  939,  941, 

942,  943,  948 

,  Earl,  son  of  above,  970,  972 

,  Sir  George,  995 

,  Lady  Jane,  398,  436,  437,  439,  440,  441 

,  John  of  Groby,  351 

,  Katharine,  436,  449,  455,  485 

,  Lord,  of  Wark,  647,  648 

,  Sir  Richard,  362,  363 

,  de  Ruthin,  Lord,  304 

,  Sir  Thomas,  316 

Thomas,  Earl  of  Dorset,  362,  363,  367, 

369 

,  Lord  William.  446 

de  Wilton,  William,  Lord,  429,  430,  488 

Griffith  (son  of  Llewelyn),  79,  80,  81 

Grindal,  450,  464 

Grim,  Edward,  144 

Grimbald  the  Frank,  57 

Groby,  Lord  Grey  of,  583,  584,  604 

Grocyn,  389 

Grossetete,  Robert,  187,  193,  259 

Grouchy,  866 

Grove,  a  Jesuit,  635 

Gruffydd,  80 

Guadaloupe,  800 

Gualo,  184 

Guesclin,  Bertrand  de,  266  - 

Gulenne,  Duke  of,  110 

,  394 

Guildfort  Court-house,  battle  of,  831 
Guilds,  disendowment  of,  428 
Guiscard,  Robert,  78,  109 
,  Roger,  109 


Guise,  Francis,  Duke  of,  458 

,  Mary  of,  423 

Guises,  the,  472 
Guinegaste,  battle  of,  395 
Gundamak,  Treaty  of,  1019 
Gunpowder,  introduction  of,  390 

Plot,  492 

Gurthrlgernus,  22 

Guthrie,  624 

Gutlirum,  52,  54,  55,  56 

Guy  of  Lusignan,  155,  160,  161 

Gwynne,  Nell,  620 

Gyrth,  79,  84,  86 

Gytha,  73,  92 

Gwalior,  995 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  178,  631,  636,  917, 1024 
Hacker,  Colonel,  615 
Haddington,  429 
Hadrian,  15,  17,  19 

,  Pope,  38 

IV,,  Pope,  135 

Hadrian's  Wall,  15 
Hadwisa  of  Gloucester,  169 
Hainault,  Jacqueline  of,  326 

,  Philippa  of,  239,  256,  275 

,  William  of,  248 

Hales,  Sir  Edward,  651,  654,  663,  672 

,  Sir  Robert,  281 

Halfdene,  54,  56 

'  Half-Timers,'  946 

Halidon  Hill,  battle  of,  245 

Halifax,    Charles   Montagu,    Earl  of,   699, 

707,  724,  734 
,  George  Savile,  Marquis  of,  634,  645, 

650,  651,  656,  659,  662,  664,  669,  672 

,  George  Montagu,  Earl  of,  809,  810 

,  town,  785 

Hall,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  545 

Hallam,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  320 

Hamilton,  Marquess  of,  533,  546,  580,  581, 

594,  595,  678 

,  Richard,  678 

Hamiltons,  the,  457 

Hammond,  580 

Hampden,   John,   529,   539,   543,    548,    550, 

555,  557,  559,  561,  564 

,  John,  the  younger,  630 

Hampton  Court,  579 

Hanau,  770 

Handel,  757 

Hanover,  Treaty  of,  755 

Hansard,  Messrs.,  962 

Harclay,  Sir  Andrew,  237,  238 

Harcourt,  724 

,  Sir  W,  V„  1021,  1030,  1037,  1039 

Hardicanute,  74,  75 

Harding,  Stephen,  120 

Hardinge,  Colonel,  900 

Hardwicke,  Lord  Chancellor,  768,  787 

Hardy,  Thomas,  863 

Hares  and  Rabbits  Act,  1025 

Harfleur,  capture  of,  317 

Hargreaves,  851 

Harlech,  216 

Castle  575 

Harley,'  Robert,  689,  713,  714,  721,  722,  724, 

725,  726  (see  Oxford) 
Harold  i,   74,  75  ;  reign,  79,  86 
,  Godwin's  son,  77,  78,  79,  80  ;  reign  of. 


Index 


1053 


Harold  Hardrada,  78,  82,  88 

Harris,  General,  886 

Harrison,  General,  584,  591,  597,  598,  599,  615 

Harrowby,  Lord,  883,  920,  942 

Harthacnut,  74,  75 

Hartington,   Lord   (see  Devonsliire),   1021, 

1030 
Hastenbeck,  battle  of,  793 
Hastings,  59,  60,  92,  105,  106,  114 

,  battle  of,  84,  86 

,  John,  217,  218 

,  Lord,  354,  356,  358,  362,  363,  364 

,  Warren,  839,  841 

Havelock,  General  H.,  992,  995 

Haviland,  796 

Havre,  458 

Hawarden  Castle,  216 

Hawke,  Sir  Edward,  785,  801 

Hawkesbury,  Lord,  883,  892  (see  Liverpool) 

Hawkins,  Sir  John,  466,  470,  473 

Hawley,  General,  778 

Haxey,  Sir  Thomas,  290 

Hazelrig,  Sir  Arthur,  539,  542,  545,  550,  587, 

598,  604,  606,  607,  609,  610,  611,  615 
Heads  of  the  Proposals,  579 
Hebert,  869 

Hedgeley  Moor,  battle  of,  350 
Hedges,  Sir  Charles,  707,  713 
Hein,  Peter,  006 
Heinsius,  707 
Heligoland,  892,  905 

Henderson,  Alexander,  532,  588,  516,  571 
Hengist's  Down,  52 
Henrietta  Maria,  508,  510,   511,   512,    543, 

562 
Henry  i.,  101,  103  ;  reign  of,  111-122 
II.,  119,  127,  128,  129 ;  reign  of,  135- 

156 

,  of  France,  452,  458 

in.,  reign  of,  182-200 

,  of  France,  461,  472 

IV.,  Emperor,  91,  103,  111 

,  279  ;  reign  of,  299-312 

,  King  of  Navarre,  467,  472,  475 

v..  Emperor,  111,  117 

^  302,  303 ;  reign  of,  313-323 

VI.,  reign  of,  324-347,  348,  350,  354 

,  Emperor,  162,  163 

VII.,  350,  357,  367,  369,  370,  371 ;  reign 

of,  376-391 

VIII.,  reign  of,  392-425 

,  of  Huntingdon,  36,  121 

,  the  Lion  of  Saxony,  163 

.  Patrick,  812 

,  son  of  Henry  ii. ,  143,  150,  154 

,  Prince,  son  of  James  i.,  495,  496 

of  Winchester,  125, 126,  127,  139 

Herat,  964 

Herbert,  Admiral,  659,  668,  681 

,  Chief  Justice,  651,  652,  672 

,  Lord   (see   Earl  of  Glamorgan),  436, 

455,  555 

,  Sir  Edward,  551 

,  Sidney  (afterwards  Lord  Herbert  of 

Lea),  990,  1002 
Hereford,  79 
,   Humphrey,  Earl   of,  227,  231,  233, 

234 

,  Duke  of,  291,  292 

,  Roger  of,  137 

Hereward  the  Wake,  93 


Heriot,  107 
Herleva  of  Falaise,  77 
Herries,  J.  C,  932 
Herschell,  Lord,  1030 
Hertford,  62 

,  Edward  Seymour,  Earl  of,  423,  426 

,  Lord,  455 

Hesse-Darmstadt,  Prince  of,  709 
Hetherington,  H.,  958 
Hexham,  battle  of,  350 
Hides,  99 

High  Commission,  544 
Highlanders,  573,  676,  730,  774,  782 
Hildebrand,  81,  96 
Hill,  General,  902 

,  Abigail,  721 

,  Rowland,  960 

History  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  623,  737 

Hoadley,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  762 

Hoche,  865,  869 

Hodson,  of  Hodson's  Horse,  995 

Hohenlinden,  battle  of,  874 

Holbein,  389 

Holborne,  529 

Holkar,  887,  995 

Holland,  Lord,  580 

,  Henry  Fox,  Lord,  809  (see  Fox) 

,  Richard,  Lord,  544 

Hollands,  the,  290,  291,  300 

Holies,  Denzel,  519,  520,  539,  550,  555,  557, 

565,  570,  579,  582,  584,  614,  615 

,  Lord,  630 

Holloway,  Judge,  658 
Holmby  House,  578,  579 
Holmes,  Sir  Robert,  621,  628 
Holy  Alliance,  910 
Homage,  269 
Home,  Earl  of,  397 
Home  Rule  League,  1022 

Rule  Bill  (1886),  1031 ;  (1893),  1038 

Homildon  Hill,  battle  of,  303 
Hone,  William,  917 

,641 

Hong  Kong,  960 

Hooker,  Richard,  465 

Hooper,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  433,  443 

Hopton,  Sir  Ralph,  539, 561 

Horner,  Francis,  912,  915 

Horrocks,  851 

Horton,  Colonel,  581,  590 

Hospitallers,  Knights,  240,  241 

Hotham,  Sir  John,  554,  562 

Hough,  John,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  653,  661, 

669 
House-carls,  73 
Howard,  Sir  Edmund,  422 

,  Sir  Edward,  395,  397 

,  John,  358,  362,  365  (see  Norfolk) 

,  Katharine,  422 

,  Lord,  641 

,  Lord  Thomas,  473 

,  Thomas,  393,  395  (see  Duke  of  Norfolk), 

397 
Howe,  Captain,  790 

,  Commodore,  801  (see  Admiral),  834 

,  General,  824,  825 

,  Jack,  707 

,  Lord, 795 

Ho  wick,  Lord  (see  Grey),  890 
Hozier,  Captain,  755 
Hubba,  55 


1054 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Hubert  de  Burgh,  180,  183,  184,  185,  186, 

189,  191,  193 

,  Walter,  158,  161,  163,  164, 165,  168, 172 

Huddleston,  John,  642 
Hudson's  Bay,  726 
Hugh  of  Avalon,  165 
Hugh  of  Avranches,  95 
Hugh  Bigod,  149,  150,  151 
Hugh  the  Brown,  169 
Hugh  of  Chester,  149,  150,  151 

of  Durham  (seePuiset),  151, 158, 162 

the  Great,  64 

de  la  Marche,  191 

Mortimer,  137 

de  Morville,  143 

de  Puiset,  150 

Hughes,  Admiral,  841 
Huguenots,  458 
Huldyard,  Robert,  352 
Hull,  546,  554,  555,  557,  562 
Humbert,  General,  878 
Humble  Petition  and  Advice,  607 
Hume,  David,  754 
Humphrey  de  Bohun,  151 
Hundred,  43,  163 

,  Court  of  the,  116 

Hunt,  Henry,  918,  944 
Huntly,  Earl  of,  397 
Hurst  Castle,  583 
Hutchinson,  Colonel,  557,  587 

,  General,  875 

,  Governor,  822,  823 

Huntingdon,  John  Holland,  Earl  of,  284, 

300 
Huskisson,  892,  928,  929,  931,  932,  933,  937, 

938,  940 
Hutton,  Sir  Christopher,  465,  472 

,  Judge,  530 

Hyde,  Anne,  620 

,  Edward,  539,  541,  545,  550,  554,  571 

(see  Clarendon) 
Hyder  Ali,  841 
Hyderabad,  battle  of,  966 

Iberians,  5 

Iceni,  14 

IcKnield  Street,  16,  41 

Ictis,  8 

Iden,  Alexander,  337 

Impey,  Chief-Justice,  841 

Inchiquin,  Lord,  588,  590 

Income  Tax,  968,  981,  1014 

Indemnity  Act,  933 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  825 

India,  797,  801 

Indian  Mutiny,  992,  993,  994,  995,  996 

Ingeborga  of  Denmark,  168 

Inglis,  Sir  R.,  934,  943 

,  Brigadier,  994 

Ingoldsby,  General,  773 
Inkerman,  battle  of,  987,  988 
Innocent  iii.,  146,  173, 175,  179 

IV.,  186 

Inquest,  Sworn,  145 
Instrument  of  Government,  600 
Intelligence  Domestic  and  Foreign,  693 
Inveraray,  675 
Inverlochy,  battle  of,  573 
Inverness,  676,  774 
Investiture  Question,  114 
Ionian  Islands,  905 


Ireland,  235,  635 

,  conquest  of,  146 

at  the  Restoration,  624 

in  1782,  835 

under  Cromwell,  602 

Ireton,  Henry,  572,  583,  584,  587,  590,  614 
Irish  Brigade,  680,  773 
Irish  Church,  773,  948, 1007,  1008 
Irish  Famine,  961,  971 

Land  System,  477 

Acts,  1860,  1009 

,  1870,  1010 

,  1881, 1024 

Rebellion,  1641,  547  :  1798,  877,   878  ; 

1848,  974 

University  Question,  1013,  1014 

'  Ironside,"  570 
Isaac  of  Cyprus,  162 

Comnenus,  160 

Isabella,  daughter  of  Charles  vi.,  289 

of  Angouleme,  169,  191 

of  France,  224,  230 

Isandlwana,  battle  of,  1020 

Isla,  Earl  of,  760 

Ismail,  848 

Ivernians,  5,  6,  11,  12, 13,  25 

Ivo,  of  Grantmesnil,  113 

Ivry,  battle  of,  475 

Jackson,  General,  904 
Jacobites,  698,  749 
Jacobitism,  737 
Jamaica,  605,  911,  959,  1004 
James  of  Scotland,  308 

IV.  of  Scotland,  379 

V.  of  Scotland,  397 

— —  VI.  of  Scotland,  485 

I.,  reign  of,  485-508 

,  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  ii., 

614,  617,  620,  621,  625,  626,  628,  629,  633, 

641  ;  reign  of,  644-665,  676,  685,  694 

the  Deacon,  32 

,   Sir    Henry,    1030   (afterwards    Lord 

Aylestone),  1039 
Jane  of  England,  243 
Jargeau,  battle  of,  327 
Jarl,  47 

Jassy,  treaty  of,  849 
Jedburgh,  220 

Castle,  152 

Jeffrey,  Lord,  928 

Jeffreys,  Judge,  641,  642,  647,  649,  652,  663 

672 
Jellalabad,  966 
Jena,  battle  of,  890 
Jenkins'  Ear,  766 
Jennings,  Sarah,  705 
Jenny n,  Henry,  649 
Jerome,  420 
Jervis,  Admiral,  866 
Jersey,  Lord,  698 
Jerusalem,  161 

,  capture  of,  109 

Jesuits,  463 

Jews,  expulsion  of,  212 

,  persecution  of,  159 

Jhansi,  Ranee  of,  993,  996 

Jocelyn,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  143 

Joan,  217 

John,  son  of  Henry  ii,,  150,  159,  162,  163  ; 

reign  of,  167-181 


Index 


1055 


John,  the  Old  Saxon,  57 

I.  of  France,  246 

11.  of  France,  257,  261 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  819,  852 

Johnstone  of  Warriston,  532,  533,  546,  565, 

G24 
Jones,  Michael,  588,  590 
Joseph,  Michael,  380 
Joyce,  Cornet,  579 
Judicature,  Supreme  Court  of,  1013 
Judith,  97 
Jugdulluk  Pass,  966 
Julius  Caesar,  9,  10,  18 
Julius  II.,  Pope,  394 
'Junius,'  817 
Junto,  the,  687 
Jury,  civil,  146 

,  petty,  146 

of  Presentment,  146 

Justice,  administration  of,  48 

Justice,  Lord  Chief,  116 

Justices-in-eyre,  144,  145, 163 

Jutes,  23 

Juxon,  Bishop  of  London,  517,  527,  539 


Kars,  991 
Katharine,  419 

of  Braganza,  620 

of  France,  322 

Keble,  John,  908,  969 

Kemp,  Cardinal,  333,  337 

Ken,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  657,  669 

Kendal,  Duchess  of,  749 

Kenmure,  Lord,  738,  739 

Kent,  Edmund,  Earl  of,  227,  229,  242,  243, 

244 

,  Joan  of,  280 

,  Thomas,  Earl  of,  284,  300 

,  Earl  of,  469 

Kentish  Petition,  the,  558 

,  another,  702 

Kenwulf,  38 
Keppel,  697 

,  Admiral,  832,  833,  836,  838 

Keroualle,  Louise  de,  620 
Ket,  Robert,  431,  432 

,  William,  431,  432 

Keymis,  Captain  Lawrence,  474,  503 
Khartoum,  1027,  1028 
Kidd,  Captain,  702 
Kildare,  Earl  of,  382 

,  Earls  of,  475 

Kilkennj',  589 

,  Statute  of,  381 

Killiecrankie,  battle  of,  674 

Kilmarnock,  Lord,  776 

Kilsyth,  battle  of,  573 

Kimbolton,   Edward  Montagu,    Lord,   539 

(see  Manchester),  550 
Kineton,  559 
King,  the,  46 
King's  Bench,  Court  of,  152,  178,  212 

Council,  116 

County,  477 

Friends,  809,  814 

Horse  Guards,  616 

peace,  46,  145 

revenue,  46  (see  Feudal  dues.  Customs, 

Income-tax) 
thegns,  46. 


Kinsale,  676 

Kirkby,  John,  206 

Kirke,  Colonel,  649,  659,  678 

Klosterseven,  Convention  at,  793 

Knight  service,  94,  139 

Knights  of  St.  John,  129 

Hospitallers,  240,  241 

Templars,  129,  240,  241 

Knox,  John,  442,  454 

Koniggratz,  battle  of,  1001 

Koord  Cabul  Pass,  966 

Kossuth,  Louis,  973 

Kutchuck  Kainardji,  Treaty  of,  982 

Kymri,  25 

Kyriel,  Sir  Thomas,  337 

Labourdonnais,  797 
Lacy,  Roger  de,  170 
Lafayette,  831 
Lagos,  battle  off,  801 
La  Hogue,  battle  of,  683 
Lake,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  657 

,  Colonel,  991. 

,  General,  878,  887 

Lally,  Count,  800 

Lamb,  933,  949  (see  Melbourne,  Lord) 

Lambert,  General,  583,  591,  592,  593,  599, 

600,  607,  610,  611,  615 
Lambeth,  Treaty  of,  184 
UAmbigu,  881 
Lanark,  546 
Lancaster  Castle,  158 

,  Edmund,  Earl  of,  192,  219,  220 

,  Henry  of,  242,  244,  292,  293 

,  Joseph,  945 

,  Thomas  of,  229,  230,  231,  236 

(see    Bolingbroke,    Derby,    Hereford, 

Henry  iv.) 
Land  League,  the,  1023,  1024 

Purchase  Acts,  1029,  1034 

Gladstone's  Bill,  1031 

Landen,  battle  of,  684 
Landlessmen,  48 

Lanfranc,  95,  96,  98,  103,  106,  108 
Langdale,  Sir  Marmaduke,  572,  581 
Langland,  William,  288,  289 
Langport,  battle  of,  575 
Langside,  battle  of,  457 
Langton,  Simon,  180 

,  Stephen,  173,  174,  176,  179,  184,  180 

,  Walter,  206 

Lansdown,  battle  of,  561 
La  Rochelle,  511,  512,  514 

,  battle  of,  267,  275 

Laswaree,  battle  of,  887 

Lateran  Council,  146 

Lathom  House,  siege  of,  567 

Latimer,  Hugh,  413,  419,  420,  430,  442,  444 

,  Lord,  275,  276,  277 

,  Lord,  629  (see  Dauby) 

Laud,  Bishop,  516,  517,  519,  520,  526,  527, 

529,  530,  531,  539,  540,  541,  576 
Lauderdale,  Maitland,  Earl  of,  565,  571,  594, 

595,  623,  625,  627,  629,  631 
Lauffeld,  battle  of,  784 
Lauzun,  General,  679 
Lawrence,  Bishop  of  Canterbury,  29 

,  Sir  Henry,  967,  994 

,  Sir  John,  afterwards  Lord,  967 

Lawson,  Admiral,  621 

Leake,  John,  Captain,  678,  724 


1056 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Leeds,  924 

,  Castle  of,  237 

,  Duke  of,  688  (see  Carmarthen) 

Legion  Memorial,  703 
Lennox,  Earl  of,  456 
Leicester,  62 

,  Robert  of  Ferrers,  Earl  of,  136 

,  Robert  of  Ferrers,  Earl  of,  son  of  above, 

149,  150,  151 
,  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  (see  Dudley), 

455,  468,  469,  470,  472 

House,  754 

Leighton,  Dr.,  526 
Leinster,  147 
Leipzig,  battle  of,  903 
Lenthal,  William,  551,  615 
Leo  IV.,  Pope,  53 

X.,  Pope,  398 

Leofric,  76,  77,  79,  81 
Leofwine,  73 

,  Godwin's  son,  79,  84,  86 

Leopold,  Duke  of  Austria,  162 

Lepanto,  battle  of,  462 

Leslie,  Alexander,  533,  534,  536  {see  Leven) 

,  David,  566,  568,  573,  591,  594,  595 

Leuthen,  battle  of,  794 

Letters  on  the  Present  State  of  Ireland,  478 

Leven,  Alexander  Leslie,  Earl  of,  546,  566, 

568,  591  (see  Leslie) 
Levis,  Count  de,  796 
Lewes,  battle  of,  197 

,  Mise  of,  197 

Lewis,  Sir  George  Cornwall,  1002 

Lexington,  824 

Libel  Act,  Fox's,  863,  917 

Liberals,  numbers  of,  944,  950,  962,  1008, 

1014,  1021,  1029 

Gladstonian,  numbers  of,  1032,  1037 

Liberal  Unionists,  numbers  of,  1031,  1032, 

1037 
Liberties,  43 
Light  Railways,  1034 
Ligny,  battle  of,  906 
Ligonier,  Marshal,  772 
Lilburne,  John,  541,  587,  588 
Lille,  683 

,  siege  of,  719 

Limerick,  147 

,  first  siege  of,  679 

,  second  siege  of,  680 

Limoges,  massacre  at,  266,  267 
Linacre,  389 
Lincoln,  62,  92 

,  Abraham,  999,  1000 

,  Earl  of,  221,  223 

Fair,  183 

,  John  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of,  362,  367,  378 

Lindisfarne,  52 
Lisle,  Alicia,  649,  671 

,  John  Dudley,  Lord,  423,  426 

,  Sir  George,  581,  607 

'Little  Parliament,' 600 

Littleport,  916 

Littleton,  948 

Liverpool,  Lord,  898,  902,  911 

and  Manchester  Railway,  937 

Livery,  383 

Livingstone,  David,  1036 
Llewelyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  173 

ap-Gruffydd,  197,  200,  214,  216 

Llewelyn  ap-Iorwerth,  214 


Lloyd,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  657 

Local  Veto  Bill,  1037,  1038 

Lochiel,  Cameron  of,  781 

Lochleven  Castle,  457 

Locke,  John,  691 

Lockhart,  ambassador,  608 

Lollards,  meaning  of,  284 

Lombards,  213 

London,   139,  141,   142,  143,  144,  178,  347, 

428,  522,  563,  585,  640,  663,  777,  843,  953 

Corresponding  Society,  862 

Lord  Mayor  of,  164 

rebuilt,  58 

University,  923 

Londonderry,  676,  677 

,  siege  of,  677 

,  Marquess  of  (see  Castlereagh),  951 

Longchamp,  William,  158,  159,  160 
Long  Island,  825 
Loosecoat  Field,  battle  of,  353 
Lords  Appellant,  285 

,  House  of,  1039 

Lieutenant,  553 

Lostwithiel,  566 
Lothian,  152 

,  Earldom  of,  96 

Loudon,  Lord,  779,  794 

Loughborough,  Lord,  879  (see  Wedderburn) 

Louis  VI.,  Ill,  118,  123 

-VII.,  123,  128,  135,  150 

VIII.,  180,  182 

IX.,  209 

x.,  246 

XI.,  353,  357,  358 

XII.,  388 

XIV.,  621,  660,  676,  701 

— -  XV.,  726 

XVIII.,  904 

Philippe,  937,  973 

Louisbourg,  785,  794 

Louisiana,  790 

Lovat,  Simon  Eraser,  Lord,  781 

Lovel,  Francis,  Lord,  371,  378 

Lovett,  958 

Lowe,  Robert,  afterwards  Lord  Sherbrooke, 

1005,  1008 
Lucan,  Lord,  987 
Lucas,  Sir  Charles,  581 
Lucknow,  994 
Lucy,  Richard  de,  136 
Ludd,  913 
Luddites,  the,  918 
Ludlow,  672 
,  Edmund,  590,  598,  604,  606,  609,  610, 

611,  614 
Luggershall  Castle,  158 
Lumley,  Lord,  659,  662 
Luneville,  Treaty  of,  874 
Lundy,  Colonel,  677 
Lunsford,  549,  550,  556 
Luttrell,  Colonel,  817 
Luxembourg,  Jacquetta  of,  327 

,  Marshal,  682,  684,  686 

Lyme,  648 

Lyndhurst,  Lord,  950 
Lynn,  180 
Lyons,  Council  of,  187 

,  Richard,  275,  276 

Lytton,  Lord,  1019 

Macarthy,  General)  678 


Index 


1057 


Macaulay,  T.  B.,  941,  964,  968,  972 

,  Zachary,  945 

M' Donalds,  the,  673,  675,  774,  780 
Macdonalfl,  Alister,  573 

,  Flora,  780  • 

,  8ir  John,  1006,  1036 

Macduff,  218 

Machiavelli,  649 

Mackay,  General,  673,  674,  679 

Mackays,  the,  775 

Mackintosh,  Brigadier-General,  738,  739 

,  Sir  James,  861  881,  924 

Macnanghten,  Sir  W.,  965,  966 

Madoc,  219,  220 

Madras,  797 

Magenta,  battle  of,  998 

Magna  Carta,  515 

Magnum  Concilium,  116,  117,  537 

Magnus,  74 

Maguire,  Lord,  548 

Mahdi,  1027 

Mahomet  Ali,  931 

Mahrattas,  the,  798,  887,  963 

Maida,  battle  of,  892 

Maidstone,  battle  of,  580 

Maine,  county  of,  81,  101,  103,  135,  138, 

170 
Maintenance,  383 
Mainwaring,  517,  539 
Maitland,  General,  908 
Majuba  Hill,  1022 
Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  64,  72 

III.,  91,  93,  96,  103,  106 

IV,,  123,  135,  137 

Malet,  William,  92 
Mallory,  506 
Malmesbury,  Lord,  870 

,  son  of  above,  980 

,  William  of,  121 

Malplaquet,  battle  of,  719 
Malta,  871,  876,  881,  905,  911 
Malthus,  T.  R.,  853 
Maltote  duty,  222,  223 
Maltravers,  Sir  John,  240 
Malvoisin,  106 
Manchester,  62,  776,  918,  943 

School,  the,  992,  997 

,   Edward  Montagu,  Earl  of,   557 

Kimbolton),  562,  565,  566,   568,  569, 

607,  611,  614,  615 
Mandeville,  William,  150,  158 
Manila,  807 

Manny,  Sir  Walter,  247,  257 
Manor,  42,  101 
Manorial  system,  258 
Mausfeld,  Count,  508 
Mansfield,  Chief-Justice,  818,  830 
Mantes,  253 

Mar,  John  Earl  of,  728,  737,  738,  739 
Marat,  859 
March,  Roger,  Earl  of,  284,  287 

,  Edmund,  Earl  of,  304,  316,  321 

Marchmont,  Earl  of,  759 
Marches  of  Wales,  213,  216 
Marden,  battle  of,  54 
Mardyke,  608 
Mare,  Peter  de  la,  276,  280 
Marengo,  battle  of,  874 
Margaret,  79,  ^Q> 

,  daughter  of  Henry  in.,  217 

,  daughter  of  Henry  vii.,  388,  485 


Margaret  of  France,  151 

of  France  (another),  224 

,  Maid  of  Norway,  217 

Margrave  Louis  of  Baden,  707 

Maria  Tlieresa,  769 

Marie  Antoinette,  857 

Marignauo,  battle  of,  399 

Marlborough,  John,  Duke  of,  706,  709,  710, 

718,  719,  720,  722,  724,  725,  729,  784,  748 

,  castle  of,  158 

,  Duchess  of,  721,  724,  768 

,  statute  of,  200 

Marmont,  901 
Mar-Prelate  Tracts,  465 
Marriage,  107 

Act,  787 

Marseilles,  78 

Marshall,  Earl  Richard,  191 

,  William  (see  Earl  of  Pembroke),  155, 

157,  168 

,  the  younger,  190 

Marsin,  Marshal,  708,  709 

Marston  Moor,  battle  of,  567 

Marten,  Henry,  583,  584,  586,  587,  596,  598, 

604,  606,  614 
Martyr,  Peter,  442 

Mary  of  England,  398 ;  reign  of,  437-447 
,  Queen  of  Scots,  440,  441,  448,  452,  454, 

457,  459,  461,  462,  468 
,  daughter  of  James  ii.,  620,  632,  640, 

659  ;  reign  of,  667-668 

II.,  685 

,  daughter  of  Charles  i.,  552 

Maryborough,  477 
Maryland,  531 
Maserfield,  battle  of,  31,  87 
Masham,  Francis,  721 

,  Lady,  729 

,  Mrs.,  724 

Massachusetts,  788 

Massena,  869,  873,  898,  899,  900 

Massey,  651 

Massilia,  7 

Matilda  of  Flanders,  81,  91,  98,  99 

,  daughter  of  Henry  ii,,  163 

,  Empress,  117,  118,  123,  124,  125,  126, 

127 

(see     of  Boulogne,  123,  127 

570,     of  Scotland,  111,  113,  117 

Matthew  of  Boulogne,  150,  151 

Maudelyn,  300,  301 

Maurice,  Prince,  562 

Mauritius,  893,  905,  911 

Maximilian  of  Austria,  386,  387,  395,  400 

Mayflower,  498 

Maynard,  Sir  John,  651,  669 

Maynooth  Grant,  968,  1008 

Mazzini,  G.,  973,  998,  999 

Meaux,  fortress  of,  322 

Meagher,  T.  F.,  973,  974 

Melbourne,  Lord  {see  Lamb),  939,  955,  956, 

959,  960,  962,  970 
Mechanics'  Institutes,  924 
Medici,  Katharine  de,  458 
Medina  Sidonia,  470,  471 
Meeanee,  battle  of,  966 
Meerut,  994 
Meldrum,  561 

Melville,  Lord  (see  Dundas),  883,  888 
Mendoza,  468 
Menschikov,  Prince,  986,  988 

3x 


1058 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Menteith,  Sir  John,  225 

Meonwaras,  40 

Mercadier,  167 

Merchandise  Marks'  Act,  1035 

Merchants,  178 

Merchant  Guild,  165 

Mercia,  66 

Mercians,  23,  91 

Merke,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  800 

Merton,  Walter  de,  206,  273,  274 

Merv,  1028 

Mesne  tenants,  100,  179 

Metcalfe,  John,  858 

Methodists,  761 

Methuen,  John,  710 

,  Paul,  710 

Michell,  Sir  Francis,  505 

Middlesex,  Earl  of,  508 

Middleton,   General,  603  ;  afterwards  Earl 

of,  623 
Midland-Angles,  28 
Midlothian  Tour  (Gladstone's),  1022 
Miles  of  Hereford,  124,  125,  126 
Milicent,  155 
Military  roads,  15 
Militia,  153 

Acts,  792,  979,  980 

Bill,  the,  553 

Millenary  Petition,  488 

Miller,  819 

Milner-Gibson,  992 

Milton,  John,  526,  545,  576,  587,  615 

,  Lord,  943 

Minden,  battle  of,  802 

Minorca,  720,  726,  791,  882,  837,  911 

Mirabeau,  Count,  858,  859 

Miranda,  General,  927 

Mir  Cassim,  888 

Jaffier,  838,  839 

Mirebeau,  castle  of,  150,  169 

Mitchel,  J.,  973,974 

Model  Parliament  of  1295,  219,  220 

Modest  Proposal,  752 

Mogul,  Great,  790,  839,  963,  994,  995 

Moleyns,  Bishop,  388,  385 

Moltke,  Count,  1001,  1014 

Mollwitz,  battle  of,  769 

Mompesson,  Sir  Giles,  505 

Monasteries,  67,  120,  398,  414 

,  Alfred's,  59 

,  lesser,  dissolved,  414 

,  surrender  of  the  greater,  417 

Money  grants,  360 

Monk,  George,  588,  591,  592,  593,  596,  597, 

598,  599,  603,  607,  610,  611,  612,  614  (see 
Albemarle) 

Monmouth,  Duke  of,  628,  639,  641,  640,  647, 

648 
Monopolies,  480,  505,  508 
Mons,  683 

Graupius,  battle  of,  15 

,  siege  of,  720 

Montagu,  John  of,  352 

,  Charles,  687,  688,  689,  691,  702,  744  (see 

Halifax) 
Montague,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  511,  517, 

519,  539 
,  Edward  (afterwards  Earl  of  Sandwich), 

599,  600,  611 

,  Henry  Pole,  Lord,  419 

■ ,  John.  Earl  of  Salisbury,  800 


Montague,  Sir  R,,  632 

,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  325,  326 

Montcalm,  Count,  794,  795,  796,  802 

Monteagle,  Lord,  479 

Montebello,  battle  of,  998 

Montereau-faut-Yonne,  821 

Montfort,  Hugh  of,  82 

,  Simon  de,  195,  196,  198,  199,214,  219 

Montgomery,  General,  825 

,  castle  of,  105 

,  Robert  of,  82 

,  Roger  of,  95,  104,  105 

Montreal,  795 

Montrose,  Earl  of,  532 

,  Marquess  of,  573,  574,  590 

,  Duke  of,  759 

Moodkee,  battle  of,  967 

Moore,  Sir  John,  896 
;  Morcar,  80,  81,  83,  84,  87,  91,  92,  93 

Mordaunt    (afterwards    Earl    of  Peterbor- 
ough), 651,  669,  672 

More,  Hannah,  764 

,  Roger,  547 

,  Sir  Thomas,  405,  408,  409,  411,  412 

Moreau,  General,  869,  874,  883 

Morgan,  Colonel,  603,  608 

Morley,  John,  1080,  1037 

Mornington,  Lord  {see  Wellesley),  886 

Mortain,  William  of,  113 

Mortimer,  Anne,  316 

,  Elizabeth,  305 

,  Hugh,  187 

,  Sir  Edmund,  Earl  of  March,  304,  305 

,  Roger,  elder,  236 

,  younger,  236,  239,  242,  244 

(another),  279,  292 

Mortimer's  Cross,  battle  of,  346 

Mortmain,  statute  of,  209,  210 

Morton,  James  Douglas,  Earl  of,  457 

,  John,  Bishop  of  Ely,  357,  362,  364,  366, 

867,  377,  382,  885 

Morton's  Fork,  885 

Mortuaries,  408 

Mount  Badon,  battle  of,  22,  28 

Mountjoy,  Lord,  479,  481,  496 

Mountmorris,  Lord,  525 

Mousehold  Hill,  481 

Mowbray,  John,  Earl  of  Norfolk,  340,  341, 
347,  848,  349 

,  Sir  Philip,  288 

,  Robert,  149,  150,  151 

,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Nottingham,  306,  807 

Muir,  Thomas,  862 

Municipal  Reform  Act  (English),  951 

(Irish),  962 

Munro,  564 

,  Major,  839 

Munster,  147 

Murphy,  John,  878 

Murray,  Sir  Andrew,  224 

,  Captain,  677 

,  Douglas,  Earl  of,  235 

,  Earl  of,  457 

,  Lord  George,  775,  777,  778,  780,  781 

— ,  John,  of  Broughton,  774,  781 

,  General,  796 

Murtogh  O'Lochlainn,  148 

Mutiny  Act,  670 

at  the  Nore,  867 

at  Spithead,  866 

Myton-on-Swale,  battle  of,  235 


Index 


1059 


'  Nabobs,'  840 
Nagpore,  993 
Namur,  683 

,  capture  of,  686 

Nana  Sahib,  994 
Nanfau,  Sir  Richard,  395 
Nantes,  101,  138 

,  Edict  of,  475,  650 

Nantwich,  battle  of,  565 

Nanuk,  966 

Napier,  Admiral  Sir  Charles,  983 

,  General  Sir  Charles,  966 

Naseby,  battle  of,  572 

Natal,  962,  1019 

Nation,  The,  973 

National  Debt,  688,  744,  785,  847,  868,  1035 

Society,  945 

Navarette,  battle  of,  265 

Navarino,  battle  of,  932 

Navigation  Acts,  596,  928,  975 

Naylor,  a  Quaker,  604 

Necker,  858 

Nectansmere,  37 

Neerwinden,  battle  of,  684 

Neill,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  517,  527 

Nelson,  Horatio,  866,  870,  875,  884,  885 

Nennius,  22,  23 

Neolithic  men,  4,  5,  6 

Nesbit  Moor,  battle  of,  303 

Netherlands,  462 

,  revolt  of,  459 

,  trade  with,  207 

Neville,  Anne,  358 

,  Archbishop,  285,  286 

,  George,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  845 

,  Isabel,  352 

,  John,  Lord,  275,  276,  277 

,  Lord  Montagu,  341,  345,  350,  354, 

355,  356 

,  Ralph,  256,  307 

,  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  340 

,  Richard  (the  elder),  340 

(the  younger),  Earl  of  Warwick, 

340,  341,  342,  343,  344,  345,  346,  350,  351, 

352,  353,  355,  356 
Neville's  Cross,  battle  of,  256 
New  Amsterdam,  499,  788 
Newark,  181,  567 
Newburgh,  William  of,  171 
Newbury,  first  battle  of,  563 

,  second  battle  of,  569 

Newcastle,  98,  137 

,  Henry  Pelham-Clinton,  Duke  of,  942, 

944 

,  Duke  of,  (son  of  above),  981,  990 

,  Thomas  Pelhara,  Duke  of,  767,  768, 

787,  792,  794,  806,  807,  811,  813 
,  William  Cavendish,  Earl  of,  554,  561, 

564,  566,  567,  569 

Programme,  the,  1037 

Newcomen,  851 
'New  Model,'  the,  571,  577 
New  England,  498,  499 
Newfoundland,  726 
New  Jersey,  788 

Law  Courts,  178 

Plymouth,  498 

Salem,  530,  822 

South  Wales,  849,  911 

Zealand,  849,  962 

Newman,  J.  H.,  968,  969 


Newport,  958 
Newspaper  duty,  952 
Newspapers,  693 
Newton,  Isaac,  691,  751 

,  John,  764 

Newtown  Butler,  battle  of,  678 
New  York  State,  788 

Zealand,  849 

Ney,  Marshal,  899 

Niagara,  790 

Nicaia.  battle  of,  109 

Nicholas,  Czar,  982,  990 

Nicholson,  John,  995 

Nigel-le-poer,  124,  136,  171 

Niglitingale,  Miss  Florence,  990 

Nile,  battle  of,  871,  872 

Ninias,  26 

Nisi  prius,  Court  of,  212 

Noailles,  Marshal,  770 

Nolan,  Captain,  987 

Nonconformists,  452  (see  Puritans) 

Nonjurors,  669 

Nootka  Sound,  848 

Norfolk,  John  Howard,  Duke  of,  365,  371 

,  Thomas,  Duke  of,  416,  421,  424,  433, 

439   441 

— ,  Howard,  Duke  of,  457,  459,  461 

Mowbray,  Duke  of,  291,  292 

,  Earl  of,  227,  229,  242,  243 

Norham,  151 

Normandy,  92,  170 

Norris,  Sir  John,  473,  478 

North,  Lord,  815,  816,  818,  820,  821,  832 

836,  837,  838,  849 

,  Roger,  640 

,  Sheriff,  640 

North's  Regulating  Act,  840 
Northallerton,  151 

,  battle  of,  125 

Northampton,  62,  558 

,  Assize  of,  146,  152 

,  Council  of,  142 

,  George  Compton,  Earl  of,  655 

,  treaty  of,  243 

North  Briton,  810 

Northcote,  Sir  Stafford,  1014 

Northern  Star,  958 

Northmen,  51 

Northumberland,  Henry  Percy,  Earl  of,  301, 

305 
,  Earl  of.  Hotspur's  son,  321,  342, 

345 

,  son  of  above,  355,  362,  371,  385 

,  Thomas  Percy,  Earl  of,  460 

,  John  Dudley,  Duke  of,  436,  437,  439, 

459 
Northumbria,  93 
Northumbrians,  23,  91 
Norwegians,  51  ^ 

Norwich,  92,  98 

,  George  Goring,  Earl  of,  581 

Nott,  General,  966 
Nottingham,  62,  92,  556 

Castle,  158 

,  Daniel  Finch,  Earl  of,  651,  656,  659, 

662,  664,  669,  682,  683,  688,  706,  713,  725, 

734,  742 
,  Thomas  Mowbray,  Earl  of,  285,  287. 

290 
Noureddin,  154 
Nova  Scotia,  726 


1060 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


No  vara,  battle  of,  973 

Novel  disseisin,  178 

Noy,  Attorney-General,  528,  529 

Nuucomar,  840 

Nun  of  Kent,  415 

Nye,  Philip,  676 

Gates,  Titus,  646 

Gath  of  Non-resistance,  631 

O'Brien  Smith,  973,  974 

G'Briens,  the,  292,  381 

'  Occasional  Conformity,'  713 

Occasional  Conformity  Bills,  725 

Ockham,  William  of,  188 

Gckley,  52 

O'Coigley,  877 

O'Connell,   Daniel,   930,  933,  934,  948,  957, 

961,  967,  968 
O'Connor,  Arthur,  877 

,  Feargus,  958,  974 

,  Roderic,  148 

Octennial  Bill,  Irish,  835 
Odo,  Archbishop,  66 

of  Bayeux,  82,  92,  95,  98,  99,  104,  105 

O'Donnell,  496 
Offa,  37,  38,  39,  52 
Offa's  Dyke,  38 
Oglethorpe,  General,  789 
Olaf,  70 

the  Saint,  83 

Oldcastle,  Sir  John,  314 

Oliver,  916 

O'Neal,  Hugh,  478,  496 

,  Sir  Phelim,  547 

O'Neals,  the,  381 
O'Neil,  Owen  Roe,  590 
Opdam,  621 
Orange,  William  of,  467 

Free  State,  1019 

Ordeal,  145,  146 

Ordeals,  49 

Ordinary  Council,  153 

Ordovices,  14 

Orford,   Edward   Russell,  Lord,  699,  707, 

722,  724 

,  Walpole,  Earl  of,  768 

Orissa,  839 

Orkney,  Elizabeth  Villiers,  Lady,  697 

Orleans,  siege  of,  326 

,  Henrietta,  Duchess  of,  626 

,  Maid  of,  327 

,  Duke  of,  331 

Orleton,  Adam,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  239, 

240,  242,  250 
Ormesby,  224 
Ormond,  Earl  of,  564,  566,  574,  588,  590,  624, 

662 

,  Duke  of,  684,  724,  725,  727,  736,  740 

Orraonds,  the,  478 

Ornaments  Rubric,  450 

Orsini,  G.,  996,  997 

O'Ruarc,  148 

Osborne,  Sir  Thomas,  629  (see  Leeds) 

O'Shea  case,  1034 

Osric,  52 

Ostiarii,  140 

Ostmen,  147 

OstoriuT  Scapula,  13 

Osulf,  6-'; 

Oswald,  Bishop  67 

Oswald,  31,  37 


Oswin,  32 

Oswy,  31,  32,  33,  35,  37 

Otford,  battles  of,  37,  71 

Othere,  57,  58 

Otho,  Cardinal,  187 

O'Tooles,  292 

Otto  I.,  64,66 

IV.,  163,  168,  175 

Oude,  841,  845,  993,  994,  995 

,  Nabob  of,  845 

Oudenarde,  719 
Outram,  Sir  James,  992,  995 
Overbury,  Sir  Thomas,  501 
Owen  Glendower,  302,  306,  307 

,  Prince  of  North  Wales,  137 

Oxford,  74,  557,  561,  566,  572,  640,  787 

,  Vere,  Earl  of,  263 

,  Robert  de  Vere,  Earl  of,  284,  285 

,  John  de  Vere,  Earl  of,  354,  355,  369,  383 

,  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of,  727,  729,  736 

Parliament,  639 

,  University  of,  121,  273,  274,  652,  653, 

934,  1002,  1011     • 

Paget,  Sir  William,  afterwards  Lord,  426, 

442 
Paine,  Thomas,  861,  862 
Pains  and  Penalties,  Bill  of,  922 
Paita,  771 

Pakenham,  Sir  John,  901,  904 
Pale,  the,  381 
Palmer,  852 

,  Barbara,  620 

Palmerston,  Lord,  898,  912,  931,  932,  939, 

970,  972,  977,  978,  979,  980,  981,  983,  989, 

990,  992,  996,  997,  998,  1002 
Palaeolithic  men,  3,  4 
Pampeluna,  902,  903 
Pandulf,  179,  184 
Paniput,  battle  of,  838 
Papacy,    tribute   to,    John's,    repudiated, 

269 
Papineau,  955 

Paraphrase  of  the  New  Testament,  647 
Parliament,  Addled,  501 

of  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  332 

of  Coventry,  344 

,  the  Good,  276 

,  Long,  537 

,  Mad,  194 

,  Short,  534 

of  1265,  197 

,»Constitution  of,  in  1295,  219 

,  Constitution  of,  in  1304,  249 

,  Condition  of,  under  Henry  vii.,  384 

,  Constitution  of,  in  1529,  406 

,  Elections  regulated,  329 

,  private  grants  forbidden,  270 

,  Petitions  of  the  Commons,  315 

Parliamentary  grants,  Henry  v.'s,  316 
Reform,  828,  846,  917,  924,  939,  940,  957, 

977,  997,  1005,  1006,  1028 
Paris,  George  van,  434 

Treaty  of  1259,  206  ;  1856,  991,  992 

Parish  Councils  Act,  1038 

Registers,  416 

Parker,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  651,  653 

,  Sir  Hyde,  875 

,  Matthew,  431,  449,  450,  451,  455,  463 

,  Richard,  867 

Parkes,  Sir  Henry,  1036 


Index 


1061 


Parkhurst,  Bishop,  464 

Parma,  Alexander  Farnese,  Duke  of,  462, 

468,  470,  471,  475 
Parnell,  C.  S.,  1023,  1024,  1025,  1033,  1034 

,  Sir  Henry,  938 

Parning,  Sir  Robert,  251 

Parochial  Schools  Act,  760 

Parr,  Katharine,  422,  430 

Parret,  river  of,  55 

Partition  Treaties,  701 

Paston,  John,  334,  359 

Patay,  battle  of,  327 

Paterson,  William,  689,  714,  715 

Patrick,  26 

'  Patriot  King,'  805 

Paulinus,  29,  30,  31,  32,  34 

Pavia,  battle  of,  401 

Paxton,  Josei^h,  976 

Peachell,  Dr.,  652 

Peckham,  Archbishop,  209,  213 

Pecocke,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  315 

Pedro  the  Cruel,  265 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  elder,  946 

,  the  younger,  898,  925,  931,  932, 

933,  934,  941,  943,  949,  950,  951,   955,  959, 

960,  961,  962,  963,  968,  969,  972,  976 
Peerage  Bill,  the,  743 
Peishwah,  the,  963 

Pelhara,  Henry,  768,  769,  785,  786,  787 
Peltier,  Jean  Joseph,  881 
Pembroke,  Earl  of,  230,  231 

,  Jasper  Tudor,  Earl  of,  367,  370 

,  Earl  of,  170, 176,  179,  182,  183,  184  {see 

William  Marshall) 

,  Herbert,  Earl  of,  352 

,  William  Herbert,  Earl  of,  43!>,  438 

,  Earl  of,  192  (see  William  of  Valance) 

Penjdeh,  1028 
Penda,  30,  31,  32,  37 
Pen  Selwood,  battle  of,  71 
Penn,  Admiral,  605,  654 

,  William,  654,  788 

Pennsylvania,  788 

Penruddock, 604,  605 

People,  Agreement  of  the,  587,  600 

Penryn,  933 

Pepys,  Sir  Charles,  Lord  Cottenhara,  951 

,  Samuel,  617 

Perceval,  881,  892,  898,  902 

Perch,  Count  of,  183  i 

Percies,  rebellion  of,  304 

Percy,  Henry  Lord,  256 

,  Henry,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  277, 

287   292 

, ' ,  Hotspur,  302,  305,  306 

,  Thomas,  492 

Perpetuation  Bill,  the,  597 
Perrers,  Alice,  275,  276,  277 
Persian  War,  992.  995 
Perth,  Articles  of,  532 

,  Duke  of,  781 

Peter  the  Hermit,  109         /-^ 

de  Rivallis,  190 

of  Savoy,  191 

of  Wakefield,  173 

Peter's  Pence,  407,  410 
Peterborough,  53,  67 

,  Charles  Mordaunt,  Earl  of,  712,  720 

,  chronicle  of,  99 

Peterloo  Massacre,  917 

Peters,  Hugh,  615  , 


Petition  of  Right,  223,  515 

'  Petitioners,'  637 

Petitions  to  parliament,  828 

Pett,  617 

Petre,  Edward,  649,  654,  661,  668,  672 

Pevensey,  83 

Peveril  of  the  Peak,  William,  137 

Phelips,  506,  510,  512,  513,  515 

Philip  Augustus,  135,  154, 155,  157,  160,  162, 

167,  169, 173,  175,  180 
II.  of  Spain,  440,  441,  443,  445,  452,  465, 

475 

III.  of  Spain,  475 

IV.,  the  Fair,  219,  221,  224,  246 

v.,  246,  257 

I.  of  France,  91,  101,  103,  105,  111 

of  Valois,  246 

Philiphaugh,  battle  of,  573 

Philip's  Norton,  648 j- 

Philipstown,  477 

Philipot,  John,  280 

Phillips,  Mr.,  958 

Pichegru,  865 

Pickering,  635 

Picquigny,  treaty  of,  358 

Picts,  19,  20,  22 

Piers  Ploughman,  Vision  of,  272,  289 

Pindarrees,  the,  963 

Pinkie,  battle  of,  429 

'  Pious  Fraud,'  the,  808 

Pir  Paimal,  battle  of,  1021 

Pitsligo,  Lord,  776 

Pitt,  William,  768,  782,  784,  788,  792,  800, 

808,  811,  813,  814,  815  (see  Chatham) 
,  the  younger,  835,  836,  842,  844,  846, 

847,  848,  850,  863,  864,  867,  882,  940 
Pitt's  India  Bill,  844 

war  policy,  864 

Pius  v.,  460 

Plantagenet,  Edward,  367,  378 

Plassey,  battle  of,  800 

Plegmund,  57 

Plevna,  siege  of,  1018 

Plot,  the  Bye,  487 

,  the  Main,  487 

Ploughlands,  99 
Plunket,  925 
Pluralities,  408 
Plymouth,  562,  563 
Pocahontas,  498 
Poitiers,  battle  of,  262 
Pole,  Michael  de  la,  284 

,  Geoffrey,  419 

,    Reginald,    418,    439,    442,    443,   444, 

447 

,  Sir  Richard,  402 

,  William  de  la,  251 

Pollock,  General,  966 

Pomeroy,  Sir  T.,  430 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  79 

Pondicherry,  797 

Ponthieu,  county  of,  81,  207,  264,  267 

Ponsonby,  General  William,  908 

,  George,  913 

Pontefract,  581 
Poor  Law,  481 

the  new,  946 

Board,  947 

Pope,  Alexander,  745 
Popham,  Admiral,  587 
,  Sir  Home,  893 


1062 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Porson,  852 
Porteous,  Captain,  761 
Porter,  Gilbert,  438 
Portland,  Weston,  Earl  of,  529 

,  William  Bentinck,  Earl  of,  669,  699 

,  W.  H.  Cavendish-Bentinck,  Duke  of, 

809,  836,  888,  892 
Port  Mahon,  720 
Porto  Bello,  767 
Porto  Novo,  battle  of,  841 
Portsmouth,  Louise  de  Keroualle,  Duchess 

of,  626 
Portugal,  893,  897 
Portus  Itius,  8,  9 
Posidonius,  8 
Post,  Penny,  960 
Pottinger,  Eldred,  964 
Powel,  420 
Powell,  Judge,  658 
Powis,  Attorney- General,  658 
Powys,  11 
Poynings'  Acts,  382 
Poynings,  Edward,  369,  382 
Fnemunire,  403,  411,  442 

,  Acts  of,  407 

Pratt,  Chief-Justice,  810,  815  (see  Camden, 

Lord) 
Prayer-book,  uses  of,  424 

,  first,  of  Edward  vi.,  429 

,  second,  of  Edward  vi.,  434 

Prestonpans,  battle  of,  775 

Preston,  Viscount,  694 

Press,  freedom  of,  692 

Pretender,  the  Old,  718,  727,  739,  781 

,  the  Young,  749,  772-781 

Prevost,  Sir  George,  904 

Pride,  Colonel,  583,  602,  607,  611,  614 

Priestley,  Dr.,  862 

Printing,  390 

Prior,  Matthew,  687,  726 

Privy  Council,  384 

Provisions  of  Oxford,  195 

Provisors,  Act  of,  407 

Prussians,  the,  769,  791,  807,  859,  869,  890, 

902,  908,  973,  1001,  1014,  1015 
Prynne,  William,  526,  527,  528,  541,  576 
Public  Advertiser,  817 
PuUein,  Robert,  121 
Pulteney,    William,  742,  748,  752,  767,  768 

(see  Bath) 
Punjab,  964,  966,  995 
Purchase  of  Commissions,  1012 
Purveyance,  178,  494,  616 
Pusey,  E.  B.,  968,  969 
Pym,  John,  506,  507,  510,  513,  535,  539,  540, 

542,  543,  548,  550,  555,  556,  563,  565 
Pyramids,  battle  of,  872 
Pyrenees,  battle  of,  903 

,  Peace  of,  620 

Pytheas,  7,  8,  12 

QuATRE  Bras,  906 
Quebec,  795 

Act,  824 

Queen's  Colleges,  the,  1013 

County,  477 

Quia  emptores,  209 
Quiberon  Bay,  865 

,  battle  of,  801 

Qrio  warranto  inquiry,  211 
writs,  642 


Radcot  Bridge,  battle  of,  285 

Radicals,  949,  957 

Raglan,  Lord,  983,  987,  990 

Ragusa,  162 

Raikes,  Robert,  945 

Rajpoots,  798 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  465,  472,  473,  474,  478, 

486,  487,  488,  502,  503 
Bacon,  Sir  Nicholas,  465,  472 
Ralf  or  Rollo,  60 

of  Chester,  176,  179, 184,  186 

Ralph  of  Wader  or  Guader,  97,  98 

,  Earl,  77 

Ramillies,  battle  of,  710 

Randolf  of  Chester,  126 

Randolph,  235 

Ransom,  107 

Ranulf  Flambard,   77,   105,  106,   107,    111, 

112,  113,  124 
Ratcliffe,  Charles,  781 

,  Sir  Richard,  369,  371 

Rathmines,  battle  of,  588 
Ravenspur,  355 
Raymond  Berenger,  191 

of  Toulouse,  138 

Readers,  140 

Reading,  54 

Recognition,  method  of,  163 

Redistribution  of  Seats  Bill  (1868),  1006 ; 

(1886),  1029 
Redwald,  29 

Beflections  on  the  French  Revolution,  801 
Reformation,  the,  defined,  406 
Reform  Bill  of  1832,  943 

,  Lord  Derby's  first,  997 

of  1866,  1005 

of  1867,  1006 

of  1885,  1028 

Regiments  :  The  King's  Horseguards,  616  ; 

the     Coldstream     Guards,    616;    Royal 

Artillery,  616;  the  39th,  800;  the  33rd, 

887  ;  the  52nd,  908 ;  the  93rd,  986 
Regimental  numbers  altered,  1012 
Reginald,  sub-prior,  172 
Regium  Donum,  1007 
Regulators,  the,  655 
Relief,  107,  108,  112,  177 
Remonstrance  of  the  Army,  The,  583 
Renaissance,  389 
Renard,  439,  440,  441 
Rescission  Act,  623 
Revenge,  The,  473 
Revolution,  the  French,  854 
Reynolds,  Archbishop,  236 

President  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  489 

Rheims,  Council  of,  137 
Rh6,  Isle  of,  514 
Rhuddlan,  216 
Rich,  Colonel,  640 

,  Edmund,  191 

Richard  i.,  reign  of,  157-166 

II.,  276  ;  reign  of,  278-294 

in.,  reign  of,  365-371 

,  Bishop  of  London,  136 

,  son  of  Henry  ii.,  150,  155,  159 

,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  191,  192 

Prince,  366 

Richard's  Castle,  77 

Richelieu,  511,  512 

Richmond,  Henry  Tudor,  Earl  of,  366,  367, 

368,  369,  370  (see  Henry  vii.) 


Index 


1063 


Richmond,  Charles  Lennox,  Diake  of,  809, 

818,  827,  828,  829,  832,  833,  836 
Riehemont,  Arthur  of,  325 
Ridley,  Nicholas,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  429, 

433,  442,  444 
Ridolfi,  4(50 
Rigby,  Richard,  809 
Rigge,  Peter,  283 
Rights  of  Man,  8(51,  862 
Riot  Act,  the,  737 
Riots,  Gordon,  830 
Ripon,  Earl  of,  948  (see  Goderich) 

,  Treaty  of,  537 

River-drift  men,  4 

Rivers,  Anthony,  Earl  of,  362,  363 

Richard  Woodville,  Lord,  352 

Rizzio,  David,  455 
Robert  iii.,  301 

,  Count  of  Mortain,  94 

d'Oilly,  126 

,  Duke  of  Normandy,  98,  103,  104,  105, 

106,  109,  111,  118,  114 

Mowbray,  104,  105,  106 

of  Belleme,  98,  104,  113 

of  Cricklade,  121 

of  Gloucester,  121,  124,  125,  126,  127, 

128 

of  Jumi^ges,  77,  78 

of  Normandy,  77 

the  Steward,  245,  264 

Roberts,  Richard,  851 

,  General  Lord,  1021 

Robertson,  William,  761,  923 

Robespierre,  859,  869 

Robinson,  Frederick  John  (afterwards  Lord 

Goderich),  928 

,  Sir  Thomas,  788 

Roches,  Peter  des,  175,  176,  182,  184,  185, 

189,  190,  191 
Rochester,   Lawrence  Hyde,  Earl  of,  645, 

1550,  652,  664,  698,  713 

,  siege  of,  104 

Rockingham,  811,  813,  815,  818,  823,   829, 

832,  833,  836 

Whigs,  809,  836 

Rodney,  Lord,  801,  832,  833,  834 
Roebuck,  J.  A.,  978,  989 
Roger-le-poer,  124 
Roger  Pontl'eveque,  143 

of  Salisbury,  115,  117,  124,  125,  136 

Rogers,  John,  419,  443 

Rohesia  of  Caen,  136 

Rohillas,  the,  841 

Rokeby,  Sir  Thomas,  307 

Rolleston,  Mr.,  916 

Rollo,  60 

Roman  Catholics,  490,  623 

,  disabilities  of,  493,  749,  829,  877, 

880,  930,  934,  1011  (see  Test  Act) 
Roman  towns,  15 
Rome,  sack  of,  401 

Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  912,  913,  919,  924 
Romney,  87 

,  Henry  Sidney,  Earl  of,  669,  697 

Rooke,  Sir  George,  684,  685,  709 

'  Root  and  Branch  Bill,'  545,  546 

Roper,  Sir  Anthony,  522 

Rorke's  Drift,  1020 

Roriga,  battle  of,  894 

Rose,  Sir  Hugh,  afterwards  Lord  Strath- 

nairn,  996 


Rosebery,  the  Earl  of,  1030,  1086,  1039 

Rosen,  677,  678 

Roslin,  battle  of,  225 

Rosny,  Duke  of  Sully,  495 

Ross,  General,  904 

Rossa,  O'Donovan,  1007 

Rossbach,  battle  of,  794 

Rotherham,  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  York, 

362,  364 
Rothesay,  Duke  of,  308 
Rotten  boroughs,  805,  939,  940 
Rouen,  101,  833 

,  castle  of,  99 

,  siege  of,  321 

Roundway  Down,  battle  of,  562 

Roundhead,  550 

Rouse,  641 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  856,  857 

Roussel,  676 

Rouverai,  battle  of,  326 

Rowton  Heath,  battle  of,  575  • 

Royal  Marriage  Act,  820 

Roxburgh  Castle,  152,  158,  220,  232 

Rumbold,  Colonel,. 641,  647 

Rump,  the,  584 

Rumsey,  Colonel,  641 

Runcorn,  62 

Runjeet  Singh,  966,  967 

Rupert,  Prince,  558,  560,  561,  562,  563,  566, 

567,  568,  569,  570,  572,  582,  588,  590,  614, 

621,  622 
Russell,  Admiral  Edward,   659,   662,   669, 

(571,  672,  688,  684,  687,  688,  696,  698.  792 

,  Dr.,  afterwards  Sir  William,  989 

,  Lord,  430,  431,  432 

,  Lord  John,  912,  924,  931,  933,  939,  940, 

941,  951,  970,  972,  977,  979,  981,  992 

,  Earl  (see  Lord  John),  1004 

,  Thomas,  880 

,  William,  Lord,  630,  633,  634,  641 

Russia,  927 

Russian  War,  983-992 

Russians,   the,   933,    964,   981,    1015,   1017, 

1018,  1019,  1028 
Rutland,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  290,  291,  300 

,  Duke  of,  883 

,  Earl  of,  346 

(sec  York,  Duke  of),  313,  320 

Rye-House  Plot,  641 
Ryswick,  Peace  of,  686 


Sacheverell,  Dr.,  722,  723 

Sackville,  Lord  George,  802  (see  Germaine) 

Sadowa,  battle  of,  1001 

Saintes,  battle  of,  192 

St.  Albans,  assembly  at,  175 

,  battle  of,  342 

,  second  battle  of,  346 

—  Arnaud,  Marshal,  983 

—  Bartholomew,  massacre  of,  462 

—  Bernard,  120,  128 

—  Brice's  Day,  massacre  on,  70 

—  Christopher,  island  of,  726 

—  Dominic,  187 

—  Pagan's,  battle  of,  581 

—  Francis,  187 

—  Giles'  Fields,  meeting  in,  314 

—  Helena,  Isle  of,  631 

—  John,    Sir    Oliver,    522,   529,  539,    587, 
607 


1064 


An  Advanced  Histm-y  of  England 


St.   John,   Henry,   713,  714,  722,  724,  725, 

726  (see  Bolingbroke) 
,  Knights  of,  129 

—  Mahe,  battle  of,  219 

—  Malachi,  147 

—  Mary's  Clyst,  battle  of,  430 

—  Omer,  college  at,  463 

—  Quentin,  battle  of,  440 

—  Ruth,  079,  680 
Saladin,  154,  160 

^ tithe,  155 

Salamanca,  battle  of,  901 
Sale,  Robert,  259 

^ ,  Sir  Robert,  900 

Salisbury,  Montacute,  Earl  of,  263 

^ (another),  290,  292,  300 

(another),  325,  320 

-^ — ,  Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of,  472,  478,  488, 

495,  490 

(another),  030,  032 

— . — ,    Marquess    of,   1005,    1018, 

1029,  1032,  1039 

,  Margaret,  Countess  of,  381,  418,  419 

— -,  Richard,  Earl  of.    339,  341,  342,  343 

345,  346 
,  William  Longsword,  Earl  of,  174,  175, 

179,  183 

Oath,  100,  101 

Sattara,  993 

Sampford,  Courtenay,  431 

Sancroft,  Archbishop,  657,  664,  609 

San  Domingo,  island  of,  005 

Sandwich,  Edward  Montague,  Earl  of,  014, 

015,  017.  021,  028 

,  Lord,  769,  809 

Sand  with.  Dr.  H.,  991 
Sandys,  Samuel,  768 
Sancia  of  Provence,  193 
San  Sebastian,  902,  903 

Stefano,  Treaty  of,  1018 

Santa  Cruz,  600 
Saragossa,  894 

,  battle  of,  721 

Saratoga,  827 

Sardinians,  990,  998,  999 

Sarsfield,  079,  080,  084 

Sarum,  Old,  940 

Saunders,  Judge,  037,  642,  796 

Savile,  George,  Marquess  of  Halifax,  638,  645 

,  Sir  Henry,  489 

Saville,  Sir  George,  809,  829 
Savoy,  William  of,  191 
Sawtre,  William  (see  Chatys),  802 
Saxe,  Marshal,  772,  784 
Saxe-Coburg,  Prince  Albert  of,  955 

,  Prince  Leopold  of,  922 

Saxon  pirates,  17 
Saxons,  23 

,  home  of,  20 

,  invasion  of,  20 

Say  and  Sele,  Lord,  333,  336 

Saye  and  Sele,  Fiennes,  Lord,  529,  535,  555, 

557,  582 
Scales,  Lord,  354 
Scarborough,  83 
Schaub,  Sir  Luke,  750 
Schism  Act,  728,  742 
Schmalkalden,  League  of,  421 
Schomberg,  Marshal,  678,  679 
Schutz,  728 
Schwarz,  Martin,  378 


Scinde,  904 

Scindia,  887,  995 

Scot,  007,  009,  010 

Scotland,  succession  question,  217 

,  invasion  of,  301 

under  Cromwell,  003 

at  the  Restoration,  023 

,  union  of,  with  England,  714-717 

Scots,  the,  19,  20,  22,  05,  72,  93,  100,  124, 
137,  151,  152,  173,  217,  224,  225,  226,  232, 
233,  234,  235,  243,  244,  245,  256,  264,  303, 
304,  322,  359,  379,  388,  395,  396,  397,  423, 
429,  454,  455,  456,  457,  532,  534,  564,  573, 
577,  591,  592,  593 

Scottish  Free  Church,  968 

Scroggs,  Chief-Justice,  636,  642 

Scrope,  Henry,  Lord  le,  316 

,  Richard  le,  Archbishop  of  York,  306, 

i      307 

,  Sir  William,  291,  292 

i  Scutages,  177 
i  Sectaries,  452 
i  Sedgemoor,  battle  of,  648 

Seditious  Meetings  Act,  862 

Seeley,  Sir  John,  1036 
i  Selby,  566 
I  Selden,  520,  539,  541,  544,  545 

'  Self-Denying  Ordinance,'  the,  570 

Selwood,  forest  of,  41,  55 

Senlae,  battle  of,  84,  80 

Separatists,  452 

Sepoys,  799,  993-990 

Sept,  140 

Septennial  Act,  741 

Serfs,  100 

Seville,  Treaty  of,  755 

Sevenoaks,  battle  of,  330 

Seymour,  Edward,  047,  050,  713 

,  Sir  Edward,  002 

,  Lord  Henry,  470 

,  Jane,  414 

,  William,  485 

Shaftesbury,  Ashley,  Earl  of,  625,  627,  629, 
630,  632,  633.  634,  039,  040 

Shah  Alum,  838,  839 

Shah  Sujah,  964 

Shales,  Commissary,  678 

Shannon,  The,  903 

Sharpe,  Archbishop,  624,  637 

,  Dr.,  652 

Shaw,  Dr.,  364 

,  Mr.,  1022 

Shelburne,  Lord,  808,  811,  814,  815,  817,  818, 
823,  827,  828,  829,  832,  833,  830,  837,  843 

Shelley,  P.  B.,  924 

Sheridan,  R.  B.,  845,  847 

Sheriff,  44 

Sheriffmuir,  battle  of,  738 

Sheppey,  Isle  of,  52 

Ship-money,  528 

Shire,  43 

Court,  116 

,  Knights  of,  198 

Shiremoot,  44,  95 

Shirestone,  battle  of,  71 

Shires,  origin  of,  44 

Shirley,  Sir  Thomas,  490 

Shore,  Jane,  364 

Shovel,  Sir  Cloudesley,  709 

Shrewsbury,  558 

,  battle  of,  305,  306 


Index 


1065 


Slirewsbury,  Charles  Talbot,  656,  659,  664, 
669,  672,  688,  696,  698,  723,  729,  734 

,  Earl  of,  469 

,  parliament  at,  291 

,  Treaty  of,  214 

Sibyl,  155 

Sicily,  160,  161 

Sidmouth,  Lord,  889,  902,  917,  920,  925  (see 
Addiugton) 

Sidney,  Algernon,  641,  671 

,  Henry,  659,  669  (see  Romney,  Earl  of) 

,  Sir  Philip,  465,  468 

Sierra  Leone,  911 

Sieyes,  874 

Sigismund,  Emperor,  320 

Sigiric,  Archbishop,  70 

Sihtric,  63 

Silures,  11,  13,  14 

Simnel,  Lambert,  378 

Simon,  Richard,  378 

Simpson,  General,  990 

Sinclair,  Bishoj),  235 

Sinope,  983 

Si  ward,  76,  77,  79,  96 

Six  Acts,  the,  918 

Skippen,  765 

Skippon,  Philip,  552,  587,  600,  607 

Slavery  abolished,  945 

Slave  Trade,  the,  847 

prohibited,  890 

Sliding  Scale,  Peel's,  963 

Slingsby,  Sir  Henry,  604,  005 

Sluys,  battle  of,  250 

Smectymnuus,  545 

Smerwick,  massacre  of,  478 

Smith,  Adam,  842,  846,  852 

,  John,  497,  498 

,  Sir  Sidney,  873 

,  Sydney,  923 

Smyrna  Fleet  lost,  685 

Society  for  the  Dittusion  of  Useful  Know- 
ledge, 924 

for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Know- 
ledge (Scottish),  760  ;  (English),  762 

for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 

Foreign  Parts,  762 

Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  564 

Solferino,  battle  of,  998 

Solmes,  Count,  684 

Solway  Moss,  battle  of,  423 

Somers  Act,  716 

,  John,  658,  687,  691,  698,  699,  702,  707, 

722,  724,  725,  734 

Somerset,  427,  434  (see  Hertford) 

,  Charles  Seymour,  Duke  of,  655 

,  Edmund,  Duke  of,  356 

,  Henry,  Duke  of,  350 

,  Duke  of,  725,  729,  734 

,  John  Beaufort,  Earl  of,  330,  331 

,  Countess  of,  501 

,  Duchess  of,  724 

Sophia  of  Hanover,  699 

Soult,  Marshal,  897,  903 

Southampton,  69 

,  Wriothesley,  Earlof  (see  Wriothesley), 

426,  427 

,  Wriothesley,  Lord,  479 

South  Saxons,  23 

Sea  Scheme,  743,  744 

South  wold  Bay,  628 

Spa  Field,  916 


Spain,  265,  827,  834,  893 
Spanish  Colonies,  the,  927 

Succession,  700 

Speenhamland,  947 
Speke,  Captain,  1036 
Spencer,  Earl,  1025,  1030 
Spenser,  Edmund,  465,  478 
'  Spinning  Jenny,'  851 
Spitalfields  Weavers,  929 
Spring  Rice,  951,  953 
Spurs,  battle  of,  395 
Stael,  Madame  de,  881 
Stafford,  62 

,  Sir  Humphrey,  336 

,  Henry,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  362,  363, 

366,  367 

,  Thomas,  445 

,  Viscount,  635 

,  Sir  William,  336 

Stair,  Earl  of,  759,  770 
Stamford,  62,  92 

Bridge,  battle  of,  83 

Standard,  battle  of  the,  125 

Stanhope,  General,  720,  721 ;  created  Earl, 

728,  735,  741,  742,  746,  748 
Stanley,  Sir  Edward,  397 
,  Edward  Geoffrey,  939,   948,  963,  970 

(see  Derby) 
,  Lord  E.  H.,  afterwards  Earlof  Derby, 

980,  1018 

,  Thomas,  Lord,  362,  370 

,  Sir  William,  370,  379 

Stapleton,  560 

,  Bishop,  239 

Star  Chamber,  544 

Staremberg,  720 

State  in  Us  Relation  with  the  Chvrchy  The, 

908 
Stayner,  Captain,  606 
Statute  de  Facto,  384 

of  Fines,  385 

Maintenance,  287 

of  Praemunire,  268,  287 

of  Provisors,  268,  287 

of  Treason,  269,  270 

Statutes  of  Labourers,  261 

of  Uses,  415,  417 

Steel,  Richard,  728 
Steenkerke,  battle  of,  684 
Stephen  of  Blois,  109 

of  Hungary,  72 

,  reign  of,  123-129 

Stephens,  958 

,  James,  1007 

Stephenson,  George,  937 
St.  Eustacia,  capture  of,  832 
Stewart,  Murdoch,  Earl  of  Fife,  303 
Stewarts,  the,  673 
Stigand,  78,  81,  92,  95 
Stirling  Castle,  152,  220 

,  surrender  of,  234 

Stilliugfleet,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  609 

Stockdale's  Case,  962 

Stoke,  battle  of,  378 

Stokesley,  Bishop  of  London,  414 

Stow-on-the-Wold,  575 

Strachan,  Sir  Richard,  898 

Strafford,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  (see 

Wentworth),  534,  535,  536,  539,  540,  541, 

542,  544 
Strange,  Lord,  555  (see  Derby,  Earl  of) 


1066 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


strange,  George  Stanley,  Lord,  370 
Stratford,  John,  242,  244,  250 

,  Robert,  244,  250,  251 

Strathbogie,  968 

Strathclyde,  64,  106 

Strode,  William,  520,  534,  539,  550 

Strongbow,  148 

Stuart,  Arabella,  487 

,  Charles  Edward  Louis  Casimir,  749 

,  Elizabeth,  495,  504 

,  Henry,  781 

,  James  Edward,  703  (see  Pretender) 

,  Sir  John,  892 

Stuteville,  Nicholas  de,  176 

,  Robert  de,  151 

Suakim,  1027 

Sub-deacons,  140 

Sudeley,  Lord  Seymour  of,  427,  430 

Suetonius  Paullinus,  14 

Suez  Canal,  shares  in,  1026 

Suffolk,  285 

,  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of,  398 

,  Edmund  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of,  380,  381 

,  Henry  Grey,  Duke  of,  440 

,  John  de  la  Pole,  Duke  of,  335,  362 

,  William  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of,  326,  327, 

332,  333,  335 
Suftren,  Admiral,  841 
Suiones,  21 
Sunderland,  Robert  Spencer,  Earl  of,  634, 

649,  652,  657,  658,  660,  661,  672,  687 
,  Charles  Spencer,  Earl  of,  714,  736,  741, 

742,  743,  744,  745,  746,  748 
Supremacy,  Act  of,  411 
Surajah  Dowlah,  800 
Surrey,  Earl  of,  395,  396 

,  Henry,  Earl  of,  425 

,  Thomas,  Lord,  371  (see  Norfolk) 

Sussex,  Thomas  Ratcliffe,  Earl  of,  460 

Suvarov,  848 

Swedes,  51 

Swegen  Estrithson,  78,  92 

Sweyn,  70,  71 

,  Godwin's  son,  76,  77 

,  King,  74 

Swift,  Jonathan,  692,  728,  729,  757 
Swynford,  Katharine,  273,  289 
Sydney,  849 


Tacitus,  11,  14,  20,  21 

*  Tacking,'  698 

Tadcaster,  83 

Taillebourg,  battle  of,  192 

Tallies,  100 

Talavera,  battle  of,  897 

Talbot,  Richard,  649,  652  (see  Tyreonnel) 

,  Sir  John,  327,  339 

Tallages,  101 

Tallard,  Marshal,  708,  709 

Talleyrand,  874,  904 

Talmasli,  General,  679,  680,  681,  685 

Tamar,  river,  63 

Tamworth,  62 

Tancred,  160 

Tangier,  620 

Tankerville,  Grey,  Lord,  698 

Tanneguy  du  Chastel,  321 

Tantia  Topee,  996 

Taunton,  572 

Tchemaya,  battle  of,  991 


Technical  Education,  1035 

Teignmouth,  burning  of,  682 

Tel-el-Kebir,  battle  of,  1026 

Telford,  Thomas,  852 

Templars,  Knights,  129,  240,  241 

Temple,  Richard,  Earl  of  (1),  792,  810,  813, 
817 

,  Earl  of  (2),  842,  843 

,  Sir  William,  626,  633,  634,  639,  692 

Temple's  scheme,  633 

Tenants-in-chief,  100 

'  Tenant-right,'  Irish,  1009 

Tenchebrai,  battle  of,  114,  115 

Tencin,  Cardinal,  771 

Tesse,  Marshal,  712 

Test  Act,  629,  671,  863,  933 

Tewfik,  1026 

Tewkesbury,  battle  of,  356 

Thanet,  Isle  of,  52,  69 

Thegn-right,  48 

Thegns,  kings,  46,  47 

Thelwall,  John,  863 

Theobald,  Archbishop,  129,  137,  139 

Theodore,  33,  34,  35,  36 

,  King,  1007 

Theows,  47 

Therouenne,  siege  of,  395 

Thibaut  d'Estampes,  121 

Thirsk,  151 

Thirty  Years'  War,  503 

Thistlewood,  920 

Thomas,  Archbishop,  129,  136,  137 

Thorpe,  56 

Thox^ghts  on  the  Cause  of  the  Present  Dis- 
contents, 820 

Throgmorton,  Francis,  468 

Thurkill,  73 

Thurloe,  587 

Thurlow,  Lord,  833,  836,  843 

Thurston  of  York,  125 

Thwaite,  56 

Tiberias,  battle  of,  155 

Tiberius,  Claudius,  13 

Tickhill,  Castle,  158 

Tillotson,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  669, 
671,  683 

Times,  The,  989,  1034 

Tippermuir,  battle  of,  573 

Tippoo  Sahib,  886 

Tiptoft,  Earl  of  Worcester,  341 ,  354,  389 

Tithe  Commutation  Act,  952 

Titus,  13 

Titus  Gates,  634 

Tobago,  905 

Todleben,  Colonel,  986,  990 

Togodumnus,  13 

Toleration  Act,  671 

Tooke,  Home,  852,  863 

Tone,  Theodore  Wolfe,  876,  877,  878 

Tonnage  and  Poundage,  271,  511,  516,  518, 
519 

Topcliffe,  385 

Torbay,  661 

Torcy,  Marquis  de,  726 

Torres  Vedras,  the  lines  of,  899 

Torrington,  Lord  (see  Herbert),  681,  682 

Tory,  638 

Tostig,  77,  79,  80,  82,  83 

Toulouse,  138 

,  battle  of,  903 

,  Raymond  of,  138 


Index 


1067 


Toulouse,  Raymond  of,  (another),  161 
Touraine,  138,  167,  170 
Tournai,  895 
Tournaments,  164 
Tournay,  siege  of,  683,  719 
Tourville,  Admiral,  681 
Towns,  119,  120 
Townshend,  Charles,  815,  816 

,  Lord,  734,  735,  742,  748,  757,  758 

Township,  42,  101 

Towton,  battle  of,  349 

Tracts  for  the  Times,  969 

Tracy,  William  de,  143 

Trade  Unions,  929,  1016 

Trafalgar,  battle  of,  884,  885 

Transvaal,  the,  1020,  1021,  1022 

Trastamare,  Henry  of,  265 

Travers,  577 

Treason  felony,  974 

Treasonable  Practices  Act,  862 

Treason  Trials,  434,  695 

Trelawney,  659 

Trelawny,  Bishop  of  Bristol,  657 

Tren  chard,  688 

Tressillian,  285,  286 

Trevelyan,  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  George,  1025, 

1080 
Trial  by  battle,  145 

by  jury,  145 

Triennial  Act,  541 

'Triers,'  the,  602 

Trinidad,  869,  905 

Trinobantes,  10 

Trinoda  Necessitas,  42,  45 

Triploe  Heath,  579 

Trollope,  Sir  Andrew,  343 

Troyes,  treaty,  322 

Tnie-horn  Englishman,  697 

Tuam,  147 

Tudor,  Jasper,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  346,  854, 

857 

,  Margaret,  335,  888,  397,  455 

,  Owen,  846 

Tullibardine,  Marquess  of,  720,  774,  779,  781 

Tun,  42 

Tunstall,  Bishop  of  London,  408 

Turgot,  857 

Turner,  Bishop  of  Ely,  657 

Turnham  Green,  560 

Tutbury,  457 

Twenge,  Sir  Robert,  187 

Tyler,  Wat,  280,  281 

Tyndal,  William,  419 

Tyrconnel,  Lady,  679 

,  Richard  Talbot,  Earl  of,  652,  676,  677, 

680 
Tyrone,  Hugh  O'Neal,  Earl  of,  496,  497 

,  Shan  O'Neal,  Earl  of,  477,  478 

Tyrrel,  Sir  James,  366,  371,  381 
,  Sir  Walter,  110 

Ulf,  Bishop,  78 

Ulfcytel,  70 

Ulm,  888 

Ulster,  147,  497 

Undertakers,  the,  500 

Uniformity,  first  Act  of,  429,  450,  464 

,  second  Act  of,  618 

Union,  the  Scottish,  714 

,  the  Irish,  879 

,  Repeal  of,  934 


Union,  the  terms  of  Scottish,  716 

United  Irishman,  973 

United  Irishmen,  876 

United  States  acknowledged,  837 

,  war  with,  903 

University  Tests,  1011 

Urban  ii. ,  Pope,  103,  108,  109 

Uriconium,  24 

Usher,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  545 

Utopia,  405 

Utrecht,  Treaty  of,  725,  726 

Uttoxeter,  581 

Uxbridge,  571,  577 

Vacarius,  122 

Val  es  Dunes,  battle  of,  78 

Valence,  William  of,  192  • 

,  William  of,  another,  194 

Valentine,  519,  520,  534 

Vane,  Sir  Harry  the  elder,  531,  540,  542 

,  Sir  Harry  the  younger,  531,  539,  540, 

542,  545,  564,  565,  570,  571,  582,  583,  584, 

586,  596,  598,  604,  606,  607,  609,  610,  611, 

615 
Vansittart,  928 
Van  Tromp,  596,  621 
Vasco  da  Gama,  390 
Vauban,  685 
Venables,  605 

Vendome,  Duke  of,  719,  721 
Vere,  Robert  de,  284,  285,  286 
Verneuil,  battle  of,  325 
Vernon,  Admiral,  767 
Verona,  congress  at,  926 
Versailles,  Treaty  of,  837 
Vervins,  Peace  of,  475 
Vespasian,  13 
Vexin,  101 
Victor  Emmanuel,  999 

Marshal,  897 

Victoria,  Princess,  922,  936  ;  reign  of,  part 

I.,  954-1003  ;  part  ii.,  1003-1046 
Vienna,  Congress  of,  905 
Villars,  Marshal,  708,  710,  719,  720 
Villein  tenure,  139, 141 
Villeneuve,  Admiral,  884 
Villiers,  Charles,  959,  969 

,  George,  501  (see  Buckingham) 

Vimiero,  battle  of,  894 
Vincent,  Henry,  958 
Vindici(e  Gallic(B,  861 
Vinegar  Hill,  battle  of,  878 
Virginia,  498,  788,  824,  828,  999 
Virginia  Company,  497 
Vittoria,  battle  of,  902 
Voltaire,  792,  856 
Volunteers,  the,  1002 
Vortigern,  22 

Wade,  Marshal,  760,  776,  777 
Wagram,  battle  of,  898 
Wagstaffe,  604,  605 
Wakefield,  battle  of,  346 
Wakeman,  Sir  George,  635 
Walcot,  641 

Waldeck,  Prince  of,  681 
Walden,  Roger,  300 
Wales,  72 

,  Council  of,  422,  544 

,  incorporation  of,  422 

,  North,  final  settlement  of,  216 


1068 


An  Advanced  History  of  England 


Wales,  Dowager  Princess  of,  792,  805,  813 

,  re-organisation  of,  214 

Walclieren  Expedition,  897 

Walcourt,  681 

Waleran,  Count,  118 

Walker,  Obadiah,  651,  663,  672,  677 

Wallace,  William,  224,  225 

Waller,  Edmund,  539 

,  Sir  William,  539,  555,  557,  561,  565, 

566,  569,  571,  579 
Wallingford,  87,  158 

,  treaty  of,  129 

Walpole,  Horace,  772,  852 

,  Horatio,  750 

,  Robert,   714,  717,  722,  724,  725,  736, 

742,  743,  745,  749,  768  (see  Orford) 
Walsh,  773 

Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  465,  469,  472 
Walter  of  Coutances,  159 

Map,  171 

Lespec,  125 

Walters,  Lucy,  620 

Waltheof,  79,  80,  84,  92.  93,  97,  98 

Walworth,  William,  280 

Wapentake,  43 

Warbeck,  Perkin,  378,  380 

Warburg,  battle  of,  802 

Ward,  43 

Wardour,  Lord  Arundel  of,  626,  654 

Wardship,  107 

Wareham,  54 

Warenne,  William  of.  82 

,  Earl,  197,  211,  220,  224 

Warham,  Archbishop,  393,  410 
Warr,  Lord  de  la,  498 
Warrington,  581 
Warwick,  62,  92,  558 

,  Beauchamp,  Earl  of,  330,  341 

,  Earl  of,  231,  236,  263,  380 

,  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  (see  Lisle),  427, 

431,  432,  438,  439 

,  Robert  Rich,  Earl  of,  529,  539,  570 

,  Thomas  Beauchamp,  Earl  of,  285,  287, 

290,  301 
Washington,  George,  790,  824,  825,  832 

,  town  of,  904 

Waterford,  147,  149 
Waterloo,  battle  of,  907,  908 
Watling  Street,  15,  16,  56 
Watson,  Admiral,  800 

,  William,  488 

Watt,  James,  851 

Waynfleet,  Bishop,  337 

Weald,  the,  41 

Wealth  of  Nations,  842 

Wearmouth,  52 

Webb,  General,  719 

Wedderburn,  822  (see  Loughborough) 

Wedmore,  55 

Weekly  Political  Register,  914 

Wellesley,  Marquess,  898,  925 

,  Sir  Arthur,  886,  887,  892,  894,  897  (see 

Wellington) 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  902,  906,  910,  926,  931, 

934,  937,  938,  941,  942,  943,  950,  951,  963, 

969,  970,  974,  976       • 
Welsh  Church  Disestablishment  Bill,  1037, 

1039 
Wenlock,  Sir  John,  353 
Wentworth,  Sir  Peter,  598,  605 
,  Thomas,  Lord,  446 


Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  Earl  of  StrafiFord, 

506,  510,  512,  513,  515,  517,  521,  523,  524. 

529,  534  (see  Strafford) 
Werfrith,  57 
Wergild,  56 
Wesley,  Charles,  763 

,  John,  762,  763 

Westminster  Assembly,  the,  576 

,  Council  of,  141 

,  Hall,  178 

,  statutes  of,  209,  210 

West  Indian  Islands,  832,  911 

captured,  807 

Westmorland,  Charles  Neville,  Earl  of,  460 

,  Earl  of,  776 

,  Fitzalan,  Earl  of,  801 

West  Saxons,  23 

Weston,  Richard,  Lord,  520  (see  Portland, 

Earl),  521 

Zoyland,  648 

Wetherell,  Sir  C,  941,  942 

Wexford,  149,  589 

Weymouth,  Lord,  809,  816 

Wharncliffe,  Lord,  941,  942 

Wharton,  Philip,  Lord,  630,  631 

,  Thomas,  Lord,  662,  687,  688,  722,  724, 

725,  746 
Whately,  822 
Wheeler,  Sir  Hugh,  994 
Whig,  637 
Whiggamores,  582 
Whigs,  Public  Spirit  of  the,  728 
Whitbread,  S.,  945 
Whitby,  synod  of,  32,  33,  407 
White,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  657 
Whitefleld,  George,  763 
Whitelock,  587,  591,  598,  605,  607,  615 

,  General,  893 

Whitgift,  John,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  464 

Wigan,  581 

Wilberforce,   William,   844,   847,   888,    890, 

945 
Wildman  the  Leveller,  604,  605 
Wilfrid,  32,  33,  34 
Wilkes,  John,  810,  816,  817,  829 
William,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  124 

of  Aumale,  137 

,  Clito,  118 

I.  of  Germany,  1015 

the  Lion,  135,  150, 151 

of  Malmesbury,  36 

of  Normandy,  77,  78  ;  reign  of,  91-102 

of  Orange,  621,  626,  632,  636,  647,  656, 

659,  661  ;  reign  of,  667-704 

,  Prince,  117,  118 

IV.,  reign  of,  935-953 

Rufus,  98,  101 ;  reign  of,  103-110 

Williams,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  527,  531,  539, 

543,  545,  550 

,  General  W.  F.,991 

Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  466 

Wills,  General,  738 

Wilmington,  Sir  Spencer  Compton,  Earl  of, 

768,  769 
Wilson,  Andrew,  761 
Wilton,  battle  of,  54 
Winceby,  563 

Winchelsea,  Archbishop,  221,  222,  286 
Winchester,  74,  87,  92,  111,  195 

,  statute  of,  209,  211,  212 

Windebank,  541 


Index 


1069 


Windham,  Sir  W.,  765 

,  W.  W.,  845 

Winter,  Thomas,  492 

Winthrop,  John,  530,  531 

Winwick,  581 

Winwidfield,  battle  of,  32 

Wishart,  George,  454 

Witenagemot,  45,  91,  96,  98,  101,  103, 

114,  116 
Wite-theows,  47 
Witham,  62 

Wolfe,  General,  794,  795,  796 
Wolff,  Sir  H.  D.,  1026 
Wolseley,  Colonel,  678 

,  General  Lord,  1026 

Wolsey,  Thomas,   393,    394,   398,   401, 

404,  409 
Wood,  Sir  Evelyn,  1022 

,  Matthew,  916 

Wood's  Halfpence,  751,  752 
Woodfall,  818 

Woodstock,  Council  of,  139 
Woodville,  Lady  Elizabeth,  351,  369 

,  Edward,  362,  363,  367,  369 

,  Richard,  851,  362 

Worcester,  558 

,  battle  of,  693 

,  Marquess  of,  556 

— ,  Thomas  Percy,  Earl  of,  305 
Wordsworth,  William,  852,  924 
Workington,  457 


111, 


403, 


Workmen's  combinations,  929 
Wren,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  527,  539 

,  Sir  Christopher,  623 

Wright,  Judge,  658 
Wriothesley,  Rachel,  630 
Wulfhere,  32,  37 
Wulfstan,  Archbishop,  65 

,  Bishop,  98 

Wilrtemberg,  Duke  of,  679 

Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  440,  441 

Wyclif,  John,  273,  274,  277,  282,  283,  288, 

302 
Wykeham,  William  of,  275,  276,  285,  287 
Wyndham,  Sir  William,  737 
Wynendale,  battle  of,  719 
Wynn,  Sir  Watkin,  776 

Yakoob  Khan,  1019 
York,  83,  92,  93,  566 

,  Elizabeth  of,  366,  369,  376,  388 

,  Margaret  of,  379 

,  Richard,  Duke  of,  317,  333,  337,  339, 

342,  343,  344,  345,  346,  363 

,  Frederick,  Duke  of,  873,  898,  930 

York  town,  831 

Ypres,  William  of,  126,  127 

ZoRNDORF,  battle  of,  802 
Zulus,  the,  1020 
Ziirich,  battle  of,  873 
Zutphen,  battle  of,  468 


BY    THE    SAME    AUTHOR 


Smcdl  Fcap.  ^vo.      With  Maps  and  Plans.     Is.  M.  net. 

AN   ELEMENTARY  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  THE  LOWER  FORMS  OF  SCHOOLS 


'After  careful  examination,  we  are  glad 
to  say  that,  in  our  opinion,  tlie  Professor 
]ias  discharged  liis  task  in  a  practically 
faultless  manner.'  Aberdeen  Journal. 

'  The  maps,  which  are  creditably  exe- 
cuted considering  the  price  of  the  book, 
form  a  useful  feature  in  it,  and  the  plans 
of  battlefields  are  good.'  Onardian. 

'  A  capital  little  Elementary  History  of 
England.'  Scottish  Leader. 

'  Simplicity,  conciseness,  and  perspicuity 
are  the  characteristics  of  the  style  he  has 
adopted.'  Education. 


'The  book  is  carefully  and  well  com- 
piled to  the  very  last  page,  and  has  some 
useful  maps  and  plans.' 

Manchester  Examiner. 

'  In  250  small-sized  pages,  Mr.  Ransome 
fully  succeeds  in  carrying  out  his  aim.' 

University  Correspondent. 

'  But  few  faults,  however,  can  be  found 
with  a  book  whicli  has  almost  innumer- 
able excellences,  and  which,  in  spite  of  the 
numerous  works  of  a  scholastico-historical 
kind  that  are  printed  nowadays,  is  dis- 
tinctly original.'  Spectator. 


'  I  have  been  examining  your  publication,  Ransome's  History  of  England,  and  at  the 
risk  of  being  thought  troublesome,  I  venture  to  send  you  my  opinion,  which  is,  that 
in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  teacher  such  a  book  as  this  is  calculated  to  be  of  immense 
service  as  an  educational  instrument.  It  throws  a  light  on  those  parts  of  our  national 
history  which  is  not  usually  to  be  found  in  works  of  similar  extent,  and  does  it  in 
such  a  way  as  to  allow  of  interesting  expansion  at  the  hands  of  the  teacher.* 

R.  S.  TAYLOR, 
Bailie's  Foundation  Schools,  London. 


•This  is  the  best  book  of  the  kind  that  I  have  seen,  and 
my  school  at  the  earliest  opportunity.' 


shall  introduce  it  into 


J.  T.  COHEN,  B.A., 

Headmaster  of  Tottenham  Grammnr  School. 


'  I  have  read  it  through,  and  examined  it  very  carefully,  and  I  like  it  very  much. 
It  is  written  in  a  clear,  simple  style,  and  a  boy  who  has  studied  it  with  any  degree  of 
care  would  have  a  good  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  his  country  has  developed, 
and  its  existing  institutions  have  arisen.  The  arrangement  of  the  matter  is  good,  and 
the  Maps  and  Plans  are  excellent.' 

ALFRED  ALLEN, 
Headmaster  of  the  Kentish  Town  School. 


LONDON:    RIVINGTON,   PERCIVAL  &   CO. 


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